Modern Vespa

ET4 Gear Box Oil Change

This write-up was contributed by TFauch, including all text and images

Tools needed for Gear Box Oil Change:

1) Oil Pan (mine is an old bread pan that came with the house)
2) Oil slide (made from a water bottle)
3) Ratchet Drive, two 3in. extensions or one 6 in. extension, and 6mm Hex bit socket (you can buy these tools individually from Sears)
4) Tutela ZC90 Transmission Oil
5) Clear squeeze bottle marked at 5 oz. ( I used the measuring cup from the kitchen and filled it with 5oz. of water then poured it into the squeeze bottle and marked the squeeze bottle then thoroughly dried the squeeze bottle )



Location of the drain plug

Looking from the exhaust side of the scoot thru the rear wheel between the 4 or 5 o'clock position on the wheel you will see the only hex key bolt That's your drain plug.



No need to remove the exhaust or rear wheel

Slide the oil slide thru the wheel from the exhaust side so it extends beyond the wheel and tire and into the drain pan. The top of the slide where the water bottle cap use to be will now be in your way to access the drain plug. No worry you can push it (bend it) down so you can access the drain bolt. The bottom of the slide will not move too much because it will hit the linkage for the rear brake. Now loosen the drain plug (counter clockwise) lefty loosey and let the drain plug take a ride down the oil slide into the oil pan. Let the oil drain. Some prefer to drain the oil while the engine is hot because the hot oil will drain faster. I prefer to drain the oil while the engine is cool because I don't want to play around a hot exhaust and because all the crap in the oil will be settled to the bottom by the drain plug.



You're almost done

After all the oil has drained. Remove the oil slide and reinstall the drain plug clockwise or righty tighty. Now fill your squeeze bottle with 5 oz. of transmission oil and locate the gear box oil fill/dipstick (that lonely 1 inch black plug to the rear of the engine in the picture below)



Per the Owner's manual

The rear hub oil content is 5 oz. with the motorscooter perfectly upright on its stand.
The rear hub oil checking shall be performed as follows:

1) Place the vehicle on its stand on a level surface.

2) Unscrew the dipstick, dry it with a clean rag and then rescrew it completely.

3) Unscrew the dipstick and check that the oil level reaches the MIN notch.

4) Rescrew the dipstick completely.

Oil type: Tutela ZC90 (SAE 80W/90 API GL3 specifications or higher)

Tim

I searched and found this very well written step-by-step by TFauch back in 2005 on changing out gear oil and thought it would be good to bump back up and share a couple of ideas that might help those who will changing their gear box oil.

1. When you remove the drain plug make sure you remove the washer along with the plug. It is very easy not to notice the washer. When I removed drain plug there was no washer on the threaded end of the plug. Looking at the drain opening it looked liked there was no washer there...but I took my 90 degree pick and picked around the opening and the washer slid down. It was held in place at the drain opening due to the viscosity of the gear oil. The composition of the washer seems to be aluminum (?) hence there was no contrasting color to separate the washer from the gear box housing drain opening.

2. I tried to use the cut out plastic bottle and found it difficult to use (I do use it to change oil...makes a great trough...since the oil box is a little too big to get under the center stand). Went back and got some aluminum foil and fabricated a trough. Since the aluminum is mallable I was able to secure it up and over the wheel rim and then form a trough that emptied into my oil change box.

Lastly, I also prefer to change out the oil when warm...don't like getting burned by the muffler / silencer. I also prefer to take my time and drain oil completely. Hence I make it a point to change engine oil and gear box oil allowing more than enough time to have oil drain out completely...less chance of oil spillage / run off.

nice article, this is what i needed, saved me a visit from my mechanic. followed everything from the cutout bottles to the Oil Pan.

Old topic I know, but this is the only one I found from Google searching. I don't see any dipstick on my ET4, hope the pics are clear enough to show up..
Does the rear hub look like this for anyone elses scooter?

You're right behind it in your pics. It should be black, about the diameter of a big thumb and have a raised cresent-shaped bit coming off of the cap so that you can take it off/put it on by hand.
If you sit on the seat with your feet on the ground, it'll be right by your left calf. Start looking from the ground up.

In regards to the rear hub, mine looks like that but without the dial thingy that's attached to it.

Hey guys. Just checking. In mark on transmission oil is all that is needed? I'm there just thought I would have to add some because there are three marks

Hi, my dipstick has many lines... Which is min/max mark?

I think you have min, max, and middle line. Aim for the middle line.

Here,