[SoCal_Brian]

Well, today I was hanging out with "Flyineunos" and "Betrayed" from the forums. Somehow we brought up LSD's and I asked him how do I know if I have one. He told me to jack up the car by the diff and spin one of the rear tires. If both spin the same way then you have an LSD. I span one and voila, the other span with it in the same direction. Another member of the boards, "Dicker", said if I have the diff pumpkin with 'fins' then it's probably a Torsen. Does this sound about right? I hope it does because that'd save me a lot of money if you know what I mean... :lol:

 

[Babalouie]

AFAIK, they all have fins I think, whether it's LSD or not.

When I had my torsen, it would actually spin the opposite way (which is I think what torsens do when you jack up both wheels).

So, if the wheels turn in the same direction, then maybe you got either a viscous LSD or an aftermarket mechanical LSD in there?

But you know...the most conclusive way of telling is to hand your car over to a drifter and see if he complains about the powerdown or not

 

[SoCal_Brian]

Hmm, maybe I do have a Viscous... not as good but it gets the job done. Betrayed was telling me that's probably what I have.

 

[Fritch]

There's no real easy way to tell if its a Tor-sen or not without cracking the thing open to look. You can't do the old spin the wheel in the air thing with a torsen as its just not designed the same way as other LSDs.

 

[Caldera]

On a similar note, I have a 94A package. I know I have a Torsen and I know they can't "wear out" in theory... but i put it up on the lift the other day, and spun one wheel... and the other went NOWHERE. I even hung off the non-spun wheel to simulate load, and still nothing moved.. is my diff having "issues"?

 

[SoCal_Brian]

Well, do I in fact have a Viscous though?

 

[Muzicman16]

wow. . .this topic was so popular i just HAD to comment. My question is i thought LSD's allow for the inside tire to move at a slower rate then the outside tire to allow for no loss of traction. . .so should that mean that when spun in the air they SHOULDNT effect eachother, or does that have to do with what TYPE of LSD it is???

maybe a link to how LSD's work would be helpfull so i can read up on

 

[Fritch]

On a similar note, I have a 94A package. I know I have a Torsen and I know they can't "wear out" in theory... but i put it up on the lift the other day, and spun one wheel... and the other went NOWHERE. I even hung off the non-spun wheel to simulate load, and still nothing moved.. is my diff having "issues"?

http://www.torsen.com/general/general_faq.htm

positive you have a Torsen? I can't recall what packages came with them or if they were an entirely separate option

 

[SoCal_Brian]

wow. . .this topic was so popular i just HAD to comment. My question is i thought LSD's allow for the inside tire to move at a slower rate then the outside tire to allow for no loss of traction. . .so should that mean that when spun in the air they SHOULDNT effect eachother, or does that have to do with what TYPE of LSD it is???

maybe a link to how LSD's work would be helpfull so i can read up on

Well, when I did spin the wheel, the other one would spin about a second after. Does this signify anything at all?

 

[Muzicman16]

Muzicman16 @ Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:27 pm wrote:
wow. . .this topic was so popular i just HAD to comment. My question is i thought LSD's allow for the inside tire to move at a slower rate then the outside tire to allow for no loss of traction. . .so should that mean that when spun in the air they SHOULDNT effect eachother, or does that have to do with what TYPE of LSD it is???

maybe a link to how LSD's work would be helpfull so i can read up on


Well, when I did spin the wheel, the other one would spin about a second after. Does this signify anything at all?

yea i know nothing about LSD's as i was saying so that should be answered by someone else. . .im just going by my basic knowledge of what a LSD does and wondering what the effect of turning a wheel in the air SHOULD be based off that concept

 

[Fritch]

wow. . .this topic was so popular i just HAD to comment. My question is i thought LSD's allow for the inside tire to move at a slower rate then the outside tire to allow for no loss of traction. . .so should that mean that when spun in the air they SHOULDNT effect eachother, or does that have to do with what TYPE of LSD it is???

maybe a link to how LSD's work would be helpfull so i can read up on

here you go, read up...

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential.htm

 

[Babalouie]

Well you possibly may have a torsen...

If you pop off the fill plug of the diff and shine a light in there, and if you see those worm-gears in the pic above, then it's a torsen.


AFAIK they don't wear out at all, they either work or they break. IIRC if they start to go, the worm gears will start to chip, and it eats itself shortly after.

 

[druz]

Do you any reason to believe your 92 doesn't have its original diff? If not, then the only diff you could have is a viscous which you can identify by looking at the stub shafts. VLSDs have different patterns on the flange on each of the side.

 

[Max_Power]

OK a little bit of info here for all the young drifters out there

First
90-93 cars
Most of them they don't have LSD but some of them do.
It's not a torsen (I think it's viscus) and it's not very durable.

94-97 Car
All the cars with package B,C,R have TORSEN
So basically only package A doesn't have one.

To make it even more simple for the 94-97 cars, if you have electric windows (from factory) that means that you have torsen!

Exception of the above rule is the STO Edition which doesn't have LSD even thought it has leather seats and electric windows and the package R that has Torsen...

 

[ExHondaMan]

You have a VLSD. Mine has it also but it does close to nothing for performance. It just keeps you from doing a dog-leg when its damp out. I forgot the percentage of lock-up, but its insanely small to make a difference when drifting. (ok, maybe a tiny bit).

 

[Caldera]

94-97 Car
All the cars with package B,C,R have TORSEN
So basically only package A doesn't have one.

I always understood the Base package to have an open diff, and ABCRM to have one, and that's backed up by the other site... where'd you read that A package has no LSD?

http://www.miata.net/faq/Miata90-97A3.pdf

 

[Max_Power]

I believe that package A is the base package, am I wrong?

 

[Max_Power]

Well I checked it out and yes I'm wrong
Package A is not the base model!
So basicaly was I said above for the electric windows is correct but not only these cars have torsen.

I guess a difference for the base model (in case somebody doesn't know if has one) is the power steering...so if you have power steering and you don't have an STO you are good

 

[Sriracha]

You can also find out if you have an LSD by calling Mazda and give them your VIN.

 

[Agent935]

With a Torsen, Both wheels must have some traction for it to work. if you jack up the rear and spin a wheel it will act like an open diff. The only way to tell is to look inside really.