wehey Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) Sorry for the newbee questions but I am still familiarising myself with the engine bay.Would I be right in saying that the tdi clutch is hydraulic and NOT cable operated?I have a slight crunch when going into 3rd but ONLY when the engine is stone cold and the first 1 or 2 gear changes. After a few 100 yards it stops and is fine. Edited August 19, 2015 by wehey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 Yes it's hydraulic. When was your oil last changed on the gearbox? Check the linkages? If none of those it's on it's way out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehey Posted August 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 I have only just brought the car mate. So I have no ideaA gearbox oil change is on the cards. I will try that first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehey Posted August 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 I have been under the car today for the first time.I spotted the gearbox fill hole. Any idea what size Allen key is needed to undo it?I couldn't however spot an obvious drain hole. Any clues as to where it is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sausage Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) Probably on the bottom of the diff.On the 085 box it is 17mm if i remember right, not sure on your 02J box though. It was stupid tight as was the fill plug on my shagged box.Do a slow change while cold, if it has miles on it then I'd expect that sort of thing. Any noise like whining then check oil level and quality, change if doubtful, if that doesnt change it then drive it steady and line up a new box for it. Edited August 19, 2015 by Sausage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 I have been under the car today for the first time.I spotted the gearbox fill hole. Any idea what size Allen key is needed to undo it?I couldn't however spot an obvious drain hole. Any clues as to where it is?Don't use a allen key lol you will never get it done. Use a hex with a breaker bar. Try to spray it with some proper penetration fluid first though. Also don't undo the bottom one until you have undone the top one. If you open the bottom one and can't get the top one undone you got a useless car on your hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 Don't use a allen key lol you will never get it done. Use a hex with a breaker bar. Try to spray it with some proper penetration fluid first though. Also don't undo the bottom one until you have undone the top one. If you open the bottom one and can't get the top one undone you got a useless car on your hands. This.Don't forget to use good quality oil. If it's a high mileage car, you might want to consider using 80w90 instead of 75w90. I've switched to 80w90 (mine has 150k) and while gear changes are a little tougher in the cold mornings, I genuinely believe the gearbox will last a lot longer because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 I personally would go for anything other than the vw stuff but that's up to yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sausage Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 Would or wouldn't? not sure that's a typo... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 Sorry I meant stick with the vw stuff. I'm not a fan of changing viscosity in gearboxes. Viscosity is only one part of it. I can remember on another car I had people where using just whatever but GL5 was damaging the syncros some how and it should have only ever been used with GL4.An extreme example but I personally just think stick with the vw stuff it's cheap for what it is anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Sorry I meant stick with the vw stuff. I'm not a fan of changing viscosity in gearboxes. Viscosity is only one part of it. I can remember on another car I had people where using just whatever but GL5 was damaging the syncros some how and it should have only ever been used with GL4.An extreme example but I personally just think stick with the vw stuff it's cheap for what it is anyways. My feeling regarding gearbox oil viscosity DBlock is this:For years, VW recommended you use 80w90, in all their gearboxes. Indeed, MK1 Golf's and what not were all spec'd to use EP80 or 80/90 blend.The SDI wasn't a new engine when they started using them in Lupo's, and neither were the gearboxes. They were used in the SEAT Inca, VW Caddy, as early as 96, the MK3 Golf as early as 94 and industrial applications for even longer than that. All of that time, VW recommended to use 80w90 blend and gearbox failures were a very rare occurence indeed.Sometime in the 90's, VW switched to using 75w90, probably to make gear changes more comfortable in the cold. Yet it is since then, that many more VW's have suffered gearbox failures.My Lupo has 150k miles on. It's not a new car anymore, I've thrashed 60k of those miles on it and in all honesty, it's showing signs of a vehicle that is driven up to 25k miles every year. It's not worth much. I am happy to be the crash test dummy on this one. I've filled my SDI gearbox with 80w90. It'll be interesting to see if I suffer a gearbox failure any time soon, but I am fairly confident all things considered DBlock, that I won't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 That is fair enough all though I doubt if the oil that screws the gearboxs up but the cheaper materials they use. But I do agree with the sdi being old school therefore rules don't apply. I don't know which gearbox the sdi runs but the 02j box is much much better than the one fitted to the 1.4 sports. I'd probably do the same with the sdi but use the vw stuff with the 02j. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehey Posted August 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) Yes it's hydraulic. When was your oil last changed on the gearbox? Check the linkages? If none of those it's on it's way out.Linkages are now adjusted and I now have a much smoother gear change. There was about 5mm play/slack in the cables.Will test it out tomorrow when the engines cold but I'm pretty confident that the crunch will be gone.Hopefully I have dodged a bullet Edited August 27, 2015 by wehey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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