Hilux 4x4 Forum

Gday all ... I have just removed the motor from my 1kzte with 5 speed manual and have noticed a fair bit of dirt/mud in the bell housing and on the back of the motor. Has anyone ever sealed up their bell housing to make it waterproof? Thoughts on why they aren't water tight to begin with? Heat from clutch plate?

I don't think that heat is an issue, James. I don't think that I've seen a bell that's truly 'waterproof' but a lot of them have a dust boot at the fork and yet have an opening at the bottom face where it meets the engine block. Water ingress should pose no problems, much the same as disc and drum brakes are exposed to this, however if it's sealed there will probably be more dust build-up from the clutch plate as it wears. That's my opinion and I think that's why the design allows for clutch dust to be expelled.

I would leave it as it is.

Thanks for the input Mud Dog, You're right, to seal it completely would take a fair bit of silicone. :) Mine has a huge rectangle hole at the bottom, same at the top and the sides have holes as well. I had a "chirping" noise coming from there and noticed it was from mainly from when I was in water or mud. I suppose I could remove the boot when home and spray out with clean water.

Do that, it can't do any harm spraying water in there to clean it out. The release bearing is a sealed unit with it's own lubricant, but over time the seals wear and the bearing becomes a bit dry. It only comes into play when the clutch pedal is depressed, so if it's not noisy when de-clutching, it's not serious. The "chirping" is probably related and can either be the release bearing or the clutch fork. Spray some WD40 or Q20 into there after cleaning (boot removed) - angle the spray in the same direction as the fork and not more forward than a 90° angle (you don't want the oil on the clutch plate). If the chirping goes away then you know it's the fork or release bearing. If not, it could be the spigot bearing (AKA pilot bearing).

Good luck.

yep .... the plan was to change everything while I was in there, spigot bearing, whole clutch and throwout bearing .... Im thinking I still might try and seal it up now :) .. with a removable plug at the bottom.