UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

On my 1.05 Polo, GL engine from 1984 with 4-speed gear box, the Haynes manual says to use SAE 80, API-GL 4 gear box oil.

Can I also use SAE 80W-90, API-GL 5, hypoid oil?

I want to drain the gear box and fill in then 2.2 litres.

Almost certainly, yes.. I can't see it making very much of a difference to the box anyway, considering that mine ran smoothly on two pints of engine oil when I accidentally ran it dry on the motorway once
I think the main thing is that the oil is the right viscosity, so any old SAE80 ought to do.

Thanks for the reply, but I am still a little bit undecided.

In the meantime, I searched the Internet and got completely confused about the APL-GL specification.

The specification itself doesn't mean much to me, as I am neither a mechanic nor an engineer of that field.

Despite the owner's manual of a Saab saying to use "API-GL 4 or API-GL 5", some people are saying that API-GL 5 contains much more sulphur and they also distinguish between final drives and transmission gear boxes.

My impression is that all this doesn't apply to a Polo gear box, but, well, I'm still confused.



On the other side, I fear that any mistakes will come out only in a few years. But I want to keep our Polo as long as possible. It's such a nice simple car, relatively easy to maintain and to repair.

No shop around here had oil that stated literally "SAE 80", "API-GL 4".
But going on and search _literally_ for "SAE 80", "API-GL 4" looks to me like ordering Volvic mineral water by mail, because some recipe is stating that "literally".

[quote="pitman"]On my 1.05 Polo, GL engine from 1984 with 4-speed gear box, the Haynes manual says to use SAE 80, API-GL 4 gear box oil.

Can I also use SAE 80W-90, API-GL 5, hypoid oil? [quote]

Absolutely no problem with doing this; try Millers TRX

http://www.millersoils.net/index2.html

any old 80w90 runs fine with it - to be honest the extra weight of the 90 component in the multigrade probably helps the older & more worn parts e.g. synchros keep from mashing each other to oblivion quite so quickly (even if it takes a percent or two out of the performance)

some folk reccomend stuff with e.g. extra molyslip friction-reducing components in, don't know whether that's actually a good or bad thing... it's probably very good for the actual gears and bearings, but i can't think it'll help the smoothness of synchromesh shifting