Limited slip diff.....
Discussion
Hi,
Collected my brand new Caterham today and the limited slip diff is whining like an Irish Banshee.... It starts at around 50mph, is really loud at 60 to 65mh and the disappears into the background at around 70. The sound is there in other gears too and the same speeds. I've heard mild forms of this in other open diff (old now) Fords.
Is this something to be expected from a LSD?
Collected my brand new Caterham today and the limited slip diff is whining like an Irish Banshee.... It starts at around 50mph, is really loud at 60 to 65mh and the disappears into the background at around 70. The sound is there in other gears too and the same speeds. I've heard mild forms of this in other open diff (old now) Fords.
Is this something to be expected from a LSD?
Poopaconk said:
Hi,
Collected my brand new Caterham today and the limited slip diff is whining like an Irish Banshee.... It starts at around 50mph, is really loud at 60 to 65mh and the disappears into the background at around 70. The sound is there in other gears too and the same speeds. I've heard mild forms of this in other open diff (old now) Fords.
Is this something to be expected from a LSD?
Same for me when I picked mine up. I had it checked out and did some research and it seems pretty standard. I have got use to the whine and clunks. Part of the character! That said if others think it's not then I am keen to hear what it said. Collected my brand new Caterham today and the limited slip diff is whining like an Irish Banshee.... It starts at around 50mph, is really loud at 60 to 65mh and the disappears into the background at around 70. The sound is there in other gears too and the same speeds. I've heard mild forms of this in other open diff (old now) Fords.
Is this something to be expected from a LSD?
There seems to be a resonance at 50-60 mph that emphasizes whining noises whether Ford or BMW diff. I have the Ford and built my Seven in 2011. When finished I was surprised by the noise, and at the time people were saying it was a batch of Caterham remanufactured diffs that were the cause.
So, I purchased an old original Ford diff, had it rebuilt with new bearings by a well known expert and to be honest, the whine was exactly the same! Looking back, I believe the whining became a problem around the time Caterham swapped from the Arch chassis to their metric design, although I cannot prove this so it is just my opinion.
Some people with metric cars do say they have a quiet diff, so unless they are all deaf, there are probably other factors involved. A current Seven will not only have a different diff to mine, but most will have a Mazda box instead of a type 9, so the only common factor seems to be the chassis.........
My cure in the end was to wear 3M Optime 2 ear defenders! Ear plugs seemed to emphasize the whine and hide exhaust noise. The ear defenders do the opposite
So, I purchased an old original Ford diff, had it rebuilt with new bearings by a well known expert and to be honest, the whine was exactly the same! Looking back, I believe the whining became a problem around the time Caterham swapped from the Arch chassis to their metric design, although I cannot prove this so it is just my opinion.
Some people with metric cars do say they have a quiet diff, so unless they are all deaf, there are probably other factors involved. A current Seven will not only have a different diff to mine, but most will have a Mazda box instead of a type 9, so the only common factor seems to be the chassis.........
My cure in the end was to wear 3M Optime 2 ear defenders! Ear plugs seemed to emphasize the whine and hide exhaust noise. The ear defenders do the opposite
I've not checked but I assume it must be a Mazda 'box as its a new car. It's definitely the diff as its exactly the same noise as I've experienced previously.
Yes the noise is in more than one gears.
I've driven a number of open diff sevens, both old and newish, and non of them have whined anything like this, but never one with a LSD.
The chassis issue is an interesting thought....
Yes the noise is in more than one gears.
I've driven a number of open diff sevens, both old and newish, and non of them have whined anything like this, but never one with a LSD.
The chassis issue is an interesting thought....
As a point of reference, I have a 2013 Duratec car with the S3 metric chassis and a 5 speed type 9 ford gearbox + BMW diff containing LSD which I built from new. Now done 3000 miles
I get quite a bit of chatter from the diff when I back off the power and some clonks coming on and off the power but mine doesn't whine like you describe. It's been pretty consistent thought the 3000 miles driven too.
I put friction modifier in the diff when it was new and the last change I did I used a diff oil that contained the friction modifier in it already so no need for seperate one. The friction modifier could be a red herring but have either of you with the whine dumped / sucked the oil out of your diff and refreshed it to see if that makes any difference?
Tom
I get quite a bit of chatter from the diff when I back off the power and some clonks coming on and off the power but mine doesn't whine like you describe. It's been pretty consistent thought the 3000 miles driven too.
I put friction modifier in the diff when it was new and the last change I did I used a diff oil that contained the friction modifier in it already so no need for seperate one. The friction modifier could be a red herring but have either of you with the whine dumped / sucked the oil out of your diff and refreshed it to see if that makes any difference?
Tom
Hello
I have a 2016 310r with the bmw lsd and mazda box and it is bl00dy noisy, in my case i think the gearbox rattles badly on the over run in 4th, sounds like an awful grinding noisy. I took it back to caterham and got TADTS. Also tried their demonstrator 310r which had similar noise levels. I am diagnosing its the box because the noise is loudest in 4th on overrun but it could be the lsd, dont know? Am planning to change gbox oil to redline mtl at some point to see if things improve, this seems a popular fix
Previously had a k series with type 9 gearbox and sierra diff which was much more civilised
I have a 2016 310r with the bmw lsd and mazda box and it is bl00dy noisy, in my case i think the gearbox rattles badly on the over run in 4th, sounds like an awful grinding noisy. I took it back to caterham and got TADTS. Also tried their demonstrator 310r which had similar noise levels. I am diagnosing its the box because the noise is loudest in 4th on overrun but it could be the lsd, dont know? Am planning to change gbox oil to redline mtl at some point to see if things improve, this seems a popular fix
Previously had a k series with type 9 gearbox and sierra diff which was much more civilised
sjl1 said:
Hello
I have a 2016 310r with the bmw lsd and mazda box and it is bl00dy noisy, in my case i think the gearbox rattles badly on the over run in 4th, sounds like an awful grinding noisy. I took it back to caterham and got TADTS. Also tried their demonstrator 310r which had similar noise levels. I am diagnosing its the box because the noise is loudest in 4th on overrun but it could be the lsd, dont know? Am planning to change gbox oil to redline mtl at some point to see if things improve, this seems a popular fix
Previously had a k series with type 9 gearbox and sierra diff which was much more civilised
I have a 2016 310r with the bmw lsd and mazda box and it is bl00dy noisy, in my case i think the gearbox rattles badly on the over run in 4th, sounds like an awful grinding noisy. I took it back to caterham and got TADTS. Also tried their demonstrator 310r which had similar noise levels. I am diagnosing its the box because the noise is loudest in 4th on overrun but it could be the lsd, dont know? Am planning to change gbox oil to redline mtl at some point to see if things improve, this seems a popular fix
Previously had a k series with type 9 gearbox and sierra diff which was much more civilised
My diff chatter is most noticeable on easing of the throttle, going into overrun. Fully on or off throttle it's not bad. The higher the gear the more noticeable it is, at normal speeds, presumably because the torque changes are lower.
I have 6 speed and not aware of any undue noise from it. The indirect gears make a little noise compared with 6th but nothing you wouldn't expect. They don't rattle or grind.
I've got a 2017 310S SV which I built. Open diff and Mazda 5 speed box. I get a whine between 65 and 70 but only in 5th gear. I initially thought it was the diff but that does not seem to be the case. Once the car gets good and warm the noise easies off a bit, either that or my hearing easies off!
Alternatively it could be the diff but I just can't hear it above the intake/exhaust noise when doing 70 in fourth. I've looked at various vids on youtube regarding Caterham diff noise and mine is nowhere as bad as most of those. If it is chassis related then maybe the SV is not as resonant?
Alternatively it could be the diff but I just can't hear it above the intake/exhaust noise when doing 70 in fourth. I've looked at various vids on youtube regarding Caterham diff noise and mine is nowhere as bad as most of those. If it is chassis related then maybe the SV is not as resonant?
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