• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

How to determine if you have an LSD?

Ok so if you hammer the throttle coming out of a corner do you get tire spin on the inside wheel? Does the wheel become more difficult to turn or return to center? Have you determined whether the car still has the torsen in it?
 
in my instance i get no tire spin in accelerating out of corners, just grip, and if im not careful the back tires want to go through the corner before me. makes driving very interesting. ill have to get some pics up of my blown torsen, its interesting
 
Hey guys! So last weekend I didn't end up having a chance to jack the car up and try to spin the tires. I did notice that nailing the throttle down as I come out of a corner does not result in tire spin. But when going straight in slippery terrain (wet asphalt), I can spin the tires until I decide to let off the throttle.

Sometimes, even trying desperately not to spin, I can't start off from a stop and accelerate without spinning one wheel. The road must've been really slick but I crab walked all the way up to 3rd gear last week trying to feather the throttle and accelerate (very gently). This has happened a few times now on different roads. You would think I was trying to climb an slight incline in the snow, and it was just rain. Maybe me tires are horrible in the rain. The car has Goodyear Nexen 225/45/17's on them.

I'll post a video of me spinning one tire under heavy acceleration in the rain, at my own leisure. Trying to upload it now.

-Andrew
 
So I lay down the throttle after shifting into 2nd gear. Once the car gets moving and the RPM in 2nd gear increase (I shifted from 1st to 2nd at low RPM), the tire breaks loose. I spin through most of 2nd gear, all of 3rd gear, and even into 4th gear. One wheel spins until I let off the throttle in 4th gear.

I've noticed in 2 instances so far that both tires may have grabbed while doing this same "test". I could feel the front of the car hopping slightly and the steering wheel becomes more free to gently rotate side-to-side. Definitely feels like both wheels were spinning. But this has only happened on 2 of maybe 12 attempts.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Looks like no. Hard to judge from that vid.. Easier to judge in a power out of turn. If you make a turn, power out of it do you get tire shuffle on the inside tire? If yes. No lsd.
 
That exhaust always sounded sweet... That combo of stock headers, bat (or maybe sho-shop) y-pipe and the true borla was awesome. Not quite as good as my SVT when it had MSDS/Opt Y/true borla but still awesome.

Anywho back on topic... I can't tell from the video. I suppose it's possible that the torsen is worn out. It probably has 50k on it and has seen some track time.
 
Beans said:
Looks like no. Hard to judge from that vid.. Easier to judge in a power out of turn. If you make a turn, power out of it do you get tire shuffle on the inside tire? If yes. No lsd.
Click to expand...

Hey Beans! What do you mean by tire "shuffle"? I tested powering out of a turn on dry asphalt in 1st gear and I can definitely say that the inner tire doesn't sit there spinning. Even in wet weather I feel more grabbing than I do slippage. Does that answer the question at all?


99Mystique ATX said:
That exhaust always sounded sweet... That combo of stock headers, bat (or maybe sho-shop) y-pipe and the true borla was awesome. Not quite as good as my SVT when it had MSDS/Opt Y/true borla but still awesome.

Anywho back on topic... I can't tell from the video. I suppose it's possible that the torsen is worn out. It probably has 50k on it and has seen some track time.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm still running the stock exhaust manifolds and front cats. A week after I got the car then exhaust separated right where the back of the 3rd cat is welded to the piping. It apparently was a BAT hi-flow setup, and from what I have read BAT is stainless, but this one was pretty darn rusted. I had a new high-flow cat and flex pipe welded in, but yeah I love the Borla exhaust. Very quiet at idle. Not sure what it sounds like outside of the car at lower speeds, but with this low gearing the exhaust gets a little noisy at 65+ MPH inside the cabin.

I really want to do headers, but I'm not sure how much louder it is going to get in the cabin. If it wasn't for the fact the the highways where I currently live are 65 and 60 MPH I wouldn't be as concerned... but right now I think the only way the car will see headers is with a turbo so that I can put a Focus final drive in it and lower the cruising RPM some in effort to reduce the cabin noise.

The guy that sold me the car claimed the transmission was a new (not rebuilt) Ford transmission without about 18k miles on it. Said that the engine had around 60k. Not sure where he got those figures from, and if he possibly replaced the transmission after buying from Brad. If so, I'm sure the Torsen was junked together with the previous transmission. But maybe it's still the same, untouched transmission that Brad put in the car. Any details on what Brad had in the car transmission-wise when he sold it? Was it a new transmission with perhaps a higher mileage Torsen?

Thanks again man!!!!
 
25mph driving. 2nd gear. Make sudden hard left. My stock car will break traction on the drivers wheel ( inside tire) when powering out ( maybe 1/4 throttle) not wheel spin. Just loss off traction.

Other car will lose zero traction. No matter how hard i try, even with lesser tire.
 
AGrayson84 said:
The guy that sold me the car claimed the transmission was a new (not rebuilt) Ford transmission without about 18k miles on it. Said that the engine had around 60k. Not sure where he got those figures from, and if he possibly replaced the transmission after buying from Brad. If so, I'm sure the Torsen was junked together with the previous transmission. But maybe it's still the same, untouched transmission that Brad put in the car. Any details on what Brad had in the car transmission-wise when he sold it? Was it a new transmission with perhaps a higher mileage Torsen?

Thanks again man!!!!
Click to expand...

When Brad first bought the car I think he bought a new trans through BAT or some online ford warehouse. If I remember correctly, he bought the car with a grenaded diff/trans. The trans and torsen were installed at that time and I couldn't tell you what the miles were on the car for sure but I think it was 120k or so. As far as I know that's the only trans work Brad did in the car. Mileage sounds about right for the motor. I think it had 50k or so on the block when he got it from the yard.
 
Hmmmm the for sale ad the guy who I bought the car from had up said that the trans/clutch had around 18k.... and now that I recall, he said he wasn't sure of what clutch was in it when I asked him because he said the previous owner had that work done. So sounds like it still has whatever Brad put in it. I think you were right about the 120k miles when Brad replaced the trans. If it was never replaced again after, the guy I bought it from lied about the mileage on it because the car has 180k on the chassis now. No biggie, because the trans works just fine. Although the clutch pedal is a little spongy. I bled the brakes and clutch a few weeks ago with new synthetic DOT 4 fluid. The clutch felt GREAT for several days, and the clutch was grabbing with the pedal closer to the floor. After a few days it progressively went back to the way it felt before, so sounds like the slave cylinder might need to be replaced whenever the clutch is ready to be replaced.

I think next year the car will be getting some Eibach springs, BAT Euro struts, new strut mounts, new subframe bushings, and whatever else might need attention. The current ride is a little harsh and feels sloppy. Not sure how old the current struts and strut mounts are but the mounts seem like they are getting worn. The struts seem to be fine... just too bouncy and stiff. What did you run on your SVT when you had one?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top