5 speed manual gearbox

[Steve McF]

Does the manual gearbox require regular oil changes on the 2.0T, or is the unit sealed?

It was suggested to me that it is a sealed unit that doesn't require  oil changes, but I did wonder......

[aerojon]

Not a sealed unit,change the trans fluid the box/diff will thank you..

[Steve McF]

If I get my mechanic to do it, but buy the oil beforehand, what should I buy?

Is there a recommended Saab gearbox oil, and if so, where can I get it, and how much do I need?

[Audax]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with changing the gearbox oil as I can't think of ever seeing a 5 speed with a box failure or that got noisy or hard to select, anyway the part no. is 93165290 for the oil a dry gearbox holds 1.9 litres so you'd want 2 litres of that, should be available from Vauxhall dealerships.

[Steve McF]

Thanks Audax, the local VX dealer has this oil in stock. 

My car has around 94,500 miles on the clock, is 12 years old, and has had 4 owners before me - so I don't mind getting the gearbox oil changed. It wasn't done as part of the service I had done 3 months back, but I'll get our mechanic to do it when he looks at the droplinks/suspension knock

[David]

Had mine changed twice. Once to flush it through for a few miles, then a second.
It certainly improved it. HTH

[Steve McF]

Just out of interest, why did Saab bother having 2 manual boxes, 5sp and 6sp? Is one better than the other? Have I got the duffer? 😅

[sgould]

Marketing. I reckon the 5 speed is better. The 6 speed has crammed in an extra gear in much the same space, so it stands to reason that some of the cogs will be thinner. The 6 speed, at least in early models suffered from very stiff changes. Probably rushed to market to give the same numbers as the Germans. Alll those gears are unnecessary on a Saab with a big flat torque curve.
You need lots of gears on peaky highly tuned engines to keep the revs in the sweet spot of max torque. The Saab peak torque is the same from 2000 rpm to 4500fpm. Three gears would probably do.

[Geoff1951]

... Three gears would probably do.

Just like early 1960s Vauxhalls!

[Norfolk Jim]

Sounds like a Sturmey Archer 3 speed would do then