I changed the lube in my 02's rear diff at 60K, thick sludgy, with shards of metal stuck to the magnet. Fast forward to this summer, got a punctured sidewall, and drove longer than I liked on the spare (maybee 300 miles) thought I'd be nice to the car and change the diff fluid again (70k), and there was more shards, some up to 3/16 or 1/4". The car seems to drive fine, but that many shards can't be normal, or can it? What will happen when/if the rear diff goes, will the rear just not recieve power, or will it be more dramatic than that (wrecking something else)? What does a stock diff go for $? Just to upgrade for upgrade sake, what would be a good aftermarket rear diff for a daily driven street car?
I upgraded mine with a Quaife LSD.. perfect for daily driving but also good for anything else.... either way to change it out with a new one prepare for around $1400 the quaife should run a lot more.. but I got a great deal.. $800 but by the time I replaced seals etc and installed ourselves we were around $1400 or you could get a used one... they run around $400
You really want a rear LSD then ditch that stock one and buy a REAL LSD. Don't want maintainace, the Quaife one is nice. Want good LSD, KAAZ 1.5way LSD. Spend the $ and get the good stuff. Unless you wanna be like me and weld that suckerz!!! Power oversteer!
I had to replace my rear diff, it went out around 88,000 miles. i wanted to get a cusco diff but it was taking forever to ship out and i was running out of money renting a car, so i was lucky enough to find a stock diff at morrie's. I would definetly go with either cusco or quaife since i hear they can take a beating.
Thanks to all that replied, however, a very important part of my question remains unanswered. What will happen when it finally goes? Will I just have no power to the rear? Or will it seize up, and then break something else (can I drive it till it goes)?
original lasted 72K. started to whine real bad. changed gear lube and it came out with chunks. previous owner abuse was likely. I would search around and get a used one for less than 500 or so.
maybe all the above!? More than likely it will whine real bad and eventually could cause no power to the rear end and/or binding. get a used one and have it installed. probably take an hour or so to do. very easy
find a partout thread on NASIOC..... any one of probably 50 people on this board can and will install it for a very reasonable cost. you could get an LSD...but keep in mind, that isn't the ring and pinion, just the carrier. so if you've got ring/pinion damage, a new carrier wouldn't help. which also means, if you've got ring/pinion damage, you don't need a new carrier. although installation would be a bigger hassle than the cost of a 'new' stock unit what will happen? well, chances of it damaging other things are slim (unless you try to limp it using just the LSD center to push a little power to the front.), anything from catastrophic failure, horrible screeching/grinding/clunking and loss of power, to just loss of power without noise, to power on fine with no slippage (binding around corners). absolute worst case scenario (seen it happen :eek3: ), it seizes. both rear wheels lock up....if it happens on the freeway....yikes.
If it is the spider gears or side gears in the diff that are chipping, this is usualy a quick and fast failure noted by a grinding/clunking while turning. Then the rear wheels will more then likely just loose power. If it is the ring and pinion you would hear some whining before a total failure, same loss of power or serious grinding followed by lockup. So short answer, YES, start saving. Not sure if there are ring and pinion sets or spider cross gear set available as after-market replacements for subaru, but I am sure you can get them from the dealer. There is no need to replace the whole diff, just the gears. You might try Randy's ring and pinion service (google them) if they don't deal with subaru they may know who does. This link is for jeeps/4X4s but you can see what you are up to. http://www.pirate4x4.com/articles/tech/billavista/Gear_Setup the process is the same. Note: Gears need to be a matched set don't use a ring gear from one set and a pinion from another(even if they are the same ratio), same for spider and cross gears. They must also be shimmed and have bearing pre-load set or you may end right back where you are. Don't just let some one bolt in a new carrier or gears and send you on you way.
when mine went it was mostly chipped on the the spider gears and couple of spots on the pinion gear... whining was more of a HOWLING.... either way... you should prepare for a new differential....
Thanks, My chunks were big, but more flakes than chunks, not nearly as big as scuba steves. No whining/howling yet, but will start tucking away cash. Will be looking into upgrade options, which brings another Q: To those that have upgraded rear diffs in their daily driven cars, was it worth it? I really appreciate this resource...you guys are great
my QUAIFE LSD was definitely worth it, except for the fact that we changed out side bearings and seals in house etc, it could have turned into a very very expensive upgrade over just buying a stock pumpkin...
