# 225 Gearbox Oil Change... wowzer



## ady117 (Aug 28, 2013)

It's been on my long list of todo jobs, car has now done 175,000 miles and going very well indeed and possibly on it's original oil... anyway looking at what other's have done I didn't want to spend close on £70 on "race oil", I would think the oil in the gearbox has never been changed so any new oil would be an improvement, found Comma Fully Synthetic 75w90 same spec as expensive oil, found it the cheapest at Halfords £10.99 litre, so bought 3 bottles (Takes 2.6 litre's) and changed it today and.... WOW the gear change before was fine but felt a little "Dry" like the linkage had no grease and a bit baulky.. but ok if you know what I mean... now it feels like it's all coated in silk, nice slik changes.. best £33 i've ever spent. here is link to the oil http://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine ... 90-plus-1l.

I used a funnel and 2' of garden hose, hung the funnel and hose on a bit if wire from the open bonnet and feed the hose into the gear box fill hole.. all you need is a 14mm allen key and a bucket or try to catch the old oil, my oil was still clean ish and the drian plug had no debis on it at all.. so pretty chuffed really


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## briancope (Jan 25, 2014)

Great to hear that the gear change is silky smooth, I've recently thought about doing mine just for peace of mind.

My gear changes are fine as is, but I always think that it could be just a little bit slicker in the 1st and 2nd gear changes.

Looks like a decent deal and the spec is the standard that TT likes to be fed.

And well done on doing the oil change yourself, as it's not something that I would do, so it will most likely cost me three times as much!


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## Ozzytheblackcat (Feb 21, 2016)

Had mine done cpl months ago agree difference is amazing.


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## TT Tom TT (Oct 9, 2015)

Yep agree, had mine done about 6 months ago and noticed an improvement, did the shiftage link adjustment too but didn't seem to make much odds.


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## briancope (Jan 25, 2014)

Sounds like my next mollie coddling plan for TT!


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## watersbluebird (Oct 26, 2015)

It really does make a difference. You need a special socket to get the plugs out, and should remove the inspection one before the drain, just in case.


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## 3TT3 (Aug 30, 2014)

Did mine like 500 miles ago, no difference.
Then again the gearbox was replaced 20k ago


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## briancope (Jan 25, 2014)

3TT3 said:


> Did mine like 500 miles ago, no difference.
> Then again the gearbox was replaced 20k ago


Fancy pants


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## 3TT3 (Aug 30, 2014)

briancope said:


> 3TT3 said:
> 
> 
> > Did mine like 500 miles ago, no difference.
> ...


 I saw the recpt for the gearbox and a used haldex unit and you would expect them to have changed the gearbox oil..(prev owner) .
but I cant say for sure that it was , either way I decided to change it 8)


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## briancope (Jan 25, 2014)

3TT3 said:


> briancope said:
> 
> 
> > 3TT3 said:
> ...


My thinking as well, belts and braces 3TT3!


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## Davetheconfused (Jul 7, 2015)

Can someone confirm the gearbox and diff oils please?

Its on my to do, when I get round to it, list and I've got 2.6l of 75w for the box and 1l of 75w90 for diff, hand written on a print out of capacities and fluids from the knowledge base.

Just done a quick search and have seen 75w90 as above for box, also 75w80, so now I'm wondering what's right.


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## ady117 (Aug 28, 2013)

I would say 75w90 for gearbox ... no idea regards rear diff.. a friend of mine who races cars uses pure wd40 in his gearbox so Im sure 80w would be fine too... but I'm no expert.


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## 3TT3 (Aug 30, 2014)

I used this for the box https://www.micksgarage.com/d/transmiss ... -oil-21829
and a gl4/5 for the diff
https://www.micksgarage.com/d/engine-oi ... 90-1-litre


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## TT Tom TT (Oct 9, 2015)

I used the same oil for both gearbox and my rear diff 75w/90 and got shouted at for doing so, no harm done yet though [smiley=bomb.gif]... There's time yet.


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## Van Well (Apr 8, 2017)

Don't think anyone mentioned that the gearbox oil should be GL4. Confusingly, the rear diff oil is GL5...... :lol:


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## MadAnt (Jul 24, 2016)

Doesn't the Quattro transfer box have its own drain plug as well, even though it uses the same oil supply from the main gearbox housing?


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## watersbluebird (Oct 26, 2015)

MadAnt said:


> Doesn't the Quattro transfer box have its own drain plug as well, even though it uses the same oil supply from the main gearbox housing?


It does.


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## TJS (May 6, 2002)

I used Redline MTL 90 for both gearbox and rear diff. The OEM , "sealed for life" gearbox oil was 15 years and 36k miles old and was in golden brown in colour. The Redline, is ..err, red. Before you start check you have the correct tamper proof VAG M16 torx socket for the gearbox plug. Not sure when they were fitted, but May 2002 certainly was. Also make sure the rear diff breather pipe is clear, fill to the level of the plug and the diff will snot out what is doesn't need and find its own level.

https://www.drapertools.com/product/634 ... VW-or-Audi

Noticeable improvement in the gearshift.


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## Bowlsey (Jun 13, 2016)

I used redline on my 225 quatro but found that in the very cold weather 1 degree or there about's the gear change on start up from cold in the morning was difficult and notchy , so i changed to genuine audi oil and all was ok .


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## forker (Jul 20, 2012)

I did a trans oil change a year or so ago using GSF's Carlube 75w-90. That's a GL4 so is expected to be OK in this application. I had looked; oil level was a bit below the fill plug, so, I thought change it all rather than top up. Price was good, too.

However; selection quality once I'd done the change, particularly from cold, was worse than had been on the 100k-old OE oil. It felt more mechanical, and didn't fully get back to what had been even when hot. I took that as evidence of a significant difference between the Carlube oil and the OE oil, and in an unhelpful direction.

I correspondingly took fright; £60-worth of genuine Audi oil later normal service was restored. I'm happy about gear selection cold, hot, and all points in between. And, generally, with no more evidence than the selection quality malarkey and OE fill-for-life approach I'm happy to trust the OE oil for long durability. £60 is quite a lot less than a replacement gearbox.

I'd do same again.

I haven't any experience of other oils though.

regards as always

F


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## CoppullTT (Apr 17, 2015)

Interesting conversation, but short of the "well it's done now" and the slightly subjective "it feels slicker now", Shak insists, as do Audi, that the Rear Diff and Manual Box are sealed for life, therefore never needing the oil changed unless drained for repair.

So while the addage "Feed the TT" may be very true in many regards, this is not one of them, save your money for the jobs that are essential to keep our toys healthy.


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## watersbluebird (Oct 26, 2015)

CoppullTT said:


> Interesting conversation, but short of the "well it's done now" and the slightly subjective "it feels slicker now", Shak insists, as do Audi, that the Rear Diff and Manual Box are sealed for life, therefore never needing the oil changed unless drained for repair.
> 
> So while the addage "Feed the TT" may be very true in many regards, this is not one of them, save your money for the jobs that are essential to keep our toys healthy.


Yeah. Just believe what audi tells you. I mean, recommending that an oil is for the life of a car seems very strange to me. 14 years after the oil went in makes me think it's probably a good idea to get all the so-called 'lifetime oils' changed. How does Audi even know how long before my car dies anyway? d


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## Moddedarosa (May 6, 2020)

I know this has been a dead thread for a bit. I did my TT 180Q during lock down. Front intensional and rear unitensionally. Funny thing but there was a good few seconds of clear water came out that there drain plug on the front box before the oil came out. As for the rear. Between the wife in one ear winging about covid and the lad want a bike out the shed...i undid the rear diff thinking it was the haldex. And guess what... Water and oil.


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## Sandy (May 5, 2014)

If it’s a Quattro then the haldex oil and filter is a must


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

The water and oil business is proper weird... were the diff(s) warm before you cracked the drain plugs?


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