spesrf25

Not the R&P, and not the Housing. I'm about to take it off for the installation of Gears, and i was wondering if there is anything to look at or any way to tell what kind of condition it is in. I don't want to buy an new one, but I'm so paranoid about our Rears (on the car), that it's driving me crazy.

chris_barry

Position the car so one rear wheel is on dirt or grass, and other other on tarmac. You should be able to drive forwards hard and still get traction. If you can spin the wheel on the tarmac the LSD if working. If the wheel on the grass spins freely your LSD is stuffed.

This test is only to tell if your LSD is knackered. If you are looking at racing you normally look at torque split and lock up vs load and direction by taking out the LSD and using torque wrenches and other tools.

Another simple test is to see if you can move the diff flanges in different directions by hand. If you can the friction shims/washers in the LSD have worn thin. This can be recovered by turning a small amount of material away between the LSD body and end plate to bring up the preload.

Oh, and before people jump in and point out the Honda LSD is a torsen type and doesnt have friction plates. It is a torsen type, but does have some small friction washers in the middle of it that stop the torsen gears chattering when unloaded.

Good luck

Chris.

spesrf25

Dumb question....what is tarmac?

Billman250

The flanges are supposed to be turned easily in different directions by hand.

Billman250

Oh....tarmac is the road, or pavement.

spesrf25

Thanks...i'll definately try that, but is there any method by visually inspecting it when i take the diff apart?

Av8ing1

I don't know about a visual inspection but the most fun way to evaluate your LSD is just light off the rear tires with a big clutch dump then evaluate whether you have left one black mark down the street or two. This can be hard on the rear end but your changing gears anyway... : )

JeffA

spesrf25

Lmao.... . Thanks for advice, but if the rear is going, the last thing i want to do is blow the whole thing.

AusS2000

I had some bad LSD once....

Seriously, will the 'one wheel on the grass' test work with our Torsen torque sharing diff? Logically I'd say no, but then I also know CHris has been inside more of these than I've had hot dinners.

chris_barry

Of the 5 diffs I've fitted to clubmans it was impossible to turn the flanges different directions by hand on 4 of them. The 5th one was loose due to shim wear which we took up by machining the end plate face. It is possible to turn them different directions if you use the wheels for additional leverage.

Perhaps the diffs you have seen have more mileage on them.

Chris.