Chunky diff fluid
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Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Lexington, Ky
Chunky diff fluid
Well F#^&$^ I drained my diff fluid and three small chunks came out, I will get a pic of them to show people. So what do you guys think broke? The pinion gear? This sucks, I do beat the living out of the car but lately I've had to spend a bunch just to keep it maintained. Pic coming soon, it looks like a gear to me, its just a very small top piece of one, how long will the diff last before kaboom? haha
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,540
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From: Lexington, Ky
Do you guys think redline killed my diff?
Had my 02 for about a year now and when I got it I went through all the fluids. It had about 58k on the clock and now has about 68k on it, most have been autocross, the dragon and a few trips to the drag strip. I put Redline 80W140 in it, not really what the diff calls for but it looked to be the closest thing to what I needed at the time. So I noticed a clunking noise when turning into my driveway and just figured the fluid was old and needed to be replaced, wrong... Drained it tonight and 3 small chunks came out
You guys think its from the wrong fluid or just an inevitable thing when racing the S2k?
Had my 02 for about a year now and when I got it I went through all the fluids. It had about 58k on the clock and now has about 68k on it, most have been autocross, the dragon and a few trips to the drag strip. I put Redline 80W140 in it, not really what the diff calls for but it looked to be the closest thing to what I needed at the time. So I noticed a clunking noise when turning into my driveway and just figured the fluid was old and needed to be replaced, wrong... Drained it tonight and 3 small chunks came out
You guys think its from the wrong fluid or just an inevitable thing when racing the S2k?
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,467
Likes: 3
From: Davie, FL
1. You used the wrong viscosity fluid.
2. You autocrossed/drag raced your car.
3. You have metal chunks in your differential
Other people have reported:
1. Using the correct viscosity fluid.
2. Autocrossing/drag racing their car.
3. Having small metal chunks in their differential.
And yet other people have reported:
1. Using the correct viscosity fluid.
2. Autocrossing/drag racing their car.
3. Not having small metal chunks in their differential.
It certainly didn't help to use the wrong viscosity fluid, but since your differential is toast, it doesn't matter how it happened. Rebuild/replace the diff, use the correct fluid in the future, and hope that you don't break more gears. There are too many variables to determine cause, though you may have more data once you open it up and see what broke.
2. You autocrossed/drag raced your car.
3. You have metal chunks in your differential
Other people have reported:
1. Using the correct viscosity fluid.
2. Autocrossing/drag racing their car.
3. Having small metal chunks in their differential.
And yet other people have reported:
1. Using the correct viscosity fluid.
2. Autocrossing/drag racing their car.
3. Not having small metal chunks in their differential.
It certainly didn't help to use the wrong viscosity fluid, but since your differential is toast, it doesn't matter how it happened. Rebuild/replace the diff, use the correct fluid in the future, and hope that you don't break more gears. There are too many variables to determine cause, though you may have more data once you open it up and see what broke.
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,953
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From: 17 ft below sea level.
The 80W-140 gear oil is not the cause of this.
For the driving you did the oil probably kept the diff in working condition a lot longer then the "popular" 75W-90 diff oil would have been able to.
Honda recommends a straight SAE 90 weigth.
Check your owners manual for that fact.
Redline 80W-140 is 26 cSt @ 100C, that is a true SAE 140 weight, and it is a little thicker then the recommended straight 90 weight, but, again, not the cause of the chuncks in your oil.
A thicker oil is no problem for the hypoid final drive in our diff and it's no problem for the Torsen LSD.
Remember during autocross and lots of spirited driving the diff gets HOT and can use all the lubrication it can get, the 80W-140 is more then capable of doing this.
Only drawback is, that it's a multiweight and the Viscosity Improvers (chemicals that make the oil thinner when cold, look at the pourpoint of the Redline oil being -40C, that's pretty low) may shear down and make the oil less strong.
Straight weigth oils do not have those chemicals and therefore will not shear down as much (or not at all).
I guess you just exceeded the technical strenght of your diff.
Could be you are a little harder on the clutch, got sticky tires for dragracing?, clutcg dumps at dragracing (a "must" for fast runs I guess), etc.
All those factors introduce wear, more then normal, so expect someting to break a little sooner.
The little chunks look like parts of the planetary gears of the LSD.
Sorry.
For the driving you did the oil probably kept the diff in working condition a lot longer then the "popular" 75W-90 diff oil would have been able to.
Honda recommends a straight SAE 90 weigth.
Check your owners manual for that fact.
Redline 80W-140 is 26 cSt @ 100C, that is a true SAE 140 weight, and it is a little thicker then the recommended straight 90 weight, but, again, not the cause of the chuncks in your oil.
A thicker oil is no problem for the hypoid final drive in our diff and it's no problem for the Torsen LSD.
Remember during autocross and lots of spirited driving the diff gets HOT and can use all the lubrication it can get, the 80W-140 is more then capable of doing this.
Only drawback is, that it's a multiweight and the Viscosity Improvers (chemicals that make the oil thinner when cold, look at the pourpoint of the Redline oil being -40C, that's pretty low) may shear down and make the oil less strong.
Straight weigth oils do not have those chemicals and therefore will not shear down as much (or not at all).
I guess you just exceeded the technical strenght of your diff.
Could be you are a little harder on the clutch, got sticky tires for dragracing?, clutcg dumps at dragracing (a "must" for fast runs I guess), etc.
All those factors introduce wear, more then normal, so expect someting to break a little sooner.
The little chunks look like parts of the planetary gears of the LSD.
Sorry.
Former Moderator
Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Jacksonville, FL
From my experience...it is best to get the rebuild BEFORE it goes BOOM. There may be little or anything left to salvage if it grenades.
BTW...if Spitty is right and it's the LSD, then great opportunity to get a Quaife or Kaaz.
BTW...if Spitty is right and it's the LSD, then great opportunity to get a Quaife or Kaaz.
Former Moderator
Joined: Aug 2004
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Originally Posted by negcamber,Sep 29 2007, 05:42 AM
From my experience...it is best to get the rebuild BEFORE it goes BOOM. There may be little or anything left to salvage if it grenades.
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Originally Posted by ShocK,Sep 29 2007, 12:41 PM
I found a spare diff housing with guts for $200, not sure what happened to it.
I was going to tear it down and see what happened to it.