S15 helical diff grinding

[gpeele]

this is a s15 helical diff installed in a spare s13 non abs pumpkin with the correct output shafts and brand new shims, bearings and seals. all installation was done by a shop sometime ago but the shop has since closed.

just today i had the pumpkin swaped out with my stock one and it was making a loud grinding noise, like loud enough to be heard when the rear is jacked up and the wheels spin freely when the accelerator is pressed. when on the road the noise is much louder and reverbs through the car. i cant take it back to the original shop for obvious reasons, so what could be the problem, bad shims, crappy fluid (75w90 gear oil is in there now). are helical lsds themselves known to go bad? any help will be appreciated.

thanks.

[Al_S14]

I have yet to hear S15 lsd go bad... they are durable and dont wear out like clutch type. My best guess they screwed up one of the bearigns ... hard to tell without looking at it.
Where in Chesapeake are you? I may be interested in getting that from you if you dont feel like messing with it. Give me a call 6153421

[wootwoot]

Bearings or shimmed improperly; both are easy to fuck up.

[gpeele]

sorry man, not really interested in selling the diff i just want it to work. i guess ill have to take it by a transmission shop and see if they can tell me whether its the shims or bearings, im just glad to hear that the lsd itself shouldnt be the problem.

thanks for the replies.

[wootwoot]

No but the lsd could be ruined if shimmed improperly...

[96240sxSE]

Have a shop(a good one) take a look at the wear patterns on the teeth of the r&p. The wear pattern will tell a good tech if the diff was shimmed improperly. If you are lucky, you may just have to buy a new r&p, not the entire assembly.

[nlzmo400r]

take it out, and reinstall it with new shims and bearings

[kandyflip445]

^^^What he said. Inspect for damage. When you drain out the fluid into a pan run a magnet through it and see just how much metal there is. If there is a shitload then you need to inspect everything. If there is minimal metal then you should still check but it's more likely to be ok.