I have a MY2000 turboed making about 442whp.
so this morning i was just rolling in 1st gear and then floored it and after I shifted into 2nd gear, I heard a loud grinding noise. it wasnt a high pitched gridning more like a thud grinding if that makes sense. I kinda hear it from the back of the car but not sure. I can shift my car into any gear, but as soon as i engage the clutch i hear the low pitch grinding noise again. Since i just replaced the rear passenger side axle last night, i thought it was a broken axle, but i do not see any sheared parts. Once i got the rear end jacked up and engaged it into 1st gear, i can turn the rear wheel just fine and can see the opposite wheel turn the other way around, so im assuming the LSD is working??? I am lost on what it can be. I tried to peep into the hole of the rear diff, but really could not get a good angle to see anything. I did notice however that the new axle i just installed last night had grease leaking from the boot near the diff, so i took the boot off and didnt see any broken parts. i did however notice some very small chip marks at the end of the axle housing where those three balls go into. can the axle back off that much to make the axle balls barely ride on the housing? if its the transmission, i shouldn't even be able to engage into any gear correct? and also should be able to hear more of a high pitch grinding directly underneath the shifter?

any help would be much appreciated.

 

Drain diff fluid, see if any chunks of metal. Refill.

Drain tranny fluid, see if any chunks of metal. Refill.

If neither of those, axle.

 

Does it move forward in all gears or no gears? If it doesnt move in any gear its either the reduction shaft in the transmission or the diff. Disconnect the driveshaft and if it still does it then its the transmission.

 

Well I had the rear jacked up and I was able to turn the wheel by hand while in 1st gear. I'm just going to drain all fluids like dfws2k mentioned to check for any metals. If there aren't any, ill just replace the axle.I think that would be a good starting point.

 

For both of my axles that broke, it was the spider gears inside the outer axle boot that broke so I couldn't directly see it. To see if its that, hold the middle shaft of the axle and have a friend try to spin the wheel. If the wheel spins, but the axle in your hand doesn't, its the axle. But neither of mine made a grinding noise.... Just a pop when the spider gears stripped.


Edit: Just reread that the wheel spins and the other side turns. Its not an axle. Sorry to hear.

 

I'd do this, doesn't take but a few mins anyway to test this.

Also, on an LSD equipped car, both wheels should spin the same direction. If they spin opposite, thats an open differential.

 

i have a spare stock diff if u need one

 

Well today I drained the diff and tranny fluid and saw no chunks of metal at all. While the rear wheels were off the ground and only one axle taken off(new one I installed before the grinding noise) and engaged in 1st gear, I saw the driveshaft turn and the spline turn on the side of the diff where the axle was taken off. However the side with the axle on and wheel on was not turning, but I assume this due to open diff? Tomorrow ill put the old axle on and set the car back on the ground and see if that does anything. Have I properly eliminated the critical variables?

 

Not with a torsen differential, if you turn the driver's rear wheel clockwise, the passenger rear wheel will turn counterclockwise. When i broke my axle, it was the spider gear that came apart and you could see the inside boot spinning a little. If the prop shaft is turning, then your transmission isn't broken, and if you can see at least one input shaft on the differential spinning your diff is probably ok and its just a broken axle.

 

Man am I fortunate!
It was the damn axle! I will never buy autozone remanufactured axle ever again. I basically installed the old OEM axle and the problem went away. I want to thank all of you for providing all suggestions on this thread.