I could understand a gearbox, but I thought a diff (or at least a basic open / closed diff vs something viscous...) was basically just a few driveshafts connected by gears?
not really. for example bmw:
used lsd - starts from 170 eur
molybdenum coated lsd drive plates - from 100 to 230 eur (depends on how much locking you want)
oil - 35eur
powerflex bush for lsd - 50eur
sand blast + powdercoating - 60eur
work, if you don't do it by yourself - 100eur or less
total: ~500eur for a almost new lsd, if you dont do sand+coating then even less
Labour is obviously a lot less in Latvia... The local garage I use (who are usually very good value) want ~£100 just to swap two front calipers.
But what part actually breaks? Like I said, I thought it was just a driveshaft and a few gears - what would it care if it was going sideways as straight?
Was a right pig to get the front top mounts off, one undone with air gun on 140 psi because alan key and swan kneck spanner wasn't gonna budge neither of them. And one top mount bolt wouldn't undo with air gun so had to drill to holes in the bolt to weaken it and then use air gun which worked. One side of the damper came apart piece of piss, other one when taking bearing and rubber mount off, we had to drill shit out of it to try get it to break which it wouldn't, so after 20 mins of chisel and hammer on the bolt it broke in to
Got the ass end raised up a little bit because didn't know what it was gonna be like on speed bumps here as my mate ripped his back box off on his mk3 with 120 all round. But deffo going lower on back as it's fine Just need to get front arches rolled and flarred as it rubs a bitch when turning.
It is an OEM replacement, it just stops the snapping you get from a normal LSD. For a fast road car/track slag it is spot on. Not so good for doritos though.
Depends. It can be just a bearing going bad, resulting in more damage if you don't fix it... or it can be the gears inside the diff, broken tooth, etc.
The diff doesn't have to do any work when going straight. Did you watch the video logitek posted? It's a good explanation of how a differential works.
My dad worked in car engineering, and i remember how he always told me not to spin the wheels for a long period of time on snow, because it would eventually do damage to the diff. Going sideways is the same, the diff has constant work to do. If you stress it too much, it can get too hot, which will cause it to break eventually.
I'm no expert, so i wouldn't know. All i know is i love how this car handles with the OEM diff.
well since i work in a bmw-benz shop i know how much a diff is here at least. of course u can get used ones,but u wont know its good till its in the car. for example lets take a regular E46: used diff from junkjard is lowest 500 $ u add 5 hours of labor at least(we r 90$/h) so thats a grand and it may not be good. a new diff starts at 1500-2000,and u can add so many variations of ratio that it could go up to 3 grand easy !
Yay, I may have finally accomplished something mechanically. My car was idling poorly when cold.. so I did googling.. then I took out my throttle body, cleaned it out, replaced it and it idles like a champ again.
Well considering I don't know anything really about mechanics.. I was slightly proud of myself. I know it's basically nothing that hard (it was only about 30 minutes, a few electrical connectors, 4 bolts) but little steps like that so I can stand inside the engine bay of a car and take a picture one day
Was more the sound I was on about, that little sound of a bomb dropping is a little hint.
I was sitting just now, thinking wtf are you on about, then just thought that's how people treat Scots nowadays. Then I remembered, epic video. Was a couple of years ago, still with her yet.
i have never seen anybody break a diff because they kept both wheels spinning for a long time, maybe if you run no oil or some really bad oil in it then it will do that but the biggest killer is the shock from launchs, harsh gear changes and clutch kicks
most of the time something else will break befor then tho, like in my 180sx i would break the gearbox or the clutch would slip befor the diff let go
A diff will not simply break from one moment to another (at some point it will eventually, but not after 5 minutes of spinning your wheels). But if you keep spinning your wheels you'll put premature wear on the diff. Which can cause it to break earlier than it should. A diff running too hot is the problem, and if it gets too hot, the oil won't be able to do its job anymore.
It's what my dad told me at least, and he's been in automotive engineering for half a century. I think he knows what he's talking about.
There is a guy at the company i work for. In his previous job, he was an engineer for a huge truck company. He told me not too long ago how they would test the durability of new differentials for their trucks years ago... they would simply pour water under the wheels of a truck, lock the truck in place, and then spin its wheels and see how long the diff would hold up. This guy was also in automotive engineering for years.
So who should i believe, a guy on an internet forum, or two engineers who have several years of experience?
And if you read up on the S2000 and diff issues, you will find that many people warn from excessive drifting/burnouts with this car, because the differential is the first thing you'll break. It's a known fact.
