Changing the oil in the gearbox of the popular Chevrolet Lacetti is not a difficult task. This procedure is available to everyone, even an inexperienced car enthusiast. It is quite another matter how to choose the right lubricant to ensure maximum service life. This article provides recommendations on this issue using the example of a Chevrolet Lacetti with a manual transmission.

Is it worth changing the oil

Before buying oil, you need to decide whether it is worth replacing at all. So, first of all, let's pay attention to the replacement schedule specified in the user manual for the Chevrolet Lacetti. Usually, the manufacturer indicates a fairly large interval, which is relevant only for European countries with favorable climatic and road factors. For Russia with its harsh climate, it is necessary to change the oil every 15-20 thousand kilometers. This is an unofficial recommendation, which is quite successfully followed by experienced owners of Chevrolet Lacetti with manual transmission.

Oil selection by parameters

We will not go deep into the topic of oil parameters, and consider only the most optimal options. Especially for manual transmission Chevrolet Lacetti oil can be recommended Ravenol 75W90 Getriebeoel TSG GL-4. This is a semi-synthetic type product that will be the best option in terms of value for money. Of course, this lubricant is much more expensive than pure mineral oil, but it has more stable beneficial properties - both to low and high temperatures. Let's highlight the following advantages of the product from the Ravenol company:

• Protection of manual transmission components from premature wear
• Effective cooling of all transmission components
• Stable operation of the box under increased load
• Optimum viscosity level, adapted even to temperatures above 40 degrees
• High thermal stability
• Extremely low temperature adaptability
• Good compatibility with elastomers, namely resistance to corrosion propagation
• Reducing the effect of "dry friction" of parts
• Affordable price

Other brands

The owner of the Chevrolet Cruze always has the right to choose - to buy an expensive original product, or buy something cheaper, but no worse than the original. There are many analogs on the market, the quality of which is beyond doubt. For example, among them it is worth highlighting such as Shell, Mobile, Castrol, Total, ZIK and Motul. The most important thing is to pay attention to viscosity parameters, tolerances and quality standards. Optimum parameters are indicated as API GL-4, SAE 75W-90 / 80W-90.

In the first place in terms of wear resistance is the Motul Gear 300 75W-90. The second place is taken by Castrol Syntrans Transaxle 75W90, and the third - by Mobil Mobilube 75W90.

All three oils work ideally in temperature ranges from - (minus) 35 to +35 degrees.

An alternative option is Lukoil TM-4 75W-90. This is a good semi-synthetic oil, inferior in parameters to most imported lubricants. However, this product is well adapted to low temperatures. This model has the lowest cost among foreign oils for Chevrolet Lacetti manual transmissions.

Oil check

Changing the Lacetti gearbox oil is probably the most controversial topic. The issue of changing the oil in the Lacetti gearbox has so many controversies that it can be called the leader in the number of disputes between the owners of the Chevrolet Lacetti.

Consider the four main questions about changing the oil in a manual transmission.

1. What kind of oil to fill in the Lacetti gearbox?
2. Changing the Lacetti gearbox oil - how to change the oil in the Lacetti gearbox?

Is it worth changing the oil in the Lacetti gearbox?

This is the most important question. The opinions of car owners were divided - some change the oil at the checkpoint, others, in principle, do not. There is no definite answer here and there will not be, and everyone decides for himself what to do with his car. I will only write my opinion, and the choice will be yours.

At this point in time, we have clear instructions from the manufacturer that the oil in the gearbox is filled for the entire service life of the car, and, accordingly, cannot be replaced. What, by the way, is evidenced by the absence of a drain plug in the checkpoint. The manufacturer also clearly explained that it is necessary to check the oil level every 15 thousand kilometers and, if necessary, top up. It is also said that in the event of a gearbox repair, the oil must be replaced. But, in turn, it is not specified what, in their opinion, means "the service life of the car."

According to unofficial data, the service life of a car in the west is approximately seven years (35 thousand km of mileage per year). Then these cars end up with us and we are incredibly happy that we managed to buy a practically new car for a penny))) And this car will ride in our country for another twenty to thirty years! And what will happen to this oil only God knows.

The argument that the technologies for the production of lubricants have gone far ahead is somehow hard to believe when you take a can of oil and read there that the shelf life is 5 years! And this is the shelf life, not exploitation. Based on this fact, we can conclude that it is of course desirable to change the oil without waiting for the repair.

Moreover, each oil has its own service life. For example, synthetic oil can last 120-150 thousand km, and it is advisable to change the mineral oil after 50-60 thousand km. Semi-synthetic options are somewhere in the middle.

Therefore, any car owner who respects his car should change the oil in the gearbox regularly.

After the replacement, it immediately became noticeable that the box works easier, especially in cold weather. But this largely happened not just from the replacement, but from the fact that I filled in oil with a different viscosity index.

What kind of oil to fill in the Lacetti checkpoint?

All transmission oils are classified into two independent groups.

By viscosity index - SAE

By operating parameters - API

SAE viscosity classification

According to this classification, 9 grades of viscosity of oils for mechanical transmissions are distinguished: winter - 70W, 75W, 80W, 85W, summer - 80, 85, 90, 140 and 250. If the lubricant is suitable for both seasons, its marking includes a combination of two numbers: SAE 75W-85, etc. Multigrade gear oils have become more widely used.

Ideal for the Lacetti, from my point of view, either 75W-90 or 75W-80.

API classifier

The purpose, quality and performance properties of transmission oils are described by the API classifier. The division principle in this system is based on the constructive use of the lubricant and the conditions for its use. The API also takes into account the content of extreme pressure and antiwear additives in the lubricant. Transmission products received the designation API GL with the addition of the number 1 ... 5. Therefore, the classifier divides all lubricants for transmission units into 5 groups

I will not describe all five groups. I will only say that for the Chevrolet Lacetti you need to use aPI GL-4 only.You shouldn't take API GL-5, because it has a higher sulfur content, which synchronizers in gearboxes "don't like"!

In general, for the Lacetti, this is the option: SAE 75W-80 (90) API GL-4.You can choose the manufacturer yourself.

At the next change, I chose SP Gear 1051 75W-80 synthetic oil to get rid of the chilled gearbox in severe frost.

I chose it for several reasons:

• Quite a budget price, as for synthetics at 270 UAH. (about 10 American money) per liter.
• Designed for opelevsky checkpoints. Oil number GM 1940750 /1940759
• The container has a rather convenient "spout", which allows you to pour oil even through the hole in the level, even through the breather without using syringes, watering cans, hoses and other shamanism

The description for the oil tells us the following:

SP Gear 1051 is a premium synthetic gear oil specially formulated for manual transmissions used in Nissan, Opel, Renault and Volvo, among others. A special selection of synthetic base oils and special additives ensured the following properties:

• smooth and comfortable gear shifting both at high and low operating temperatures
• highest oxidation stability: long service life and long-term protection against high operating temperatures
• high smoothness of the gearbox synchronizers: - problem-free gear shifting and optimal wear protection in harsh operating conditions thanks to the presence of extreme pressure additives
• the highest level of protection against corrosion and foaming

In fact, changing the Lacetti gearbox oil will not cause difficulties, but an inspection ditch or overpass is needed.

We drive into the overpass and count the number of bolts that secure the differential cover. There can be either 10 or 11. Depending on the number of bolts, it will be clear which gasket to buy! 10 bolts were installed on the early Lacetti, and 11 began to be installed on the later ones.

Gasket numbers:

• GM 96179241 - 10 bolts
• GM 96829393 - 11 bolts

We go to a car shop and buy a new gasket, two liters of oil. It is also advisable to purchase a sealant. Although he is not really needed there. It's more for complacency. :-) Let's just say - if you took the original gasket, then the sealant is not needed. And if you took an analogue, then you can insure yourself with a sealant.

You can also buy a special oil filling syringe. If you don't have a syringe, you can use a regular watering can with a hose of a suitable diameter.

We go back to the flyover. We take a wide container for draining the oil, a 13-point head, a flat screwdriver, a metal brush to clean the dirt from the bolt heads and climb under the car.

But not all. We do not unscrew the two bolts completely so that the oil does not spit on us with all its might.

We install a container for draining the old oil. Using a screwdriver slightly (so that the oil does not spill sharply), pry off the lid

We are waiting for the oil to drain from the slot and remove the cover by unscrewing the last two bolts.

Admiring the checkpoint device

But we are in no hurry to remove the container for waste oil.

We take the jack and raise the left side of the car. So the oil will merge pretty well.

After that, you can remove the container

Unscrew the oil level control plug. It is not very conveniently located

But unscrewing it is not very difficult. By the way, here is an article about the device

There is a magnet in the cork. It needs to be cleaned. Here is such a beautiful bouquet

This is what a cleaned magnet looks like

We clean the differential cover and the gasket fit on the gearbox

By the way, this is the most tedious and lengthy stage in the procedure for changing the oil in the manual transmission. But persistence and work will wipe everything. Here we got to the Daewoo badge

Install a new gasket and screw on the cover. Do not tighten the plug yet.

Tighten the differential cover bolts with a force of 30 N * m and preferably in a spiral pattern.

I just drew with numbers the sequence of tightening the bolts

If you draw an imaginary line of sequence, you will notice that it resembles a spiral. That is why it is called so - spiral.

We get out from under the car, open the hood and find the "breather" on the box. It is in an accessible place and is clearly visible

Unscrew it with a 17 mm key

It needs to be rinsed so that everything is tip-top

We pinch the "nose" of the bottle with our fingers, turn the bottle over and insert the "nose" of the bottle into the hole where the breather was screwed in and fill in fresh oil

Pour until oil flows out of the control hole. This procedure is best done together. One pours in, and the second (or second) looks when oil flows from the control hole. But you can do it alone.

I put the action camera under the car and connected to it from my smartphone via Wi-Fi. I fill in oil, and on the smartphone screen I watch the control hole.

Very convenient, I'll tell you

Now we twist the plug and breather into place.

I did not immediately install the engine protection. Traveled until the evening, checked that there was no leakage anywhere and then installed the protection in place.

Gearbox oil change Lacetti completed ..

Another question arises - How much oil do you need to fill in the Lacetti gearbox?

The thing is that the manufacturer gives a clear volume of oil to be poured in - 1.8 liters. But in fact it only intermeddle with about 1.6 liters! What to do? Some add these two hundred grams after screwing the plug, citing the fact that it is written so or that this oil is needed for fifth gear gears. The latter do not add these two hundred grams so that it is not squeezed out through the oil seals.

I belong to the second category and pour oil only to the level. It seems to me that the manufacturer gives such a volume for filling into a box after repair or into a new one. That is, completely dry inside. And with a simple oil change, all the same, some of the old remains on the walls, on the gears, on the synchronizers, etc. Therefore, my opinion is that there is a reference level, pour by level!

Here is a video of the process of changing the manual transmission oil of my Lacetti

That's basically it. If you have any questions, ask in the comments.

Peace to your home and good luck on the road !!!

About a year ago, I changed the oil in the Chevrolet Lacetti gearbox in the sedan body in a specialized center and filled it with a transmission from Mobil 1 and regretted it a lot, since it showed itself not from the best side for a year. Even with a slight frost of -15 degrees, the box became wooden and, moreover, warmed up for a very long time. I got tired of this topic and I decided to change the transmission oil myself. I went to the officials and bought a draft there, no beer, but oil for the checkpoint from "Hado".

Why draft? Because this oil is poured into large 50 - liter barrels. First, I needed to drain the oil.

A container for working off was prepared in advance, as it I used a five-liter bottle with a cut neck. We unscrew the drain bolt and drain the mining into a container.

After the oil is drained, do not rush to immediately tighten the bolt, as oil will drip from the drain hole for some time and it will be better that it is completely drained. We see that the transmission oil has become completely unusable after the vehicle has driven 10,000 km, so I am on time.

Some kind of resinous mass, similar to solid oil, has formed on the working elements, which is best removed from there, since this is a kind of slag. Next, we clean everything with gasoline and collect everything in the reverse order. New oil was poured through the sopun.

First you need to remove the cap from it, and then use a 17 wrench to unscrew it.

This photo report shows in detail how to change the oil in a manual transmission on a Chevrolet Lacetti car with your own hands. In the Lacetti, it is instructed to check the oil in the gearbox every 30,000 km.

The replacement process is not particularly difficult; people without special professional skills can cope with it. Changing the oil in the box refers to seasonal events, most often it is carried out in the fall, the usual oil is changed to frost-resistant. In our area, low temperatures are the norm, so you need to be prepared.

You will need:

• Pallet cover gasket (before buying, make sure that your cover is 10-bolt, since there are 11-bolts, therefore the gasket may not fit);
• The key is at "13".
• Empty container for used oil.
• Sealant (optional).

Before starting work, warm up the engine to operating temperature, so the oil will become more fluid and drain faster.

First of all, you need to find a hole or a lift, all work will be done under the machine.

You will find a cap near the pallet. It must be removed by pulling upwards, after which the breather will become available to you.

The breather is tightened with turnkey nuts on "17" and "15", which are connected by welding, your task is to unscrew the breather plug.

Now the most unpleasant and dirty work begins - draining the dirty oil from the sump. To do this, unscrew 10 pallet nuts with a key on "13", but before that do not forget to substitute a bucket or trough under the pallet cover.

It is enough to rip off the bolts, after which they are quite easily unscrewed by hand.

After the oil has drained, unscrew the bolts all the way and remove the sump cover. Remove the gasket, it most often sticks to the pallet or lid. If you do not have a new one, then when removing it, be extremely careful not to tear it.

Unscrew the magnetic tip level control screw. It tends to collect small metal particles, so it is best to remove them. In addition, when the control bolt is unscrewed, we can control the overflow.

The oil has been drained, the cap is unscrewed, now you can put a new gasket in place and screw the cap. This is not my first oil change in a Chevrolet Lacetti box, therefore, given my previous experiences and the quality of the gaskets, for reliability, I always put the gasket on the sealant. Do not tighten the oil level plug if you do not know how much oil to fill. Pour slowly, when the bottom pours through the "control" - this will mean enough.

You can pour oil into the box using a tube that is available in each canister, but this is not very convenient, so it was decided to change the oil in the gearbox using a large plastic syringe. The syringe minimizes waste and saves time. Pour slowly to hear the oil pouring out in time and stop pouring it into the box.

Install the magnetic tipped bolt and tighten the remaining 10 pallet bolts. Make sure nothing is leaking anywhere.

Chevrolet Lacetti is a compact class car developed and mass-produced by the South Korean concern GM Daewoo and has sedan, hatchback and station wagon variants.
The car has very good consumer qualities and is widespread in our country.

The Chevrolet Lacetti is equipped with an automatic or manual transmission, the oil change rules for which have certain non-fundamental differences.

Features of a manual transmission

Depending on the modification of the manual transmission, the fluid can be poured for the entire service life or it changes after a run of 60 - 80 thousand kilometers. Among motorists, the opinion is widespread that it is necessary to replace it twice a year, that is, pour a frost-resistant version of this liquid into the box in the fall before the onset of cold weather.

Due to the large distribution of the maintenance-free manual transmission option, it is difficult to find data on the type recommended by the manufacturer. Usually, 75W-90 oil is used for replacement. Its good consumer qualities have been proven empirically.

Car transmission service: filling and draining lubricant

Preparatory operations

Preparing the Lacetti for changing the gearbox fluid is not very difficult, does not require special skills, as well as the use of a special tool, and boils down to the following provisions:

Replacement Algorithm

The replacement is done as follows:

Key Rules for Renewal of Transmission Fluid

Features of an automatic transmission

Transmission oil for automatic transmission Chevrolet Lacetti is designed for about 80 thousand kilometers of the vehicle.

An unscheduled replacement is carried out in cases where:

• when shifting gears, jerks occur or an unpleasant extraneous noise appears;
• the level has dropped to the lower permitted level;
• the appearance of contamination (the resource of the oil filter has been used up);
• there is an unpleasant specific smell from the box (wear of friction linings);
• the fluid has acquired a milky or black color (water ingress and wear of the friction linings, respectively).

The fluid level in the automatic transmission is checked with a dipstick when the car is warmed up and the box is set to the "P" position.

Changing the oil in the automatic transmission requires a consumption of 5 liters of this fluid. Its type is set by the vehicle manual. Overflow is extremely undesirable, as it dramatically increases the rate of wear of the box.

Replacement process

Preparatory operations for automatic transmission are similar to cars with manual transmission, and the replacement procedure itself is carried out in almost the same way. They include the following basic steps:

Partial replacement (topping up)

A feature of the type of car under consideration is that, along with the complete replacement described above, for its automatic transmission, a so-called partial replacement is also provided. When performing this procedure, the pallet is not disassembled. With a partial change, oil and ATF are added to the box to the desired level through the filler plug.

And a little about the secrets of the Author

My life is not only connected with cars, but also with repair and maintenance. But I also have a hobby like all men. My hobby is fishing.

I started a personal blog where I share my experience. I try a lot of things, various methods and ways to increase the catch. If interested, you can read it. Nothing more, just my personal experience.

Attention, only TODAY!