kerrinmay 0 Posted May 11, 2005 Wanted to see if I could get a smoother gearchange so asked the local VW specialist to change the gearbox oil, the problem is that it is now very stiff to change gear when cold. There is no noise from it, it's just really quite stiff. Any ideas? Is it possible that they used an inappropriate gearbox oil? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted May 11, 2005 Yep - ask them what oil they used! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kerrinmay 0 Posted May 11, 2005 Just rang the garage to ask, and the chap is at lunch that did the work so I have to ring back later. Although they call themselves VW specialists I do wonder...they seem to mainly work on air-cooled vw's but say that they do watercooled as well, but the chap I just spoke to called my car a Passat, I had to correct him!! Also the chap that worked on my car told me when I took the C in that he'd never really liked them, didn't like the shape and he was more into the MK2 Golf. Interestingly I just checked my invoice and I was charged £12.87 + vat for the gearbox oil itself, not sure if this sounds about right or not? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted May 11, 2005 Sound a bit too cheap to be any good... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kerrinmay 0 Posted May 11, 2005 Is the oil easy to change and easy to get to the right parts to do the job on a 2.0 16v do you know? I have a feeling that I will be having to change the oil again myself to something more suitable. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted May 11, 2005 I hate it when garages don't tell you what they're doing. If there's a choice of different oils (for example), I want to be told what choice there is, how much they are, and a summary of the pros and cons for each... A local place to me changed the oil and tried to charge me £31+VAT for Synta Silver.. I was gobsmacked! Shome mishtake shurely..!! Well yes, there was some mistake, so he did some work for free later on, but I wasn't warned, I wasn't told in advance, I wasn't even given the choice... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
h100vw 0 Posted May 11, 2005 Redline is the stuff to use IMO. Improved the quality of the change on my syncro no end. It was nearly 60 for 2 bottles of gear oil and a bottle of water wetter. Gavin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kerrinmay 0 Posted May 11, 2005 The £12.87 + vat that I was charged for my gearbox oil is starting to sound very cheap! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted May 11, 2005 Oh, and btw, I am told that gear oil can take a few thousand miles to settle in to a gearbox. Inevitably it will be stiffer when cold, your old gearbox oil had been in there for 100k miles and had been sheared away to tiny little short chain molecules by now. The new stuff is how it *should* have been from the factory... Halford's generic gear oil is good enough, but if you're feeling particularly rich then redline MTL has lots and lots of good feedback. But you definitely need to give it time to settle in. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kerrinmay 0 Posted May 11, 2005 Maybe I should let it settle in then, it doesn't feel graunchy or anything and I'm sort of thinking it feels better than before, but just a lot stiffer. Don't think my old gearbox oil had been in there for 100k miles as my C has only done 86k :wink: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted May 11, 2005 £12.87 is about the price of 1 litre of VW's Quantum 75W/90 Synthetic blend oil, which is good stuff....but you need 1.75 litres, so I doubt he used that. Redline has been proven time and time again to transform older VW boxes and please don't put generic cr@p in as VW boxes are well known for their tempermental synchro cones.....hence Castrol and VW making oils specifically for 020/02A boxes.... 80% of the shift quality comes from well maintained shift mechanisms....the other 20% is down to the box itself. 020/02As have always been lethargic in the mornings (who isn't?) and sometimes baulk when cold..... if the shift is fine when hot, you have nothing to worry about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kerrinmay 0 Posted May 11, 2005 Thanks. Don't think I'll worry too much then, as it's just stiff when cold and I don't get any noises from it. Just spoke to the chap at the garage and he doesn't know what gearbox oil he used, just whatever was listed for the specific vehicle! He said to pop by with the car and he'lll take a look but don't think I'll bother. They don't really inspire me with confidence in there! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted May 11, 2005 LOL.... So how does he know he poured gear oil in the box and not cough mixture? He must have looked at the container? Feckin muppet. This is precisely why I do my own servicing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kerrinmay 0 Posted May 11, 2005 I'm seriously thinking about doing my own servicing. I serviced the first three cars that I had but then I stopped when I bought my previous car (E36 coupe) as things started getting more complicated with fuel injection and engine management systems etc, plus I wanted to keep up the service history. But with my recent experiences I'm thinking that I might be better off doing it myself, the only problem is that I don't have a driveway or garage to do it in, so would end up in the road which isn't really ideal. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted May 11, 2005 Injection and ignition look after themselves on most modern cars mate, but the essentials, e.g. undoing a sump drain plug, removing a filter, refilling oil etc etc remain the same ardous tasks on all engines....so unless you REALLY want a stamp, I'd encourage you to do those jobs yourself and save some money. Besides, how many mechanics mop up any oil spills after wards? Not many.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moneypit23 0 Posted May 12, 2005 This sounds like whats happening on my car. When its cold, the gear change is hard work, like really hard work and reverse can take a couple of attempts. The clutch also feels like its just dangling for about half the travel but gets better after a while as does the gear change. The cars only done 59k but should i change the gearbox oil anyway? Any help would be gratefully recieved, the favourite part of the day (the drive home from work!) is not as much fun as it should be. Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted May 12, 2005 Yep, change the gearoil for Redline MT90 (Demon Tweeks) and get the clutch fluid bled thru as I don't think this gets bled as part of normal servicing (god knows why), maybe worth sticking a new slave on anyways.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moneypit23 0 Posted May 12, 2005 i'll do that, thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RW1 0 Posted May 12, 2005 Just check in the brake reservoir that the fluid level is upto the arrow mark near the top. The clutch fluid feed is off the nearside about one third down from the top. If the brake fluid level is low, this is uncovered and introduces air into the clutch system release. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
golfg60 0 Posted May 16, 2005 If there is air in the system is it just a case of undoin the bleed nipple on the slave cyliner and pumping the clutch peda Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
