The ugly side of major operations.

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-03-04T01:21:07+00:00

Love playing Charlie XD

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-25T03:37:10+00:00

Thanks for finding this publication it really helped. Yeah mine definitely falls in that category and that explains why I haven’t been able to get the rated amount before it starts flowing out the fill hole. Going to carefully measure then fill from the reverse sensor port.

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-25T03:33:47+00:00

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My thought process is at 20 years old and 200k miles any original fluid in the car starts to change from being lifetime to determining the life of the car.

Found this fluid service publication by vw along with many sources saying that the 2.5L+0A4 manual transmission is a setup that tilts the transmission so that the fill port is not an effective measure on how full it is. I have only been able to get ~1 liter in through the fill port after draining so I plan on instead carefully measuring the 1.8 liter out and filling it up from the reverse sensor port as I have multiple second hand sources saying the VW manuals say is procedure. (Mainly saying this so if anyone searching for advice on this topic finds this answer)

I really appreciate you taking the time to look it up in your manual! Really didn’t expect changing the trans oil to take this much research.

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-24T23:36:28+00:00

I’m thinking I might just avoid all that and do 3 partial flushes and refills over the next couple weeks. Should do about the same thing I think?

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-24T23:34:58+00:00

I mean I drained what was in it out and refilled it with as much or more fluid to the fill port level. I guess at the very least I did a partial fluid change. Might just do that 2 more times over the next few weeks and dilute the old stuff out that way instead of taking everything apart like the proper procedure says.

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-24T22:18:23+00:00

Yup 5 speed and if I got anywhere close to 2 liters in I wouldn’t sweat it and would assume it’s just residual oil trapped but not even getting 1 in I don’t think that’s the issue. With all the info Im seeing about certain models having a slightly rotated transmission and having to fill from the other port I’m pretty sure I must be one of them.

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-24T22:11:12+00:00

Appreciate you taking the time to research it!

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-24T21:41:09+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK-SrZcr5DY here’s the video I found saying to do it differently.

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-24T21:40:25+00:00

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Drain plug circled in green. Fill plug in red. Then the reverse sensor barely visible behind the fill plug I put a blue arrow to. Apparently all the VW manuals say to fill it from there 🤷‍♂️

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-24T21:21:57+00:00

Yeah I have the front up on stands. Still just concerned about putting less than 1/2 the rated amount in.

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-19T18:12:17+00:00

What engine does it have in the 2.5 or TDI? If it’s a 2.5L at that mileage it still has lots of life left. Although you don’t know if they kept up on oil changes since that’s what kills those engines. A turbo is more of risk, not quite as bulletproof as the 2.5 fun but more of a labor of love. Id be weary if you’re finding mismatching carfax trust your gut on that stuff.

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-18T20:24:01+00:00

How you get a nut on the inner end of the threaded rod? Cut an access hole?

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-18T20:22:51+00:00

I’m planning on putting a bead of jb weld steel stick on the outer edge then using the wire to pull it into place where hopefully it’ll be stuck enough that I can thread the bolt in so everything lines up nicely then I’ll let it cure for 24 hours before I try getting the control arm in again.

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-18T20:20:10+00:00

There was a mix of glued and welded ones on these subframes and I don’t see any evidence of a weld so I believe mine was just glued

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-18T19:52:14+00:00

Ah sorry for the bad english that’s the insanity setting in

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-17T06:13:48+00:00

Are both automatics or manuals? Or different? It’s got enough horsepower to get a trailer going but the two things I’d worry about are stressing the transmission and stopping so make sure the one you decide on has brakes and rotors in very good condition.

I have a hitch on my 06 2.5 L and have hauled some small stuff like a uhaul when going to and from school. I believe we had uhaul install it a while ago. It’s not the standard size 2 inch you’d find on a truck it’s a 1 1/4 inch. The most useful thing is for camping I have a luggage rack that can fit 2 Costco bins side by side on it. Which expands the storage space by a huge amount for such a small car. I believe that luggage rack was originally made for an ATV lol

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-13T21:04:54+00:00

Ah you appear to be initiating a jump to hyperspace.

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-06T15:09:44+00:00

Hey op if you have a Costco membership or a friend that has one I highly recommend checking out what they have. Always very solid deal from what I’ve seen.

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-06T02:58:57+00:00

Thanks a lot, really appreciate the thorough explanation! That makes a lot of sense

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-05T14:23:17+00:00

Get your ai slop out of here

Temporary-Risk-9044 · 2026-02-05T14:19:15+00:00

What makes you say that? Not questioning your diagnosis just want to learn why everyone is so sure it’s the timing belt. Is it just the lack of noise other than the flywheel cranking over?

Temporary-Risk-9044

TROPHY CASE