aomdedude1

Okay, so firstly, I seriously have no intention of breaking any rules, but I am an LS400 owner with a differential problem. The reason I am over here in the SC forum is because I have some reason to believe that you guys have more experience swapping diffs and stuff like that and seeing as our differentials are VERY similar in many respects, I figured this would be a good question to post here. So I am hoping that this post does not get moved or deleted simply because it is not an SC specific question.

So with that out of the way, here is my issue. I originally thought that my vehicle had a bad wheel bearing. You can read all about that here on the LS forum.

I spent the day removing my differential due to the fact that my axles were basically fused to the diff and due to the fact that I bought all new differential bushings and wanted to paint my diff and remove all the rust. Well when I pulled it out, I heard the nose in the videos below:

Remember, I have NO experience with differentials, so I literally have no clue if this is normal gear clatter. My guess is something is shot due to the fact that this is the SAME noise I was experiencing to begin with. ( the noise that originally made me think the wheel bearings were bad)

Video with fluid still in the Diff:


SO my question is: Is this noise normal? If not, how hard is this to fix? How tough is it to rebuild a wholes differential and are there any special tools I will need along the way. Also, where can I source these bearings from other than the stealer.?

ArkLaTexSC

Unfortunately the SC is more closely related to the GS and Supra in regards to platform. The perceived similarity to the LS is from the fact that until (1999?) they were the only two USA cars to use the 1UZ. Best we can give is more general info. I'll take some time to go through the rest of your post and see if there's anything.

ArkLaTexSC

You're spinning only one axle, aka the spider gear (I believe it's called) is spinning. I can only assume it makes that sound as I've never tried that. It allows the axles to spin independently since the outer wheel spins more than the inner wheel in a turn.

Try spinning both at the same time.

aomdedude1

I would have to argue that. I am VERY far from an expert, but I have been doing some research and APPARENTLY the LSD from the NA supra small diff will fit into the housing of mine for the LS400. And apparently that swaps into your diff too. I cant find the thread but I read a post of a guy doing the swap of the internals between the supra and the SC400.

SOURCE PAGE 2

So that means that our internals for the differ are probably closer, rather than further apart then one might think. As for the casing that's another story. The SC diff is a 4 bolt mount while the LS is just 3 bolts.

Again, remember I am a noob when It comes to Diffs, but from all the research I've done it looks like many of the internal parts are interchangeable.


EDIT: Source stating that the 10 bolt supra Torsen LSD fits into the SC Diff. Being that the LS internals are also 10 bolt and apparently the same "A Series" type differential, the internals should swap nicely.

....But all of that is not my issue. I just need to know if my diff is okay! lol

turbodremz

iTrader: (18)

IIRC the LS/GS/SC diffs were all the same aside from gear ratio.


EDIT: The GS/SC differential internals are the same as the late model LS and early model LS, but the early model LS diff used a different 3-point mount with a single ear and different back plate, and the late model had a different back plate.