How to check if I have Torsen LSD

Jim > wrote:

>On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:50:24 -0400,
>(Leon van Dommelen) wrote:
>
(BRUCE HASKIN) wrote:
>>
>>>OK you guys ! Just go to miata.net . Look in the garage section.
>>>there is a place in there that will tell and show you how to tell if you
>>>have a Torson ! To make it short, look at the front of the diff. where
>>>the drive line comes back from the tranny. IF there are some vibration
>>>dampeners located there just aft of the "U" joint, you have a Torson !
>>>IF no dampeners. it is an "open" rear end". ( this is for 1994 and on )
>>>IF, some one has replaced the rear end in a 1990 - 1993, with a 1994 and
>>>later, it will still have the dampeners ! The '90 - '93's have VLSD or
>>>open and you can check this by jacking one rear wheel off the ground,
>>>put the car in gear and with a "Torque wrench" ( I don't remember the
>>>setting) and time how long it takes to go to 90 deg's. of rotation. I
>>>don't have my '91 shop manual anymore or I could trint that info. out.
>>>(it should be in the garage section too if you look.
>>>
>>>I think you guys should all start looking at the items in the miata.net
>>>site. It will answer about 75% of att the questions that you are asking
>>>in here.
>>
>>Then what would we do here?
>>
>>Leon
>
>Discuss which color is best.

You mean on the underside of the car, I assume? Strange as it
may seem, on the underside of the car I prefer red or black.
Photons bouncing back and forth between the bottom of the car and
the road generate a lot of drag with their collisions, and I believe
it is better to just absorb them than to keep allowing them to run
amok.

This of course is the primary reason the original concrete roads
of the previous century have all been replaced by black asphalt roads.
Just note what color they paint the road to make you slow down or stop.
Still, it cannot hurt to paint the bottom of your car matte black too,
if you are looking for that additional couple of hp.

Leon

>Jim '93 red
--
Leon van Dommelen Bess, the Miata Bozo, the Miata
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
The only thing better than a white Miata is two white Miatas

In article >,
Grant Edwards > wrote:

> Titanium (haze gray) is definitely the best. How else are you
> going to go unnoticed in a WW1 naval battle.

Dazzle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage

On 2007-09-08, Lanny Chambers > wrote:

>> Titanium (haze gray) is definitely the best. How else are you
>> going to go unnoticed in a WW1 naval battle.
>
> Dazzle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage

It's especially effective on those club drives where there's a
whole closely spaced group of similarly painted Miatas.

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! I'm GLAD I
at remembered to XEROX all
visi.com my UNDERSHIRTS!!

G. Mack wrote:
> I have a 96 Miata. I've read on the web that this year's model comes
> with either an open or Torsen differential.
>
> With my car on stands, when I spin the one rear wheel, the other wheel
> will spin in the opposite direction. When I hold one of the wheels
> tight, my son was not able to spin the wheel on the other side. Can
> anyone conclude from this rather I have a Torsen LSD or not? If not,
> is there any other test I can do short of pulling off a stub axle to
> peek at the gears?

It sounds like an open diff to me. Someone on the UK MX-5 owners' club
was able to look up the diff type from the chassis number, so you could
try there.

>
> You mean on the underside of the car, I assume? Strange as it
> may seem, on the underside of the car I prefer red or black.
> Photons bouncing back and forth between the bottom of the car and
> the road generate a lot of drag with their collisions, and I believe
> it is better to just absorb them than to keep allowing them to run
> amok.
>
> This of course is the primary reason the original concrete roads
> of the previous century have all been replaced by black asphalt roads.
> Just note what color they paint the road to make you slow down or stop.
> Still, it cannot hurt to paint the bottom of your car matte black too,
> if you are looking for that additional couple of hp.
>
> Leon
>
I suspect you will loose the advantage of any additional horsepower as you
gain extra mass, absorbing all those stray photons! Keep your headlights on
at all times to compensate.

Hay guys, I told you how to check by looking at the front of the rearend
! How hard can this be ????? Look at the front of the rearend (the
input "pinion shaft". If there is a 4 nub "dampener" between the drive
shaft "U" joint and the housing, YOU HAVE A TORSEN rearend !!!!!!!!! IF
you don't have anything but a "U" joint, you have an OPEN rearend. Don't
make this any harder than it really is.


Bruce Bing '03 LS

"BRUCE HASKIN" > wrote in message
...
> Hay guys, I told you how to check by looking at the front of the rearend
> ! How hard can this be ????? Look at the front of the rearend (the
> input "pinion shaft". If there is a 4 nub "dampener" between the drive
> shaft "U" joint and the housing, YOU HAVE A TORSEN rearend !!!!!!!!! IF
> you don't have anything but a "U" joint, you have an OPEN rearend. Don't
> make this any harder than it really is.
>
>
> Bruce Bing '03 LS

I believe all standard trans cars built after '98 have that damper
regardless of the differential fitted.

"Chas Hurst" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "BRUCE HASKIN" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Hay guys, I told you how to check by looking at the front of the rearend
>> ! How hard can this be ????? Look at the front of the rearend (the
>> input "pinion shaft". If there is a 4 nub "dampener" between the drive
>> shaft "U" joint and the housing, YOU HAVE A TORSEN rearend !!!!!!!!! IF
>> you don't have anything but a "U" joint, you have an OPEN rearend. Don't
>> make this any harder than it really is.
>>
>>
>> Bruce Bing '03 LS
>
> I believe all standard trans cars built after '98 have that damper
> regardless of the differential fitted.
Make that all 1.8L engined standard trans cars.

My car a 1994 miata m-spec with an automatic transmission and power
everything. It DOES have a torsen differential and I can guarantee that it
is OEM.

"Lanny Chambers" > wrote in message
...
> In article . com>,
> "G. Mack" > wrote:
>
>> I have a 96 Miata. I've read on the web that this year's model comes
>> with either an open or Torsen differential.
>>
>> With my car on stands, when I spin the one rear wheel, the other wheel
>> will spin in the opposite direction. When I hold one of the wheels
>> tight, my son was not able to spin the wheel on the other side. Can
>> anyone conclude from this rather I have a Torsen LSD or not? If not,
>> is there any other test I can do short of pulling off a stub axle to
>> peek at the gears?
>
> From the miata.net Garage:
>
> (Q)How do you identify Torsen's without dissasembly?
>
> (A)The Torsen won't always turn both wheels when you turn the
> driveshaft, sometime if they are cold they will. One way is to take out
> the fill plug to see the Torsen gears which is hard to do because of the
> angle. Another way is to attempt to turn both half shafts in the same
> direction at the same time (tranny in neutral), can't be done with a
> Torsen. The foolproof way is to pull the stub axle on the type 1 or the
> drive axle on the type two. If you don't see a bar and can see directly
> thru the diff. it is a Torsen. If there is a bar, (spider gears) it's an
> open.
>
> Or you could phone Mazda with the VIN and they'll tell you how it came
> out of the factory. The only '96 Miatas without Torsens were base and
> power steering package models, plus all automatics.

"Brian Minto" > wrote in message
news:cCGGi.177137$rX4.158428@pd7urf2no...
> My car a 1994 miata m-spec with an automatic transmission and power
> everything. It DOES have a torsen differential and I can guarantee that it
> is OEM.

Interesting. How are you sure it has a torsen diff?


> "Lanny Chambers" > wrote in message
> ...
>> In article . com>,
>> "G. Mack" > wrote:
>>
>>> I have a 96 Miata. I've read on the web that this year's model comes
>>> with either an open or Torsen differential.
>>>
>>> With my car on stands, when I spin the one rear wheel, the other wheel
>>> will spin in the opposite direction. When I hold one of the wheels
>>> tight, my son was not able to spin the wheel on the other side. Can
>>> anyone conclude from this rather I have a Torsen LSD or not? If not,
>>> is there any other test I can do short of pulling off a stub axle to
>>> peek at the gears?
>>
>> From the miata.net Garage:
>>
>> (Q)How do you identify Torsen's without dissasembly?
>>
>> (A)The Torsen won't always turn both wheels when you turn the
>> driveshaft, sometime if they are cold they will. One way is to take out
>> the fill plug to see the Torsen gears which is hard to do because of the
>> angle. Another way is to attempt to turn both half shafts in the same
>> direction at the same time (tranny in neutral), can't be done with a
>> Torsen. The foolproof way is to pull the stub axle on the type 1 or the
>> drive axle on the type two. If you don't see a bar and can see directly
>> thru the diff. it is a Torsen. If there is a bar, (spider gears) it's an
>> open.
>>
>> Or you could phone Mazda with the VIN and they'll tell you how it came
>> out of the factory. The only '96 Miatas without Torsens were base and
>> power steering package models, plus all automatics.
>
>