Oil Change Interval

[msvphoto]

Okay, before branding me as insane (slightly may be okay), please hear me out.

There really is oil in an eGolf. It resides in the "transaxle" (even though a one-speed I am willing to be there is some kind of lubrication juice in there). Since we plan to keep this car for the long haul it seems like a maintenance item that should get looked after.

Anyone know if there is a recommended change interval for the transmission juice in the eGolf? Any DIY thoughts on this? If someone who has downloaded the service literature can chime in it would be great.

 

[2016golfse]

See this maintenance schedule.

https://www.jorgevw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2018-VW-eGolf-Maintenace-Schedule.pdf

 

[msvphoto]

See this maintenance schedule.

https://www.jorgevw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2018-VW-eGolf-Maintenace-Schedule.pdf

Thank you!

Very interesting that the trans oil change interval for a 2018 is every 30k miles but the interval is not mentioned for the 2015 model year.

http://www.vwcorporatefleet.com/vw/documents/pdfs/MY15 e-Golf - Maintenance Schedule.pdf

Any idea what the fill is and how to change?

Our 2015 eGolf was purchased used from a VW dealer at just over 30k miles. Service was done prior and the car's "health emails" indicate next service is not until a little over 50k miles (we are at 45k now). Seems there is a discrepancy between the documented maintenance schedule and what the car sends in the monthly health report.

 

[manybees]

Very interesting that the trans oil change interval for a 2018 is every 30k miles

BTW, I believe that this 2018 schedule states every 3 years for this service. Nothing about every 30,000 miles in there.

 

[msvphoto]

Very interesting that the trans oil change interval for a 2018 is every 30k miles

BTW, I believe that this 2018 schedule states every 3 years for this service. Nothing about every 30,000 miles in there.

You are correct, my mistake, it does state 3 years. However, the wording is "Front axle differential lock fluid: Change (if equipped)" and I do not believe our cars are "equipped" with lockers (unless somehow they morphed into a GTI or R).

Since posting this I checked with two different VW dealer Service Departments (Capital in San Jose, CA and Sunnyvale VW). Capital says filled for life, wouldn't even quote cost. Sunnyvale says filled for life, only change if reason to do so such as leak or damage (cost quoted $289).

I asked the SA at Capital VW about why the 2018 maintenance schedule shows the interval but 2015 does not and was told the schedules are somewhat generic and not specific to the eGolf. (Makes sense, on one 2015 eGolf maintenance schedule I found it included engine oil changes!)

So, back to square one. If anyone who has downloaded the service manual can confirm this it would be helpful (maybe time to sign up for 24 hours at erwin.vw.com and download PDFs like a maniac).

 

[f1geek]

Oil degrades primarily through oxidation and high temperatures. Since the the e-Golf drive unit is sealed, there should be very little oxidation and since I can put my hand on the drive unit after a 100 miles drive (I have done this many times and my hand has not been burned), the fluid is not getting very warm. My wife's flex has a 150,000 mile transmission fluid replacement schedule. I can't see how the e-Golf fluid wouldn't last at least that long. I agree with the dealers who say the fluid is lifetime, especially since I am hoping to get 150,000 miles (maybe 200,000 miles) out of my e-Golf.

 

[msvphoto]

Oil degrades primarily through oxidation and high temperatures. Since the the e-Golf drive unit is sealed, there should be very little oxidation and since I can put my hand on the drive unit after a 100 miles drive (I have done this many times and my hand has not been burned), the fluid is not getting very warm. My wife's flex has a 150,000 mile transmission fluid replacement schedule. I can't see how the e-Golf fluid wouldn't last at least that long. I agree with the dealers who say the fluid is lifetime, especially since I am hoping to get 150,000 miles (maybe 200,000 miles) out of my e-Golf.

Good to know.

That said, "lifetime fill" is the bain of automatic transmissions. BMW, Audi, and others have said "lifetime fill" for various ZF automatics that really should have the ATF changed every 60k miles or so. Since the eGolf drive unit is not really a transmission per say (except maybe clutch packs to engage/disengage regen???) I imagine it could be treated more like a differential rather than a transmission, especially since you have found they don't generate much heat. Even differential gear oil gets changed once in a while. I generally don't agree with the dealers "lifetime" claims but in this case maybe so.

We're hoping for lotsa miles too. When we bought it the car was going to be the one car that I did not have to wrench on myself and hopefully that holds true. Even after trimming the fleet down some I still have my hands full with older ICE cars. So far all I have needed to do on the eGolf is replace the cabin air filter, change wiper blades, and top up windshield washer fluid.

 

[f1geek]

No clutch packs in any single speed EV transmission. Regen is achieved by the electric motor acting as a generator - no need for clutches or any other mechanical device. Just to check another EV: The Bolt EV maintenance schedule includes no mention of drive unit fluid change. I suspect most EV maintenance schedule includes no mention of transmission fluid because of so little heat generation.

 

[msvphoto]

No clutch packs in any single speed EV transmission. Regen is achieved by the electric motor acting as a generator - no need for clutches or any other mechanical device. Just to check another EV: The Bolt EV maintenance schedule includes no mention of drive unit fluid change. I suspect most EV maintenance schedule includes no mention of transmission fluid because of so little heat generation.

Good to know, thank you. One less thing to worry about, gotta love that!

 

[TheyVanish]

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but I've also been wondering about this. I looked more closely yesterday and found the fill plug on the left side of the transaxle just forward of the CV axle and slightly lower. The drain plug is on the bottom on the forward-left side. If I had to guess, the drain and refill procedure looks like it would be the exact same as a manual transmission: You drain the old oil, put the plug back in, then add new oil until it just barely starts to come out of the fill hole. The real question is which oil do we use?

 

[miamor]

And I thought I over analyze! Geeze, leave the oil in there and just keep up with the Bi-annual brake fluid changes. THAT matters, you don't want to have to be replacing brake components that fail due to water corrosion pitting the surfaces. Basically oil and coolant are lifetime, no scheduled changes in booklet:

• each 2 years, pollen filter, brake fluid

• each 4 years, tire filler bottle

 

[Phil0110]

I change the oil twice a year, in spring and autumn, I use Castrol 03084. This oil is not cheap, but rather expensive, but when I change it, it is practically clean, this is a nice bonus. My engine run so quiet that is hard to feel any vibration in my stering wheel.

 

[f1geek]

An engine in the e-Golf? Where is the engine?