Newer cars with 5w-20

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sure its lifetime...cuz when that fluid goes bad, the part self-destructs and voila...the fluid lasted the "lifetime" of the part.

on the K20A3 engine that my civic comes with, running the stock 5W20 has caused issues with cam galling....a lot of people have switched to 5w30 to eliviate this problem. with summer coming i have already bought the thicker oil for the next oil change.
 
^ Exactly.

My car has no recommended interval for replacing or even checking the level of the transmission oil. (VW 02J 5-speed manual)

Most frequent failure mode for that transmission ... Oil slowly, over a period of years, weeps out through the axle seals and the level slowly goes down. Eventually it drops below the level where the 5th gear splashes oil onto itself. Then the 5th gear needle bearing runs dry and heats up and then 5th gear trashes itself and throws metal shavings all over the inside of the gearbox.

I just changed the gearbox oil for the 2nd time a couple weeks ago. And that brings up another pain in the tail ...

This transmission case was originally designed for a previous vehicle generation that had the drivetrain installed at a slightly different angle. With the transmission at a different angle, the fill plug is no longer in the correct location. But because it's lifetime lube, there's no reason to check it, so there's no reason for it to be in the correct location. And it isn't. You have to fill it to the bottom of the fill hole and then find some way to get about another litre of oil in there. Shop manual calls for this to be added through the no-longer-used (plugged) hole where the speedo cable / sensor used to attach in the old days. That's on top of the diff, which is underneath the turbocharger ... Ya right. I do it by doing the job on an uphill and jacking the left front corner up as high as I can get it and plugging the gap between my fill hose and the fill opening with a rag then swap that with the plug real quick so that not much drains out ... But, I digress. (I hate working on cars.)
 
Brian P said:
This transmission case was originally designed for a previous vehicle generation that had the drivetrain installed at a slightly different angle. With the transmission at a different angle, the fill plug is no longer in the correct location. But because it's lifetime lube, there's no reason to check it, so there's no reason for it to be in the correct location. And it isn't. You have to fill it to the bottom of the fill hole and then find some way to get about another litre of oil in there. Shop manual calls for this to be added through the no-longer-used (plugged) hole where the speedo cable / sensor used to attach in the old days. That's on top of the diff, which is underneath the turbocharger ... Ya right. I do it by doing the job on an uphill and jacking the left front corner up as high as I can get it and plugging the gap between my fill hose and the fill opening with a rag then swap that with the plug real quick so that not much drains out ... But, I digress. (I hate working on cars.)
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Not even a dipstick then? Man those Germans really do believe they can attain perfection don't they.
 
Brian P said:
. You have to fill it to the bottom of the fill hole and then find some way to get about another litre of oil in there. Shop manual calls for this to be added through the no-longer-used (plugged) hole where the speedo cable / sensor used to attach in the old days. That's on top of the diff, which is underneath the turbocharger ... Ya right. I do it by doing the job on an uphill and jacking the left front corner up as high as I can get it and plugging the gap between my fill hose and the fill opening with a rag then swap that with the plug real quick so that not much drains out ... But, I digress. (I hate working on cars.)
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I use a hand-pump and a small hose. My present bmw is the same thing, there's no dipstick, u have to fill it to the entrance hole.

fastar1 said:
Not even a dipstick then? Man those Germans really do believe they can attain perfection don't they.
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Wait till u see how stubborn they can be. If there is another easier way to do it, they won't adopt it
 
Brian P said:
I have a VW diesel engine which requires 5w40, and even 5w30
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Must be getting hard to find 5W40 now a days....basides truck oil no?

Brian P said:
^ Exactly.

My car has no recommended interval for replacing or even checking the level of the transmission oil. (VW 02J 5-speed manual)

Most frequent failure mode for that transmission ... Oil slowly, over a period of years, weeps out through the axle seals and the level slowly goes down. Eventually it drops below the level where the 5th gear splashes oil onto itself. Then the 5th gear needle bearing runs dry and heats up and then 5th gear trashes itself and throws metal shavings all over the inside of the gearbox.

I just changed the gearbox oil for the 2nd time a couple weeks ago. And that brings up another pain in the tail ...

This transmission case was originally designed for a previous vehicle generation that had the drivetrain installed at a slightly different angle. With the transmission at a different angle, the fill plug is no longer in the correct location. But because it's lifetime lube, there's no reason to check it, so there's no reason for it to be in the correct location. And it isn't. You have to fill it to the bottom of the fill hole and then find some way to get about another litre of oil in there. Shop manual calls for this to be added through the no-longer-used (plugged) hole where the speedo cable / sensor used to attach in the old days. That's on top of the diff, which is underneath the turbocharger ... Ya right. I do it by doing the job on an uphill and jacking the left front corner up as high as I can get it and plugging the gap between my fill hose and the fill opening with a rag then swap that with the plug real quick so that not much drains out ... But, I digress. (I hate working on cars.)
Click to expand...

Don't you have a dip-stick? My vue has a drain plug but no fill plug....well it does have fill plug but I have to take apart the air box a ton of crap...so I fill it using the dip stick hole with a long hose and a make shift Royal purple gear oil container....
 
fastar1 said:
Not even a dipstick then? Man those Germans really do believe they can attain perfection don't they.
Click to expand...

I've never seen a manual transmission with a dipstick. It's supposed to be the same way a rear-end diff was in the old days ... there's a fill plug on the side of the case, and you fill it up until the level is just below the bottom of that hole. Except when the hole is in the wrong spot and someone doesn't want to re-engineer the casting and modify the machining line to put it in the right spot.

While you're right that the Germans never redesign anything that they don't have to, that's common in the automotive industry. Plenty of cars that look like complete redesigns are the same (or really close) as the previous one under the skin - and sometimes the generation before that, and the one before that.
 
Brian P said:
I've never seen a manual transmission with a dipstick. It's supposed to be the same way a rear-end diff was in the old days ... there's a fill plug on the side of the case, and you fill it up until the level is just below the bottom of that hole. Except when the hole is in the wrong spot and someone doesn't want to re-engineer the casting and modify the machining line to put it in the right spot.

While you're right that the Germans never redesign anything that they don't have to, that's common in the automotive industry. Plenty of cars that look like complete redesigns are the same (or really close) as the previous one under the skin - and sometimes the generation before that, and the one before that.
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I have a oil pump....used to pump oil into the front diff for my old Jimmy this way....sucks in up to 800ML of oil or so....a pain to use....but makes quick work of jobs like this....
 
frekeyguy said:
can't buy 5w40 or 10w40 at crappy tire anymore....like Catrol GTX or something cheap like that anymore....
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Amsoil provide 5w 40 European formula. Including a Long Life formulation (dictated by the seal BMW LL)
Mobil 1 provide 0w 40.

My present car is capable of using 0w 30 to 15w-50
 
frekeyguy said:
can't buy 5w40 or 10w40 at crappy tire anymore....like Catrol GTX or something cheap like that anymore....
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And you do NOT want to use anything cheap like that in any of these engines anyhow. They are engineered to work with a certain oil specification and you have to be really careful when substituting. There are some substitutes to the official VW 505.01 oil specification (for example, Shell Rotella T6 and Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck are both diesel-suitable, synthetic, correct viscosity, and have both been proven out with "actual field experience" and are available at Canadian Tire and/or Walmart) but you cannot just substitute anything randomly.

There is no "cheap" engine oil that fulfills the necessary specifications for a late model VW diesel engine. Suitable oil costs $40ish for a 4 litre jug. BUT ... it only has to be changed every 16,000 km, and oil analysis (by others) supports that change interval; if anything, it could even go longer than that. In the long run, doing fewer oil changes but with more expensive oil costs the same and is less aggravation.

Cheapskates pay for their cheapskatedness with new camshafts, lifters, turbochargers, etc on high-tech engines like this. Then they end up complaining to no end on the internet about how their car broke and was expensive to fix. (Well, duh, maybe you wouldn't have had to fix it if you had followed proper maintenance procedures ...)
 
Brian P said:
And you do NOT want to use anything cheap like that in any of these engines anyhow. They are engineered to work with a certain oil specification and you have to be really careful when substituting. There are some substitutes to the official VW 505.01 oil specification (for example, Shell Rotella T6 and Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck are both diesel-suitable, synthetic, correct viscosity, and have both been proven out with "actual field experience" and are available at Canadian Tire and/or Walmart) but you cannot just substitute anything randomly.

There is no "cheap" engine oil that fulfills the necessary specifications for a late model VW diesel engine. Suitable oil costs $40ish for a 4 litre jug. BUT ... it only has to be changed every 16,000 km, and oil analysis (by others) supports that change interval; if anything, it could even go longer than that. In the long run, doing fewer oil changes but with more expensive oil costs the same and is less aggravation.

Cheapskates pay for their cheapskatedness with new camshafts, lifters, turbochargers, etc on high-tech engines like this. Then they end up complaining to no end on the internet about how their car broke and was expensive to fix. (Well, duh, maybe you wouldn't have had to fix it if you had followed proper maintenance procedures ...)
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+1

Only folks that have owned VW's/Audi's (and other german brands) can attest to this. Follow that damn manual like The Good Book and everything will be fine. If it calls for that special coloured coolant then you get that special coloured coolant. Otherwise, bad things happen. Babies cry. Bad things.
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