# Gearbox oil



## DXantus (Mar 29, 2016)

Hello, I just changed my gearbox oil and I realized the guy that did the service put shell spirax S2 A 90 combined with shell spirax S2 A 140. A friend of mine who also sell oils told me that different oil density should not be blended. My car is a Golf GTI MK3 ABA 2.0L 8v with 160,000km on it. What should I do? What oil do you recommend?


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## surfstar (Mar 13, 2016)

You can blend oil, no problem. Gearbox, engine - no worries. Many people use Redline MT90 / MTL blend to end up with a viscosity somewhere in between. Very common to do and harmless, especially when using the same brand/type.


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## DXantus (Mar 29, 2016)

Changing gearbox oil and adding 2 quartz of the oil mentioned cost me 12 bucks. I heard it should cost more, the guy just drained the old oil and added new.


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## DXantus (Mar 29, 2016)

I read on internet that an transmission oil change cost from 60 to 200 bucks; I paid 12 dollars (including the two quartz of oil used), What did I do wrong?)


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## cuppie (May 4, 2005)

You did nothing wrong. An oil change on an automatic can get spendy, yes (especially if the filter is changed.) 
Manual trans, though? An 020 only holds ~2qt of oil, and is stupid easy to change the oil in it.

-Remove drain plug, start draining. 
-Remove fill plug (trans drains faster.) 
-Reinstall drain plug. 
-Fill trans until it barfs, wait for overflow to slow to a trickle.
-Reinstall fill plug.


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## DXantus (Mar 29, 2016)

cuppie said:


> You did nothing wrong. An oil change on an automatic can get spendy, yes (especially if the filter is changed.)
> Manual trans, though? An 020 only holds ~2qt of oil, and is stupid easy to change the oil in it.
> 
> -Remove drain plug, start draining.
> ...


I see.. I heard so many things about it.... definetively more than ever I gonna start working on my car by my own... I couldn't get more reliability from my car unless I start working on it myself.


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## a_riot (Jun 14, 2005)

cuppie said:


> You did nothing wrong. An oil change on an automatic can get spendy, yes (especially if the filter is changed.)
> Manual trans, though? An 020 only holds ~2qt of oil, and is stupid easy to change the oil in it.
> 
> -Remove fill plug (trans drains faster.)
> ...


I flipped the first two around. You don't want to open the drain plug before the fill plug, in case the fill plug doesn't come out. It will drain faster with it out, but if you can't get it out, then you still have oil in the transaxle rather than it being empty and not being able to get the fill plug out. Then you're pulling the speedometer gear out to fill it.


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## cuppie (May 4, 2005)

This is true - and, very good advice. Minimally, at least crack the fill plug loose before removing the drain. 
Experience, though, has taught me that you'll get a lot less gear oil on your hand, if you remove the drain before removing the fill from the case. (but, yeah, at least make sure that the fill plug turns first.)


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## draper (Oct 22, 2016)

DXantus said:


> Hello, I just changed my gearbox oil and I realized the guy that did the service put shell spirax S2 A 90 combined with shell spirax S2 A 140. A friend of mine who also sell oils told me that different oil density should not be blended. My car is a Golf GTI MK3 ABA 2.0L 8v with 160,000km on it. What should I do? What oil do you recommend?


Use MTL 75W80 API GL-4 Gear Oil or similar.


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## T Dog (May 22, 2014)

Anything above 10 to 12 cSt should work fine. The thing is to not use "gear oil" GL-5 which is too slick for the synchronizers to engage or grab. You want GL-4 "MTF" also called "MTL" manual trans lube. Specific GL-4, not fake "dual rated" 4&5 is the way to go. Royal Purple and Lucas are garbage....










In USA we have Redline MTL and Pennzoil/GM Synchromesh as the most obvious choices. I've used many inc Fuchs Silkolene Full Ester and really, Synchromesh is just as good and available everywhere. It's great in cold too, pity the guys who use 75w-90 inadvertently.


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