I changed the gearbox oil on my Furby Vrs a couple of days ago. Car has done 15k.

I drained the factory fill out and got just under 2.5 litres out of it. It was a bit manky if I'm honest. I replaced a touch more than this with Silkolene Syn 5 gearbox oil.

I was surprised to find the car feeling more lethargic, less keen to accelerate and a worse change from cold moving from 1st to 2nd.

When it is cold the gearlever is a lot more stiff moving from 1st to 2nd and the change quality has got worse.

What have I done wrong?

What have I done wrong?

Put silk tran syn 5 in! (IMHO). I had the same result in my Octy vRS, the gearbox was very stiff and cruched into 2nd/3rd when cold. A number of other people have reported the same issues.

I switched back to standard VAG oil and it's back to normal.

Phil

How long did you have the Syn 5 in before you changed to VW stuff?

Ta

I heard bad things about the Syn 5 in Octy boxes so used the Millers TRX Fully synthetic in an old car. That was a massive improvement over the old oil, but that could have just been because it was new oil.

i put Castrol syntrax 75w90 in my Fabia VRS , i got a similar outcome , bit stiffer 1st to 2nd , must admit though my original oil was still very clean even though it had done 47k miles when changed

Ric

How is your gearbox now that it has done a few miles since the change to the Castrol?

Phil

How long did you have the Syn 5 in before you changed to VW stuff?

Ta

Too long :( A good 2/3 months, I was careful with it when cold though, so I don't think it did any significant damage.

Ric

How is your gearbox now that it has done a few miles since the change to the Castrol?

much the same as what it was like before i changed it , 1st to 2nd has never been good anyway :( , it did Ring/Spa trip without a problem and has got an Oulton Park TD in November to come , don't need 2nd there , just 3rd, 4th and 5th

Posted for anyone contemplating a gearbox oil change in a Furby Vrs.

Drained out the Silkolene Silktran Syn 5 oil I put in 1,000 miles ago and replaced it with VW gearbox oil (G52) bought today.

All the problems I was having whilst using the Syn 5 oil have gone.

As I have said elsewhere, I was told by a very wise aged gearbox builder I know, synthetic is a waste of time on VAG gearbox.

As I have said elsewhere, I was told by a very wise aged gearbox builder I know, synthetic is a waste of time on VAG gearbox.

may have to swap to the "dead dogs" we use at work then , will check spec tomorrow

I tried the Silktran stuff, it made the problem I was having with sticky shifting worse. I then replaced it with Castrol Syntrax which was almost no better. The problem turned out to be a warped clutch plate causing a small but unhelppful amount of clutch drag.

May go back to VAG stuff next time I swap gear oil.

I also use the Silktran in the MR2 where the box can be very uncooperative when cold. I think this oil is just a bit too slippery when cold.

Chris