Gear change notchy after gear oil change??

[mightymidget 0]

Hi,

anyone any idea's? Just changed my gear oil and gear selection is now very stiff, especially 3rd and 5th when under a load. Sometimes I now have to pause and take a few seconds to select the gear and physically shove it into gear. It wasn't like this before the oil change.

I changed the oil with what VW recommends. They took my engine number and gearbox code to ensure they ordered the correct stuff. I did a full drain and change. Drained off about 1.6L and it took about the same when refilling her, before it started coming out of the filler hole.

I was expecting the gear change to be better not worse!! I called VW to double check they ordered the correct oil and he came back with the same VW part number for the oil. He also stated that this was the oil VW used on most models. The oil they supplied was VG 060 726 A2 which apparently superceeds the old part number of VG 052 726 A2.

Anyone else experienced this? I'm baffled as to why new oil would make a differnece. All I can think is that maybe the old oil might have been something more heavy duty, something like redline, and better suited to high milage boxes. Certainly the VW stuff looked thinner, and whilst this might be ok for new boxes it just might be no good for old shakers like my VR.

I'm gunna chaeck the linkages tomorrow, but this shouldn't be an issue as it wasn't touched during the oil change.

Any suggestions much appreciated.

MM

[cabrioman 6]

check the level ??!! that mite be the prob???

[mightymidget 0]

Thanks for the reply.

The level is spot on. Exactly the same amount went in as came out. Also it's impossible to get this wrong, it's just a matter of getting the car parked on a level surface and filling until the oil comes out of the filler hole.

I'm pretty resigned to the fact that the VW gear oil is crap. The box worked perfect before the change so I guess there's little else that could be causing this problem. I think the VW oil would be fine with a new tight tolerance box but in my case it's useless with a 100k box that has worn parts. Pretty much like fully synthetic engine oil which is fine with new engines but can sometimes cause problems with old engines that need a thicker oil to make up for the lost tolerances due to wear.

Thought I'd post here before buying different oil as I'd be interested to learn if others have had the same problem with VW gear oil on 100k plus boxes.

[SJJ 0]

Hi mate, I am having a similar issue.

I did a fair bit of research when choosing the oil. A lot of people shout about Redline MT-90 however I was unconvinced as a few on Vortex had mooted that it didn't meat the book 'GL' rating and might not be able to handle high temps as required. I eventually settled on Castrol Syntrax 75/90 semi-synthetic which meets GL4 and GL5 specs. This fluid seems popular with the Impreza boys. Like yours mine dropped about 1.6 and took the same again. After 50 miles or so I re-checked the level - it took another 50ml or so, nothing major.

The gearchange is now noticably worse; 50% of the time it's as smooth as I've ever felt and the other 50% feels notchy, particularly going into 5th. Coming down the gears (say 4th to 3rd to 2nd) is generally smooth every time.

I am going to give this a few hundred miles as despite feeling notchy it doesn't feel damaging. Temps don't seem to have an effect i.e. it will slot into 1st and 2nd as smooth as a knife from freezing cold etc.

Slightly annoying to say the least.

[mightymidget 0]

Hi SJJ,

I sorted my problems out yesterday. Dumped the VW gear oil and put in some Redline MT90. Wow what a difference. The box is now smooth as silk. Better than what it was with the original oil.

Just goes to prove the VW oil is crap. What concerns me is that if I'd taken my car to VW for a gearoil change they would have used the VW spec stuff. I bet there's a number of non-mechanical owners who've been conned into box overhauls and expensive linkage parts when the only problem was the rubbish fluid VW put into it's boxes.

Also, about the 1.6L fill. This apparently is a problem on a number of boxes that had the level hole manufactured 7mm to low!! Apparently there was a service bulletin sent out to VW dealers notifying of this problem. The correct amount should be 2L or approx 2quarrts. Quite easy to get the extra 400ml in there. Just jack the car up and place a couple of blocks under the front wheels to ensure the box is tilted at a backwards angle. You can then measure 2000ml and pour the lot into an empty box without it all flowing out the level hole. Worked with mine. Also read on a number of forums of owners who've use the speedo hole to fill there boxes with the correct amount. What ever works for you, but just make sure you have 2L in there.

Hope this helps.. Cheers MM.

[SJJ 0]

Good info.

Problem now is, is current notchyness down to the oil itself or not having enough in? I don't want to put too much in for obvious reasons - some will always be left in regardless so I don't really want to add a full 2l of new oil.

My only option now is drain again and fill to the bottom of the hole with MT-90 and if it's still sketchy then Heath Robinson some extra in. It's another £20 odd either way 8-|

Currently knocking up a voodoo doll for the 'expert' on Vortex.

[mightymidget 0]

My guess would be it's the oil rather than the level. When I changed to the VW oil I measured out 1600ml then measured 1600ml of the VW stuff I put back in. So with exactly the same quantities I went from good shifting with the old oil to very bad with VW.

Only with the recent redline replacement did I squeeze the full 2quarts in. I made pretty sure my box was empty before filling up. I got the box really warm prior to draining, Then drained it for a long time by putting the car through various angles on my brothers ramps. I guess there would be about 100-150ml still in the box which would only be removable by splitting the box. I wasn't too worried about this as 2quarts is about 100ml less than the specified 2000ml for an overhaul refill, so should be about right-- I hope--!!

[SJJ 0]

MT90 ordered... hopefully here on Monday(!)

The only positive here is that my Castrol will in effect now be doing the job of a flushing oil. Quite expensive flushing oil lol. As before, it doesn't seem 'bad', in some conditions it is doing the job better than the VW stuff I dropped.

How many miles did you do on your new VW stuff? Is there a running in time for 'box oil anyway?

[mightymidget 0]

I dont think theres a running in time. I did about 200miles on the VW oil. Like you said before I didn't think it was doing any damage so wasn't in a great hurry to change it. If anything I think it probably got worse with time. Wish I went with Redline in the first place though. A simple oil change has now cost me nearly £50.00 (3xVW @ £5.00 + 2xRedline @ £16.5 with p&p) . Drop a thread here when you get round to changing it. I'd be interested to learn if Redline fixes your problems. MM

[SJJ 0]

Down the hatch!

Modified my technique this time, used the jack on various points to move the car around and 'tip' out more oil than would otherwise have come out; also when filling up I filled it until it was coming out of the hole a touch, then jacked the car up on the nearside letting the oil run down to the offside. At this point it was overfilled, dropping it back down on the level and letting it drain for as long as it needed meant the 'box was full and level sound.

I had a good long look at the height of the fill hole - if this was another 7mm higher on my casing 2l just would not fill the gearbox, in fact it wouldn't get anywhere near filling it so it doesn't seem to be an issue on mine.

The shifting is back to how it should be - nice one! Took 15 miles or so get it around and warmed up and from then on sound as a pound. MT-90 all the way.

[mightymidget 0]

Great stuff SJJ. Glad it's all working again. Good advice about the use of the jack. It's important to get as much out as possible. Also just as important to ensure the new oil is in all the corners with no air pockets.

I think I'll research this 7mm hole problem a bit more. I agree that 7mm isn't going to make a 400ml difference to the boxes quantities. Seems everyone I talk to can only get 1600ml in a euro box, where as VW and others clearly state 2000ml fill. 400ml difference is a hell of a lot, overhaul or not... Maybe someone in the know could advise...

MM

PS - that's a massive funnel