Gearbox Oil Change Intervals — and What “Filled for Life” Means
Gearbox servicing is the part of a service history most likely to be blank, and the part most likely to be misread. Of the 8 units documented here, 3 have a scheduled fluid change and 2 are rated by their maker for the life of the unit — meaning no entry was ever supposed to appear. Knowing which one a car has is the difference between a record with a gap in it and a record that is complete.
Where a manufacturer says “filled for life” and the trade disagrees, this site shows both and does not split the difference. The manufacturer position is a fact about the schedule; what specialists do is attributed opinion, and the two are rendered differently on purpose.
8 transmissions. Tap a column heading to sort.8 transmissions.
DL382 7-speed S tronic (longitudinal)
- Type:
- dct wet
- Manufacturer schedules:
- —(unconfirmed)
- Trade practice:
- —
- Fluid spec:
- —
- Type:
- dct dry
- Manufacturer schedules:
- None scheduled(reported)
- Trade practice:
- 40,000 mi
- Fluid spec:
- VW G 052 512
- Type:
- dct wet
- Manufacturer schedules:
- 40,000 mi(reported)
- Trade practice:
- —
- Fluid spec:
- VW G 052 182
- Type:
- dct wet
- Manufacturer schedules:
- 40,000 mi(reported)
- Trade practice:
- —
- Fluid spec:
- VW G 052 182
- Type:
- dct wet
- Manufacturer schedules:
- 40,000 mi(reported)
- Trade practice:
- —
- Fluid spec:
- VW G 052 182
- Type:
- dct dry
- Manufacturer schedules:
- None scheduled(reported)
- Trade practice:
- —
- Fluid spec:
- —
- Type:
- dct wet
- Manufacturer schedules:
- —(unconfirmed)
- Trade practice:
- —
- Fluid spec:
- —
- Type:
- manual
- Manufacturer schedules:
- —(unconfirmed)
- Trade practice:
- —
- Fluid spec:
- —
| DL382 7-speed S tronic (longitudinal) | dct wet | —(unconfirmed) | — | — |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DQ200 7-speed dry DSG | dct dry | None scheduled(reported) | 40,000 mi | VW G 052 512 |
| DQ250 6-speed wet DSG | dct wet | 40,000 mi(reported) | — | VW G 052 182 |
| DQ381 7-speed wet DSG | dct wet | 40,000 mi(reported) | — | VW G 052 182 |
| DQ500 7-speed wet DSG | dct wet | 40,000 mi(reported) | — | VW G 052 182 |
| Ford 6DCT250 PowerShift (dry) | dct dry | None scheduled(reported) | — | — |
| Ford 7DCT300 (wet) | dct wet | —(unconfirmed) | — | — |
| Ford B6 5/6-speed manual | manual | —(unconfirmed) | — | — |
Questions people ask
What does “filled for life” actually mean?
It means the manufacturer has not scheduled a fluid change, so none appears in the service schedule and none will appear in a service history. It is a statement about the maintenance plan, not a guarantee about the gearbox. The reasoning is usually sound for dry-clutch and sealed units, where the fluid never contacts friction material — but plenty of independent specialists change it anyway, particularly where a mechatronic unit shares the same fill.
Is a blank gearbox line in a service history a red flag?
Usually not. If the unit has no scheduled fluid change, there was never an entry to make, and its absence tells you nothing about how the car was treated. Knowing which gearbox a car has is what lets you tell the difference between 'nothing was scheduled' and 'something was skipped'.
Why is the same gearbox called different things?
Because marketing names are per-brand and gearboxes are not. A DQ250 is a DSG in a Volkswagen and an S tronic in an Audi, and the same physical unit appears in SEAT, Škoda and CUPRA models too. We record the unit, and list the names it is sold under, so an interval cannot end up different depending on the badge.
Do wet and dry dual-clutch gearboxes differ?
Materially. In a wet unit the clutch packs run in the same fluid as the gear train, so that fluid picks up friction material and generally has a scheduled change. In a dry unit the clutches sit outside the oil, which is the basis for the lifetime rating. The badge on the car will not tell you which you have.