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Torsen diff problem

S

Shogun51

New CEG'er
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
18
Location
Minneapolis, MN
So I have a problem. The background story is I had a motor mount break and the motor twisted yanking the axle out of the trans. Well i put new mounts on the car and put a new axle in(the splines where sheered off on the old one). Now my problem is that the new axle I have will not clip into my torsen diff. I took all the fluid out of the trans and there was a little bit of metal in it but it looked like it was all from the axle. I can see the side gears on the diff and the dont appear to be damaged. But the new axle just wont clip into the diff. It the trans works and the diff seems to work but because the axle wont clip in it moves around just enough that all the tranny fluid leaks out. what could be casueing this? Do i need a new diff? Does torsen have a wranty like quaife? Please no flaming or stupid comments. Right now all i need imput and ideas of where i should go from here.
 
If you don't have a rounded ford style clip on the axle it won't hold. When I bought my car the previous owner had an aftermarket axle. The clip on it was more machined then the Ford one. Would not lock in correctly. Post a pick of the clip you're trying to insert.
 
Its in a shop getting looked at to see if they can figure it out. But could that really be the problem just bad tolerances? If it is I will be soo effing pissed:mad: But also very happy cause then I wont need a new diff!:laugh: But could there be any other reason why the axle wont clip. Could it still be the diff?
 
Buy any Contour axle you like. Just go to a Ford dealer and get the clip if it's not the same style. I think they're $8 each. No, this is not a common problem.
 
Unless you get the axle from Ford it will probably have a cheap generic clip on it that may not work. Its always a good idea to take the clip off the old axle and use it just to ensure it clips back in. My Mazda Owners Group used to run into this all the time.
 
Dyoel182 said:
Its always a good idea to take the clip off the old axle and use it just to ensure it clips back in.
Click to expand...

That's a fantastically horrible idea. The snap ring is a one time use item. Cheap part to gamble with an expensive trans.
 
Anywho...

The owner with the Torsen problems sound like issues I have seen in the past. It seems clear the new shaft will not go fully home. This is usually caused by parts of a damaged clip inside the sun gear(the gear the shaft slides into). The last time I took down a Torsen diff for this issue it had damaged the gears to the point where the broken part of the clip had jammed between the laft and right sun gear, in effect making the diff inop by welding the two gears together. No diff action at all. The cause of this, from the owner, appeard to be that a new clip was not fitted and the clip broke up when the shaft was replaced. A new clip is a must every time a shaft is pulled. This trans needed a new Torsen unit as they would not watrranty due to bad assembly of the driveshaft..Just an FYI as I have had many Quaife & Torsen diffs aprt on inspections etc...Maybe this info will help. Regards TH(BTW I did post pics of this a while ago on FCO,I'll see if I can dig them out and e mail you to show the damage a used clip can do)
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This could be the case if you left pieces in the trans when it pulled out. If it's in one piece hopefully you'll be ok.
 
This pic shows a stripped Torsen unit. The sun gears (lower left) have scuffed up bearing faces as does the central thrust washer(to the right of the lower sun gear)..These faces, along with some of the gears, were damaged by the debris from a circlip that had broken during refitting(old clip was used) and the parts of it were jammed between the thrust faces..This caused the two sun gears and the central thrust washer, to lock/part weld, together. The gears had to be pressed apart to unlock all three parts. Again, root cause was a used clip breaking up within the diff. An ATB diff has very close tolerances and will not stand up long with fragments of a bad circlip inside them. This can ruin any Torsen or Quaife diff. Use care when fitting driveshafts, always use a new clip every time and double check with a small prybar that the inner CV is 'home' and locked by the clip. I should add that any time a driveshaft is incorrectly fitted in the diff, including a stoc dif and the shaft 'walks' out, you run the risk of debris from a damaged clip or splines, entering the diff and causing further damage. Both Quaife and Torsen will void any warrany caused by incorrect shaft fitting. TH

orig.jpg
 
Would what happened to my car cause damage to the differential in a way that would not allow the axle to clip in? do you recomend i have the trans torn down and checked to make sure there is no internal damage? Or should I try to use another c-clip first? I dont know what to do anymore. This car is kinda my dd right now.
 
Those are hardened clips, even one properly installed can break later if forces looking to pop out axle are high enough.
 
Shogun51 said:
Would what happened to my car cause damage to the differential in a way that would not allow the axle to clip in? do you recomend i have the trans torn down and checked to make sure there is no internal damage? Or should I try to use another c-clip first? I dont know what to do anymore. This car is kinda my dd right now.
Click to expand...

I'd try a ford c-clip first.
 
so basically i should go ahead and order Ford circlips just in case my GCK's don't have the right kind on them? that way i have less down time.
 
You should assume they wont have the OEM type clip and if they do you can always sell the clips to someone on here or take them back to the parts counter.
 
Ok so new problem. I pulled the tranny and am looking at the diff and it appears that there is no grove in the side gear on the drivers side:shrug:. WTF isnt there suppose to be one on each side for the axle to clip into. Now I am just confused. Can someone please inlghten me as to what the hell is going on.
 
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