Transmission oil change?

[kermeli]

Hey everybody, new guy here!

Iv got a sedan Exeo 2.0 tdi cr 2010 with a 150k exactly on the clock.

The problem is the gearstick and gear change is very stiff in the mornings if its cold, i left my car outside for 2 days ( -3 to 6C) First the gearstick didnt move at all, had to use some force to get it moving, then it was really hard to change the gears. Once i succesfully changed every gear it was smooth and ok. I very much doubt the car has never had a transmission oil change, and the winter in Finland can be very rough for cars. I didnt find any mention in the manual when to change transmission oils. Could changing the oils help me? I dont recall it being THAT stiff last year in not so low temperatures.

Also 1 more question, the 3rd gear is bit "loose" i mean if i put 3rd gear in and put cruise on, the gearstick moves like 1-2cm if i try gently, other gears dont do that, is it normal or something to worry about?

Thanks alot, sorry if my english sucks .

 

[Riley TDi]

Hi, i'm not sure about the loose 3rd, but I did read on here that some people were having issues with heavy gear change. From what I remember an oil change did help quite a lot, but i think they used a different grade.

 

[decadent]

Mine (and others here) have stiff changes into 2nd when cold, reports say it improves with a oil change but not necessary on the lower mileage cars (I've had mine since 3k).

Maybe try the oil change and also have them grease up the linkages. I had a golf tdi and at circa 125k the gear stick didn't self centre and changes felt a bit rubbery. After a spot of oiling of the linkages it was back to normal (but the problem did repeat towards the end of our time together at 140k).

 

[mcdonald]

Not sure what transmission oil the 2.0 TDI use but I guess it's 75W90 too.
You might want to try 75W80 (Castrol Syntrans V FE 75W-80) instead to solve the sticky gear issue with low temperatures.

 

[Mr Bigglesworth]

Have a read of this thread: http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=292951&highlight=transmission&page=2

I also did a transmission fluid change. I also messed around with the gear linkage and that helped too (I linked to a video in one of my posts on that thread).

 

[kermeli]

Thx for replys. Another question for exeo owners. Is your steering wheel really tight? Its been really tight imo since day1 ive owned mine. For example my older car renault clio was way more fun to drive. I actually use gloves when driving exeo for better grip. Any suggestion, could changing the power steering oil help? Any of u exeo owners have really tight steering wheel?

 

[mcdonald]

I replaced the steering fluid last year. What I noticed was less noise from the steering pump and turning the steering wheel was smoother.
You'll need Pentosin CHF 202 oil for this. This oil is mentioned in Elsawin too.

For flushing the power steering fluid I followed this How-to: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/250562-power-steering-fluid-flush-DIY


Another important modification to improve the steering / handling of the car is to replace the rear sway bar by a RS4 sway bar.


Some pics from the steering fluid change I did last year.....

the setup

the original old fluid

colour of the fluid after the first flush

colour of the fluid after third and final flush

 

[kermeli]

Nice man, how much u had in clock when u changed? I bought the car used 124k driven, iv now got exactly 150k on the clock, how often should the steering oil be changed? i doubt its never been changed.

as for the sway bar, yeaah maybe later im not very good with my hands. ^^

appreciate the help really guys, its really hard to ask help for exeo in finland, you'll likely win a lottery than see an exeo.

 

[mcdonald]

I changed the steering oil at nearly 84.000 km (52.000 miles).
There's no interval for this oil change. Some say you never have to change it which I don't believe anymore after the steering oil change from last year.
An interval of 2 years or 30.000 km (18.000 miles) should be fine.

Be aware that the oil level is approximately 1 cm above the max-indication when the oil is warm (80°C).

 

[kermeli]

Im probably gonna change the steering oil on friday, cant find any pentosin here in Finland, but the powersteering cap had a G 002 000 written on it, so:

VAG-powersteer oil 1l G 004 000 M2 ( cant post urls yet apparently )

Korvaa aiemmat tyypit (G 002 000/G 002 500) ja on täysin sekoituskelpoinen niiden kanssa.

Means " it replaces previous oil types (G 002 000/G 002 500) and its fully mixable with em"

How much oil did you put? Should 3Litres be enough for oil flush?

Thanks alot ^^

 

[mcdonald]

I bought 2 cans of 1 liter each and that was more than enough.
The power steering system doesn't take much oil.

Put the front of the car on 2 supports so the front wheels are free from the floor/road. Make sure the steering wheel is in centre position.
There's no need to move or remove the headlight.
Remove the 2 connectors.
First remove as much oil from the reservoir as possible.
To remove the reservoir, remove the 2 bolts and than pull it vertically.

The return hose is the one with the smallest diameter and should be disconnected from the reservoir.

Good luck!

 

[kermeli]

Is it necessary to remove the reservoir? Can i just suck the old oil away?
Thanks alot m8

 

[mcdonald]

You can suck a little oil from the reservoir, fill it up with fresh oil, run engine, suck oil again, etc until the oil you suck out looks clean.

On Youtube you'll find a lot of videos about changing the steering oil: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=steering+oil+change+audi

 

[mcdonald]

To improve gear selection and reduce drag a lower viscosity in the first position would be required, eg 65W-90, the second viscosity position is the hot reading so going from a 75W-90 to a 75W-80 would not help at all.
Read this to understand more http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/

We're talking about transmission oil, not motor oil.
Transmission oil is avaiable as 70W75, 75W80, 75W90, 75W140, 80W90 and 85W140. (not all meet VAG specs)

See here for VAG oil specs: http://www.oilspecifications.org/volkswagen.php

 

[kermeli]

Changed the steering oil, cant tell that much of a difference tho, but the oil was.. well cant tell if that was oil anymore haha. Been sound deadening the car and the more i do with it the more i like it. I got a friend whos been helping me alot with this and he is very good & knowledgeable. Im very tempted now about that Sway bar haha Any other neat mods you guys've done? Id love to change the headlights, they look like yellowish, i dont really like it but it seems to be way too expensive for what you get. Dont know if im gonna keep the exeo for longer than a year. xenons would look so sick ^^