Is There A Way To Check The Gearbox Oil Level?

[humanz 3]

I've been getting a strange sound from upfront. I figure it's driveshaft related. Now, I don't pretend to know a whole lot about cars. I had a look under the car, and noticed the bottom of the housing for the gearbox seemed to have a fair amount of oil on it. So I figure it has a leak. How I can check the current level of the oil? It's a manual gearbox on a 1.9 GTI

 

Don't know if this makes a difference, but the power seems to be a bit down, so I'm a bit concerned. I'm just trying to check certain things before I have to shell out more cash to my mechanic

[Roman 0]

you must first remove right wheel and you see plastic cover on bottom of the arch(remove plastic and you see gearbox-on the top you see large bolt this is fill and check( its ok when start driping oil

don't find better picture but i mark you position(side) bolt position

[Roman 0]

you must first remove right wheel and you see plastic cover on bottom of the arch(remove plastic and you see gearbox-on the top you see large bolt this is fill and check( its ok when start driping oil

don't find better picture but i mark you position(side) bolt position

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

Roman, I don't know what kind of GTI you drive, but on mine the gearbox is on the left side of the car . (Don't worry, I made a right turn when the police officer said to make a left while doing the test for my driving license, still got it though:) )

 

I don't know how you check the oil, I just fill it up until it starts dripping. Oil leaks could be from the crank, drive shafts, or gearbox center axle oil seals. Could you post a pic or give more details as to where you see the oil leak could come from. If it's the drive shafts seals you'll see oil on the differential housing (just where the drive shafts go into the gearbox), if it's the other two you'll see oil on the bottom of the gearbox housing.

 

Have you checked engine oil level and pressure?

Edited March 11, 2009 by unariciflocos

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

The gearbox IS on the right hand side of the car.....if you're looking from the front.

 

All relative.

 

I didn't know about this alleged 'sight glass' on the gearbox. Interesting.

 

For the £10 it costs though to refill a gearbox with 2ltrs of fresh g/b oil, I'd drain it (checking what comes out) and refill, then park the car on flat level ground over dry flooring. Alternatively you could place some fresh cardboard underneath, perhaps marking on it certain points on it such as driveshaft outputs, and see where any leaks fall. This will help you find both the scale of any leak and where it's coming from.

[Roman 0]

Roman, I don't know what kind of GTI you drive, but on mine the gearbox is on the left side of the car . (Don't worry, I made a right turn when the police officer said to make a left while doing the test for my driving license, still got it though:) )

 

I don't know how you check the oil, I just fill it up until it starts dripping. Oil leaks could be from the crank, drive shafts, or gearbox center axle oil seals. Could you post a pic or give more details as to where you see the oil leak could come from. If it's the drive shafts seals you'll see oil on the differential housing (just where the drive shafts go into the gearbox), if it's the other two you'll see oil on the bottom of the gearbox housing.

 

Have you checked engine oil level and pressure?

oops sorry im still sleep

[humanz 3]

you must first remove right wheel and you see plastic cover on bottom of the arch(remove plastic and you see gearbox-on the top you see large bolt this is fill and check( its ok when start driping oil

don't find better picture but i mark you position(side) bolt position

 

Is this also true for BE1 gearboxes? I neglected to say that first off, but as the pic you found is a BE3 (methinks) was just wondering....

 

In any case, if I've got to remove the n/s wheel, the job will have to wait til this weekend. But from your picture, I don't see how I could fill or check the gearbox with the battery tray still in place. And if I've got to go under the car, I'll need to borrow a trolley jack.

[welshpug 1,657]

yes, the end casing of the box is identical as regards to the placement of the level plug.

 

the black breather pictured above is what you should remove to top up the fluid, it can be accessed by removal of the AFM if situated in its original position.

[Ludi 2 2 Cars]

For the £10 it costs though to refill a gearbox with 2ltrs of fresh g/b oil, I'd drain it (checking what comes out) and refill, then park the car on flat level ground over dry flooring. Alternatively you could place some fresh cardboard underneath, perhaps marking on it certain points on it such as driveshaft outputs, and see where any leaks fall. This will help you find both the scale of any leak and where it's coming from.

 

 

Totally Agree with this.

[DamirGTI 342]

I always fill them from the top like WP says , trough the breather or (if it's lift up reverse box) the hole for the reverse cable .. just can't be arsed to jack up the car , remove the LH wheel , lay down and make myself and my floor dirty to do it that way .. the box needs 2L of oil and the gear oil package is (usually) 1L per bottle so thats clear measure when filling up an empty box - fill two of them from the top and that's it ..

 

Damir

 

EDIT : and , there's no need for removing the battery/AFM - take the funnel , stick suitable length of hose on the funnel to clear the battery/AFM height , then hose inside the hole on the top of the box pour the oil in the funnel and bob's your uncle !

Edited March 11, 2009 by DamirGTI

[MrG 3]

I have a BE1 box and I did it as per Damirs post.

[humanz 3]

This thread needs some pics. I haven't figured out where u guys are meaning yet. There's a mess of wires above my gearbox, and my mechanic pointed me to a totally different bolt for filling the box. Pls post some pics so i can figure out exactly where u mean. I'm a total newb when it comes to these things.

[j_turnell 137 3 Cars]

In Roman's pic you can see a black plastic cap on top of the box, youll have the same, apart from your lift up reverse cable fits in there, undo this and pull out the cable and poor away!

[DamirGTI 342]

 

 

Damir

[humanz 3]

Found it. Thanks all. So why does the Haynes manual point to a different location?

[DamirGTI 342]

It points to correct location as it's on almost all cars .. but since the whole procedure is a bit time consuming (jacking the car up , removing the wheel etc.) this one is alternative filling spot .. and so much easier and faster ..

 

Damir