The diff failed today, and it sounds like the pinion is stripped. Waiting for it to be towed to the dealership.

It failed with a downshift to second and a throttle application but the car was not being pushed at all. Do these things fracture, weaken, and then give up? I am not one to do launches or beat the gears hard so I really did not expect this.

I have a year left on my extended warranty so it will be towed to Honda and I will expect a repair, but have heard of refusals. Any tips on getting this covered?

 

I don't see why they would refuse. You said you didn't drive your car hard, so it seems to me like the rear diff went out pre-maturely. When you down shifted did hit rev-limiter? or was it completely random?

I have a question about the rear diff while on the topic.
I launch my car all the time, and so far my rear diff is ok. I planed on upgrading it once I added some whp. Should I just go ahead and upgrade it now, because I do drive my car pretty hard sometimes. What are the current best options for rear diff upgrade?
Perfomance and price.

 

Now might be a good time to swap out that avatar

 

Nowhere near the rev limiter.. downshift and throttle at probably 3 - 4K.

I like the avatar and still maintain that smoothly doing laps should not be hard on the car, just brakes and tires.

Although the car is designed as a sports car and produced by a manufacturer with a rep for reliability, it seems to me that it is fragile in ways that many are not.

 

My friend is going for a Skyline conversion...

If you are after some serious power, thats a good option.

Good luck

 

I was thinking the same thing.....

 

All depends upon price...the mounting kits/axles aren't cheap but it can be done. I actually recently picked up a set of R33 axle's and an R33 diff with S13 cover, to do a swap. I still need to get a set of axles and the mounting brackets(which won't be cheap), but out of pocket costs are only sporting $160 so far. Should make the diff 'bulletproof' for drops and power...BUT it just puts the pressure on something else in the drive train to break.

 

Has your diff fluid maintenance been impeccable? That's about the only thing I can see them coming at you on. (Except maybe the track miles if they knew about it.)

 

Get your sevice records prepped, and don't get angry if they turn you down right away.

Stay persistent and call Honda's customer service # if you run into probs. Flying off the handle and shouting at the dealer doesn't help your case out. (if you run into probs)

 

I can't tell you the amount of clutch dumps and drifting I do with my car. At 55k, so far so good. I have a backup incase, but I think it's the fluid that has been a factor. I've got LE607 in there.

What type of fluid/time on it/was in the dif?

LE is waiting for the first failure so they can warranty it