Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 11:31:02 -0800
Reply-To: Stuart MacMillan <macmillan@HOME.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stuart MacMillan <macmillan@HOME.COM>
Subject: Re: '91 Westy Manual Transmission Fluid
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
The drain plug is indeed at the rear of the tranny. I use a pair of
vise grips to remove it, the hex tool won't fit with the exhaust pipe
there, and as long as enough of the plug is sticking out vise grips work
fine. If you are a purist and just can't bring yourself to mash your
drain plug with vise grips, you can find a nut that will fit the hex
size and have it welded onto a piece of bar stock to make a wrench that
will fit.
Warm up everything by driving for awhile, then drain and fill it to the
bottom of the fill hole with MT-90, that lower level was just a VW's
attempt to try to make cold shifting easier. It didn't work.
Michael David Korsak wrote:
>
> Hey Everybody,
> I'm about to embark on my first real maintenance journey. I've been
> having shifting difficulty with the advance of cold weather here in PA,
> so I'm changing the transmission oil (putting in the highly recommended
> Redline MT-90). She is a four-speed, manual transmission.
>
> I crawled underneath today, to look around for a moment, familiarize
> myself with the workings. I have the Haynes manual (didn't splurge on
> the Bentley yet), which is of no real help in changing the gearbox oil,
> only in checking the level of fluid. Anyway, I'm wondering where the
> drain plug is to drain out the old oil? Upon my brief inspection today,
> I saw a rather large hex nut (looked like an oversize set-screw, maybe
> 1" diameter), which would require an allen wrench to remove. It was
> located in the middle of the transmission, closer to the motor. Is this
> the drain plug? If so, where do I get the large allen wrench, or is
> there some other tool?
>
> After I do drain the oil, I'm unsure of the level to which I refill the
> transmission with fresh oil. I read in the Haynes that the four-speed
> requires the fluid to come up to the level of the refill plug. But in
> an inquiry I made a few weeks ago about gear oil, some listees informed
> me to only fill to a level 9/16" below the refill plug. Which is
> correct? Thanks to anyone and everyone who can help me out.
>
> Mike Korsak
Stuart
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