Changing Gearbox Oil On A Mk2 16v Golf

[monzablue16v]

Hi guys wanting to change the gearbox oil on my valver but the Haynes is as usual clear as mud!

Do you have any ideas on the following??

Which oil to use
Where the drain plug is
How to fill it up again!

Cheers guys

[GTI EDITION (aka LTD)]

The oil  :   75W 90 semi synthetic  . I believe it's 1.9 litres, as that's what I put in the 16v gearbox in my 2lr 8v Vento ( which is apparently the same box as the mk2 16V )
Drain plug is the 17mm allen ( hexagonal ) plug on the bottom  ( obviously ) of the diff housing.
The easiest ( and less messy ) way of refilling it is to remove the speedo drive and refill it from there using a small funnel

[shaft69]

I personally would fill it up using the refill bug then you know its right amount you have put in!

[Gambit]

fill it thru the speedo hole and also remove the refill bung so u can check level, best of both worlds

[tinman]

Not sure why you are changing the gearbox oil. Its one of the few things that doesn't need doing unless you run out of oil. If you run out of oil then you have more serious problems than simply replacing the oil as you have a leak.

The reason the oil does not need changing is because its never under any stress unlike engine oil which has to undergo huge and continuous temperature changes during its life. The oil in a gearbox is under no such stress and because on a Golf the gearbox is sealed unit nothing can get in to contaminate it.

[Agreeable Slick]

gearbox oil is actually 80/90 hypoid oil, its whats reccommeded by all garages. And listed in oil books as being the one to use.

There is a 17mm allen key bolt behind the diff mounting plates that is the drain plug, and then infront of the diff on the passenger side there is another 17mm allen key bolt, thats the fill point. Remove them both and run some gearbox oil through the fill hole until it runs clear out of the drain. This removes any excess crap in the box. Then put the drain plug back in and fill from the other hole, until it comes back out at you.

Easy peasy.  

[GTI EDITION (aka LTD)]

fill it thru the speedo hole and also remove the refill bung so u can check level, best of both worlds

The reason that I said to fill it thru the speedo hole was that when I've checked the gearbox oil level in all I've serviced golfs over the years ( fitted with the 020 gearboxes ) the oil has allway p!ssed out , so I came to the conclusion that when filling them up from dry and knowing the correct amount of oil that they should hold it was best to fill them up in this way otherwise one would not get the full amount in unless one raised the n/s ( which is not too easy when it's on a two post lift )

But Gambit is right in a sense because most peeps here will probably be doing it on the ground so they can do both  

[Judderi]

Do you just fill it full until you can get no more in?

[Gambit]

aye u fill it till it trickles out the fill hole on the side. although if its a pre 88 car you need to jack the near side up a little as the fiill hole is too low.