My Fav has started to leak gear oil. Crawled under expecting to find drive shaft seals leaking but no.

It really looks as though the drain plug itself is leaking. Not from its washer but through the plug itself, which seems to have some sort of central core. Is this standard? or is it some sort of repair? What can go wrong with a drain plug - apart from the washer.

I did the obvious - topped up the oil and ran for c10miles - parked over a clean board. The leak was certainly dropping off the drain plug. I wiped around again but to my old eyes it really looked to be coming from the centre of the plug. Up to recently it never left oil marks and the only recent work was to replace the starter motor.

Is the drain plug standard across VAG i.e. Felly,Golf etc.

No they have nothing in common with any other vag vehicles, I've never seen one leak from the centre of the drain plug before, normally they leak from everywhere else except the drain plug, the gear selector shaft is the normal favourite place for leaks. The drain plug is the same as a felicia one and they only cost about £2 from the skoda dealer.

@gabljabr

This is your drain plug: code 002301127A (M22x1.5), photo below. If you are concerned about the marks shown on the head of the plug, they are made by lathe during fabrication. There's no 'core'.

Now back to real world. Finding the exact leaking spot may be tricky. You have to degrease the gearbox case thoroughly and then drive a while on dry roads (impossible in UK tmk) in order to avoid oily road water splashing on gearbox and make you think the drain plug is leaking. Which it isn't.

@gabljabr

This is your drain plug: code 002301127A (M22x1.5), photo below. If you are concerned about the marks shown on the head of the plug, they are made by lathe during fabrication. There's no 'core'.

Now back to real world. Finding the exact leaking spot may be tricky. You have to degrease the gearbox case thoroughly and then drive a while on dry roads (impossible in UK tmk) in order to avoid oily road water splashing on gearbox and make you think the drain plug is leaking. Which it isn't.

@gabljabr

This is your drain plug: code 002301127A (M22x1.5), photo below. If you are concerned about the marks shown on the head of the plug, they are made by lathe during fabrication. There's no 'core'.

Now back to real world. Finding the exact leaking spot may be tricky. You have to degrease the gearbox case thoroughly and then drive a while on dry roads (impossible in UK tmk) in order to avoid oily road water splashing on gearbox and make you think the drain plug is leaking. Which it isn't.

Thanks Teflon Tom and Adurer for those responses and I do so agree that my comments seem ludicrous but I've just had another look.

I cleaned around the drain plug and I THINK I am satisfied that no oil is tracking down the side of the drain plug -- I wipe it clean and wrap my finger around it, no oil on my finger. But I am seeing oil drops form on the centre of the drain plug.The circular centre part of my plug is more pronounced perhaps 3mm proud There is a stain on the floor c150x150mm after a couple of hours and is certainly gear oil.

Have I got a non-standard drain plug, I wonder.

At the 'arrowed' points on Adurer's pic there seems to be some type of gasketing compound from where to the oil is leaking. I am suspicious that the plug itself is someone's bodge. Thus I'll lash out £2 on a new one but am a bit concerned about what removal of the existing will reveal.I will attemt to include pics when circumstances allow

A simple replacement may just do the job & hopefully someone hasn't cross threaded it in!

I cleaned around the drain plug and I THINK I am satisfied that no oil is tracking down the side of the drain plug -- I wipe it clean and wrap my finger around it, no oil on my finger. But I am seeing oil drops form on the centre of the drain plug.The circular centre part of my plug is more pronounced perhaps 3mm proud

Ok, here's the deal. That center conical 'hole' may be 3 mm deep depending on lathe specifications and operator's ability to center the hexagonal bar during fabrication. But we're talking about a plug that's at least 18 mm high. So unless your mechanic hates you and drilled a hole through, you're good. Take the thinnest, longest needle you have and poke that 'hole'. Take a bright lit picture too while you're mopping the floor with your jacket

Generic info about threads: sealing bolts/plugs have round profile threads, different from triangular classic ones.

Well, it looks like I done a wrong 'un.

What I thought was the drain plug must be something else. It must be some sort of pivot point, located at the lowest point of the box in a vertical mode ( not horizontal as the 'proper drain plug'). I cannot see any thing in Haynes manual to identify and don't know how to obtain diags from the web - relying on you guys.Also I tried but can't post pics.

that's the pivot point that holds the reverse gear relay linkage, the drain plug is on the side of the differential casin

Well, it looks like I done a wrong 'un.

What I thought was the drain plug must be something else.

Aarghh...

Also I tried but can't post pics.

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that's the pivot point that holds the reverse gear relay linkage, the drain plug is on the side of the differential casin

that's the pivot point that holds the reverse gear relay linkage

So what do I need to do?

can I remove this and expect to find a worn out seal/'o'ring

Turns out the item is a 'DETENTE' comprising a cylindrical nut containing a sliding insert with ball, spring loaded. Then there is an external cap over the hex nut. It was the cap that had corroded allowing oil to leak. Unfortunately I put it in the hands of a transmission expert with over 40 yrs experience who had never seen a similar gearbox. It cost me £95 for a repair that needed only a 20mm disc brazed on to the nut. Unfortunately I had not been able to recognise the part in Haynes manual

The bolt you had to replace is shown in the illustration below from ETKA catalog. All you had to do is to ask in here about part #, not look in Haynes. The bolt costs 1.4 Euro (http://www.amd-autodily.cz/prevodovka/sroub-aretace-stare-provedeni.html) not 95 pounds.

One more thing. You gotta ask yourself how was it possible for a bolt to get corroded in such degree.

IMHO it has to do with bad gearbox oil or never completely changed. It became acidic. Gearbox oil change is one of the most overlooked maintenance operation.

Gearbox oil change is one of the most overlooked maintenance operation.

I think the horror stories of dropping the speedo drive gear in put a lot of people off changing or even checking on Felicias. Are Favorits the same in this respect? You'd think there would be a better provision to fill or top up.

Frankly I don't see how speedo drive gear could get past differential corresponding gear in one piece. There's not enough room.

The bolt you had to replace is shown in the illustration below from ETKA catalog. All you had to do is to ask in here about part #, not look in Haynes. The bolt costs 1.4 Euro (http://www.amd-autod...-provedeni.html) not 95 pounds.

If only...if only I had identified the part correctly I would have seen that nothing is disturbed by its removal

If only 'the expert with 40 years experience' I took it to had recognized the part... I think he must have been having a 'slow day'.

At 76 years old I could have done it in half an hour and saved myself c£90 and not wasted 2.4L of oil.

Q. would I be able to order parts direct from that website?

I ask because the drain plug bought from a local dealer cost £5.16p as I expected to pay c£2

Q. would I be able to order parts direct from that website?

I ask because the drain plug bought from a local dealer cost £5.16p as I expected to pay c£2

Well, Czech Republic is part of EU. There are tons of Czech auto part stores that accept Master Card/Visa/whatever.