Hi all

Few days ago I've drop two cars with dq381 to dsg oil and filter replacement. In Superb (with dnua engine) mechanic drain 3l of oil and refilled by 4l (thats what was on invoice) normally I dont such maintenance by myself but I'm out of country and needed for car after return - faced some jerkings and body shaking on warm car while standing with D or S position, feeling like car still want to drive despite breake (after change it stops)

But also I've droped for dsg maintenence '19 Octavia III RS and they drained there about 3.5l and refill by 4l. Should be about 6l for both while static change.

Mechanic claims that he open both plugs, chcecked level on 35-40 degrees. Also cars are in similar millage (90k and 80k km).

I'm wondering if its possible that mechanic do not touch these brown/red pipes (if amount of oil could be sufficient then) and also wodnering if anyway some part of fresh oil is inside made some km's (1000 per car) and takie it as a flush and do it myself once back?

Maybe theyve just “ rounded up” what they actually used to the nearest full litre increment above for billing - thats 4 litres chargeable whether they used just 3.1 or up to 3.9 litres??

You're charged by the 1L bottle I believe. What are they going to do with the ½ that's left?

Is it possible that the mechanic drained the gearbox while the car was running?

While 4 liters might be enough for the service, manufacturer states that 6 are required. I would be asking was the maintenance properly done.

3 hours ago, Shuggyboatsuperb said:

Maybe theyve just “ rounded up” what they actually used to the nearest full litre increment above for billing - thats 4 litres chargeable whether they used just 3.1 or up to 3.9 litres??

At this moment point is that this 3.5/4l is less then 6l mentioned in manual

3 hours ago, defsix said:

You're charged by the 1L bottle I believe. What are they going to do with the ½ that's left?

Yeah its clear, noone normal requires calculating 0.2 or 0.5l. Looking for reason why when 2 plugs were open the drop about 3.5-4 and refill simillar amount instead more less 6l.

1 hour ago, fr1nklyn said:

Is it possible that the mechanic drained the gearbox while the car was running?

While 4 liters might be enough for the service, manufacturer states that 6 are required. I would be asking was the maintenance properly done.

Might be the case or wondering if it wasnt done too fast I mean maybe open, oil drain and them immiedietly close instead of waiting few minutes to drain full from canals, mechatronic etc...

Hi,

On DQ381 (DSG7), there are 2 drain plugs, whereas other DSG mainly have only 1.

Could the mechanic have forgotten to remove one of the two? This could explain why he drained only 3-3.5l and refilled only 4l instead of the 6l recommended in the workshop manuel…

IMHO, I would consider the job hasn’t been done properly…

Either way, if you’re experiencing different behaviours, something doesn’t sound right.

On 11/03/2026 at 17:44, Bap33 said:

Hi,

On DQ381 (DSG7), there are 2 drain plugs, whereas other DSG mainly have only 1.

Could the mechanic have forgotten to remove one of the two? This could explain why he drained only 3-3.5l and refilled only 4l instead of the 6l recommended in the workshop manuel…

IMHO, I would consider the job hasn’t been done properly…

Ahh yes, fair point @Bap33 ! This is exactly what they did - on DQ250 (DSG6) there is only 1 drain plug as you say.

So most likely mechanic assumed this DSG box is the same and drained only the clutches part oil .

Here is a picture from google showing both drain plugs https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMechanics/comments/1qihx4q/can_someone_confirm_the_location_of_my_7_speed/

Mechanic still claims that he drain for both plugs... I've decided to do it again once comeback to home by myself. It's small cost comparing maintenance of whole gearbox.

Thanks for feedback

8 minutes ago, fr1nklyn said:

Ahh yes, fair point @Bap33 ! This is exactly what they did - on DQ250 (DSG6) there is only 1 drain plug as you say.

So most likely mechanic assumed this DSG box is the same and drained only the clutches part oil .

Here is a picture from google showing both drain plugs https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMechanics/comments/1qihx4q/can_someone_confirm_the_location_of_my_7_speed/

Thanks for photo!

Running the oil to the correct temp and then doing the drain of the new oil until the correct level is set before tightening things up is mega important. Was the Oil Filter replaced in the DQ381?

@nuasiekieer , guys, I've talked to a friend of mine with indie shop who said the mechatronic plug should NOT be removed on neither older or newer revisions of the DQ381. I'm telling you this because you said you will do it yourself. I don't want to break your car.

Only the main drain plug is required to be removed for regular DQ381 servicing. The mechatronic plug is removed only if the gearbox needs to be rebuilt.

You should be able to drain 5,5-6.0L of gearbox oil while servicing, and 7L if you're fully rebuilding the gearbox.

There are few important things you should follow to correctly adjust the oil level:

• The car should be level

• The gearbox oil temperature should be 35-45 C when adjusting the oil and engine should be running(start it once the 6 liters of oil is already filled in!)

• If your DQ381 is older revision, your overflow pipe will be light/beige and you should loose it 2 turns to correctly adjust the oil level

• If your DQ381 is newer revision(2020/2021+), your overflow pipe will be red and you should NOT loose it to correctly adjust the oil level (it seems that the beige and red overflow pipes have different length )