What gearbox oil?

[reubenwilliams 0]

Hello all,

 

oil buzzer started going off today only a second or so :mad: (just one thing after another...) - seems to be the midrange buzzer - only when cornering at a reasonable pace. however I'm sure i've been loosing a little oil for a while so want to top up tonight.

 

Does anyone know what gearbox oil to put in a 2.0L valver?

 

any help asap would be great - if before 6 I can do it tonight!

 

thanks guys

[coolrado 0]

if its setting off the buzzer it wont be the gearbox oil, it will be the engine oil. :?

[reubenwilliams 0]

Really? Oh good, i have some of that. engine all seems an ok level though. Thought just the light was for engine oil and the 2 buzzers where for gearbox oil pressure? What oil would you recommend for the valver then - it runs fairly warm, oil up to 110 so synthetic maybe?

[coolrado 0]

most popular recomendations on here are usually synta silver for the engine oil and Redline MT 90 for the gearbox oil.

 

there are no pressure sensors for the gearbox oil as it isnt pumped around, the gears just sit in the oil and drag it round, if you are loosing gearbox oil you will need to get it sorted, it should never loose a drop of gearbox oil.

 

if your engine oil level is ok but you are still getting the buzzing it could be a dead pressure sensor, or low oil pressure due to a dead oil pump.

[reubenwilliams 0]

Hmm, I only suggest gearbox oil because its a very distinct smell and is pretty clean! (engine oil needs a change soon... not clean!)

[dinkus 10]

As above - the beeper only goes off for the engine oil, but it's quite common for the sensors to die. They're about £7 each from VAG and pretty easy to change (don't even need to drain the oil on a VR, not sure about the valvers).

 

Gearbox oil wise (mmm nutty smelling) then MT-90 seems to be the favourite choice, but as above - you really shouldn't be losing any so check for leaks/cracks in the gearbox housing.

[coolrado 0]

I always thought gearbox oil smells like tom cat p!ss when they scent mark, horrible smell thats really hard to get rid of :lol:

 

favourite places for gearbox leaks are the drive shaft flange seals, or sometimes the seal on the splined shaft in the bell housing.

[reubenwilliams 0]

spot on guys, well maybe... I shall check all of the above tonight and let you know. Thanks for all your help. I hope no cracks or leaky seals! a nice £7 broken sensor would be a well deserved break from the expensive!!! Hope I can get to E38 on sat and get a nice Mk2 driver as a runaround so i can finally start stripping my C to start the project...

[coolrado 0]

have you checked the gearbox oil level?

there is a big hex key socket plug on the front face of the gearbox, with that removed and the car on a level surface the oil should be level with the bottom of the hole,

to fill it simply pour the oil in (may need to improvise a funnel and section of pipe to get at it) until it starts to overflow then put the plug back in, if it isnt leaking it might be worth draining the oil anyway and chucking some MT90 in there as it does improve the shift a bit and the old oil is usually all glittery from all the bits of gears that have worn away over the years.

[reubenwilliams 0]

OK - at work at the mo, although you'd never guess it. Will give it all a go tonight I hope. Thanks guys :salute:

[dinkus 10]

I always thought gearbox oil smells like tom cat p!ss when they scent mark, horrible smell thats really hard to get rid of :lol:

 

I try to avoid sniffing cat piss :lol:

[herisites 0]

Its a piece of piss to change the gearbox oil mate so if you have never done it or dont know when it was last done i would just do it anyway as coolrado said. Make sure you undo the fill plug first though so you dont empty the oil from the drain plug and then cant get the fill pug off!!

 

I done my mates last weekend and i think it took about 10 minutes :lol:

[coolrado 0]

I always thought gearbox oil smells like tom cat p!ss when they scent mark, horrible smell thats really hard to get rid of :lol:

 

I try to avoid sniffing cat piss :lol:

So do I, thats why we took him to the vets to have his knackers off, :lol: he scent marked the washing line :silent: :gag: :pukeright:

[reubenwilliams 0]

Ok, took of the gearbox plug. Insanely tight. there was no way it needed to be that tight. in comes the heavy duty steel tubing to get the leverage needed to undo! :bad-words: When will people learn? It's not going to win any deep gearbox oil contests, but plenty in there.

 

Thought - could the beeper be right- (although i'm sure it is more likely to be broken judging on the C's ability to break its own parts) and the oil strainer in the sump be clogged which is restricting flow? may be worth a check before jumping into a new oil pump...

 

Thanks

[herisites 0]

My buzzer used to go off quite frequently mate so i changed the oil pressure sender on top of the oil filter housing which cost a few quid and it hasn't buzzed since, really easy to change and that was also where mine had a slight oil leak so i killed 2 birds with 1 stone :D Also just check the connections as they could be worn, they are only spade connections so you can always cut the wire back and put new connections on if they do look a bit dodgy.

[coolrado 0]

yeah its definately worth changing the pressure sensor on top of the filter housing, when mine went, the plastic bit on the top of the sensor was blown off completely and it was like a fountain of hot oil spraying all over the engine, its amazing how much oil can be lost through such a small hole in a matter of a few seconds :shock:

[reubenwilliams 0]

Hello all,

 

curious pattern i've just sort of noticed. I thought that the pressure must be low and setting off the buzzer because the oil strainer was gunked up and it was just aggrovated when rounding corners as the oil moved in the sump...

 

BUT. I now have another pattern, it's when i put on the left indicator! only sometimes and again usually on roundabouts! discovered this when i was about to turn left out of my road at about 15mph indicator on - buzzer on, indicator off - buzzer off. avoided using indicators (highly recommended i know) and sure enough no oil buzzer for journey...

 

what can the indicators possibly have to do with a buzzer system?

[davidwort 0]

the indicator dash lights and warning buzzer are all on the main instrument cluster electrics, I'd suspect some electrical gremlins, possibly the voltage stabaliser, do you get any other odd readings on any of the other gauges, perhaps there's a short/earthing problem in there somewhere.

[reubenwilliams 0]

other gauges all read ok, water a little high but thats because the water temp is a little high :roll: !!!

This should take care of those gremlins :snipersmile: :dwarf: atleast until I can sort it out...