Manual transmission fluid change how-to with pics

TdiTaff

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Location
UK / France
TDI
2007 Golf TDi 5Speed
Question was asked at the bottom of page 3 but I haven't seen the answer - What is the Torque for the fill and drain plugs please?

Many thanks.
 

TdiTaff

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Location
UK / France
TDI
2007 Golf TDi 5Speed
Found it, thanks;
17mm allen (Hex) bolts, fill and drain plugs on manual transmission: 18 lbs-ft
 

Dimitri16V

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Location
DE
TDI
01 Golf, 04 Golf
careful with the torque wrench, the aluminum threads can strip . just snag it down, it;s not going anywhere
 

fitzski

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2004
Location
Ottawa
TDI
Uh... hmm... Well, none...
I couldn't find a torque spec in the Bentley (Maintenance section, page 0-41, or the torque tables in section 34), but yeah... it's sure not much. Finger tight + 1/4 ~ 1/2 turn, IME.
 

1234567890

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2010
Location
KS, PA
TDI
2002 GLS TDI
Does anyone have the latest VW numbers on the fluid?? I went to the stealer and they tried to sell me a g60 or g70 something... Do not remember which one. Do the bottles from the dealer say G-4 on them? I have heard that G-5 is a no-no. Also on an MK4 can you fill it to the fill hole and call it good or was there a tsb on these cars too??
 

Jerry Freeman

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
I did this a week or so ago.

The old gear oil didn't look bad, so I wondered if changing it would improve anything.

New transmission oil definitely made a difference. The shifting has always been smooth, and I haven't noticed a change in that, but the sound of the transmission has changed quite a bit.

There has been something like a harmonic rumble or whine accelerating hard from low rpm's and at high rpm's around 4,000. That has diminished by maybe 75% since the transmission oil change.

There's still some of that harmonic noise remaining, however. I wonder if I should run this new gear oil for a few thousand miles and then change it again so all the oil gear oil will be completely flushed out.

Any comments?

Thanks!

Best wishes,
Jerry
 

Jerry Freeman

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
From idparts.com, here's the current manual transmission fluid. It replaces all previous specification versions:

OEM G 070 Manual Transmission Fluid $13.65

This is the latest generation of VW's multi-weight transmission fluid for manual transmissions in all VW TDIs.
Best wishes,
Jerry
 

cheezy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2002
Location
Madison
TDI
99 NB, 96 B4V
I did this a week or so ago.

The old gear oil didn't look bad, so I wondered if changing it would improve anything.

New transmission oil definitely made a difference. The shifting has always been smooth, and I haven't noticed a change in that, but the sound of the transmission has changed quite a bit.

There has been something like a harmonic rumble or whine accelerating hard from low rpm's and at high rpm's around 4,000. That has diminished by maybe 75% since the transmission oil change.

There's still some of that harmonic noise remaining, however. I wonder if I should run this new gear oil for a few thousand miles and then change it again so all the oil gear oil will be completely flushed out.

Any comments?

Thanks!

Best wishes,
Jerry
The VW factory manual for the B4 says to top off at the filler hole, then drive it for a few minutes, and make sure to top it off again. Maybe that will remove the last of your noise-to top it off?

Doing a "flush" is always an option, but I'd do it with a dino. 75-90 and just a short drive. Real short, then drain again if you feel like it, but to each their own time and money. Nothing wrong with being too thorough IMO.

I found my drain/fill plugs needed to be removed with a 3/4" breaker bar, after soaking in Kroil for 2 hours. Onwards.
 

no-blue-screen

TDI Nut
Joined
Feb 9, 2006
Location
Maryland
TDI
TDI
This is a nice write-up. I just did mine yesterday with G60 fluid purchased from world impex. Fluid was the color of pancake syrup and I used a cheap pump from autozone to pump the new fluid into the fill hole. The new fluid is almost completely clear and both the drain and fill plugs had a noticeable film on them that was quickly removed with some brake parts cleaner. Trans seems to shift well if not a little better than before the change. With 129k on the clock I figured I would tackle this sooner than later.

This is fairly easy and good PM IMO.
 

Keith_J

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Location
West
TDI
2000 Jetta MT
I've been reading conflicting information on the GL-5 issue. Sure, GL-5 has twice the sulfur and phosphorous extreme pressure anti-wear package as GL-4 but also has corrosion inhibitors to offset the yellow metal wear issue.

Aaron at Bora Parts sells Lubro-Moly GL-5 with the gear swap kits which is what I recently used. I have much better shifting, might be the old oil appeared very thin and brown. No water or chips noted, just a considerable film over the parts under the 5th gear cover. The OCD side of my brain thinks another swap in say, 8000 miles, might be a good idea to clean out the remaining crud. I'll keep note of synchro wear on 5th.
 

export!

Active member
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Location
Canada
TDI
'02 Golf
I'm having a heck of a time finding GL-4 rated fluid. I'm wondering if this is one of those issues where the Internet is to blame. Before all this info I would have read the bottle and thought "cool - this exceeds the spec required when they built the car". Now you can read all these theories about extra additives, bushing wear, etc and I will not be able to sleep at night if I put GL-5 in. AAAAHHHH!!!

Kinda like self diagnosing yourself on the medical sites. Just not a good idea.
 

Judson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Location
Cheyenne, WY
TDI
2001 Jetta
Well, I'm in quite a pickle.

So, I originally went with the Bora Parts short-shifter. I never liked how it
shifted, and went back to stock. But it still didn't feel right.

So, then I discovered this procedure, so I put the Bora parts
short-shifter back in, and did the procedure. I *still* had
grinding in 3rd, both upshifting and downshifting had to be done
very, very carefully to avoid grinding.

So, I went back to the stock shifter, and did the procedure.
No change! It's been grinding ever since. I now have to shift early,
and avoid downshifting unless I keep the clutch in and match revs,
at which point sometimes it'll fall into place.

Thus, I may have effed up my 3rd gear syncros. 4th is
now a bit unhappy. 2nd is somewhat okay. It has been
adjusted within factory spec.

I'm going to go ahead and have the clutch slave cylinder
bled and the manual tranny fluid changed, but I'm not optimistic
at this point.
 

Keith_J

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Location
West
TDI
2000 Jetta MT
This is what I use: http://idparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1977

I've found it results in way smoother shifts compared to redline or the dealer supplied oil.
Certainly the same in my experience. Although I only have 10k miles on it. When I did the 5th gear swap, the red coating in the transmission had me worried (never changed in 170k miles), now this GL5 is a bit tinged so I might swap out again when I do the clutch next month.

The GL5 may offer better cleaning action. Although I haven't done any testing, the red deposits may be iron-sulfur compounds which may offer protection against yellow metal attack. Just a pure SWAG.
 

Keven

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Location
Tampa FL
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
Dealer sold me G060 726 A2. Is this correct? My car is sometimes hard to shift into 1st and grinds. I usually have to put it in 2nd , then 1st so it gets into gear.
 

\/\/0J0

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Location
Knoxville, TN
TDI
Sadly, none anymore
Dealer sold me G060 726 A2. Is this correct? My car is sometimes hard to shift into 1st and grinds. I usually have to put it in 2nd , then 1st so it gets into gear.
Sounds like your 1st gear synchro may be shot
 

Keven

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Location
Tampa FL
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
That sounds like a lot of fun to replace. Hoping this new fluid helps. Whats involved with the synchro replacement?
 

Keith_J

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Location
West
TDI
2000 Jetta MT
Pull transmission. Split transmission. Tear down according to the manual. Replace worn parts. Reassemble. Install in car. Fill to hole level with lube. Run for a few minutes, then check level again.
 

alnmike

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2008
Location
Alaska
TDI
09
There seems to be some confusion on whether to use GL4 or GL5 in your cars.

From my understanding, the older TDI's use GL-4, and the 2009+ use unknown.
Im not sure about the '06 models.

I literally just got off the phone from my dealer, 2009 TDI uses part number G 052 171 A2. And its $47.50/l using 2.3L.
They weren't able to give the specs. Called Napa and they didnt have a reference for it. Called 1stvwparts.com and they quoted $25/L but shipping to Alaska is expensive, called my parts counter back and they dropped price enough to make it worth not shipping heh.

Anyway, IDparts.com (and almost every other website) gives the same weights that Napa gives, which from my limited research is incorrect.

G052 171 is 70w-75 and G052 911 is 75w-90 GL5.
 

2002MK4

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Location
Scarborough
TDI
2002, 2003 Jetta TDI
Does anyone know the spec of oil that is used for the 2002 MKIV TDI MTX? Also was the shifting any better???
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
Is this the correct transmission fluid for my 2000 Jetta? It DOES have a manual transmission. A post above says G070 and another says G052.

Also there isn't a filter change involved with this HOW TO is there?
There's no filter in the manual transmission...

Your car originally came with G050... outstanding lubricant that should last a very long time unless contaminated... (of course, it's now 12 years old... I guess that qualifies as "long time"...) The G070 that you linked is the "latest and greatest" oil as of now, and will work nicely in your transmission... (as would just about all the various offerings by VW...)

Yuri
 
Top