Metal shards in Gearbox- bad news?

[Elblado]

Changed the oil in the LT77 gearbox today. The plastic filter was a little 'stuck' so gently prised out with pliers. The filter came out surrounded by a reasonable amount of metal flakes in all I 'd say a small handfull. The upper nut also had a lot sticking to the magnet. Photo tells the story. The oil was very black and low (2 litres) and made me think it hasn't been changed in a long time. Can't find any record of it in the service history I got with the car. It's only got 137kms on it and before the change the box was great when cold but after 30 mins of driving it became a pig to change gears. Haven't driven after the oil change as I need to also change the exhaust manifold gasket but I was hoping the new fluid will solve the problem. Anyway with this amount of metal flakes should I be alarmed? as a new owner I'm not sure if these legendary machines are supposed to shed that much was thinking I'd do another oil change in about 3 months to try and catch some more crap. BTW I used Penrite Manual Gear 75 said it was MTF-94.

[steveG]

Little bit hard to tell from the photo - is it actually flakes/slivers or just small furry stuff on the magnet?

Definitely hasn't been changed for a while

Steve

[Elblado]

Little bit hard to tell from the photo - is it actually flakes/slivers or just small furry stuff on the magnet?

Definitely hasn't been changed for a while

Steve

mostly flakes. The drain plug was also full of a very fine metalliac type sediment.

[newhue]

Elblado,
I'd put some cheap oil in and run it for a week before dumping it again. Then put some decent stuff in.
Fine metallic sediment is normal, chips of metal not so good, and I'd say the flacks are the result of oil being well and truly overheated and not changed.
What was in there has worked very hard for some time.

[johncat07]

fill the box with diesel and drive around slow for a bit, around the yard or block. then drain into a bucket and repeat leaving any metal bits out, then fill with new oil. my tdi had same problem but at 49000km, there were metal shards but they appeared to be soft metal as used on syncros. 1st 2nd are worst 3rd isn't as bad in shifting.

[Elblado]

Thanks for the tips. I've put the new oil in already but I'll drop it early and see what comes out. I went through the service records in detail last night (PO kept every receipt) and couldn't find any that showed a box oil drop and refill only top up or 'OK' against the box oil on the standard service report. So I think this may be the first time in 137kms and 17 yrs. This is the reason I do this stuff myself.