So I was driving yesterday goin about 20mph and the car suddenly locked up. Initially after the lock up it wouldn't move, put it in reverse then drive and then I got it to move forward. But as it moved forward it had a clicking noise coming from the rear end. I had it towed to Lexus and they concluded it to be the rear diff (didn't take it apart or anything) so that they quoted an estimate of $3500 to my warranty company. They are gonna come out mon or tues to look at it for a second opinion/verification before they can approve the claim. But the service rep whose worked there for 15 years, so he says, said it is a rare break for our cars. I was thinking maybe it was something I did wrong at the track the past weekend but idk because I don't beat on the car at all besides on track days (2 since ive owned it for a 1year and a half), other than that its a garage queen.

First tracked day no issues; ran it with traction on first run, then next 5 were with it off. Only spinning tires 1-2 sec to clear the dirt, no issues. Second track day at different strip, which was poorly prepped (10+ cars broke that day), first pass everything off, spun thru 3rd gear. Then I turned traction on for the rest of the day. Same wheel spin for the dirt, for another 5 passess in a 8 hour span. 3rd pass I did have some crazy wheel hop for some reason first 60' of the track. Don't know why. Street tires too btw (S-04 Pole Pos)

Basically I'm just trying to figure out what not to do next time if (crosses fingers) I do get a new 08 differential through the warranty. So I won't blow through the differential so quickly again after the warranty expires. I do like tracking the car so I do not want to lose that aspect either. Worse case scenario I will get a used is350 diff if the warranty company gives me problems (rep pointed out rubber slash on right muffler, says that's caused by long burnout..smh) until I can get the 2010+ torsion. Suggestions....Comments...Concerns!?!? Thanks for any input.

 

Never before read of anyone breaking the diff in an F. Were you using spray?

Unless you're running full slicks, a long burnout will hurt your ets.

 

You're too lucky.
this is an excuse for an OS Giken :-)

 

a 08-09 diff is cheap .

 

no spray, on street tires. Only mods were Hayward and Scott exhaust

 

Is the diff making a noise,you didn't have a brake lockup, clicking noise sounds like a axle shaft?? let us know what it was.

 

Sorry, my bad for the "long burnout" mention, you did state "1 - 2 sec.". I've been watching too much youtube.

Thankfully your lockup didn't cause a potentially severe collision.

If this happened to me, I'd look into getting your warranty company to pay for replacement with a 2010+ oem torsen diff., which can occasionally be found for sale used.

 

If you're going to drag race you really should do a couple of things - get the OS Giken TCD spool and get the SuperPro bushings for the differential from FIGS. The bushings killed the wheel hop issue immediately for me, and the Giken diff is ridiculously better than the OEM Torsen. If you drove my car, you would realize it pretty quickly.

While it is unusual for an ISF to have a diff failure, drag racing is when it is most likely to happen mostly because these cars are pretty prone to wheel hop straight from the factory.

 

If you drag race or do any standing starts with these cars and want the differential to live do what lobuxracer says.

The Giken plate type limited slip differential is a very good idea and I suspect is actually better than the OEM Torsen.. The bushings from FIGS should also be considered a must. I would also turn off the Vehicle Stability Control since all that does is add and remove power which is hard on the differential.

Wheel hop is never good for the rear end.

 

i did have a lockup. But thanks for the input guys. I had no idea the diff would was even that bad honestly. I didn't think anything of a couple passes every 6 months a so would be hard on the car. Especially considering the drag thread and how many people have tracked their cars in the past. But I also don't know how hard the previous owner drove it becuz it was bought from Cali then transferred to New Mexico thru an auction.

I usually do track it with everything off. But the track conditions were not prepped well at all. Traction on was the best option. So I thought