# LSD question



## Guest (Apr 9, 2003)

Hey guys, i was wonderig if any of you were experiencing any problems with your LSD. I seriously dont think this car has a true limited slip differential. It just doesnt drive like it does. I took it to my nissan dealer, an i swear, the guy in charge of repairs was trying to convince me that the Spec-V doesnt have LSD. Also, i took it to my mechanic and he lifted it and put it through some basic test (on car with lsd, if you spin one tire one way, the other follow. If you hold one wheel, the other wont spin) My spec-v failed both these test. Any help?

thanks


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

not all LSDs do that...what your mechanic is mentioning is a drag racing LSD, AKA: a straight iron rod.......... if your spec-V did not fail those tests, you would'nt have gotten home as your outer wheel would have skipped (jumped, hopped) on every turn and your inner wheel would have burned out ( skidded, burned rubber) on every turn you make and would have probably gotten you in a serious accident, and you'd probably not be asking this question that you just did. Think about this and see if it makes sense: read the words "LIMITED slip differential"....not "NO slip differential" (which was what your mech. was talking about) LSDs "limit" the differential action under torque loads and wheel spin, so that both wheels can grip the road, instead of having a normal diff which makes the problem worse becasue the wheel that is having wheel spin is easier to turn than the wheel with grip. this "limiting" action is kind of like locking the differentials but only under hard acceleration and wheel spin. if you had locke differentials during cornering, you'd be out of control and crash be cause i'd be like cornering with a hot wheels car with no differential at all. so be glad that it didnt pass those dumb tests. .........Man, i know too much about this for a 17 yr old....or i could be completely wrong and you've got yourself a dud....but i'm pretty sure i'm right.....just kidding..


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## Guest (Apr 10, 2003)

Your car is fine... the holding the wheel test is not applicable because these axles are "limited slip". This has to do with clutch packs inside the axle that provide a limited power output to the non-slipping wheel. There are other types of axles that have a more "positive" lock between the wheels and they are mostly used for racing purposes...



VibrantSpecV said:


> *Hey guys, i was wonderig if any of you were experiencing any problems with your LSD. I seriously dont think this car has a true limited slip differential. It just doesnt drive like it does. I took it to my nissan dealer, an i swear, the guy in charge of repairs was trying to convince me that the Spec-V doesnt have LSD. Also, i took it to my mechanic and he lifted it and put it through some basic test (on car with lsd, if you spin one tire one way, the other follow. If you hold one wheel, the other wont spin) My spec-v failed both these test. Any help?
> 
> thanks *


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

The spec-v doesn't use a clutch pack for the LSD, it's gear driven. There are several tests to see if your LSD is working, one is to get each wheel on a different surface (one dirt, one cement or one wet road one dry) then punch it and if you don't move then it's broken. If you accelerate, just not as fast as before then it is working. The spinning the wheel method works as well, but it sounds like he might have been doing it wrong. What you do is jack up the car, put it in neutral, then spin one wheel. In a car with LSD the other will spin the same way, with no LSD they spin the opposite way. You can also put it in gear and spin one wheel. The other will spin the other way, but it should be pretty difficult to spin it. I have done both of these tests on my car (with LSD) vs my last car (without LSD) and it had the exact results I said.


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## Guest (Apr 12, 2003)

Thanks for the help guys, now i can finally be at some ease. What really scared me about the whole thing is that Nissan certified mechanics at my nissan dealership also said the car has no LSD. The mechanic at nissan also lifted the car and put it through the wheel spinning test just as sr20dem0n described and it failed. I dont know what to do with the whole situation, i just hope nissan didnt screw us 02 spec v owners.


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

VibrantSpecV said:


> *Thanks for the help guys, now i can finally be at some ease. What really scared me about the whole thing is that Nissan certified mechanics at my nissan dealership also said the car has no LSD. The mechanic at nissan also lifted the car and put it through the wheel spinning test just as sr20dem0n described and it failed. I dont know what to do with the whole situation, i just hope nissan didnt screw us 02 spec v owners. *


Don't be fooled, it's very rare that you will find someone at a dealership who actually knows what they sell, and anything about them. "Nissan certified mechanic" means absolutely nothing to me anymore.


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

yeah, people who work in dealerships know less about what they sell than i do. i had to remind my salesman that the spec-V had 175 and 180 tq and not 165.... i knew everything by heart and the dumbass was reading it off of the window spec sheet. i dont trust dealerships anymore because of an extreme case of this was brought to a very far degree....its a really long story if anyone wants to hear about it , i'll tell you guys later how the Nissan dealership screwed me over. that is why i do almost every thing by my self and with my friend's shop.


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## ewraven (Jul 20, 2002)

VibrantSpecV said:


> * I dont know what to do with the whole situation, i just hope nissan didnt screw us 02 spec v owners. *


I got my Spec V in November of 2001; it was built in October of 2001. I know for a fact that it has a limited slip differential. I can just tell by driving it every day. You can tell when you spin the wheels; both front wheels spin instead of just the right or left wheel. It is definately noticeable. 

I can also tell the most when cornering. When coming out of a sharp curve with it in 2nd gear; I'll give it some gas and it will understeer coming out of the corner. Understeering is a pretty good sign that BOTH front tires have lost traction and are spinning. If it wasn't an LSD; the left or right front tire would not lose traction and my car would just turn when I turned the wheel coming out of corners.


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## 88 Pulsar SE (Mar 25, 2003)

Yeah the spec has a helical limited slip


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