Change or leave gearbox oil?
Discussion
My corolla d4d 2 litre I've nearly owned a year and has been just fine. I'm getting the cambelt and waterpump and tensioners changed next month and was going to do the gearbox oil as it shares its oil with the diff. Now as the service book has stamps but no receipts of what was actually done during services I don't know if this has been changed. Cars on 77k miles and it should be inspected every 40k and changed if needed apparently. No issues with gears but I've heard that changing the oil on an old car that's not been done before can cause the gearbox to fail but other people told me this is an old wives tale. So is it worth changing or should I leave it be? I do intend on keeping the car I just can't fork out for a gearbox refurb or replacement. I've had one mechanic telling me the oil won't get dirty in the gearbox and diff and others saying it should be done.
Any help would be appreciated.
Any help would be appreciated.
Will see how it goes it has no issues shifting or driving most people I've spoke to have never changed there geae/diff oil and there cars are on 200k miles on original box and some people who change there's don't make that. Depends if you go changing gears like a racecar I suppose etc etc.
I will have a look at the oil myself and see what it looks like if not too bad will change it if full of crap I'm leaving it be and not chancing fate. You know what they say if it's not broken. My engune oil is done every 5k miles though with oil filter etc. But that's a different story My first car I had I put 50k mies on it and it was on 160 before selling it and never had it changed so I suppose it's luck.
I will have a look at the oil myself and see what it looks like if not too bad will change it if full of crap I'm leaving it be and not chancing fate. You know what they say if it's not broken. My engune oil is done every 5k miles though with oil filter etc. But that's a different story My first car I had I put 50k mies on it and it was on 160 before selling it and never had it changed so I suppose it's luck.
My son just changed the gearbox oil in his MX5 and it was full of crap and I'm not sure that you would notice when doing a level check. I would say that it's well worth doing for the cost of a couple of litres of oil. IMHO gearbox failures have more to do with abuse than anything else... he managed to kill the gearbox in his Yaris within 6 months! He's learned his lesson and now tries to achieve a smooth gear change...
I changed the gearbox oil on my honda civic (2005, 1.6) at 50,000 miles. Fresh oil went back in following a clutch change at around 75,000 miles, and I'll be replacing it again at 100,000 miles with genuine honda stuff (used in the first change, not sure what was used after he cluch work).
Doesnt harm to change the fluid, it has a hell of a job to do what with those intermeshing gears. On a manual transmission its a simple job...drain it out, put the bolt back, then fill it up until oil starts to dribble out.
Interestingly, I was in conversation with my local friendly mechanic about changing the oil on my wifes automatic bmw120d. BMW told me it never needs doing, although they also said sometimes people do it at 100,000 miles. However, apparently ZF state 60,000 - 80,000 miles. Wifes BMW is on 112,000....
Doesnt harm to change the fluid, it has a hell of a job to do what with those intermeshing gears. On a manual transmission its a simple job...drain it out, put the bolt back, then fill it up until oil starts to dribble out.
Interestingly, I was in conversation with my local friendly mechanic about changing the oil on my wifes automatic bmw120d. BMW told me it never needs doing, although they also said sometimes people do it at 100,000 miles. However, apparently ZF state 60,000 - 80,000 miles. Wifes BMW is on 112,000....
The gearbox oil in my '13 Citroen is "sealed for life". That translates into one of two things, depending on your point of view. Either firstly it means that it's "fine for the duration of the warranty, after that you're on your own matey" or secondly "it's sealed for the life of the gearbox, which will be a shorter life if the oil isn't ever replaced".
So following the official manufacturer servicing and repair documents, I drained and refilled with the correct grade of fresh gearbox oil. Shifting with the new oil feels much smoother than before, plus added peace of mind that you have fresh oil lubing everything up down below.
The other point of interest is that the drain plug has a magnet on it, this helps to extract metallic swarf from circulating through the gearbox components. When you extract the drain plug, you can clean off the swarf to help clean up the system before refitting the drain plug.
I did this a couple of days ago at 64,000 miles. As you can't drain the entire contents out via the drain plug, I shall drain and refill again in 1,000 miles when I next change the engine oil. This hopefully will help dilute the remaining "old oil" with more fresh oil.
So following the official manufacturer servicing and repair documents, I drained and refilled with the correct grade of fresh gearbox oil. Shifting with the new oil feels much smoother than before, plus added peace of mind that you have fresh oil lubing everything up down below.
The other point of interest is that the drain plug has a magnet on it, this helps to extract metallic swarf from circulating through the gearbox components. When you extract the drain plug, you can clean off the swarf to help clean up the system before refitting the drain plug.
I did this a couple of days ago at 64,000 miles. As you can't drain the entire contents out via the drain plug, I shall drain and refill again in 1,000 miles when I next change the engine oil. This hopefully will help dilute the remaining "old oil" with more fresh oil.
thatdude said:
I changed the gearbox oil on my honda civic (2005, 1.6) at 50,000 miles. Fresh oil went back in following a clutch change at around 75,000 miles, and I'll be replacing it again at 100,000 miles with genuine honda stuff (used in the first change, not sure what was used after he cluch work).
Doesnt harm to change the fluid, it has a hell of a job to do what with those intermeshing gears. On a manual transmission its a simple job...drain it out, put the bolt back, then fill it up until oil starts to dribble out.
Interestingly, I was in conversation with my local friendly mechanic about changing the oil on my wifes automatic bmw120d. BMW told me it never needs doing, although they also said sometimes people do it at 100,000 miles. However, apparently ZF state 60,000 - 80,000 miles. Wifes BMW is on 112,000....
Back in the day when Honda spec'd engine oil for its manual transmissions lubrication 80's/90's it was 24k service interval Doesnt harm to change the fluid, it has a hell of a job to do what with those intermeshing gears. On a manual transmission its a simple job...drain it out, put the bolt back, then fill it up until oil starts to dribble out.
Interestingly, I was in conversation with my local friendly mechanic about changing the oil on my wifes automatic bmw120d. BMW told me it never needs doing, although they also said sometimes people do it at 100,000 miles. However, apparently ZF state 60,000 - 80,000 miles. Wifes BMW is on 112,000....
PaulKemp said:
Manufacturers specify very specific oils for engine and gearbox/diff
I know that most of the time it's a sales pitch but I always try to match the OEM spec
That's usually German cars though...Toyota make cars with the owner and ease of servicing in mind. Just fill it with whatever it states in the manual...probably boggo standard 75W-90 GL4 or 5. It'll probably only need a couple of litres so a cheap job.I know that most of the time it's a sales pitch but I always try to match the OEM spec
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