The one aspect of this task is the PITA it is to fill with fresh oil. Those who have done this will know the difficulty in getting sufficient angle to pour the fresh fluid into the filler hole which is situated on the side of the box. The awkwardness generally results in a messy job to some degree.
Having recently been looking at servicing the shifter bushings, and read in the description about being able to do the job without removing the gearbox... Part of the process is to remove the gearshift shaft from inside the car... This led me to thinking that perhaps it will be more practical to fill the gearbox from the top... ie. from inside the car. I have removed the gearknob,the leather gaitor and the foam surround below that, and finally the rubber sealing boot... This gave a clear view down on top of the gearbox... I have used a 500mm long piece of flexible hose which passes through the lid of the bottle of oil and needed to be heated to soften it to pass over the plastic pour spout / tube which comes as part of the oil bottle. I have used a strong cable tie to secure it below the lip of that tube, and then drilled a 12mm hole in the plastic cap of the oil bottle and refitted that to the bottle. I have tested the set-up for leakage by turning the bottle up and plugging the flexible tube whilst giving the plastic bottle a squeeze... it's perfectly sealed, and no oil has managed to pass anywhere...
I took the other half of the 1m of flexible tubing and passed it through the gearshift hole and down the right side of the gearbox... it passes through and around without much fuss and is more than long enough to reach the gearbox filler plug with about 250mm still inside the car and above console level...
So, afetr a short sprint tomorrow morning to heat things up, I will drain the box and do the refill from the top... Unscrewing the plastic cap and removing the complete product tube to which I have cable tied the flexi-tube and simply popping it into the next full bottle... I'll place a catch pan under the gearbox so that by the time I've pumped 1,5 lt of oil down, it should be overflowing below and the excess being caught in the catch pan... Also, it can be done with the car in it's normal position - ie. standing on all fours and level...
I'll take a good rag into the car with me though - just as a precaution...
