I Recently had a diff go bad and I have no idea why. I was driving normally and the diff tried to lock up, the gear connecting to the driveshaft broke and every time it had a revolution tgere was a huge thump. About a week prior I was doing minor slides around some corners, that's the only connection I can make. Was this just chance? The diff had 130 k and proper fluid. I got a new LSD but still can't refrain from sliding occasionally. It just puts such a grin on my face. Thanks for the help

 

What year? S2k had a weak LSD but it was later revised. I am not an expect but good LSD should not have any problems with sliding occasionally

 

The one that locked up was the stock 2000. Now I have an ap2 one that's supposed to be a little stronger

 

130K and the diff fail from abuse? Live with it. Smiles per mile right?

 

Well if I put 130k on and it went bad I'd be happy haha. But I put on just around 1k since I bought it and it went bad. So I don't want to have to buy a new LSD every couple thousand miles haha

 

when you bought it, did it also have the proper fluid? IMHO after buying a used car i do all the fluids for a piece of mind. if you bought it from a dealership they mightve have used wrong fluid. and minor slides like in e brake turns? if you were dropping the clutch and taking off, that can break your diff. if you are gonna launch make sure its past 6k RPMS. launching for an ap1 is a hard trick to master. if you havent seen the videos on youtube with ap1's destroying their rear end you should check it out. the AP1 diff shouldnt break sliding around, i see them in autocross spinning out and they are fine.

 

Sounds like the PO abused the diff. Doesn't sound like anything you did to it in 1K miles of ownership. Sliding the back end around corners a little is not abuse.

 

I can tell you for sure that drifting the car does not hurt it, nor is the dif weak.

All machines have a weak link that will be come apparent when it is not used as intended, such as launching.

 

If you were popping the clutch to get the rear to break traction you are eventually going to peel teeth off the pinion. Popping the clutch to get the rears spinning is pretty much the same as launching, only there is more sideways motion on the car.

You broke the teeth off the gears. This is a different part of the differential to the LSD unit.