Brendan Kelemec (Grafton, NSW) 220513

Hi Allan, I’ve got a 1996 Toyota 80 Series Cruiser. I was introduced to 4wding by my old man when I was only a little kid and have owned a 4WD since I was 20. It was a Ford Courier with lots of mods, which I sold so I could own my very own live-axle coil sprung truck. I chose the mighty 80 with the 1FZFE motor. It has an ARB bulbar with a Warn winch and 2in lifted suspension. It’s basic, but that is what I love about it. All I want to do now is to make sure it’s always in perfect mechanical condition.

I am having the age-old noisy gearbox problem when the clutch is engaged and it disappears as soon as the clutch pedal is depressed. I would love to know once and for all what the hell it is. It’s driving me nuts and everyone has an opinion, but no concrete answers. Hope you can help.

Allan

Brendan, when you have the gearbox in natural and the motor idling, there are approximately six or more bearings turning. Any one of these can be starting to pack up and giving you a noise that you can hear from the cabin. Not just one bearing, there are quite a lot of bearings turning.

When you push the clutch down it stops all those except two bearing turning, and of course it goes quiet. You are part way there with your trouble shooting Brendan, the gearbox is going to need a bearing overhaul, replacing all the gearbox bearings while you’re at it. Hopefully that helps.