ishan Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I've realised that there is probably little or no oil in my 1800 manual gearbox. Luckily I haven't driven it anywhere but I will need to soon. How is it done? Is there a way of filling it up without getting underneath? Is there any filters or such that need replacing like on a engine? A guide would be helpful. Any help would be much appriciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cop Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) Hi mate oil level and refill plug is on the side , the car needs to be level when topping up. As you refill it the oil will start comming out of the filler plug and that will be the level. p. s you may need to check your rear oil seal at the back of the gearbox ,you will have to do both jobs from undreneath the car. cheers steve. Edited June 1, 2011 by cop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick-Manta Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) Ah ha! You've come to the right place. I've got a load of pictures and basic servicing info for a Manta maintainance website which never happened. You will have to get underneath and you may as well drain what's left of the old crud and fill it up with fresh oil. Please note the filling process can be made alot easier with a length of hose, a funnel and two cable ties as pictured I use this method for other cars hence why the hose is so long and up the bonnet, but you only need about a metre for the Manta and the funnel can even rest on the inlet manifold. Here's a handy loop to fix a cable tie to, but you can get away with just pushing the hose in, just keep an eye of it as you fill incase it does pop out! There's no filter cartridge, but when you take the drain plug out, you'll find bits of your gears magnetised to the plug so clean this off. The car being serviced in the pictures had only covered 16,000 miles and still had that big clump of metal on! The PTFE is optional, I like to use it for piece of mind against leaks and it acts as a stop rather than the line of corrosion that forms. Hope this helps, and get on with it ..do you know how much a replacement 1.8 box will be?? Edited June 1, 2011 by Rick-Manta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opel2000 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) Get a piece of clean hose pipe and cut a length off. Stick a funnel on the end, and then from the engine bay simply push the hose down to the Gearbox filler plug. From underneath simply push the hose into the filler aperture on the gearbox. Been doing it this way for years now. Make sure you drain all the black crud shit out of box before re-filling. Gearbox is supposed to take 1.1 litres, but I've mainly re-filled gearboxes with just 1 litre and never had any issues or a gearbox break on me since 1992 so I guess the 0.1 of a litre is not drastically important, and I don't think I've ever re-filled one when the car has been on level ground either, due to the way I re-fill them i need the car jacked up. As long as you get a litre in there you will be fine, would also recommend getting the oil warm first as it goes down into the box a lot quicker. Heck, was typing that up at the same time as Rick Edited June 1, 2011 by opel2000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick-Manta Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) Forgot to add, you'll notice I undone the filler plug first. It's unlikely but if it's stuck for whatever reason and you've already drained the box, well you'd be stuck too! Great minds think alike Clive, and so do ours Edited June 1, 2011 by Rick-Manta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith1200 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Brilliant post Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumster Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Well done, Rick, CLive. Mmmm maybe I should do mine, as far as I know it's been in many, many, many moons. What type of oil is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I bought gear oil from halfords, which according to their wee book was the spec for mk1 cavaliers, and carltons. Can't mind the exact numbers tho. Unbelievably they didnt list mantas. (tho they did for bulbs, which incidently was wrong.....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutts Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 you need a 17mm hexagonal allen key or sump plug removing tool first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16valves-V-Turbo Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Great Reply's Guys . Topnotch advice ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick-Manta Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 There maybe controversy here, but I use Castrol SMX-S which halfords do supply in the getrag boxes although many a club member has told me only the GM getrag oil (the nice smelling stuff) should be used. Others agree with me on the fully synthetic castrol and even say using ATF is fine, but you need to change that regularly as you would with an auto box as it's missing a certain chemical to dispel water. The ZF manta boxes 'i think' can still use the SMX-S as at the time 75/90 full synthetics weren't available so recommendations of the day are therefore not the best. Remember dispite the agrecultural gear lever even 4 speed isn't straight cut like a lot of boxes from the early 70's were, so DO NOT use hypoid like some manuals suggest. Thanks Keith and Sam, I was working on an Online Manta servicing advise and part number reference guide website, but alas it wasn't to be, but I still did loads of these step by step guides which the above pics are from, so it's nice to get some use out of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16valves-V-Turbo Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Heh Rick what oil should i put in my back axle fitted with a ZF LSD ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick-Manta Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 There's no separate listing for the LSD over the standard diff. However I'd say Castrol Syntrax 75/90 as the GM special oils for the getrag boxes and LSD's aren't actually special. Modern synthectics are far beyond the protective characteristics of the oils we had 20 years ago. It's probably exactly the same but there's a syntrax diff oil and syntrax gearbox oil, both 75/90. I've got a couple of bottles in my garage, I'll have a look to see if there's anything on the lable to say otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantapaperman Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) hi. i just did mine yesterday and put COMMA 75/90 GL5 in. its only been in about 6 mnths but thought it would act as a flush..will the COMMA stuff be ok then? Edited June 1, 2011 by mantapaperman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ishan Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 Mr Rick-Manta your a legend!! Completed the job using your guide in about 15 minutes. Hardest thing was getting the car high enough off the floor! Now to figure out how to wire a reverse light from the gearbox to the Kadett wiring.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cop Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) HI IF YOU DONT HAVE A OIL DRAIN PLUG ADAPTOR YOU CAN USE A 10MM BOLT WITH A NUT WELDED TO IT . Edited June 1, 2011 by cop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyswallox Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Absolutely Brilliant Thread .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Absolutely Brilliant Thread .. There's more info in this club than in Google Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Syntrax and some molyslip- shifts lovley! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutts Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 i used the castrol syntrax and the lucas oil additive. moly slip was good in my other manta. for my ZF diff i used castrol oil recomended by local rally gearbox/axle builder who built axle up for me. gearbox drain plug remover is made using 17mm headed bolt with a 17mm nut on with a tad of weld on to stop nut unwinding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16valves-V-Turbo Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Lov it . Dont google it OMOC it eh ! Great tip about the 17mm bolt PRICELESS guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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