Manual gearbox oil change 1.6 TDI

[VW Golf 132]

Hi
Im planning to change the oil in my gearbox, its a manual 5 speed gearbox and just wondering if anyone else has changed it, in their Golf?

Want to see how easy or hard it is to do it.
Did look at it and think i found drain plug and two more nuts at the side of it.

I presume, i drain it and open two bolts from the side of it to fill it back up.
But should i feel the same amount back into it that i drained or should i keep filling through the top hole until it starts coming out from the bottom one?

 

[baldybouncer]

Why would you want to change the oil? I have never changed oil in any gearbox of a car I have owned!! I am sure they only need changing if you have a leek or work done...

Had a mk5 golf 1.9 tdi and sold it at 200,000 miles and the gearbox oil was original

 

[breaking badly]

Definitely not necessary to change gearbox oil, but it won't harm
at higher mileages as long as you use the correct oil.
Oil is filled up until coming out through the side/top hole where
you fill in. Warm up the new oil before fill in unless you're using a
pump. Only use VW-approved oil.
Btw, what do you expect from the oil change? If you have any
complains, an oil change most probably won't help.

 

[VW Golf 132]

Have seen people doing first gear oil changes earlier than 100k, and small bit of metal filings are present. VW does tent to say that it's lifetime oil in it but yet in automatic gearboxes, they want it changed every 60k.
There is 100k on my car now and changing it won't do harm, just keeping it fresh so it will work like new as I'm planning to keep my car for good few years.
Thanks for reply, I'm doing the gear oil change, coolant, brake fluid, engine oil and all 4 filters. Car is over 3 years and 100k km, which isn't much, but no harm.

 

[baldybouncer]

Having not changed gearbox oil for a long time I may be wrong...BUT the drain plug usually has a magnet on it - so any small bits of metal are drawn to this and does not effect the oil...

 

[The Fed]

Have seen people doing first gear oil changes earlier than 100k, and small bit of metal filings are present. VW does tent to say that it's lifetime oil in it but yet in automatic gearboxes, they want it changed every 60k.
There is 100k on my car now and changing it won't do harm, just keeping it fresh so it will work like new as I'm planning to keep my car for good few years.
Thanks for reply, I'm doing the gear oil change, coolant, brake fluid, engine oil and all 4 filters. Car is over 3 years and 100k km, which isn't much, but no harm.

This is a completely different situation. The DSG has wet clutches which are immersed in the transmission fluid. It also has a hydro-electric clutch and gearshift mechanism to engage/disengage the clutch and change gears, and the oil is pressured by an oil pump.

All your oil does is lubricate the gears, with no pressure at all.

What does the maintenance schedule in your owners manual call for?

 

[VW Golf 132]

manual says absolutely nothing about changing oil in gearbox.

but i have it done now and the drain nut is just a plain nut with out any magnet.
so when i drained it, there were some metal filings present.

Gearbox does feel smoother, it was nice before the change, but its better now.

however I thought there was suppose to be over 2 LT of oil in the gearbox, about 2.3 if I'm correct???
only about 1.2 LT came out, i had the front lifted and i then put the car levelled and thats all that came out and same amount filled it.

 

[breaking badly]

Thanks dude.
If there's really no more a magnet present I'd recommend doing an oil change.

 

[russiankid]

As long as the car was level when you filled it and fluid poured out of the fill hole, you're fine. Even though a manual gearbox does not undergo any extreme pressure, it is still a good idea to change it periodically as the oil does eventually break down from use and heat. Also, the factory VW oil viscosity sucks and you can definitely feel the synchro's hating the oil when its cold. I personally would like to switch to a lower viscosity oil to prevent hard engagements in cold weather.

 

[VW Golf 132]

think i might do another gear oil change next service, just to put in a magnetic plug. its easier to change gear oil than engine oil and iv enough oil left for another change.

The car was levelled and it was over flowing, so its full, but i thought there was a bigger oil capacity in that box.

If anyone is changing their oil and they need a large allen key to open the gearbox drain and fill nut, its 17mm allen key to open it. Just so ye will know the size.

 

[russiankid]

The factory plug is not magnetic?

 

[VW Golf 132]

No factory plug is not magnetic.
I have 1.6 TDI and its a plain plug, which I am going to replace with a magnetic plug