BTR diff any good?

[Andy chimaera]

Hi there, picked up my car from the garage yesterday cos the diff was knackered, so as it was all mangled up, the replaced it with another one, a reconditioned BTR i believe, are they any good, what diff is normally in a 97 400?

[finestjammy]

I think by 97 all cars were fitted with a BTR diff...I'll await to be corrected though. I don't think the BTR diff is necessarily better or worse than the earlier GKN one, perhaps a little quieter and parts are more readily available.

[Andy chimaera]

oh right, when they took my old one out and said they had a reconditioned one there, i got the impression from what the guy at the garage was saying was that it was a different one, but the ratios were the same, it doesn't seem to feel any different, gear changes seem to be much smoother though, but thats cos the last one was sloppy and really mangled too i guess, i seen it when they took it out, bits were falling off and everything lol, im surprised it was working

[K4TRV]

Interesting article in July 2011 edition of TVR Sprint Mag,

It deals with GKN diffs which like the BTR are non-adjustable Torque sensing diffs, the BTR just a slightly different design to GKN.

The article does say that both types loose their LSD effectiveness early on in life (40K+).

Finally, the article mentions Elite Racing (a Rob swift 01782 280136 ex 1) who can modify/rebuild a GKN LSD into an adjustable plate type (and possibly the BTR as well).

HTH

Trev (no association with anyone in the article!!)

[Ed450]

Interesting to see this thread Andy, i'm after a new Diff myself - the one I have is making awsful noises! Where did you get it reconditioned? I'm on a bit of a timeline as i'm supposed to be taking the car abroad in a week and a half - may just not be possible in the timeframe but I live in hope!

[Andy chimaera]

well i took mine to dulford in cullompton (north devon), mine was grinding at very low speed and when cornering at low speed, you could feel it rather than hear it really, they had the car for a couple of weeks, however i did tell them not to hurry as they gave me a run around car and they were busy at the time, however i think if you have a diff already to go in, i believe its a few hours ish? im sure someone will correct me, mine was a bit more work to strip it they had to damage it to check it over, it was stuck and mangled, then came to the conclusion it was cheaper to replace it

[Ed450]

Thanks Andy - that sounds like exactly the same symptoms that I have. According to the Racing Green website they stock Diffs, reconditioned and new, but not sure what the timescale would be. It sounds like a good half-day's job at least just to install.

[Andy chimaera]

actually, that sounds about right, i recall them saying 3 hours to take out and 3 hours to fit