DSG Oil Change advice please

[Woody88]

2012 GTD. After the oil change and other checks I decided to have a go at the DSG oil change. What could possibly go wrong!

Youtubed and read up, decided to fill from the top after discovering I could get at the filter without removing anything. I ran the front up on the ramps, didn't think the angle would matter the way I was doing it.

All went well until after the fill, I discovered that the old plastic kitchen jug I used to measure the drained oil was smaller than a litre. with it I measured 4.95L came out and following advice I put in a little more for spillage and the filter.

To find out how much really came out I refilled the five empty DSG oil bottles with the dumped oil to find I could only get 4.3L worth in them (dibbled a bit). Concerned that I had over filled it, I carefully drained .55L out from the big bung. So I should have 5.2L - 0.55L = 4.65L in the gearbox while now suspecting there was about 4.5L drained out.

Questions
1. Is the GTD box a 4.5L model?
2. Am I ok after that trail of errors? If not what could I do?
3. If I level it, and take out the first big bung would excess oil drain out and solve any issue? (as described by the bottom filling method)

[Umai Naa!!]

Needs to be running, level, and the drain plug removed.

What you're meant to do is dump all the oil out with the engine off, by removing the drain plug and level tube, then put the level tube back in, then fill it back up from the bottom with 5L. Start it up, get the gearbox oil temp up to 35-ish deg, and let the excess drain out. Then refit the drain plug.

It's not a hard job to do, but when you don't do it the way VW says to do it, it gets unnecessarily complicated.

[Woody88]

Needs to be running, level, and the drain plug removed.

<snip>

It's not a hard job to do, but when you don't do it the way VW says to do it, it gets unnecessarily complicated.

Thanks for the reply. Yes it clearly has got complicated. The plastic snorkel was reinstalled correctly so I could do the "running, level, and the drain plug removed," bit now?

[Umai Naa!!]

Yeah, it's the only way to be sure.

[Woody88]

Yeah, it's the only way to be sure.

Thanks.

[Woody88]

Since posting this I have done a lot more research as indicted by this thread.

But for the record, I did bother to do it the recommended way.

1. Leveled the car
2. Warmed it up till the gearbox was warm to touch. (humans are 37c)
3. Removed the drain plug and 50ml of fluid came out. (maybe just the leveling tube contents)
4. Added 300ml through the filter housing and did it again.
5. Got 150ml out.

Happy now. My calcs are that there is 4.75L in the gearbox.

Thanks again Umai Naa!! for replying.

[Umai Naa!!]

For those playing at home, there is no exact amount to put back in, as you'll never get all the old oil out just in a typical service. This is why it is self-levelling.

As I've stated previously, this is why you overfill it and allow the excess to drain out.

[Woody88]

Every other machine I have owned lists the fluid volumes for each reservoir. Diffs, gearboxes, engines. Never had a problem. Never had to measure what came out or to drain to waste, just drained and filled with the volume specified. I have no idea why VW make the DSG so mysterious, particularly when I cannot find any reports of damage due to over filling.

For something made so precisely, it does not make sense.

If you have documented reports of overfill damage, please link them.

[Umai Naa!!]

That's the basic jist of it.

It is designed to keep the DIY'ers from mucking it up, with the wrong oil, etc.

It's the same as most other gearboxes, diffs, etc. You keep adding oil until it runs back out the hole.

All their other convential automatics made in the last 15-20 years use the exact same method.

[Woody88]

For anyone else with a GTD who wants to DIY the DSG. It is fairly easy to access the filter without removing anything. Just stick you arm down beside the battery box.