Technical Gear Box Oil

[Stuart_89]

Hey guys, i had a service on my 1.6 5dr dynamic the other week and they did the visual safety check, they told me that i have a small gear box leak but said it was nothing to be concernd about. How can i check the level and refil it?

Cheers

 

[PNL]

There is no way to dip the leval [no dip stick] so the only way you will know 100% if the leval is correct is to drain and refill the box..

 

[Morty Mort]

When oil comes out of the filler hole it's full. Make sure the car is levelled.

M.

 

[Stuart_89]

cheers, i dont have that much experience or mechanical knowledge, where exactly is the filler hole, im guessing its under the car on the gear box? Getting the car levelled will be a bit hard wont it if i try it myself? coz all i can do is jack it up, is it something i will need a garage for, to use the lift?

 

[Morty Mort]

To drain, you must get under the car, but when filling it is level when standing on the asphalt.

 

[PNL]

When oil comes out of the filler hole it's full.

M.

Only if you use the right amount of oil..if you try to put to much in it will as morten has said pour back out.. so having the car on a leval surface does also help..

 

[Stuart_89]

so to just top it up should i just pore in the oil until it overflows? would to much oil be damaging?

 

[PNL]

so to just top it up should i just pore in the oil until it overflows? would to much oil be damaging?

Personally its not the way to go cos you don't know what oil is in the box in the first place and some are not compatible..TBO its not a massive amount of oil we are talking here and the over all cost is small..it just getting under there is the dirty bit..over filling can have a detrimental effect on seals etc..

 

[Yellow Peril]

Personally its not the way to go cos you don't know what oil is in the box in the first place and some are not compatible..TBO its not a massive amount of oil we are talking here and the over all cost is small..it just getting under there is the dirty bit..over filling can have a detrimental effect on seals etc..

??? If the car is on the level when you top up, I don't see how you can overfill it 'cos any excess will spill out...

 

[Argonought]

I think Phil was just suggesting it's better to replace ALL the gear oil rather than topping it up (since you can't be certain what original oil it contains)

 

[PNL]

I think Phil was just suggesting it's better to replace ALL the gear oil rather than topping it up (since you can't be certain what original oil it contains)

Correct ..give the man a coconut..

 

[Stuart_89]

sorry, i havn't had a chance to look under there and im quite new to this, so there will be something on the bottom to undo to release all the old oil, then there should be a cap or something ontop to pore in the new stuff? how am i going to pore it in when the cars level? don't i need to jack it up to have enough room to pore it in?

 

[PNL]

Drain plug at the bottom of the box and filling done at the side of the box..use the correct amount of oil and it wont spill out if you jack the car up one side only ..

 

[Stuart_89]

cool cheers mate, will pop down halfords or something and get some gear box oil and give it go on the week end if the weathers nice, thanks

 

[PNL]

cool cheers mate, will pop down halfords or something and get some gear box oil and give it go on the week end if the weathers nice, thanks

I tried to get some pics up of the position of both filler and drain plugs but as usuall eper not working..Aaaarrggggghhhhhhh:bang:

 

[Stuart_89]

thanks mate, i'll hopefully be okay, if i get stuck i jump back on here, thanks

 

[Morty Mort]

The drain plug is (if I remember correctly) facing the rear of the car. You don't have to remove the undertray. Before you start you should have a meter (some feet, about 2-3) of garden hose and a funnel for easy manouvering of your new oil, as the filler hole is on the front of the gearbox. Bonnet open job.

M.

 

[Yellow Peril]

Can recommend Morty Mort's funnel and tube method - though when I changed the g/box oil on my 1.6, I had to remove the air intake pipework to access the filler plug from above (then gravity is working with you!).

 

[Morty Mort]

Morty Mort's funnel and tube method... gravity is working with you!

It's like a beer-o-phone.

 

[Stuart_89]

i went to halfords today to look for some oil, in the hand book it says i need synthetic SAE 75W-80 EP that passes GL5 and some other specifications. in halfords i found EP 75W-80 thats passes GL4, the only ones that pass GL5 were like 80W-90, i have no idea what these numbers mean but would the GL4 one be okay?