evenin guys
is there a simple way to tell an lsd from standard...ie holding one drive shaft while turning the other.... if so what reaction will i get from the shafts... local breaker has a few sierras lying around 2 are the top cars on 3 car stacks 3 are the bottom cars so as you can imagine i don't want to be under any of them for to long
and yes we still stack them on the other ones roof
regards
tony

depends really. with an LSD, the two outputs will be hard (impossible?) to turn seperately by hand. With an open diff they will turn at will. If there are wheels on then the angular momentum will cause the input shaft to turn, with out wheels you will probably find that the input stays still (due to the 3ish to one ratio on it) and the other output will turn the other way.

Unfortunately, Sierra have viscous LSDs, so you can't do the old check that you describe.

Hopefully, someone will be along in a minute to provide a pukka way of identifying a Sierra LSD

does a viscous diff allow a little turning but then get stiffer the more they disagree? if so, i guess its down to the code! or just look at the car - all 4x4s

I've just got a LSD out of a 4x4, would like to know how to test it's not knackered !

The haynes manual says about putting car in gear and using a torque wrench to turn a rear wheel. If it turns with a certain torque, it's ok. If not, it's knackered. Sounds like a pain in the arse to me

Viscous diffs act like open diffs when turning slowly, so checking is a real pain.

Sorry, can't be more helpful!!

Marcus

Suppose i'll find out when i put my foot down

try bolting your drill to one driveshaft!

sounds like music in my ears...

visco LSD, i thought i had mis buyed mine,

but if you can't do that turn thing..and i hve no oil in the diff yet.. then i know wy it behaves like a normal one..

Will still wait with conclusion when i'm in sand or soething..

TKS

This is info about the mx5 viscous diff & may not apply to the ford
1) the viscous bit is a sealed unit and does not use the diff oil so ordinary gear oil is used inthe diff
2) After ~30k miles it's not viscous any more.... you have an open diff
3) mazda test procedure is to put the car in 1st & jack the back end up. Use a springy torque wrench to apply X ftlbs to a wheelnut & see how long it takes you to do a turn. If anyone's interested I'll photo that page of the workshop manual.
Cheers
Bob

They can be easily checked by hoe Joel (first) describes. If the diff is on the bench, grab both driveshaft flanges, and try to turn in opposite directions. It will be nigh on impossible a Sierra LSD, whereas a non-LSD (or a completely knackered one) will turn with little effort.

Pretty much ANY LSD will work like an ordinary diff. It is the amount of effort required to get it to work like an ordinary diff that makes it effective...

[Edited on 1/2/05 by Stu16v]