Hello all,

Newbie here.

I'm looking to change the gear box oil in my 2019 Octavia vrs 245 petrol manual 6 speed box. I've made the mistake of not checking if it has drain and fill plugs and bought the original VW gear oil at almost 150 notes for 3x 1 litre bottles.

Theres 54k miles on the clock so I'd like to change it as the thought of never changing it doesn't sit right with me.

I change the engine oil ( Castrol 5w30) every 4k miles and drop out the 0w20 after 1k miles after its had its dealer service and run it on Momentum.

Having jacked the car up I've found there's only a drain plug and no fill plug.

After searching the Internet it appears that to refill it requires the selector switch removing which is a black plastic nut towards the top of the gear box.

Some say to put the car into neutral,remove the switch, refill with 2.3 litres of oil and refit the plastic gear switch, and job done.

Others mention putting into neutral and locking the gear selector in place from 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock and also following the above.

I can't see why only removing the switch to get access to refill needs the gear selector locking in place.

As it's messing with the gear box I don't want you get it wrong. Most of that info is now a few years old so I'd like to think a lot more people have changed theirs since then.

Any advice would be welcome.

7 hours ago, BrandonW said:

Any advice would be welcome.

I wouldn't bother at 54k miles on the clock. I'll consider doing mine at around 120-150k if I keep the car that long.

On my old Octavia I changed the gearbox oil at 180k miles. It was slightly better after but there were no issues before. The car is on 254k now (I sold it at 230k). I also used to change the engine oil every 10k or 12 months (whichever came first). Unless you're doing a lot of city driving / short journeys or trackdays I really don't think it's worth changing the oil more frequently than that.

30 minutes ago, petrolbloke said:

I wouldn't bother at 54k miles on the clock. I'll consider doing mine at around 120-150k if I keep the car that long.

On my old Octavia I changed the gearbox oil at 180k miles. It was slightly better after but there were no issues before. The car is on 254k now (I sold it at 230k). I also used to change the engine oil every 10k or 12 months (whichever came first). Unless you're doing a lot of city driving / short journeys or trackdays I really don't think it's worth changing the oil more frequently than that.

Trip to work and back is only 6 miles one way for 5 days a week at 40mph tops plus sittingin traffic then a couple of longer runs of 40 miles twice a week and it gets a blast during those trips.

I've always changed my engine oil in all my cars around 4-5k miles and believe this is why I've never had any issues of real note with any of them.

Clean oil equals a clean engine, and for an extra 50 quid a year to me is money well spent.

Same goes for making sure other fluids are changed before or at their scheduled intervals.

Gearbox oil for me should be changed around 50k miles.

13 hours ago, petrolbloke said:

I wouldn't bother at 54k miles on the clock.

I will counter that argument. I've had Octavia's with manual boxes and a fluid change makes a massive difference - I've done mine at about 40k miles; mainly for the gear changes and knowing that any dirt and metal will be removed from the gearbox.

I did our last VRS tdi 2009)at about 120k and then again at about 200k miles. Sold a few weeks ago nudging 280k miles and the box had no issues. (drain and refill plugs were obvious).

@BrandonW ...... I'm in the same position as you with our new VRS (2017 , 99k miles), bought the oil and will change it very soon so keen to hear more replies !

Wish I'd priced the oil first.....I'll maybe get it from Opie next time ?!

Likewise, keen to hear how people get on with this change. I'm on ~78k miles atm, looking to do in the next year or so, though experiencing no issues with it as yet (*touches wood 🪵). One thing I'm interested in doing next time I get it serviced is perhaps some poly inserts into the linkage (not short-shift), improving the feel. It's still fairly slick for a 9.5yr old car, but always chasing the niceties 😉

I'll see my garage pal on Monday, I'll take a look at his Autodata service stuff and report back 👍

14 minutes ago, JohnMack said:

I'll see my garage pal on Monday, I'll take a look at his Autodata service stuff and report back 👍

Great stuff, cheers 👍

Hopefully this will be of use to others.

Looks like a special tool required for the level plug ?

Wonder if this would do?..... BGS - VAG Oil & Gearbox Drain Plug - M16 x 58 mm Spline (XZN) - Tamperpro - 4356 | eBay UK

I'm not sure the above ebay item would be the correct size? ....might have to go for something like this......... 6pc 1/2" Tamper-Proof 12 Point Security Bit Socket VW & Audi Gearbox Drain Plug | eBay UK

** PLEASE NOTE **

The above info relates to my 2017 VRS TDI........Petrol model is maybe different?

Edited 15 December, 202515 Dec by JohnMack

Had the undertray off today for a wee look, not sure where the fill plug is but I’m thinking I’ll probably just put 2.3 litres in through the reverse light switch hole?

1 hour ago, JohnMack said:

Had the undertray off today for a wee look, not sure where the fill plug is but I’m thinking I’ll probably just put 2.3 litres in through the reverse light switch hole?

I've seen a couple of mentions of removing the selector switch,

(marked by a red arrow) after selecting neutral to use as the filler hole.

On my 2019 vrs you can view what's in your image from above and access is good. I'm not sure if your image is also taken from above.

Is the reverse light switch the one I've highlighted with a blue arrow?

Cheers

9 hours ago, BrandonW said:

I've seen a couple of mentions of removing the selector switch,

(marked by a red arrow) after selecting neutral to use as the filler hole.

On my 2019 vrs you can view what's in your image from above and access is good. I'm not sure if your image is also taken from above.

Is the reverse light switch the one I've highlighted with a blue arrow?

Cheers

My photo was taken from underneath, I'm assuming the switch with the 2 wires is the reverse light switch......it's way higher than the driveshafts so would be fine to fill from here.

I'd be sceptical about removing the black plastic nut. I'm going to remove the airbox and take a look from above, will do this over the weekend.

A wee update, I drained my gear oil......2 litres dropped out and it was pretty dark not like the new stuff.

I filled it through the reverse light switch because @BrandonW put the fear in me removing the black plastic plug !!

I put back in maybe a wee bit more than the 2.3 litres specified .

1st impressions after a 25 mile drive.....2nd gear selection maybe better.

Second gear is often (although not always) bulky. Well done with the manual gearbox oil change. Give it about 200 odd miles and you will really notice the difference (especially when travelling whilst the car is still cold)

On 06/02/2026 at 17:34, JohnMack said:

A wee update, I drained my gear oil......2 litres dropped out and it was pretty dark not like the new stuff.

I filled it through the reverse light switch because @BrandonW put the fear in me removing the black plastic plug !!

I put back in maybe a wee bit more than the 2.3 litres specified .

1st impressions after a 25 mile drive.....2nd gear selection maybe better.

Was the reverse light switch easy to remove and how does it come out?

Now the weather has picked up and I'll have some spare time I'm wanting to get it done soon.

Cheers

8 hours ago, BrandonW said:

Was the reverse light switch easy to remove and how does it come out?

Now the weather has picked up and I'll have some spare time I'm wanting to get it done soon.

Cheers

Slide off the 2-pin connector, deep-drive socket (I think it was maybe 22mm?) to slacken the switch then keep unscrewing 'till it's out.

There's no extendable pouring spout incorporated into the top of the new bottles so I borrowed one from an old oil bottle....it screwed in fine.

On 25/02/2026 at 06:35, JohnMack said:

Slide off the 2-pin connector, deep-drive socket (I think it was maybe 22mm?) to slacken the switch then keep unscrewing 'till it's out.

There's no extendable pouring spout incorporated into the top of the new bottles so I borrowed one from an old oil bottle....it screwed in fine.

I've managed to get around to it today. I copied how you did it and it was very straightforward.

With the car level there was no overspill on refilling with the recommend 2.3 litres.

I used my cheapo oil extractor to refill which made it easy with no mess.

First and second gears, along with reverse are so much smoother 👍

It was nice to see no obvious swarf or other 'bits' in the drained oil.

Edited 18 March18 Mar by BrandonW

14 hours ago, BrandonW said:

I've managed to get around to it today. I copied how you did it and it was very straightforward.

With the car level there was no overspill on refilling with the recommend 2.3 litres.

I used my cheapo oil extractor to refill which made it easy with no mess.

First and second gears, along with reverse are so much smoother 👍

It was nice to see no obvious swarf or other 'bits' in the drained oil.

Gives you a nice new gear oil feeling inside eh !! 😂