I have a mark one fabia tdi pd100 estate with 102k miles on the clock. question is, do i replace

the gearbox oil?.......if so, which oil should i use? do i stick with skoda oil, or is there better.

 

has anybody done this, and can advice me on the subject.

 

cheers

Done this on my car and I used skoda oil think it was 2 litres I used. I would suggest making sure the level plug is not sized before draining the old oil.

does no harm to change it at 100k as it when I changed my gear box oil in my octy it was dark brown (even although you local skoda dealer will advise you its suppose to be sealed for life and doesn't need changing)

 

best to stick with skoda / VAG gearbox oils as other oils may make the change stiff when the oil is cold

Just buy VAG/OEM spec oil.

 

Definitely make sure you can undo the fill plug before removing the drain.

 

If it is the same as my old PD100 box you'll need a H17 socket for fill and drain.

standard oil for the pd100 is cheap enough so worth buying genuine oil really, the vrs stuff is alot more expensive though.

 

again its easy enough to change, just make sure you have a good bottle or pump to put the oil back into the gearbox as access isnt really the best.

when I changed my gear box oil in my octy it was dark brown (even although you local skoda dealer will advise you its suppose to be sealed for life and doesn't need changing)

 

Colour change is caused by Sulphide formation and is meaningless and more importantly harmless, it would have gone black and stunk like rotten eggs eventually, still would have been lubricating the gearbox perfectly well.

 

This is why manufacturers don't bother changing the gearbox oil, because there's no need and they know this from experience because they've tested it.

Just done line on my pd100 @ 105k

Took 2 litres I'm sure it was 75w-90 maybe wrong I know it was the right stuff tho lol

Made a little difference more smooth etc worth doing for piece of mind, only a 20min job when it's up in the air

Thanx folks, just wondering, does the fill hole also serve as the gearbox oil level...ie, when the oil starts to spill out

your at correct level?

Yep that's right

To fill I used a length of garden hose with a suitable funnel wedged into it, could easily fill it (albeit reasonably steadily) from the gap between the rad and engine, much easier than faffing about underneath