Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

I was doing some work on the IAT sensor this week, got that all done and went to take the car for a test drive. Got grinding noises from the rear end in reverse, and a screaming monkey noise on the road when I lifted off the accel. No warning, totally out of the blue, and after it had been sitting for a week and a half! I just had new ring/pinion gears and all new bearings put in a couple months ago. I took it back to the guy that did the work, and he said the bearing let loose, and when it did it damaged the carrier. He said there's no way it should have gone bad that quickly, and he's right. His suspicion and mine too is that the case/housing is warped, and nothing is lining up straight. He's going to do some measurements tomorrow to check it out. If it's bad, I may need a whole new rear end. My questions are, where is a good place to find even a good used posi that's not going to cost me a mint? I saw a couple on eBay in the $650 range, but who knows what you're going to get? Also, would it be cheaper to have my carrier rebuilt and put the surviving components inside a good used case? The axles are ok, and the gears and bearings are warrantied, so no problem there.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Which differential do you have? How many splines on the axles?

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Crap, I'm not sure about the splines, but it's a 10 bolt posi.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Looks like 28 or 29, so probably 28. I had to call over and have him count them. Do they even make a 29?

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Nope, it's either 26 or 28. You don't know if you have an Auburn, Governor Lock, Torsen or what differential you have?

If you have 28 spline axles then you can get a used Torsen from a '98 to '02 4th gen from ebay. Just don't get an Auburn. Again, don't get an Auburn. Your other choices are going to be new. The Eaton Posi, Eaton Truetrac or Yukon Dura Grip are all good.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Yeah, but that's assuming the housing is ok! If the housing is bad, THEN what? I would take a used housing if it was straight. The differential is about 5 miles away in a garage now, don't know the exact brand. Although, we found out tonight it was made in 87. Nice. The car is a 92. In other words, the PO shoved some hack in there just to get it on the road. BTW, 4th gen carriers will work in a thirdgen?

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

You are going to have to figure out if it's straight or not. You can take everything out of it and put the bearing caps back on, and then look through one end and line up all of the circles, like looking down a shot gun barrel. If everything looks straight then it's probably close enough.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Yeah, that's what he's going to do tomorrow. I'm not at the level of expertise to do that myself yet. He'll let me know what he finds. He said he's going to measure it out etc. If it's straight, I'm not in too bad shape, but I have doubts. But something caused those bearings to fail in just 2-300 miles. That ain't good. One thought was that the mechanic screwed it up, but IDK, he's been doing this for a lot of years, so most likely not. But carriers can be found for a decent price, whole rear ends are another story.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

So then my other question....A 4th gen carrier will work in a thirdgen axle? If so, that'll save me a little trouble.....maybe...

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Yeah and 4th gen carrier will fit your axles too. You have the stronger 28-spline axles which means you can only use 89-02 carriers. Which isnt a big deal, really, just there are going to be more 4th gen carriers out there you can use than 3rds, but given how all the 3rds wear out anyway you probably dont even want them. Listen to big gear head on this. Get a torsen if you can. They're pretty awesome.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Yeah, noticed some of them on eBay, used, but they are out there. I only hope my housing is in decent shape. If it is, I'll consider this a minor victory.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Are you planning on buying a 9 inch or a 12 bolt? If not, I'd get a Torsen anyway. Just make sure it has the "paddle" with it.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8090/8...9362fdbb_b.jpg

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

The Torsen I saw on eBay was a 10 bolt, that's what is in there now. It came with gears and all but one of the bearings for $169. There was another for $149, but I'm not sure the mileage on them. On the other hand, I don't care as long as they work. But what is the paddle, and what does it do? Don't know much about that.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

If your 92's diff is original then you have 28 spline axles. Any third gem housing will bolt right in. Use your 28 spline axles with a 28 spline posi and you're good to go.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

It's not the original carrier I'm pretty sure, but it does have 28 splines. But that's no big deal anyway, because the bearings ruined the carrier that was in there. I'll either need another, or to rebuild that one. I'd rather have another. My problem is WHERE do you get a third gen housing? I'm going to check out a couple local junk yards, but not getting my hopes up.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

That $169 Torsen on ebay has one of the bearing journals broke off of it. Be careful of what you buy on ebay. Look it over closely and ask questions.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Craigslist, junkyards, wanted section of the thirdgen board

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

I know what you mean, I was hesitant to buy something like that off there anyway. You can't get your eye on it much.

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Right now I'm at the point of saying "screw it", which leads to a fork in the road. One fork says screw it, dump the car--the other one says screw it, borrow $5k and get the whole drive train rebuilt. I'm leaning toward the second because I've noticed issues with the rear end (obviously) and smaller ones with the tranny and motor. I'm thinking of getting it all gone through/done and having a basically "new" 92 Formula. Then I'd end up with a $300 a month payment, which I HATE, but, I love my thirdgen. We will see.......

Re: Differential disaster! Need advice fast!
 

Its just part of the diff that's very necessary that occasionally gets "misplaced" and they're next to impossible to acquire by themselves.

Torsens can fail mechanically, but remember, they are mechanical. They dont have clutches that wear the way all the other third gen posi's do. They use a crazy internal worm gear system to lock the tires together when torque is applied. TORque SENsing I believe is what "TORSEN" means. It's pretty neat, but as long as the gears inside it arent damaged they are fine. They dont "wear out" the way clutches do. Just make sure you get one that's all there and intact.