Chewed up dogear, Clutch & Spider gear housing -- need help guyse

[crappycoco]

I've opened my diff with the intention of replacing the dog-ears and clutches (and adding a third one), only to find that something went wrong.

I became suspicious when one of the bolts on the carrier cover was a PITA to remove. Then I took it apart and found the bottom side of the spider gear housing chewed op, the clutch is destroyed and the dog-ear carried some scratches too.

Also, I've noticed the bottom end belville spring and diamond pattern disc were turned the wrong way - pattern was pointing towards the bearing instead of spider gears. Top one was correctly oriented.

And the clutch disk was stuck to the spider gear housing pretty badly, I had to pry it off with two screwdrivers.

My question now is, what to do with the spider gear housing? It has some pretty deep scratches which wont buff out easily, I don't care about the clutch or dogear, since I have new replacements. There is a bit of room to cut off the damaged area but I'm afraid then the "ears" will interfere with something. Do I need a new part here? Everything else looks good.

The housing:




Clutch disk:


Dogear:


Whole thing:

[crappycoco]

Nobody has any info about this?

[SkiFree]

I would start with another pumpkin personally. Those wear marks are unusual and indicative of some serious business. Was the diff run dry or low? Who last rebuilt the differential? A reversed Bellevue washer doesn't make sense, if it was in there upside down it would have screwed up the break-away significantly.

[crappycoco]

Hi SkiFree, thanks for the reply.

I had the car for two years now and since my ownership the diff was never low. It had a slight whine when I got it, but that was it (i thought nothing of it as the chassis has 200k+). The whine got louder and louder so I decided to swap the diff and bought a replacement. In the last week before changing it I've heard a grinding noise but nothing persistent, just short bursts every now and then.

Also, the diff never locked up properly, It did if you REALLY floored it and dumped the clutch - this made me believe the clutches were worn out.

I've changed the oil after one year of ownership with the intention of quieting down the whine. That didn't happen but the oil was pretty dark and a bit silvery. So with all the above mentioned symptoms I decided to get a replacement, which is now on the car. And that bastard also whines =)

Everything else looks pretty good on the diff actually - I've inspected the insides of the casing and it has no scratches, neither does anything else. I think someone rebuilt it, but not recently. The upside down belville spring looks ok, so does the diamond ring - i think i can reuse them. I really dont want to blow another 400$ for a new lsd. I'm pretty pissed with the one I already got on the car, which was supposed to be low mileage with no problems. I could take that one apart and rebuild that one, but the car is my DD and I've never done the bearings and preload stuff, so I'm expecting it taking quite a while.

Btw, what do you think could have caused that damage? Cause I'm totally out of my depth here =)

[SkiFree]

Also, the diff never locked up properly, It did if you REALLY floored it and dumped the clutch - this made me believe the clutches were worn out.

Btw, what do you think could have caused that damage? Cause I'm totally out of my depth here =)

I'd say most everything stems from that upside down washer. When placed correctly the ID of that washer is what acts like the diahpram spring on your clutch (think of a clutch-type LSD as functionally similar to the clutch in your manual transmission, just reversed). That fact it was in backwards means that when the car was under load the pumpkin's center carriers would be pushing outwards ..... incorrectly pushing against the backside of the concave washer. Bad joojoo since the correctly-oriented side would want to lock properly, while the miss-built side would not.

In short, somebody really screwed the pooch when they rebuilt that differential.

[crappycoco]

I'm trying to get the part number. No luck for now.

[SkiFree]

Try sweet talking either JP at A1 Imports, the guys at North Bay Bavarian, or BTM Motorwerks. Mention that Andrew from Ireland Eng. referred you (it may help, or they may double the price).

[crappycoco]

Hey, BIG thanks man! - I'll try to call them tomorrow.

[crappycoco]

Got the push rings! North Bay Bavarian ftw. :D If we ever meed skifree, i owe you a case of beers =D