Manual Gearbox Oil - probably not a lifetime fill

[brad]

Heads up to those with a manual gearbox.

VW say it's a lifetime fill. Which it probably is if you class a gearbox life as the point where it breaks due to lack of good lubrication...

My car has 140,000 very easy km on it. Generally I'd change the gearbox oil around the 75k-100k mark so the lifetime fill gearbox oil was annoying me.

Drained it out (drain plug & the #2 selector fork(??) bolt)and the stuff was very black and a bit stinky (I assume it was mineral oil). Almost no filings on the magnetic sump plug.

The 1.8tsi has a different M6 gearbox to the vRS so it only needs 1.9L to refill (vRS is 2.4L I believe). This makes the oil level higher than the fill plug so you either need to refill on a steep slope or via the reverse switch hole.

I used the latter option. You need a lot of patience as it's a 10mm hole. The 10mm OD hose I had was 6mm ID. I'd lent my small funnel to my wife & she couldn't find it so I used a syringe with a large funnel jammed into it. 1.9L took about 2 hours I guess.

I couldn't be bothered going to VW to get the oil so i used Penrite 70w-75 Synthetic (Penrites recomended lubricant). 2.5Litres was $58 ($23.20/L) from the local Bursons Auto Parts. Genuine VW is probably similar money.

I've got ~600ml left if anyone wants it for $5 - then you just have to buy 2L if you have a vRS.

Gearchange is no different - maybe a fraction smoother but self-justification is a wonderful thing and I didn't have an issue before.

I appear to have improved my fuel economy by a small amount but I've had other issues with a fouled O2 sensor so maybe that is fixing itself as well.

[Transporter]

I do my M6 gear oil change in my T5 4Motion every 20,000km.

There was never life time fill oil in our cars.

As per German TUV the lifetime of the car is(was) 5Years/120,000km the last time I've checked. I guess this got somehow lost from the owner's and servicing manuals in VAG hq.

If you really want to keep your car for a long time consider also the coolant change in the 5th/6th year and then every 3 years, it can save you a lot of money.

[Mysticality]

Good bit of info!
My 3rd gear synchro carked it at near 180,000km; 1st gear followed at 192,000km or so.
Gearbox replaced under warranty at 195,000km. Will be doing an oil change at 300,000 definitely!

[Martin]

As per German TUV the lifetime of the car is(was) 5Years/120,000km the last time I've checked.

Good point! That's a pretty short "lifetime" from an Oz/NZ point of view

maybe a fraction smoother but self-justification is a wonderful thing

Absolutely!

Given the oil that came out was not in good shape, you've mitigated a risk for very little money, well done

I changed my DSG oil at 40k as a early & preventative measure
The oil that came out was in pretty good shape - I'll stretch it to 50k next time

[brad]

Good bit of info!
My 3rd gear synchro carked it at near 180,000km; 1st gear followed at 192,000km or so.
Gearbox replaced under warranty at 195,000km. Will be doing an oil change at 300,000 definitely!

If I was you with all your torque I'd aim for every 50k.

[rc_vRS]

Good bit of info!
My 3rd gear synchro carked it at near 180,000km; 1st gear followed at 192,000km or so.
Gearbox replaced under warranty at 195,000km. Will be doing an oil change at 300,000 definitely!

Can I ask how you got it done under warranty at 195k??

My vrs is in for suspected failed clutch at 62k. Pretty disappointed in it, mainly all hwy kms very easy driving. Never had any slipping or crunching then one day out of nowhere pulled up at the lights and couldn't get it into gear. Managed to force it in 2nd and could shift with higher than normal force at higher revs, but if taken out of gear stationary could not get any gear engaged. No leaking fluid, reservoir full and clutch pedal feel is normal.

Goes in fine with the engine off hence suspected clutch and not gearbox but still waiting to hear from the dealer about it.

Comparing to my honda which I just stripped down at 280,000 km of hard life with a perfectly operating original clutch, the Skoda is not looking very good!

[Mysticality]

If I was you with all your torque I'd aim for every 50k.

I'm thinking I'll do it at (2)60,000 and see how it goes... Still many more k's to go yet!

Can I ask how you got it done under warranty at 195k??

Pulled up to dealership, pointed at the car and said "Gearbox is buggered, fix it!"

In mine the synchros were gone so massive crunching getting into gear (if you hit it wrong - I learnt to double clutch properly real quick!)

[rc_vRS]

Ok, I just assumed it was outside of warranty period. Looked it up and is actually 3yr/unlimited km.

Did they give you any explanation of why they thought the synchro's were so damaged?

I remember a friend a few years back had a polo gti and there was a recall because of incorrect mtf used in factory fill. It caused synchro's to start crunching and the dealership tried to just put new oil in it after the crunch started. He convinced them they had to replace the whole gearbox.

[Mysticality]

No, no explanation... But I wouldn't be surprised if the "lifetime fill" oil was to blame!