Pink dream of the 90s
The VAZ-21099 car still remains very popular not only in Russia, but also in almost all CIS countries. It is surprisingly repairable - you can handle most breakdowns yourself. One of the most common operations that have to be done is changing the oil and diagnosing the lubrication system of the engine and gearbox. Lubrication in a VAZ engine plays a very important role, so before each trip you should carefully inspect the car and its parking place. You will also need maximum attention if the oil pressure light suddenly blinks. This may indicate either a leak or a more serious breakdown.
Changing the engine oil
Even if the car sits idle more than it drives, the oil in the VAZ engine should be changed twice a season. This is due to different viscosities of oils, which is especially important for regions with very harsh climates. For example, an oil with an index of 5W or even 0W will promote cold starting much better than 10W or 20W. Although if an injector is installed on a VAZ 21099, and the climate is more or less warm, then it is not necessary to change the oil twice a year. Another criterion for carrying out work is mileage. The oil should be changed once every 10-15 thousand km.
The procedure itself is extremely simple. Before replacing, you need to purchase 3.5 liters of new and flushing oil, and an oil filter. The car is driven onto a lift or pit. The engine must be well warmed up - otherwise the oil will not drain completely. Naturally, the VAZ engine turns off. Place the waste container, carefully unscrew the drain plug in the crankcase and the filler plug at the top of the engine. Allow all the oil to drain, being careful.
After the oil has drained, the drain plug is screwed in and flushing oil is poured in. The engine starts and should run for a few minutes. You cannot drive on flushing oil, especially if the car is a VAZ 21099 injector. Then the engine stops again, the oil is drained again, and the oil filter is unscrewed. Before installing a new oil filter, you must thoroughly lubricate its rubber gasket.
The plugs are screwed back in - job done!
Six-speed gearbox
If after replacement the oil pressure light begins to blink, then you need to tighten the oil filter a little and also inspect the engine for leaks. Perhaps one of the gaskets has started to corrode. This may also indicate that the oil pressure sensor has broken down or there is a more serious breakdown.
It is worth remembering that flushing the engine must be done only if oil of different viscosity or brand is poured. In other cases, flushing the engine is optional. It is advisable to combine such a procedure with such an important operation as replacing antifreeze. When all the fluids in the engine are new, the driver can be calm about the condition of his car.
When replacing fluids, you should not dump them on the ground - this can greatly harm the environment.
Manufacturer's choice
We have already listed the brief characteristics, and now you can delve into the choice of oil manufacturer for the Samara gearbox. So, who does the best on the VAZ 2109?
Domestic manufacturers
So:
- The gearbox oil declared by the plant is TM-4-12. Ideally, you should use it, of course. This oil was specially developed for the gearbox of this particular vehicle.
- Using logic, we come to the conclusion that since it was specially developed, it must be the best. The manufacturer may be different - for example, Rexol.
- For example, the M6z12G1 engine oil used in the VAZ 2109 gearbox falls slightly short of the TM indicators.
- LukOil SAE 15W-40 is also a good competitor to specially developed oil, TM-4-12. The gap from it is only 4%.
Changing the lubricant in the gearbox
Every 50-75 thousand km the oil in the VAZ gearbox needs to be changed. It can be done earlier, for example, when the transmission begins to hum and there is no way to repair it. If you add thicker oil, the hum will disappear for a while. As for how much oil needs to be filled, its volume for a standard gearbox is 3 liters. If the box is five-speed, then approximately 3.3 liters are needed. According to the instructions, the oil viscosity should be 80W-85.
There are two types of VAZ-21099 gearboxes. The first is old boxes without a probe. To change the oil in them you will need a special syringe. The second type includes modern models with a probe. With them, the whole procedure is no more complicated than replacing antifreeze.
This is how to change the lubricant in a gearbox
So, before work, it is necessary to clean the metal near the breather and filler neck as much as possible from dirt. Next, the rubber plug on the breather is removed, and the hole itself is cleaned with a clean wire or awl. After this, a container is placed, the drain bolt is unscrewed and the oil begins to flow out. Before the procedure, the probe must be pulled out and wiped. It is better to carry out the operation after a short trip, preferably in a warm box, so that the oil becomes as liquid as possible. After all the glass is filled, the plug is screwed in and new oil is poured in. In old boxes, the level is checked at the lower edge of the oil filler hole, in new ones - using a dipstick.
Of course, the operation takes more time than replacing antifreeze, but there is no need to check a large number of hoses and pipes. If after changing the oil the noise in the gearbox does not go away, then you will have to completely rebuild the gearbox. It is recommended to check the oil level again after a test drive.
The gearbox oil must be changed after long periods of inactivity. It is worth doing this even after purchasing the car, because it is not known what the previous owner poured into the transmission and whether he monitored the lubricant level.
You shouldn’t wait for problems with the gearbox to start, forgetting about the rules for changing the oil in the gearbox. It is better to change the oil as recommended by the manufacturer, namely every 70-80 thousand kilometers, or once every three years. If the oil is old in age and production, it simply loses its properties and the gearbox on your car is subject to increased wear under the same load conditions. So, we will tell you how to change the oil in a VAZ 2108, 2109, 21099 gearbox yourself. Ideally, do this on a lift, pit or overpass. We will need a container to drain the waste. Let us remember that 3 liters of oil are poured into a 4-speed gearbox, and 3.3 liters of oil into a 5-speed gearbox. It is recommended to use 80W-85 GL-4432 oils from trusted manufacturers. So, the process itself. We make our way to the drain plug on the gearbox. It is located at the bottom of the box.
Remove the rubber cap from the gearbox. We clean it. Next, we clean the breather in the gearbox and put the cap back in place.
We begin to drain the oil from the gearbox. We unscrew the drain plug on the VAZ 2108 gearbox and wait until the old oil drains. It is better to drain the oil at a “hot” gearbox immediately after a trip. Warm oil will drain faster.
After the old oil has completely drained out, tighten the drain plug. Remove the oil level dipstick from the gearbox. In its place, insert a funnel and fill in new oil.
When pouring oil, monitor its level using a dipstick. The level should stop in the middle between the minimum and maximum marks.
This procedure is described for boxes with a probe. But there are also old gearboxes that do not have a dipstick. On old boxes, the drain plug and filler plug are very close.
You can only pour oil into it using a special syringe.
for changing the oil in a VAZ 2108, 2109, 21099 gearbox looks like
We will be glad to see you in our
club VAZ 2108, 2109, 21099
You will need: gearbox oil (see Appendix 2 “Fuels and lubricants and operating fluids”), a funnel or syringe for filling transmission units, a clean rag.
The oil level indicator (dipstick) in the gearbox is located on the VAZ 2108, VAZ 2109, VAZ 21099 on the left side of the engine compartment next to the battery.
WARNINGS Before checking the gearbox oil level after a trip, stop the engine and wait 5~10 minutes until the oil drains from the shafts and gears into the gearbox housing. Top up the gearbox with the same brand of oil that was previously used. The oil level in the gearbox housing should not significantly exceed the “MAX” mark, otherwise leaks through the gaskets and seals, as well as increased oil consumption, are possible.
USEFUL ADVICE
It is recommended to add oil to the gearbox slightly above (5 mm) the “MAX” mark on the dipstick to improve the operating conditions of the fifth gear gear bearing, but not more than this amount.
1. Remove the oil level indicator (dipstick) from the gearbox.
2. Wipe the gearbox oil level indicator (dipstick) with a rag.
3. Insert the gearbox oil level indicator into place until it stops and remove the dipstick again. The oil level, determined by the oil film, should be between the “MIN” and “MAX” marks on the indicator (lower and upper protrusions).
4. If the oil level is below the “MIN” mark, add oil through the hole under the gauge to the “MAX” mark or slightly higher. Insert the pointer into place.
5. If the gearbox does not have an oil level indicator, the oil level should reach the lower edge of the oil filler hole. To check the level, you need to unscrew the oil filler plug from the gearbox housing from the bottom of the car.
The article will be useful not only to owners of the VAZ 2109; in addition to this model, it is applicable to both 21099 and 2108, since the gearboxes in these models are absolutely identical. In general, changing the oil in a VAZ 2109 (21099) manual transmission is a fairly simple process and can be done by hand. But first things first.
Level control and required volume
While operating the vehicle, it is necessary to constantly monitor the oil level in the gearbox using a dipstick. There are two control marks (dashes) on the dipstick, indicating the minimum and maximum oil levels in the gearbox. The minimum mark indicates the need for topping up (usually the operation is performed every 4 - 5 thousand km), and the maximum mark indicates that there is no reason for concern.
Control is carried out as follows:
- At the gearbox, the dipstick is unscrewed or removed (the hole from it is usually used as a filler neck).
- Wipe the metal part with a dry, clean cloth.
- Insert the dipstick back and take it out again - you see the actual oil level in the gearbox.
The standard is considered to be the volume of lubricating fluid in the range between minimum and maximum, i.e. approximately in the middle of the marks.
Topping up oil
Oil is added to the “21099” gearbox only after checking the level and taking into account its tendency to a minimum. As a rule, from 0.5 to 0.8 liters are added to a 5-mortar, and up to 0.6 liters to a 4-mortar. It is important to use for topping up oil of the same manufacturer and the same viscosity that is currently used in the gearbox of your car; mixing is unacceptable and can lead to complete failure of the gearbox or its individual parts. Add oil using an oil syringe or funnel, then measure the level using a dipstick. Typically, topping up is done in stages, periodically checking the level, since a volume in excess of the maximum will lead to squeezing out of the gearbox through gaskets, seals and drives, which will necessarily lead to their replacement.
This is interesting: How much oil to pour into a box of 2181 grants
Possible reasons why an oil change is necessary
It is worth noting that in model 2109 (21099) and others like it, the gearboxes are, so to speak, “indestructible”. But even such a reliable unit has periods when, for further uninterrupted operation, it is necessary to carry out maintenance in the form of replacing the transmission fluid. If rustling or other noises begin to be heard from the box, the unit produces strong vibrations, gears shift worse and are accompanied by unpleasant sounds - the time has come for an oil change. To begin with, check the oil level with a dipstick (if the replacement was made recently), and inspect the unit itself for leaks. Only then proceed directly to the replacement itself.
Types of gearboxes
The manufacturer installed two types of transmissions on VAZ 2109 cars:
We will look into how much oil is in a VAZ 2109 box of one type or another below. The serviced box has a dipstick with which you can check the level of transmission fluid inside.
The maintenance-free version is equipped with only drain and fill holes, so you will have to try a little to control the lubricant level. As a rule, oil is always poured to the very edge of the filler hole, so to control the level you need to drive the right front wheel onto a hill, for example, a brick, and tear the filler plug. If grease begins to ooze from it, then the oil is at the level. This is the easiest way to check the oil volume in a VAZ 2109 gearbox.
What kind of oil to fill
The most interesting thing is that according to the regulations, it is allowed to fill the VAZ 2109, 2108 and 21099 manual transmissions with motor oil, but with the proviso that the replacement will be carried out as in the engine - once every 10 - 15 thousand kilometers. But such measures were resorted to earlier, when gear oils were practically impossible to find. Now the range of these fluids is so wide that many, even avid car enthusiasts with extensive driving experience, get lost and take a long time to choose the appropriate transmission fluid. To avoid confusion and ensure you get exactly what you need, follow these instructions:
- The basic rule is that expensive does not mean quality (when choosing, do not rely on price; usually, the more expensive the oil, the higher the likelihood of counterfeiting)
- First of all, pay attention to the marking, the viscosity should be 80W-85 or 80W-90
- The oil class must be GL-4 or GL-5, which corresponds to the domestic markings TM-3 and TM-4.
- For cars of the VAZ family, there are transmission fluids specially designed for them, for example, Rexol T, Omskoil Trans P and Volonez TM4. If you come across these brands, purchase one of them without hesitation.
- Purchase any oils only in specialized stores and from official dealers! This is very important to avoid counterfeits.
Theoretical information
Before the replacement process, any car owner is interested in the question - how many liters of oil are in the box of a VAZ-21099 car. From the technical factory documentation it follows that the 5-speed gearbox contains 3.3 liters, and the 4-speed gearbox contains exactly 3 liters.
Oil change intervals
Based on factory documentation, the oil needs to be changed every 70–80 thousand kilometers, but at least once every 4–5 years with an average annual mileage of 15–16 thousand km. In reality, the situation is somewhat different - weather conditions, environmental conditions, operating and storage (parking) conditions have a serious impact on replacement intervals. According to experts, replacement must be done every 35 - 40 thousand km, and at intervals after 30 thousand km. It is already possible that primary signs of violations may appear:
- heavy and imprecise gear shifting;
- extraneous noise;
- vibrations.
If the above symptoms have recently begun to appear in your car, we strongly advise you to change the oil as soon as possible - this will reduce wear on gearbox parts and compensate for possible losses from breakdowns.
Which oil to choose
The manufacturer recommends the following brands of oil for the VAZ-21099 gearbox:
- Volnez TM4” (80W-90; GL-4);
- Omskoil trans P (80W-85; GL-4/5);
- Rexol T (80W-85; GL-4).
Among experienced motorists, the choice fell on what they considered to be more reliable manufacturers:
- Idemitsu;
- Mobil;
- Castrol;
- Zic.
When making the initial replacement in a VAZ-21099 gearbox and lacking experience in using products from any manufacturer, it is worth focusing on the opinions of friends, reviews of car enthusiasts on the Internet and advice from reputable publications, which will ultimately allow you to make the right and informed choice. We advise you to fill the gearbox with oil made by Zic or Castrol.
What to have on hand
- Four liters of transmission fluid (the remainder will be used for topping up during operation). The exact amount of oil poured into the gearbox is three liters for a four-speed gearbox and three and a half liters for a five-speed gearbox (Answer to the question of how much oil should be poured).
- Suitable location (inspection pit, overpass, which is better - your choice)
- A funnel, preferably of a large diameter and with a long end (for convenience).
- A key or a head on “17”, you can do both.
- Old rags, wipe hands with a probe, perhaps for something else.
- A large basin for draining waste liquid and a bottle for overflowing and subsequent disposal (a five-liter canister will do).
- In addition, if you have a gearbox without a dipstick, you will need a special syringe, a flexible hose 20 - 25 centimeters long.
- Thin wire and electrical tape.
This is the most basic thing that will certainly be needed in the process of work being carried out.
Step-by-step instruction
Having prepared the car and all the necessary tools for changing the gearbox oil with our own hands, we begin to drain the old lubricant and clean the associated elements.
Drain the oil
Drive the car onto an overpass or inspection hole, prepare an empty container, keys and wire.
- Remove the rubber cap from the breather and clean it with a wire and a cloth.
- Using a wrench, unscrew the drain plug on the gearbox and place an empty container to drain the old oil. The complete cleaning process will take 15 – 20 minutes.
- Screw the drain plug firmly into place.
The gearbox is completely prepared for replacing the lubricant, which means you can proceed to the next stage.
