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The 5-speed gearbox is the Niva's weak point, and it is essential the oil is
changed regularly.
A popular method of helping preserve the gearbox is to overfill it by 500ml so 5th gets improved lubrication. Luckily, it's pretty easy to do. BTW, I do NOT recommend GL5 spec oil (unless the manufacturer can guarantee it is yellow metal safe) - good quality GL4 is fine.
Drain the old oil by removing the sump-plug in the bottom of the box, the 12mm hex in your Lada tool kit is what you'll need (and it usually pays to check you can open your filling point before draining, or you might be stuck with no oil in the 'box). Replace the drain plug.
Now you can either fill the 'box from the usual filling point on the left side of the 'box, or from where the gear-shifter stick bolts on the top of the 'box. The problem with using the usual method to overfill is that the oil will start dribbling back out before you've got the extra amount of oil in. You can jack the left side up high-ish or drive one side on to some tyres, but it's actually pretty easy to do from above:
You'll have to remove the black plastic that surrounds the gear & TC shifters, but that's a simple matter of a few screws, and a couple of rubber boots.
You'll then see the below image. It's simple a matter of unbolting the 3 "outer" bolts on the base of the shifter mechanism (put it neutral first), lifting it out, pouring in 1.8 to 2 litres of oil (don't use more than 2 litres or you'll blow seals; and bear in mind that some oil stays in the rear section of the 'box when you drain it, so 1.8 litres is a better bet than 2), and bolting things back together in reverse order. The only potential catch is unbolting the wrong bolts (see image below) which may have fatal consequences for your gearbox.
Undo the outer bolts; do NOT undo the inner bolts
Here's what 2 litres
of oil looks like in the 'box
Tip - before you put the interior panels back, pop some extra padding of some sort underneath as the Niva lets a lot of noise in through the gearbox and TC shifter holes.
Note - the manual says not to operate 5th gear at under 80 kph, and the Australian Lada parts dealer recommends a 90 kph minimum (and has indeed sold less replacement fifth gears since issuing this advice). It is also well worth checking the gearbox's main rear bolt is TIGHT and staked down.
This page lives at the www.ladaniva.co.uk/baxter domain, if you’re reading it from anywhere else you may not be reading the most up-to-date copy.
Diagnosing & Rebuilding the Gearbox
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