Welp... this could get expensive...

flyinhawaiian

flyinhawaiian

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
1,784
Location
New York
Car(s)
Mazdaspeed Protege
Was driving to work today, accelerating into traffic when there was a nice little *POP* and I suddenly had no more drive. Every time I put the engine under load, I was greeted by a nice grinding type sound from right behind the firewall. I nursed it as far as I could towards work where I could park it and call a wrecker, but it gave up about a mile away. I could still change gears and the clutch pedal never lost its feel. It definitely happened under boost, though and after reading another forum, the symptoms seem to match an LSD failure, which unfortunately, is common for these cars. Not to pleased about this...
 
This sucks.

Have you been doing a lot of hard launches? Wheel hop in FWD cars with a lot of power can cause diffs to fail/blow.

Check for Quaife replacements - they should have a lifetime warranty. You would need to check what the current LSD is. It is either gripper type (clutch) or the Quaife I was talking about (which is like a torsen diff).
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
This sucks.

Have you been doing a lot of hard launches? Wheel hop in FWD cars with a lot of power can cause diffs to fail/blow.

Check for Quaife replacements - they should have a lifetime warranty. You would need to check what the current LSD is. It is either gripper type (clutch) or the Quaife I was talking about (which is like a torsen diff).
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Nah, I almost never launch the car - I have 120k miles on it, so I'm happy it lasted this long with it being a known problem-child. Its a Torsen-style diff and I think Mazda has an updated OE one they released in 2006 (car is 2003) which is supposed to be much stronger.
 
This still sounds rather premature - diff failure at just 120k miles. Well done, Mazda :mad:
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
This still sounds rather premature - diff failure at just 120k miles. Well done, Mazda :mad:
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Yeah, no kidding. They didn't really beef up the car in the essential areas before slapping a turbo on the car. Mine is fairly unmodified (the engine is stock save for an upgraded intercooler and a replacement wastegate actuator), and it still grenaded. I give them credit though, it was the first Mazdaspeed model they brought to the US and they've gotten a lot better at not making the same mistakes again...
 
It's good they learned and made a better part. Unlike Chrysler.
 
Bretton Woods said:
Did it punch a hole in the gearbox?
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Don't think so. Shop called today and said it was indeed the LSD that blew up. $1800 is the current estimate, also to replace the clutch. Oh boy!
 
flyinhawaiian said:
Don't think so. Shop called today and said it was indeed the LSD that blew up. $1800 is the current estimate, also to replace the clutch. Oh boy!
Click to expand...

A friend has a Volvo 850R. When the front differential let go, it punched a hole through the gearbox casing. Chunks of the case were then eaten by the gearset, which in turn shattered.
 
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