I recently came into possession of a 2001 Golf GLS with a 1.8t engine and 01M automatic transmission. As it has 107,000 miles on it, I figured it was time to replace the transmission fluid/filter as well as the differential fluid.
The transmission work went fine with no surprises. However, the differential side of things did not go as smoothly. After finally locating the G22 speed sensor and getting the right angle connector and sensor part unplugged/removed from above the engine, I could not get the plastic pinion/guide out to extract the oil. It unthreaded fine, but there is physically not enough space to remove the speedometer pinion/bushing guide assembly.
Directly above it is a metal coolant pipe that originates from the front of the block and wraps around to the back side of the engine where it connects to the heater core hoses. I tried to slightly bend it out, but the turbocharger is right there as well so it just ends up getting stuck between them before the gear part of the shaft is out of the hole. I contemplated cutting the assembly in half to remove it, but I would then be stuck in the same predicament when I went to put the new assembly in. Undoing the driver's side mount and lowering the trans/engine also does not help since the turbo and coolant pipe are mounted directly to the engine. None of the DIY threads I've found mention this as they are all for TDI's or 2.0's, so I guess this is only an issue for the 1.8t's? I found another thread on here with the same issue, but it was never resolved. https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2026381-Checking-Final-Drive-fluid-(01M-4-speed-Auto)
Is the only way to remove the G22 VSS and change the differential fluid on auto 1.8t's to remove that coolant pipe? (Which appears to be a major pain).
I ran out of time and put everything back together, but neither my speedometer/odometer work now. So, I must have broke something in the above process, or didn't get the shaft seated corrected between the sensor and speedo pinion. Before ripping into this again, I wanted to make sure I know what is needed in order to remove the speedometer pinion, change the differential fluid, and get the new one working correctly. Thanks!
The transmission work went fine with no surprises. However, the differential side of things did not go as smoothly. After finally locating the G22 speed sensor and getting the right angle connector and sensor part unplugged/removed from above the engine, I could not get the plastic pinion/guide out to extract the oil. It unthreaded fine, but there is physically not enough space to remove the speedometer pinion/bushing guide assembly.
Directly above it is a metal coolant pipe that originates from the front of the block and wraps around to the back side of the engine where it connects to the heater core hoses. I tried to slightly bend it out, but the turbocharger is right there as well so it just ends up getting stuck between them before the gear part of the shaft is out of the hole. I contemplated cutting the assembly in half to remove it, but I would then be stuck in the same predicament when I went to put the new assembly in. Undoing the driver's side mount and lowering the trans/engine also does not help since the turbo and coolant pipe are mounted directly to the engine. None of the DIY threads I've found mention this as they are all for TDI's or 2.0's, so I guess this is only an issue for the 1.8t's? I found another thread on here with the same issue, but it was never resolved. https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2026381-Checking-Final-Drive-fluid-(01M-4-speed-Auto)
Is the only way to remove the G22 VSS and change the differential fluid on auto 1.8t's to remove that coolant pipe? (Which appears to be a major pain).
I ran out of time and put everything back together, but neither my speedometer/odometer work now. So, I must have broke something in the above process, or didn't get the shaft seated corrected between the sensor and speedo pinion. Before ripping into this again, I wanted to make sure I know what is needed in order to remove the speedometer pinion, change the differential fluid, and get the new one working correctly. Thanks!