Help please! Tried to change the oil but I think I've dropped the automatic transmission fluid?

[Ninty]

Hi all,

 

Hope you can help. Thought this would be a nice simple job for a sunday afternoon. My partner has got a 2005 Skoda Superb Automatic and it's had the 'service due' warning for a little while so I said I'd give it a quick oil change. I picked up new oil & filter, the 72mm socket tool to open up the filter housing under the bonnet, that bit went well. I then nipped under the car to have a look for the sump plug and I couldn't believe my luck! As I was looking at how to remove the undertray, I saw what looked like a sump plug on a lovely warm sump (just been for a 15 minute drive to warm it up). It sits just behind the wheels in the middle, literally just past where the undertray ends. I've attached a picture but its not all that clear, sorry. 

 

I put the washing up bowl under and opened the plug up (large allen bolt) only to find that the oil wasn't quite the colour that I was expecting. It's dark, quite well used oil, but nowhere near as dark as the oil on the dipstick or in the filter housing. It's also much more watery in consistency. If you dip your finger in it, it runs off quite easily, not like engine oil. There was nearly 5L of the stuff, but the fact that it didn't quite look right (and the oil was still showing on the dipstick!) told me that it probably wasn't the engine oil :(

 

My questions are -

 

• what is it (I think it's automatic transmission fluid)
• How do I replace it?
• Why on earth was the plug for this so accessible??! 

I can't really see any sort of filler for this in the engine bay. I kind of thought automatics have two dipsticks, one for the ATF and one for the oil, but I can't find anything

 

Any help would be really appreciated

 

Thanks!

 

 

[jimbof]

D'oh! Looks like it is the transmission fluid you've dropped.

Well, it probably needs doing anyway.  They're supposedly sealed for life, which is a big lie.

 

The howto is here:

http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/atf-fluid-flush-tiptronic-b5-vw-passat-and-audi/

 

The fluid will set you back a bob or two at the dealership.  There is a Febi version of the fluid I think which is more reasonable - search this forum.

[jimbof]

If it is a 1.9 there is only 3.6L of engine oil in it when filled correctly.  Much easier to take it out the dipstick tube using a Pela pump.  I think the sump plug is under the undertray (I've always left it alone and  taken it out of the dipstick tube).

[0wl]

Further to jimbof's comments, it is the transmission fluid you've dropped. From the same website, the article linked below shows the location of the engine and transmission sump plugs (the engine shown is a 2.0l 8v TDI in an American Passat but it is very similar to the 1.9). You do need to remove the front under tray to access the engine sump plug.

http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/engine-oil-and-filter-change-b5-vw-passat-tdi/

Edited 25 October, 2015 by 0wl