Changing your Gearbox oil.

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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by GRIFF91 »

I've been doing some more research and found the post I think I originally followed when I did the oil change for my 5-speed (on the US owners site)

They seem to suggest that the plug with the torx on it is only for inspections. To fill, you use the other one.

This still seems to make sense, and made sense to me at the time too seeings as that plug sits higher in the gearbox than the other one, so if you was to fill via the torx plug, you'd be going above the level of the other one...

Is this logical and making sense? :lol:
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by warpc0il »

Iirc there are two drain plugs but only one fill/level plug.

Though I've only done a couple of 5sp 'box changes and they were over 5 years ago.

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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by PeteH »

The box is supposed to be very similar to the FD box. This is the FD oil change procedure from the manual. As Dave says, 2 drains and 1 fill.
FD gearbox oil change.jpg
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by Phil Bate »

Yep, it's just like that. All in the workshop manual in our FAQ technical section, under TRANSMISSION/TRANSAXLE > MANUAL TRANSMISSION[R15M-D] > TRANSMISSION OIL REPLACEMENT[R15M-D]
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by Dave2112 »

Just done this today

Yuk, and Jesus does it stink or what :shock:
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by Phil Bate »

If you think that smells, try the diff oil :sick:
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by Ollie »

When I changed both my diff and gearbox oil either I had a blocked nose or somethings not right with me because it barely stank!
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by warpc0il »

Unlike the 6-speed, the 5-speed should be fine with GL5 or GL4/5 transmission oil.

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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by SmuttyHutty »

warpc0il wrote:
Thu Sep 05, 2019 6:10 pm
Unlike the 6-speed, the 5-speed should be fine with GL5 or GL4/5 transmission oil.

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I've got a fab 11 year old daughter who loves all things mechanical so we changed the gearbox and diff oil in the summer. On my 5 speed I can confirm that there were two drain plugs and one fill. The second drain plug released about another pint of oil. I definitely put GL5 back in and used a syringe and tube to do the job.

Recently I have had a new clutch fitted and in the process the garage replaced the gearbox oil. I keep forgetting to check with them which GL they used, but I have read so many times that we mustn't use GL4/5.

That said, I did see a post somewhere that listed recommended gearbox oils (I've just searched briefly and I can't find it) which did include one specific GL4/5 oil.

Flipping confusing!
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by warpc0il »

GL4/5 or GL5 should both be fine in the 192 5-speed.

The design of the synchromesh is different to the S1 6-speed and doesn't rely so much on controlled friction.

It would be reassuring to check which oil the garage used but I wouldn't expect any issues.
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by SmuttyHutty »

I'll call them in the morning. It'll be a great distraction which will hopefully take me all day, which means I can't do this decorating. Can I send Mrs Smutty to you when she goes ballistic? :lol:

The reasoning that I read was that GL4 would somehow leech the copper out of brass components in the gearbox. Does this sound feasible?
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by Freddie »

Hope its ok to revisit an old one.....have been changing oil fortnightly after purchasing (mk2) and have been taking it outa the sunroof so to say... i got 5 litres every time, and am quite happy with the results. TF, is it not ok to take the cover off of the gearstick seal, and suck it out. Obv with a clean unit, you can see whats come out, and replace the same. Im limited in my capacity for raising my car so am looking at all alternatives if poss. Some may say that i wouldnt be removing all, but any vehicle, and gearbox will have residual oil in that contaminated the new, esp our rotary engines, so isnt this the same?
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by casey »

Freddie wrote:
Sun Nov 22, 2020 12:56 pm
....have been changing oil fortnightly.......
??Good grief, how many miles are you doing in a fortnight!!
Freddie wrote:
Sun Nov 22, 2020 12:56 pm
... i got 5 litres every time...
?? :!: the capacity of the six speed box is around 1.75 litres IIRC?
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by bigpete8 »

Id love to know how you take it out of gear box from above.... I tried and couldn't.
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by Freddie »

Sorry....the 5 litres is engine oil. i havnt tried sucking the gearbox yet, and if big Pete cant, then sounds doubtful!
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by SmuttyHutty »

Freddie wrote:
Sun Nov 22, 2020 6:37 pm
Sorry....the 5 litres is engine oil. i havnt tried sucking the gearbox yet, and if big Pete cant, then sounds doubtful!
Why are you changing engine oil fortnightly?
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by bigpete8 »

You can fill gearbox from above (in the car)
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by ChrisHolmes »

bigpete8 wrote:
Sun Nov 22, 2020 7:19 pm
You can fill gearbox from above (in the car)
You still need to get under the car to remove the level plug so you know when the oil is at the correct level.
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by Freddie »

Since purchasing the car i have done 2 oil changes, but, seeing as 40 percent of the oil lies in the cooolers and lines, each oil change is not 100%, its 60%, t/f 2 changes raises the percentage closer to 100%. Just doing what this forum says to do! ( RX8- oil is love)
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by ChrisHolmes »

Freddie, would you mind if the Moderators removed your posts regarding engine oil changing so as not to confuse people reading this thread?
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by Freddie »

Of course not, but i was only trying to relate removing gearbox oil from above to removing engine oil the same way. Perhaps i wasnt as good in word as i was in thought.
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by warpc0il »

Actually I didn't find this last discussion any more confusing than many other threads, and it's worth sharing the thought process.

My understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) is that Freddie was suggesting that refreshing some of the gearbox oil would be of benefit, even if you don't (can't) replace it all. Which is probably true.

He makes reference to even a normal engine oil change not replacing all the engine oil, which is also correct, and some people (myself included) choose to perform extra intermediate engine oil changes from above, via the dipstick hole, in order to refresh a greater percentage of the engine oil.

He then suggests that this might be an option for the gearbox, if it were possible to suck out, measure and replace a sufficient volume of gearbox oil from above.

This is where the problem lies as, while it's possible to refill the gearbox from above, there isn't a route to extract oil this way.

It would always be necessary to drain the gearbox from below, via the drain plug.

The normal method to refill is via the fill plug, which is quite high on the side and awkward to access with a bottle/pipe/funnel.

Some people choose to refill from above instead, though this does require removal of the gear lever and trim - so I've never been convinced, especially as it risks spilling stinky (ever when new) gearbox oil inside the car.

Some even just measure what they've drained and replace with the same volume, but this risks being too high/low depending on the last changer, so still safer to undo the filler plug and use that to set the level, by allowing it to drip out, even if filling from above, though this does require the car to be sitting level in both planes (left/right & fore/aft).

Note that a gearbox oil change doesn't replace the entire capacity either, so there's potential benefit in doing a double-change (changing twice a couple of weeks apart) if the removed oil was overdue changing or of unknown quality, and especially if it was the wrong grade, as changing twice replaces almost all of the old with new.
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by wreeve »

It's completely normal for auto-box oil changes to leave a lot of oil in the torque converter. I have in the past made a couple of changes 1k miles apart; noticed a big difference with the initial change and the 2nd was just to satisfy my OCD!
On my RX8 (6sp) I changed the gearbox oil twice. I noticed such a massive difference on the 1st change I thought I would do another, the oil is cheap enough. I did notice some differences but nothing like the 1st change.
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