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MG MGF Technical - Gear box oil - Fact or fiction

I was wondering if the chat about changing the gearbox oil is fact or fiction.

While the gear change is great at the stick end (I have a slick shift). If there was a way to make it a bit more fluid at the box end I would happily do it. Sometimes it feels as if the syncro mesh was a bit out. Mainly changing down to second.

If changing the oil will help I assume it is not an expensive job. If anybody has done this, did it work and what was the cost?

Thanks, Andrew.
AndrewMc

Hi Andrew,
a good start is to ensure that there is enough oil in the box as MG Rover usually tend to underfill rather than overfill on delivery.... None of the checked cars over here were up to the correct amount of oil. To add between 0,5 to 1 L is not uncommon even on non-leaking boxes.

BR, Carl.
Carl Blom

Recommended oil is about 15 pounds and that will be enough for a refill. To be honest it will not make that much difference to the feel but will probably prolong the life of the box.
S Laithwaite

My understanding was that originally that the PG1 was 'filled for life', i.e. the oil never needed changing. However, the service schedule for my ZS indicates a gearbox oil change at 100k miles. My F never had the gearbox oil changed and it did over 150k miles.

Ralph
Ralph

I recently changed the geabox oil in my 80K 306 as things were getting a bit reluctant especially when cold. £12 for a couple of litres of semi synthetic and about half an hour of getting covered in stinky oil improved things no end, just make sure the box has the right amount in it as the last 250ml took ages to get to all the corners. All going great until a drive-shaft joint failed and it all had to come out again :(
tony

Change the oil and use Castrol SMX-s it has really made a difference, gear changes are definately a lot smoother. can't recommend it enough.
Martin Chappell

Andrew take Carl's advice and top up the gearbox oil. I recently topped up the oil and it's made the gearchange really slick. You must use the right oil though. The gear change was also greatly improved by replacing the damper and master cylinder on the clutch.

Neil
Neil Stothert

Oil will be winging it's way to me over the weekend. I think I will leave the clutch alone for the moment..!

Thanks one and all.
AndrewMc

This thread was discussed between 16/03/2004 and 18/03/2004

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