Best way to fill gearbox with oil?

[mintyfresh]

I started fitting my corsa coilovers yesterday but whilst doing them, my passenger side driveshaft popped out and I lost a fair amount of oil. I've bought 3 litres because I figured it would be easier to judge if it had the right amount (Haynes says 2.8-3 litres) if I drained the gear box and started filling from scratch. I've got one of those filler plugs on the front of my gearbox but can see it being a tricky job to fill up as it's on weird angle. Does anyone have any tricks for doing this or is it just a funnel and pipe job?

Cheers!

 

[Alexx117]

Use the hole for the speedo cable

 

[Noddie]

How did the shaft fall out while doing coilovers?
Yeah, through speedo drive with a piece of hose pipe (bit of a job to get them off though!)

 

[mintyfresh]

It fell out where i mustve been pulling on the hub assembly harder than i thought, bit worried about it tbh but its in now and feels secure.
Yeah i used the speedo drive with my old car i just found haynes was pretty confusing on what level it should be filled to (gives two different levels for 'RS5F41A' whatever that is and then 'all others'). It says about using the speedo way for 'early models' and then gives the instructions for filling with the filler plug thats on the front of the gearbox (which is what mine has) for 'later models' so i assumed i have to do it this way?

 

[martinb]

Remove 10mm nut on speedo drive
Remove speedo cable and put in garden hose with funnel at top
Pour in

Ignore Haynes mate
You have the same g/b as mine dude

 

[pollyp]

fill it up till the speedo gear pinion is submerged

 

[mintyfresh]

Cheers i'll just drain it and then whack the 3 litres in and it should take most of it

 

[mintyfresh]

Decided not to drain it all as thats more effort, cant get the speedo pinion out of the transmission though so am going to try filling up from the filler hole, unless anyone has any tips for getting the speedo pinion out? It came out so easy on my 1ltr its so annoying

 

[pollyp]

turn the 10mm hole a little anti-clockwise by tapping with a small hammer till the lip is exposed. grab the exposed lip of the speedo then turn & pull

 

[Stani1029]

I normally use that front plug. I got the square key sets from halfords. Also i fill that hole till it starts to dribble out. Normally around 2.5ltrs as i dont think you can completely empty the gearboxes through the drain plugs. Do what martin said in the front of the gearbox. If you struggled to get the speedo out you may not get that plug out either.....

 

[blobbletec]

There is a little sticker near the speedo drive that tells you there is a fill level line on the speedo drive gear. pull it out and have a look its about 1/2 way up the plastic gear..!

 

[1275]

I just put some tape around some plastic pipe I had and then slid it into a funnel from the big end, nice snug fit and worked perfectly.

 

[mintyfresh]

It's done now but thanks everyone for your help and words of wisdom! Trying to get the speedo pinion out was a lost cause, tried everything mentioned here and more to no avail. In the end we (me and dad) drained the gearbox by using a 1/2" drive attached to ratchet, which fitted the drain plug and was easier than a sump spanner. Then we re-filled the g/b from the filler plug (which is a 3/8" drive) using a length of tubing and funnel. One thing i've noticed already is that side-to-side movement in neutral is much smoother than it was before.
Thanks again everyone - off to do the engine oil flush and filter change now :grinning:

 

[Guy]

Doing mine on Monday, looks pretty easy - not cheap mind at a tenner a litre :grinning:.