Gearbox oil change - just do it!

[Eiger]

After receiving my Castrol TAF-X oil from the guys at Opie on Friday I tackled this job yesterday afternoon between showers of rain...After Jon at JMG saying that a lot of garages simply put "ordinary transmission oil" in the 944 'box I wondered what was lubing mine as I'd not found a receipt for a gearbox oil change in my comprehensive history I got with the car.

On the test drive it didn't take too long to realise how much of a HUGE difference this new oil had made to my gearbox whine. The shrill was down significantly, it's not gone completely, but it's now not the intrusive and worrying whine it was before. Not by a long shot.

If you haven't done this simple gearbox oil refresh then I can't recommend it enough. This must be one of the most satisfying results from a DIY job ever!

I've written a blog post here if you'd like to read in more detail.

 

[Super_Marv]

Yep, it's well worth doing if it hasn't been done recently - oil is far, far cheaper than a new gearbox!

 

[DivineE]

Mine smelt like something from another planet when I drained it out! Amazing how few garages actually change gear box oil even when innocent owners loyally take there car to be serviced thinking they are maintaining it properly. My car has a lovely full book of stamps but from the look/smell of it I wonder if its actually ever been done in 25 years.

 

[Super_Marv]

Porsche recommend every 48k, which may be fine, but I like to err on the side of caution, as these gearboxes are so expensive to replace or repair, so it's every 24k for my car. It's definitely something that wrongly gets ignored, just like PAS fluid.

Think my Golf needs doing when it gets services next....it's done over 100k, without it being changed [&o]

 

[Pastry]

gonna do this, any high street shops do a 17mm allen key or socket? checked halfords and B&Q no joy.

 

[dlknight]

ORIGINAL: Pastry

gonna do this, any high street shops do a 17mm allen key or socket? checked halfords and B&Q no joy.

Machinemart do a set of drain plug keys in a nice metal tin

Dave

 

[Eiger]

I had to get a set from Machine Mart as dlknight pointed out - think it was £16 for a set of ratchet allen heads all the way up to 17mm, while I was there I picked up a torque wrench too. Pity I didn't buy this set the first time round (that one only went up to 10mm). Buy a nice long breaker bar as well.

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

Eiger, is Castrol TAF-X sulphur free (ie suitable for 'yellow metals')

Im planning on changing my gearbox oil. I was going to go with redline but may opt for Castrol TAF-X if its suitable.

Cheers.

Neil.

 

[Super_Marv]

Just looked at the workshop manual for the 968 (I presume the 944 will be similar, they're both transaxles made by the same manufacturer, as far as I know) and the workshop manual specifies a hypoid oil, SAE 75w90 or API classification GL5 (or MIL-L 2105B)

If this Castrol TAF-X meets the API GL5 standard, it should be fine.

 

[wibble]

[FONT=Arial"]What's the oil capacity of the transaxle?

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

ORIGINAL: wibble

[FONT=Arial"]What's the oil capacity of the transaxle?

I am pretty sure I read that the gearbox holds between 2 and 3 litres but cant remember where I saw it.

 

[C50]

ORIGINAL: dirtydirtyharry

ORIGINAL: wibble

[FONT=arial"]What's the oil capacity of the transaxle?

I am pretty sure I read that the gearbox holds between 2 and 3 litres but cant remember where I saw it.

it says 2l in my driver's manual

 

[Mike_Pollock]

It says 2 litres but, buy 3 litres as 1 - its almost impossible to get the full amount out of the bottles, and 2 - it seems to take alittle more than 2.
Mike

 

[Damo666]

So glad I've just read this, gonna give this a bash when
get chance and hopefully silence the whine top info

 

[944Turbo]

this works well for filling gearbox oil http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cgg500-500cc-oil-suction-gun

 

[Eiger]

Yeah the Castrol TAF-X is GL5 compliant. I bought 3L from Opie and the gearbox used about 2.6L