Gearbox Oil Change

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’ve had my gear oil changed around 95k miles and decided to send a sample in to Blackstone labs. My fluid was still in great shape and could have easily gone another 50k. Anytime you take oil out of a car, send it in to truly know how bad it was and to be able to make a recommendation to yourself on how often it should be changed. Everyone’s driving habits, climate etc are different.

52k seems early and borderline wasteful, though great to hear you had good results. $350 seems pretty reasonable for both motors.

I replaced mine a few months ago around 75k miles. It was super black, but was probably alright. I didn't really notice any change to driving but I do feel better about it. I'll probably never do it again. One time after 50-70k miles just to get rid of manufacturing debris is probably good enough

I bought used. I wonder if there is any way I can tell if it's ever been done before. I am approaching 90K miles.

TIL

The motors supposedly have a lifespan of a million miles if you don't mess with them. So, why?

Did you get it done at a Tesla Service Center? If so, was it just make an appointment on the app?

Yeah without the analysis this could just be OP ego stroking. No Tesla service is going to turn down your money.

Yeah

So they can last two million miles!

Most likely it wasn’t done since this is not scheduled maintenance. Nobody at Tesla even suggests to do it. But older Model S’s had it scheduled every 100k miles.

I thought the videos about changing the oil in a Tesla were a joke, but is it really true? 😳

I got warning message that oil need to be changed cause of thickness 100k km

That will be beneficial for the guy who salvages it from the junk yard.

Can’t exactly do analysis if Tesla SC is doing the job. They just dump the old oil. No way of recapturing it. I doubt they’ll save it if asked.

It might be. But the metal shavings from the factory might be present at 50k miles. It’s better to flush them out.

Kinda true it turns out. Lol. There is no engine oil, but gear oil that lubes the reduction gear connected to the wheels. In essence that’s the oil change I’m talking about. You don’t have to do it per Tesla. But then again, ICE manufacturers say you don’t need to do transmission change and you clearly do.

They will certainly use the provided bottle to capture some. They did for me.

What did it cost

Model X. 2016. 225k miles on it. Never had the gearbox oil changed. Still drives just fine. Original battery and motors! Also - took it in at the 200k mile mark. Only service that was needed was brake fluid changed - but they said the brakes themselves looked great!

I said it in the post - $350.

The motors in S/X have different design. They run coolant and the gearbox and oil in separate passages. One is obviously to cool and one separate galley to lubricate. On the 3/Y the fluid acts as a coolant and lubricant. So it wears out more. Now of course if you don’t change it, nothing is gonna happen. Perhaps more wear than if you change it. But if you wanna be absolutely sure you’re doing everything you can to prolong it and do 500k miles and have negligible wear on the gears, changing it makes sense. Otherwise most won’t ever do it and would miss out on the efficiency and longevity.

Never knew. Thanks for the info.

Idk man. If this isn’t suggested/required by the manufacturer, as long as the motors are in warranty I ain’t gonna do it. Will probably do it just as the warranty comes to an end

Besidez the oil the coolant was on the list. there was a board imn my tesla center on maintance. since the it changed. it changed so tesla can claim maitaince free. even toyota changed their oil change miliage to make it seem cheaper from 3000 miles. markrting vs mechanics.

Is it only $150 for single motor then? I’m a at 7.5 years 61k miles. Maybe Forget it. At this rate I’m mostly worried about other stuff than the gearbox oil.

It’s like $99 for the rear motor and $249 for the front. It’s more work for the front, so more man hours since you gotta remove the bolt holding the front motor to access the drain plug. For a $100+ it’s not too bad. Yeah you do you. If there are other things to worry about, this is one of the lower priority ones I’m sure.

Oh $99 now makes it back on top of the consideration line.

Yeah that’s like a motor oil change price in a gas car. The only thing is Tesla will be very confused why you’re having them do this procedure. They don’t routinely do it. I had to explain it’s for preventative maintenance reasons. All fluids deteriorate, and they use ATF in gear housing. So it’s not inherently immune to deterioration. Many disagree, but I’m sure it helps prevent corrosion and other wear and tear on the gears.

Only on a Tesla board is lubricant change considering "messing with it".

Woah, it's nice there's an actual warning for it.

Our M3 is at 295,000km but gearbox oil is never changed. We do notice an increase in consumpltion. Should we go for it?

Yes, gopher it. I mean go for it.