I am having gear selection problems and intend to change my gearbox oil, some previous threads suggest using genuine oil.

Obviously VAG do not make oil but buy their lubricants in, badge them and charge the appropriate price for the privelage.

Does anyone have any recommendations what to use and what not to use and possibly where to buy it from

I believe that silkolene is not recommended.

Many Thanks

Frank

I use valvoline or Redline. Fully synth, not mineral like VW.

Fully synth multigrade EP, any brand except Silkolene. Nothing wrong with it per se, but it's a well proven fact that VAG boxes don't like it.

Motul motyl gear 75w-90.

Amazing oil:thumbup:

Before an oil change you can try adjusting the shift linkage - do a search for the procedure on here....

Hi if i was you,Check the dog bone mounting,i ad problem with gears and it turned out to be the rubber mouting,if you do a search for dog bone it may help.

good look

ps told it is a common problem

Agreed with the above, or possibly the "console bush" is loose. Whatever, if the car's done over 50_000 miles changing the gear oil is probably a good idea anyway.

I use valvoline or Redline. Fully synth, not mineral like VW.

Sorry, but that's just plain untrue.

The VAG gearbox oil is fully synthetic and works very well as does the Millers TRX fully synthetic 75w-90.

The valvoline and also silkoline stuff actually doesn't work well in the box as has been proven by a lot of members on here who have changed it for VAG stuff after as it leaves the box all knotchy.

IMHO change the box oil at about 50k and try and get a place that will hot flush it throught. I would use the VAG oil as it isn't expensive, but when I had a MK I used the millers at £7 a bottle. I still have 1 L sealed and sitting on the shelf in fact.

Which bit is untrue? G52 for the earlier boxes was mineral. Which oil are you talking about, the synth G52 for later? If so fair enough.

I am running redline in a manual and valvoline in an auto (the VW 01M trans fluid IS mineral, the valvoline fluid I used IS synthetic).

Both vehicles are noticably better in all respects after the changes.

I cannot comment on valvoline in the manual box, I just use it on auto, so I'll take for read what you say on that.

Greg.

Sorry, but that's just plain untrue.

The VAG gearbox oil is fully synthetic and works very well as does the Millers TRX fully synthetic 75w-90.

The valvoline and also silkoline stuff actually doesn't work well in the box as has been proven by a lot of members on here who have changed it for VAG stuff after as it leaves the box all knotchy.

IMHO change the box oil at about 50k and try and get a place that will hot flush it throught. I would use the VAG oil as it isn't expensive, but when I had a MK I used the millers at £7 a bottle. I still have 1 L sealed and sitting on the shelf in fact.

Which bit is untrue? G52 for the earlier boxes was mineral. Which oil are you talking about, the synth G52 for later? If so fair enough.

I am running redline in a manual and valvoline in an auto (the VW 01M trans fluid IS mineral, the valvoline fluid I used IS synthetic).

Both vehicles are noticably better in all respects after the changes.

I cannot comment on valvoline in the manual box, I just use it on auto, so I'll take for read what you say on that.

Greg.

The manual didn't like valvoline.

The part I'm saying is untrue is that if you walk into a VAG dealer and ask for gear oil for a MK I Octy TDI you got fully synthetic oil. If you ask for gear oil for a 1.6 MK III Golf you also got the same fully synthetic gear oil too.

I'd recommend the VAG oil myself, completely transformed the change in my 130k mile Passat!

Fair enough. I'm just making the point that quite a few VW oils and AFIK the older 5-speeds are non-synthetic. Look at the two G52's below - one is mineral, the other is synth. In some cases after a bullitin VW switched the type of oil, so now they will give you synth, but it was filled from factory with mineral. By the way from that thread on freds, it transpires that G52 is in the ATF viscosity and is NOT a 75w90 even though that is the spec often quoted for those boxes. When tested, it was about 6.4, which is a 10w oil, just creeping into the 20w at it's lowest end. Even redline's ATF was slightly thicker. So it may be worth, as is common, looking at something like a redline ATF which can outperform EP90 in wear properties but can match the thin viscosity for great fuel economy and shifting.

Greg.

The manual didn't like valvoline.

The part I'm saying is untrue is that if you walk into a VAG dealer and ask for gear oil for a MK I Octy TDI you got fully synthetic oil. If you ask for gear oil for a 1.6 MK III Golf you also got the same fully synthetic gear oil too.

Edited 26 July, 200817 yr by greg123

Am facing the same choice and reading all sorts of threads on the internet about the subject. If incorrect, incorrect in commission: what transpires is that oil with just GL-5 specification, but not explicitely GL-4, is very good for the rear-differential gear of a 4x4 but may attack copper and brass parts in a gear box with synchromeshes, depending on the additives used; particularly sulphur based additives seem aggressive. The corrosion test is part of GL4 but not of the GL5 spec.

The Skoda workshop manual prescribes synthetic G51 75W-90 oil for the 6 shift. What G51 exactly means I havn´t found yet. Measurements of VAG´s oil indeed indicate that it is actually thinner than that 75W-90 spec.

The typenumber of the oil for the 6 speed, G052 171 A2, suggests compliance with VAG´s G52 spec which is incoherent with the G51 in the manual.

In summary what would seem OK:

origin: synthetic

viscosity: 75W-90

specs: GL-4, GL-5 as additional option but in any case explicitely GL4

quantity: 2.6 liter for a 6 shift 4x4

The plugs to drain the 02M gearbox are of a special M16 star type with a centre opening inside the star. Make sure that the filler opening can be opened before draining the gear box. 30 N.m torque

Just did the change using GL4 synthetic 75W-90 oil. What came out at 125k km was pitch black so hope this will positively influence lifetime of the gearbox. Am puzzled anyway about this no-refill-needed policy of VAG. Any new gearbox will in its early life produce metal powder as there will never be an initial perfect fit of all the moving parts. The old fashioned approach to start with thin oil to promote initial wear and then after say 10 k km changing that for a good quality oil to stay there say 100k or 150 k km seems more common sense. If the by-products of initial wear don´t get removed they will act as an abrasive powder.

Edited 7 August, 200817 yr by doddel

Many thanks for all the info you left, but, without finding out for myself what type of tool is required to remove filler plug please.

What is meant by 02M gearbox.