What you'll need: Jack and axle stands, 10mm Allen socket, T25 and T45 Torx sockets, torque wrench, small funnel and length of tubing and 2.3-2.4L of 75W GL-4 gearbox oil.
Start by safely jacking the front of your car up and putting it on axle stands. Get underneath and remove the under tray, the front ones on either side are T25 and the rear three are T45.
You will now be able to see your gearbox with the drain and fill plugs:
Before proceeding, make sure you can crack the fill plug loose, don't proceed if it's stuck or seized.
Place a suitable container under the drain plug and crack it loose with the 10mm Allen socket. It's tight but not ridiculously so:
Remove the plug and the old gearbox oil will now drain out. I set a timer on my phone for 30 minutes to make sure most of the oil drained out. At this point I lowered the car to the ground again so the gearbox was level to make sure I got all the oil out:
Remove the fill plug as well. This will help all the oil to drain out:
With car still on the ground, reach underneath and refit the drain plug. The VW recommended torque is 30 nm (22 ft/lbs).
Now take about 3 feet of plastic tube and jam your small funnel into one end. Drop the pipe down the front of the engine and reach underneath the car and place the other end in the open fill hole in the gearbox.
Open your first bottle of oil and pour a couple of glugs into the funnel and quickly get under the car and make sure the oil is going into the gearbox properly.
Keep pouring the oil into your funnel and checking underneath the car that it's still going into the gearbox properly. The first couple of litres should go straight in but check frequently when you're on your third bottle. When the correct amount of fluid is in the gearbox, the oil will start dripping back out of the fill hole.
Stop at this point and give it a couple of minutes for the tube to empty. You can now remove it and refit the fill plug, again the VW recommended torque is 30 nm (22 ft/lbs). It's easier to do this if you put the car back on axle stands again - you'll need to to refit the undertray anyway.
Use a rag to clean the gearbox of any spilled oil, refit the undertray and take your car for a spin and enjoy the smoother shifting ?.
Start by safely jacking the front of your car up and putting it on axle stands. Get underneath and remove the under tray, the front ones on either side are T25 and the rear three are T45.
You will now be able to see your gearbox with the drain and fill plugs:
Before proceeding, make sure you can crack the fill plug loose, don't proceed if it's stuck or seized.
Place a suitable container under the drain plug and crack it loose with the 10mm Allen socket. It's tight but not ridiculously so:
Remove the plug and the old gearbox oil will now drain out. I set a timer on my phone for 30 minutes to make sure most of the oil drained out. At this point I lowered the car to the ground again so the gearbox was level to make sure I got all the oil out:
Remove the fill plug as well. This will help all the oil to drain out:
With car still on the ground, reach underneath and refit the drain plug. The VW recommended torque is 30 nm (22 ft/lbs).
Now take about 3 feet of plastic tube and jam your small funnel into one end. Drop the pipe down the front of the engine and reach underneath the car and place the other end in the open fill hole in the gearbox.
Open your first bottle of oil and pour a couple of glugs into the funnel and quickly get under the car and make sure the oil is going into the gearbox properly.
Keep pouring the oil into your funnel and checking underneath the car that it's still going into the gearbox properly. The first couple of litres should go straight in but check frequently when you're on your third bottle. When the correct amount of fluid is in the gearbox, the oil will start dripping back out of the fill hole.
Stop at this point and give it a couple of minutes for the tube to empty. You can now remove it and refit the fill plug, again the VW recommended torque is 30 nm (22 ft/lbs). It's easier to do this if you put the car back on axle stands again - you'll need to to refit the undertray anyway.
Use a rag to clean the gearbox of any spilled oil, refit the undertray and take your car for a spin and enjoy the smoother shifting ?.
Last edited:
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