AUTOMATIC GEARBOX OIL CHANGE

[DIOGENES]

Haynes Manual for my 2000 VW 1.8 20V petrol Passat recommends changing oil in auto gearbox every 40,000 miles or 4 years.
VW do not give any recommendation.
After 60,000 miles and 14 years it seemed sensible to change the oil in 4 speed auto box, and while the car was being worked on, also change oil in final drive box.

Local VW dealers could not [ or would not? ] do the job, muttering nonsense about 'sealed for life' and 'not recommended by VW'.
One VW dealer was adamant that the auto box shared the same oil as the Final Drive box.
Clearly just not so.

I wanted the work done by someone with experience of the standards of cleanliness needed for auto boxes.
The UK Tech Section of auto box maker ZF recommended:
AUTOTECNIC, Unit 12, Meadowhall Ind Est, Amos Road, SHEFFIELD, S9 1BX
0114 242 4455.
They did the job without fuss, including devising a method of draining the Final Drive box, even though VW do not include a drain plug in their design.
They used parts and oils from VW.

That was 2 months ago and so far all has been well.

Although this expenditure was beyond the maker's requirements, it can be worthwhile if you plan to keep a car for a long time.
Replacement auto boxes are not cheap!