What are the warning signs of a LSD going bye-bye?

[Professor MSP]

Please see post #17 for an update

After searching the LSD threads yesterday and not finding what I was looking for, I have decided to post the question stated in the title.

Recently, when turning and applying a moderate to heavy throttle input, I hear a metal-like rubbing- or grinding-type noise emanating from the front end. On the other hand, when I take a turn just as aggressively (velocity-wise), but with light to little throttle, there is no noise at all. Also, on occasion, when accelerating at WOT with Unichip on high boost (but not on low boost), I hear the same sound. Does this indicate my LSD is going to lose it soon?

I checked my suspension yesterday, and all appears to be fine.

Any thoughts or comments? Thanks guys.

[CHICO2003]

I've posed similar questions... not sure there are any definitive answers however.

[Professor MSP]

I've posed similar questions... not sure there are any definitive answers however.

Would you direct me to your thread that posed such questions? Thanks.

[CHICO2003]

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123684652


not much there I'm afraid

[03.5MSP]

My lsd broke two days ago and I never had any grinding noise. I was turning going like 20-25 and after i shifted into 2nd I heard a grinding noise. So I put it into neutral, and after that the car wont move, it just revs.

[CHICO2003]

whoops... just realized I posted the wrong thread. was a bit hungover.. sorry

[MSPM1cheLe]

i didnt have any kind of warning sign :[

[msp_rad]

i experienced the same thing ProfessorMSP said...... when i pulled out of side streets, and needed to merge into traffic, i hear something grinding and slipping..... a week later (on a streight road) the lsd gave, and i needed a tow truck....

[Professor MSP]

i experienced the same thing ProfessorMSP said...... when i pulled out of side streets, and needed to merge into traffic, i hear something grinding and slipping..... a week later (on a streight road) the lsd gave, and i needed a tow truck....

Thanks msp_rad. It looks like I will take a trip to my local Mazda dealership today and have a chat with the techs regarding my seemingly impending failure. The techs are truly excellent there, so I plan to take one for a ride and see if they conclude that my noise is the LSD letting go.

I will report back and let you all know what the conclusion was.:(

[fr0st]

the best way is to not have one... lol

when mine goes,.. a 626 tranny goes in with no LSD.

im waitning for mine to let go too.. no signs yet though..

[kamon8404]

I was considering just buying another tranny with an open diff once the LSD goes in my car as well. You can probably get junkyard trannys for next to nothing.

[kamon8404]

Now that i read the entire thread ... I have had the same exact problem. When starting out sometimes, or turning with some throttle. I hear like a metal banging noise. Kinda hard to explain. I hope its not LSD failure.

[fr0st]

I was considering just buying another tranny with an open diff once the LSD goes in my car as well. You can probably get junkyard trannys for next to nothing.
exactly,

i mean why buy something i won't use anyways..

i rather spin and have a bullet proof tranny.. well a tougher one atleast..

i've seen some fast out of he hole turbo civic with an open diff that were running in the 12's so..

and like you said, those trannies are dirt cheap.. even if it pops again.. i'll buy another one.. i can buy 3 trannies for the price of getting a welded LSD and getting it installed in my msp tranny..

[kamon8404]

What year 626 tranny are you going to get? 01?

[SleepyMSP]

That sound is also attributed to a screwed CV joint on the axel...pull off the front tires and check the CV boot behind the disks if its broken/cracked and you can move the joint around a bunch then you might want to replace that...I think there could be some sort of connection to a busted cv joint and the LSD blowing its load...don't know why just a feeling....

[CitizenPro]

One day i grinded going into a couple gears & into reverse. That same week i was leaving a business, and when i attempted to pull onto the feeter road the LSD just gave out. Nothing dramatic, just a simple "popping" noise and lots of revving :) I was giving it light throttle too...

[Professor MSP]

I visited my local Mazda dealership today, as I said I would, and the head technician went for a ride with me. When I accelerated hard around a right-hand turn, he said that he felt a rubbing/clunking in the floor of the front passenger side of the car concomitantly with the sound I described above.

We then headed back to the shop and he put the car up on a lift. After about 15 seconds of inspecting the underside of the car, he found the problem—both front Kartboy exhoust hangers where completely ripped apart leaving the front section of the exhaust unsupported and banging against the crossmember. Just as a quick check that this was indeed the culprit, he zip-tied the exhaust to the supports on the underside of the car, and just as he suspected, the sound was no longer present.

Now I have to find some new exhaust hangers. I am not inclinded to buy the Kartboy hangers again, as I am now the second person in the past few weeks to have them fail (see a thread in this section by DAWIV for a similar failure).

The technicians at Cory-Fairbanks Mazda are simply first-rate!

[kamon8404]

I'll check on that tomorrow. Thanks for the info.

[JDM Sam]

Did you check to make sure the right hangers were put on the front? There are 2 sizes, one set for the front and one for the rear muffler section.

[Professor MSP]

Did you check to make sure the right hangers were put on the front? There are 2 sizes, one set for the front and one for the rear muffler section.

Yes, I am one to read the instructions several times before I undertake an install. I remember there being two different sizes of hangers as well. Of course there is always some positive probability that I installed them in the incorrect location, but I don't believe that I did. They were on my car for more than three years and 30,000 miles.

I found the thread with the broken Kartboy exhaust hangers:

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123685426.

Mine look very similar to his. :(

[cmahlig]

as i was reading through, my first thought was the exhaust hitting crossmember because that is what my exhaust would do

[JDM Sam]

Thats rare you ripped poly hangers. Do you have motor mounts. I see you have a torque damper but I don't believe thats enough to eliminate drivetrain lash which could have caused it to rip over time.

[SleepyMSP]

Thats rare you ripped poly hangers. Do you have motor mounts. I see you have a torque damper but I don't believe thats enough to eliminate drivetrain lash which could have caused it to rip over time.

If thats the case I need motor mounts bad...(smash)

[fr0st]

If thats the case I need motor mounts bad...(smash)

i got a front one on.. hellova diffrence..

if i can just find the time to put in a rear one..

[SleepyMSP]

i got a front one on.. hellova diffrence..

if i can just find the time to put in a rear one..

...this should probably be put on my priorities list....like its not long enough... now if only the parts would come in...theres so many i'm still waiting for

[BOOSTR]

It must have just been a bad batch of poly. OEM hangers lasted for 46K and the alleged stronger poly hangers for less than 20K. Mine sheared off in the rear.

[fr0st]

...this should probably be put on my priorities list....like its not long enough... now if only the parts would come in...theres so many i'm still waiting for

dont cha hate over the border ordering? and those brokerage fees?

[SleepyMSP]

dont cha hate over the border ordering? and those brokerage fees?

I found another little trick around border fees...all you need to do is know people who live on a native reserve, some of my band members are native and they told me that even UPS doesn't charge them, delivered to their P.O. box or whatever 0$ custom fees...So just have them ship it to them...but then they own your soul...and hey I might need that someday....maybe

[Professor MSP]

Thats rare you ripped poly hangers. Do you have motor mounts. I see you have a torque damper but I don't believe thats enough to eliminate drivetrain lash which could have caused it to rip over time.

More or less since my j-pipe/midpipe was installed, I have had either the AWR 88 durometer front MM, AWR 70 durometer front MM, a filled OEM front MM, or the RR Racing front MM inserts installed (what is installed at present). The torque damper was installed after the exhaust, but has been on for a few years.

My wife found more shattered pieces of the Kartboy exhaust hangers under my car today when I pulled out of the garage. :(

It might just be as DAWIV said, namely, "It must have just been a bad batch of poly."

[ChopstickHero]

glad you found the problem. its rare that poly rips so easily.

but to others wondering if there are any symptoms of an LSD going bad, the simple answer is no. it will just go!

[2.0t03speed]

lol i hope my poly exhaust hangers dont go bad because if they do then my apexr1 exhaust is fucked and if that happens trust me kartboy will get a pretty nasty call from me