Filling Manual Transmission

Alright, I finally got the old Jetta back together after replacing the
drive flange seals, front engine mount and transmission mount. What a
relief to have it all back together. I dumped the gear oil that was in
it, partly because everyone says Redline works so well, and partly
because I suspect the old (not that old) oil might have been GL5.

Now I just wanted to make sure about filling it back up again. My
Bentley says that beginning with transaxle 08097 the oil filler hole is
7mm higher, and it is no longer necessary to remove the speedo to add
more oil.

Mine is labeled ASF 03118 with a 2 under that, so it should be one of
the ones that I just fill to the edge of the hole.
But...
I only used about 1.5 liters of oil ???

I just noticed that my Bentley says to fill on level ground. oops. If
the front end was on jack stands a couple of inches off the ground,
would that account for that last .5L?

I guess I'll check it tomorrow on the ground. But, it seems to me that
the tire being there will present some challenges in getting to the
filler hole.

Will, 89 Jetta

Will wrote:
>
> Alright, I finally got the old Jetta back together after replacing the
> drive flange seals, front engine mount and transmission mount. What a
> relief to have it all back together. I dumped the gear oil that was in
> it, partly because everyone says Redline works so well, and partly
> because I suspect the old (not that old) oil might have been GL5.
>
> Now I just wanted to make sure about filling it back up again. My
> Bentley says that beginning with transaxle 08097 the oil filler hole is
> 7mm higher, and it is no longer necessary to remove the speedo to add
> more oil.
>
> Mine is labeled ASF 03118 with a 2 under that, so it should be one of
> the ones that I just fill to the edge of the hole.
> But...
> I only used about 1.5 liters of oil ???
>
> I just noticed that my Bentley says to fill on level ground. oops. If
> the front end was on jack stands a couple of inches off the ground,
> would that account for that last .5L?
>
> I guess I'll check it tomorrow on the ground. But, it seems to me that
> the tire being there will present some challenges in getting to the
> filler hole.
>
> Will, 89 Jetta

You always want to run 2 liters of oil. I think all that Bentley is
saying is that at some point the fill/level check hole was raised to the
proper height. If oil runs out before 2 liters are in, you have the
"too-low" hole. After all, rasing the hole up higher does nothing to
change the volume of the transaxle housing, its still the same shape, so
needs the same amount of oil:
http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/ForSa...ge.shtml#FAQ20

And you can always top off the oil through the speedo hole on top.
That's how I do mine. Fill until it runs out the "fill" hole (that way
I know for sure the oil is in there), then I fill the rest, by volume,
through the top.

--
Roger

Roger Brown wrote:
> Will wrote:
>
>>Alright, I finally got the old Jetta back together after replacing the
>>drive flange seals, front engine mount and transmission mount. What a
>>relief to have it all back together. I dumped the gear oil that was in
>>it, partly because everyone says Redline works so well, and partly
>>because I suspect the old (not that old) oil might have been GL5.
>>
>>Now I just wanted to make sure about filling it back up again. My
>>Bentley says that beginning with transaxle 08097 the oil filler hole is
>>7mm higher, and it is no longer necessary to remove the speedo to add
>>more oil.
>>
>>Mine is labeled ASF 03118 with a 2 under that, so it should be one of
>>the ones that I just fill to the edge of the hole.
>>But...
>>I only used about 1.5 liters of oil ???
>>
>>I just noticed that my Bentley says to fill on level ground. oops. If
>>the front end was on jack stands a couple of inches off the ground,
>>would that account for that last .5L?
>>
>>I guess I'll check it tomorrow on the ground. But, it seems to me that
>>the tire being there will present some challenges in getting to the
>>filler hole.
>>
>>Will, 89 Jetta
>
>
> You always want to run 2 liters of oil. I think all that Bentley is
> saying is that at some point the fill/level check hole was raised to the
> proper height. If oil runs out before 2 liters are in, you have the
> "too-low" hole. After all, rasing the hole up higher does nothing to
> change the volume of the transaxle housing, its still the same shape, so
> needs the same amount of oil:
> http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/ForSa...ge.shtml#FAQ20
>
> And you can always top off the oil through the speedo hole on top.
> That's how I do mine. Fill until it runs out the "fill" hole (that way
> I know for sure the oil is in there), then I fill the rest, by volume,
> through the top.
>

Well, you were right. With the car on all fours, I was able to get some
of my remaining fluid in the side, but not all. So I went through the
speedo hole. I think in the future, I'll put it all through the top.

It's too bad I can't be sure about which case I have, because if I ever
wanted to check the fluid level, my best bet would be to drain it all
and measure it, or just drain it and put in two new liters, for the
price of two liters, I guess it doesn't matter.

Will, 89 Jetta

Will wrote:
> Well, you were right. With the car on all fours, I was able to get some
> of my remaining fluid in the side, but not all. So I went through the
> speedo hole. I think in the future, I'll put it all through the top.
>
> It's too bad I can't be sure about which case I have, because if I ever
> wanted to check the fluid level, my best bet would be to drain it all
> and measure it, or just drain it and put in two new liters, for the
> price of two liters, I guess it doesn't matter.

One option would be to experimentally determine an angle to tip the car
over to (by driving the driver's side tire up onto a small ramp) that
sets the fill plug at the proper height after your initial fill. Then,
just repeat that angle to check. On mine, unless I see obvious signs of
leakage, I don't check the level very often if at all. I suppose you
might be able to rig up some sort of dip stick to use in the speedo
hole.

I think the problem with the design of the case is that it did not
account for the tilt-back angle of the engine in the vehicle. That
angle tilted the fill plug down, since its offset to the rear end of the
gear box.

--
Roger