It is called a "triple-square" socket. There should be several sources online, but it may take some hunting. I expect others will chime in with specific stores where it can be purchased.

SirWired

 

Autozone carries a 4 bit 12 point set ranging from 7MM to 12MM IIRC. It's something like $12 or so. It's a good set to buy as there are a number of 12 point bolts on our cars. It was a little hard to find the set at the AZ I went to (about a 4" X 8" card hanging on a peg - among all of their other bits), and their employees had no idea what a "triple square" or "12 point bit" was. So, you'll probably need to do the digging yourself.

Good luck.

 

Ebay is probably the best bet. It's a common style of tool for German cars.

I bought mine from Zelenda.com, but they're not as cheap as ebay.

 

The dealer gave me a good idea that it may just need to be topped up. which they will be happy to do for $150CDN and if I wanted it changed it would end up being $520CDN.

Another dealer just said $220 manual tranny flush for any vw.

I think I am going to try just adding some fluid since the rough shifting is only in the frist couple minutes of driving until the oil warms up.

Does anyone have pics or a diagram of where the fill plug is, it is on the drivers side from what I have read.

 

7 years.......200k miles.......2 Passats.....and I have never done a tranny flush.

not planning on either



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Driver's side, way up there. You'll just barely get the 17mm Allen in there and you get less than 90 degrees of travel before re-set. Once it's out, you have to siphon more fluid in with a handpump. I haven't heard of an easy way to do this yet...

 

what size of triple square do I need?

 

It's called a tamper proof triple square, it has the hole in it. You can get it from germanautoparts.com or ZDMAK on ebay. It's a very simple procedure. Make sure you can get the hex on the side out first. Just run a hose you buy from the fish store thorough the engine bay and down in the hex hole to refill. It's pretty easy. Every 50K is a good change interval.

 

Driver's side, way up there. You'll just barely get the 17mm Allen in there and you get less than 90 degrees of travel before re-set. Once it's out, you have to siphon more fluid in with a handpump. I haven't heard of an easy way to do this yet...

thank you this helps alot,

im going to first try to top it up with as much as i can get in, then I will try the car, if its still the same then I will buy this tool and do it myself or take it to the vw dealer that quoated 220cdn with everything.

 

IIRC it's a 16 mm tamper-proof triple square bit.
I got mine off ebay.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/M16-Triple-Squa...ission-Drain-Plug-Socket-Tool_W0QQitemZ7529913701QQcategoryZ42337QQcmdZViewItem

He has cheaper ones too. This one is beefy.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/M16-Triple-Squa...ission-Drain-Plug-Socket-Tool_W0QQitemZ7529913701QQcategoryZ42337QQcmdZViewItem

He has cheaper ones too. This one is beefy.

thx.. still with this price better than 520.


so im looking at about 50 CDN for this part with shipping and all
100CDN for oil
20 CDN for pump and hose
2-3 hours with the car

170CDN... hmm comes close to dealer 220 for them to do it?

what do you guys think $50CDN or $43USD cheaper to do it myself, seems better to let the dealer do it then? what would you do in my case? What if the dealer fucks something up?:Yikes:

 

$100 CDN for the oil?

IIRC, it's only 3 liters (or is it quarts?) at about US$8-$10 each, and that's for Redline brand. 2-3 hours is WAY overkill. This job is quicker and easier than an oil change once you have the tools!

Definitely DIY.

 

$100 CDN for the oil?

IIRC, it's only 3 liters (or is it quarts?) at about US$8-$10 each, and that's for Redline brand. 2-3 hours is WAY overkill. This job is quicker and easier than an oil change once you have the tools!

Definitely DIY.

yea i want the OEM oil that others have said performs better in cold than redline, and since we have good winters here in Canada I need really good cold weather performance from the oil.

$28CDN a quart, i need 2.25 or 3 bottles. so $100cdn.

 

One thing to DEFINITELY do before you drain the existing oil, is try to remove the filler plug FIRST. It would really suck to drain the tranny and then find out that you can't get any oil back in.

The way I filled mine was to use a piece of tygon tubing (1/2" ID if I recall correctly) and an empty Mobil gear oil bottle, the type with a tappered nipple at the top. Pour your new oil into to the empty Mobil bottle, put one end of the tygon tubing over the oil bottle nipple and stuff the other end of the tubing well into the fill hole on the side of the transmission. Invert the oil bottle and give it a couple gentle squeezes until it's empty. Fill the Mobil oil bottle again and repeat until oil just starts to weep out of the fill hole.

What oil are you planning on using? I switched to a mixture of 2 different weight Redline oils (2qts MT90 and 1 qt MTL). If you are going to go with Redline, I would suggest using all MTL as my shifter really balks going into 2nd if the temperature is below 50 and the car isn't warmed up. The MTL is noticeably thinner than the MT90 even though it claims to be a 70-80 weight oil. I assume from some of your references that you are in Canada (ie, brrrrrr) so you would definitely want a thinner gear oil. I believe someone stated that the stock oil is about as light as physically possible without causing premature wear or excessive gear noise. I've also heard that the VW oil is actually made by Castrol (DFX or something like that) and it's the same oil that Lotus specs for the Elan transmission.

Hope this helps.

 

The stock fluid is Castrol TAF-X. It is a 75w-90 weight. If you use an 80w your transmission may not last. I had a similar experience as pokey, using Royal Purple. Shifted better than stock but below 50, 2nd was a no-go. The stock fluid will run about $26 a liter at the dealer. You can get it a little cheaper if there is a Lotus dealer nearby. If your car is under warrenty or in cold climate, stick with the OEM.

 

I've read a lot about others having issues with shifting when the transmission is cold, but I changed my manual to Redline MT90 last fall, and my transmission shifts great in the cold. And I live in Canada too (I hate winter). Results seem to vary widely though.

 

thx for all the help guys

so I took it to my friends garage, he is planning on starting a business soon and has 2 brand new car lifts.

up goes the passat and we look at it found the fill plug on the left side easy to get at, the drain plug is easy to get at but I still need to order that special XYN M16 tamperproof tripe square bit.

My first plan of action is to check the level when the tranny is cold and on the lift, then I will add some if needed and test. If its at teh right level then I will buy the bit and do the whole job.

I DID NOTICE GREASE RUBBED ALL OVER THE SPECIAL BOLT OUTSIDE AND INSIDE OF IT! IF YOU GUYS CAN CHECK DO YOU ALSO HAVE GREASE RUBBED ON YOUR TRANSMISSION DRAIN BOLTS?

I AM REALLY WONDERING IF SOMEONE PLAYED WITH THIS FLUID BEFORE ME NOW.

 

Ordered a plug removal tool from charlesmeglio@comcast.net for $25 shipped. He's got an online tool ordering site, but I don't have the link. There was a GB from him on PW/CB5 in Dec 2004. I've got no grease rubbed on my bolts...

 

Ordered a plug removal tool from charlesmeglio@comcast.net for $25 shipped. He's got an online tool ordering site, but I don't have the link. There was a GB from him on PW/CB5 in Dec 2004. I've got no grease rubbed on my bolts...

www.metalnerd.com

 

Exactly!!

 

DOES ANYONE ELSE REMEMBER SEEING GREASE ON THEIR TRANSMISSION DRAIN PLUG? I HAVE GREASE RUBBED ALL OVER IT, IS THIS A SIGN THAT SOMEONE MAY HAVE ONCE OPENED IT IN ITS 40000mi OF SERVICE

 

I have grease all over the cooling fins on the bottom of the tranny box that has collected dirt. Yes, and some on the plug too.

 

I have grease all over the cooling fins on the bottom of the tranny box that has collected dirt. Yes, and some on the plug too.

YES so do I on the cooling fans too and its turned black from dirt!