okie981

If you drained the differential area and gearbox area by removing the plug from each and that's how you got 2.8 liters out, the refill procedure requires filling until oil comes out of the fill port, start the car, put it in gear and let it idle so the half-shafts are turning. I think the procedure says to do this for 10 minutes, IIRC. This allows oil to be replenished in the differential area via internal passages. Then shut the engine down and wait a short time to let the levels stabilize and add more oil to the fill port until oil comes back out. Don't know if this would have resulted in you getting 2.8 liters in or not, but thought I'd pass along the info.

dextern27

Awesome! I'm very glad that the new transmission worked out for you! Thank you for the photos too!

ylk1

I find it strange why VW/Audi/Porsche won't sell transmission parts to let end users rebuild them like most other OEMs
Blow a 10$ seal? go buy a new transmission
Blow a silly synchro? go buy a new transmission
What a joke

the981blues

I have the same issue and am looking for a solution besides a whole new transmission.

I have a 981 GT4, and I believe there is a kit for this car meant to change the gearing that includes a new pinion gear.... kill two birds with one stone.

boxdriver

@ssmith96 Have you had a chance to figure out anything about that new gearing kit that might include a new pinion gear? If so, this might also help out @dextern27 if he hasn't swapped his trany out yet.

the981blues

Totally escaped my mind

boxdriver

Yours must not be too bad yet. There was no “escaped my mine” on mine before I swapped it.

the981blues

It's been getting some work done, haven't driven it in 2 months, thats why.

Feralc

Hello for the people who have had this pinion failure, is this something that could be detected by draining the gear oil and see if there’s metal in it??
and also is this noise coming and going? Or once is there is always there and can only get worse?
thanks

Feralc

were you able to find that 981 kit you were referring to?? That sounds like a really good idea, you fix the long gearing and replace a part that might fail.

boxdriver

for me, once the noise was noticeable, it was consistent. It wouldn't come and go, it just got worse over time. As my descriptions stated above, it was only with an engine load on the transmission. I have heard that it depends on what side of the pinion or gear the pitting is on as to whether it happens under load, or when engine braking, or both.
When I initially had the fluid replaced, the shop told me that they did find metal in it, but I don't know how much.

What are the symptoms you are having, if you are having any?

Feralc

I thought I heard a humming/droning sound after a spirited drive under normal load on the way back, because it not the first time I notice “weird” noises from the engine bay (as GT4s don’t have a lot of sound insulation) I thought maybe it was just a normal noise I didn’t notice before, the noise eventually disappeared (or I just couldn’t notice it)
Then I did a search and found this thread and others regarding the pinion failure so Ive got worried.
I took my car to the shop today and I expressed my concern, the mechanic told me exactly what you just said, that a pinion sound would be constant and wouldn’t go away but got worse, just to be safe he drained the gear oil to check for any metal debris and the oil was perfect, so at the end I had fresh gear oil in my car. But it is really good to know this is a common issue and better to be alert. Thanks for your reply