briaan65

Ok people here's an update. The source of the leak was from the filler neck where it goes into the gearbox and from the black cap itself, the filler is steel, the gearbox house aluminium. There was corrosion which had made the seal perish. When the car was being driven the oil was seeping from the place where they meet. It's now all sorted. What I have learned from this too is that the red cap that goes around the top of the filler cap needs to be replaced as when the oil change is done the clip holding it onto the black cap, snaps off.

will do, I don't have the car at the minute but when I get it back I'll post again.

I second what Koops said, I did mine recently, just be careful when you do it. I found a liitle heat from a hot air gun helped a lot to remove the whole thing from the recess. I drilled mine out to get at the "VW" bit to paint it then glued it back in with a little silicone.

oh this is interesting, the oil on the drive definately looks like gearbox oil, it's brighter than the engine oil. However your theory is interesting, when I get the car back I'll have a look. thanks Danoid, thanks for your theory too, again I'll have to investigate.

Morning, I have been having issues with the oil leaking from my auto gearbox, I had a recent oil change and afterwards i discovered small amounts of oil on my driveway. I took my car to a garage who noted that the gearbox sump was a bit iffy looking so recommended that they replaced it and the oil £200, I thought that would cure the issue, it didn't. there was a small amount of oil on the driveway, a jet washed the gearbox and underneath the car and left it, a few days later there was no oil, so I thought it was sorted. i took the car for a run parked it up and left it overnight, in the morning I noticed a small amount of oil on the drive was and when I looked underneath there was a couple of drips coming from the gearbox sump shield. I pulled out the black cap from the filler neck and quite a bit of oil came out. I popped the cap back in jet washed my drive and the car again. took the car for a drive and on getting back saw that there was a small amount of oil on the the top of the gearbox around the filler neck. I did a bit of googling and discovered that I needed a red outer cap that appeared to lock on place around the black cap, what I thought would now be the source of the leak. I trooped off back to the garage and left the car with them to get the red cap from the dealers and point out that their £200 hadn't been the source of the leak. I received a call from them the other day stating that there was still oil under the car and that they now suspected a seal in the gearbox, I'm beginning to doubt this. my theory is that the oil had collected in the sump shield after I took out the black filler cap or even when the garage did to put on the red cap. Has anyone ever experienced an issue with their auto gearbox leaking and could anyone shed any light on the red cap and what it does. I would add that the garage is supposed to have a good reputation (which is why i went in the first place) however when I first took the car in for the leak they did not even jet wash off the gear box. If i don't get satisfaction then I am going to name and shame.

if you live in the the North East and you are considering having your wheels professionally refurbed, then I would wholeheartedly recommend a company called Bettablast. Before I go further and give a glowing recommendation I would say that I have no part in this company although I do know the owner through years of using him. The company are based in Shiremoor, North Tyneside and specialise in shot blasting and powder coating, I have recently had a set of steelies done, they were blasted zinc coated and refinished to a very high standard. he's also done engine parts, bicycles and three other sets of wheels for me. I will post pics of the wheels. there are hundreds of colours to choose from he even invented a process of making coloured chromes. http://www.bettablast.co.uk/bettablast/wheelrefurbishment.html have a look at his site see what he and his team can do, mention I recommended him, he might even give a little discount. He's a very approachable guy and very knowledgeable too. Brian

Iphone pano by briaan65, on Flickr Taken whilst walking in Northumberland. That's me in the middle.

I've just read your thread from start to finish you have a car to be really proud of, I think it's one of the shiniest cars I've ever seen, well done fella.

I've just gone for 195/45's but I'm old

Welcome to club Lupo

good man, sound advice as usual.

thanks Koop, is this because they're better for grip of just look better on the car or both ?

simple question I've just acquired a set of 15 steel wheels, passat winters shod with 195/50 r15 tyres, I've tried them on the car and look ok but I'm now thinking should I get 45 profile tyres, the car is lowered 40 mm all round. The difference in the rolling radius is minimal 45's being slightly less accurate, 50's being slightly over. any thoughts from users of similar set ups appreciated. I don't want to go for stretched tyres. B

Hi welcome to club lupo it's a great place for all things Lupo

blupo by briaan65, on Flickr finally got around to posting a pic of my soft blue 1,4 auto. it's got 33 k on the clock I've had it a year now and just lowered it by 40 mm all round using a a cheap and cheerful kit from TA Technix, £120 off ebay. I've replaced the coil packs, brakes all round and tried in general to look after it, however, if you look closely you'll see where the door needs painting where I took the run strips off. I'm collecting a set of 15 inch steelies which will be painted and shod with new 195/45 15 tyres.

thanks Koop

this may seem like a daft question but I've just changed the rear springs/shocks on my Lupo for uprated and lowered but I can't decide which way round the springs should go. There are some tighter coils at one end. I've had them in so the tighter coils were at the bottom but when the wheel was back on and the car lowered to the ground the coils were just about touching, so I turned them around now they look a little better but, a little higher at the rear now, I can't decide which way round is right. The fronts look better as they're easy to get the right way round. Briaan

I've just changed my shock absorbers and springs for a lowered set, I messed about for ages with a swan neck spanner trying to remove the nut holding the bearing on to the strut, just a little tip here and it only applies if you're not replacing the rubber and bearing, the top rubber can be popped off, once it's out of the car for easier access to the nut. Mine was a 21 mm. Thanks to BEP51 for giving me the heads up on how to do this. I've not done any work on my cars for well over twenty years and this was really a straight forward job to do. It took me about three hours in total.

I have some white ones that I bought recently, I have three left if they're any good. PM me your address and I'll post them on, mind you they're dead cheap anyway, I paid two quid for ten.

That is fantastic you have given me a great idea

that top one would be cool to do as I think I may go down the white wheel route . I've seen a few others on line now I'm now quite looking forward to it.

like !! do you think just the one wheel.

you're right I know I'm laying myself open to a bit of mick taking, I did think that I may get one done like a proper bottle top, I know a few graphic designers who are handy with an airbrush. white is good, I was thinking also black but I'm in two minds, see my post above.

I'm probably going to shoot myself in the foot here,but, I've now got a set of five bottle top alloys (e30 BMW) which I've amassed from ebay, I bought up spare wheels so they're all in really nice condition. I have a soft blue Loop and I'm thinking of going a bit different. I've looked on line for inspiration but I've not seen any with wheels other than silver. Have any of you guys got any other colour on your soft blue Lupo ? Bri.