Quote:
Originally Posted by DangerousDel
Post Update !!
Had my car in for its annual service & MOT this week and I had them carry out the gearbox oil change at the same time (independent little garage up the road from my work)..
OMG what a difference to the gearbox. The gear changes are so smooth I can barely notice them... having had the car for 5 years, the gearbox operation had degraded so gradually that I hadnt realised how much I could "feel" the gearshifts.
Also, as I was suspecting, when first used in the morning, I quickly join a stretch of dual carriageway and I was suspicious that the clutch was slipping until it had warmed up a bit ... yep !! It was !!!! Not now though !!  |
Out of curiosity, check the Invoice to see how much fluid they used/charged you for. If they only used say 3-3.5 litres of fluid, that means they've only changed about 30% of the fluid (if that). The reason for that is you can only drain about 3L from the transmission sump plug. The rest of the fluid is inside the transmission itself and can't be drained simply by doing it once.
Its good to hear that the gear changes are smooth, but lots of garages simply do what's known as a single drain and fill and call it a "gearbox service". Its not really a proper service doing a single drain and fill. They need to do multiple drain and fills to get the fluid clean. Its a bit like doing an oil change by draining 3 litres and leaving the rest...
If they did a full fluid change, which would require approx 7-11 litres of fluid depending on condition, then that's fair enough.