Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I have recently read a thread that mentioned having to seal one of the bell housing bolts I assume to prevent an oil leak. Could anyone educate me on what bolt this is and the consequences of not sealing it? When I last removed my engine/gearbox unit I am not sure whether I was aware of any issue such as this.

Hi William

Probably one of my posts.

The manual states that you should put RTV sealant on the threads of all gearbox bolts to prevent leakage. That includes the bell housing. When I recently replaced my lip seals, each bolt had a sort of blob of sealant all round its thread. It looked like an O ring. Anyway, I did as the manual said.

The consequence of not doing this is leakage, potentially. The gear oil wicks through the thread and drips out at the bolt head. If you don?t have a Lotus workshop manual for your car, get one. They are definitive.

So anyway, the question is: does your gearbox leak oil? If not, rejoice.

When you look at the bellhousing from the front the bolt that needs sealer on is the bottom left one - this is the only bolt that holds the bellhousing on that goes through into the main gear case where the oil lives. .
The 3 bolts that hold the clutch bearing carrier nose on also go into the main gear case so these should have sealer on them too.

Thanks All, Just finished my Gearbox rebuild. Missed that item in the Lotus workshop manual. I will go back and seal the bolts. BTW Gear box is awaiting completion of engine rebuild prior to installation. So thanks again for saving me a lot of future problems / work,