E30 Zone

how can you tell if its an LSD or not. there is supposed tobe an 's' marking on the casing? could this wear off and if so how else can you tell.

The "s" is on the tag with the ratio, rather than on the case itself...

There's a few other ways of telling, but the easiest is to park with one rear wheel on some grass at the side of the road, & try & pull away fastish... If it spins & goes nowhere it's a normal diff, LSD'll get traction from the other wheel.

Or jack up the back of the car, turn one wheel, & if the other goes the other way it's a normal diff. same way's an LSD.

Jack up 1 wheel on flat ground, take the handbrake off and see if it moves, 5min job

how about if the lsd is not on a car?

turn the prop flange at the front,if the 2 output flanges turn in the same direction then its a lsd.if they turn in opposite directions the its a boat anchor.

dc wrote:turn the prop flange at the front,if the 2 output flanges turn in the same direction then its a lsd.if they turn in opposite directions the its a boat anchor.

my mate has a diff i went and looked at it has the S on the plate, but the output shafts move as above does that mean its def not an lsd then?

so they turned in both directions then?

As jimbob said forget what the others say jack up one side and is a 5min job.

the diff is one he bought, he reckons its an lsd, it has the S 3.91 on the plate

then the chance are it is as who coul be bothered to swop tags over and al that but still check!

Or the friction plates are shagged and it's actually an LSD that just doesn't work.