FTO AUSTRALIA

Hey guys,

Let me just start off by saying I've had my FTO for just about a year now, and I wasn't given any information by the previous owner.

When I first got the car, it drove beautifully and there wasn't any noise from the diff. After a few months of driving, I heard a noise developing around corners, so I had the CVs refurbished. When they went back in the noise was still there. I noticed that the noise would disappear completely after the car was warm (20-30 minutes driving). I spoke with my ex-mechanic friend and he told me the noise was coming from the diff.

I took my car to an import specialist. First stop was a diff oil change. Tried fully synthetic Motul oil, a little but quieter, but nothing to write home about. The problem continued to get worse over the coming weeks.

Back to the import specialist. The LSD was removed and sent away for inspection. The diff shop disassembled the LSD and reported that it was a cusco good as new, no work required. When they reassembled it, they wound off the pretension as far as they could in the hopes of making it less noisy. So the LSD was put back in the car. Redline LSD oil was used and friction modifier added. I drove the car and it was roughly 10 times worse than when I brought it in to get fixed. It had gone beyond noise and was now physically kicking the steering wheel back with such force that it was unsafe to drive. I drove the car for 45 minutes hoping it would warm up like it used to, but the problem never got any better. Back to the specialist.

After searching the forums and referring to this post:
http://www.ftoaustralia.com/modules.php ... ight=fuchs
I told him to order in some Fuchs oil. The oil went in this afternoon and apparently made absolutely no difference.

So, the question here is:
* Could changing the pretension have made the problem worse?
* Is there a better oil to use in a Cusco LSD other than Motul, Redline, Fuchs?
* Does anyone know a good diff shop that can resolve this issue?

Thanks in advance guys. This is really getting on my nerves. I've been without my car for 3 weeks and I've spent in excess of $2000 trying to fix this issue with the import specialist. Over $2000 and the problem is worse.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I really need it.


Here are some pictures of the white bullet.

Well if it is a cusco it would be a clutch(RS) or cone(MZ) type, they do make a bit of noise when turning, I wouldn't be to worried about that.

With it kicking the steering wheel, is it like trying to go straight?, it sounds like it is locking up, usually that happens when accelerating and a little bit or none when deaccelerating depending if it is a 1 way or 1.5 way LSD, also those fiction modifiers that got added to the oil would have a part in this aswell, causing the clutch plates in the LSD to bite a little more.

And the noise... well noise is an understatement. It sounds like a jackhammer, except possibly louder. If you heard me take a corner, you'd run the other way because it sounds like the car is about to explode.

As far as I can tell it's a 1 way, because I don't get any noise on decel.

When I say it's kicking, I mean it's really kicking. On even the slightest angle under acceleration, it violently tries to pull the wheel out of your hands.

Not sure what your problem is but I think it doesn’t sound like can be fixed by changing oils, you need to look at the hardware more I think

Its hard to say, I've never come across an LSD that sounds as bad as yours, it sounds like it is locking up real easy, in stock LSD's in nissans people add another shim so the LSD locks better and tomake it more responsive, may be you got a too thick of a shim in your LSD.

Had a similiar problem with the bosses car 35 years ago, every thing was fine UNTIL the oil was changed, a week later it felt like the diff was going to fall out when turning. Because it was such an expensive car ($35,000 back in 1970 which is when I'm talking about) the diff was pulled and inspected, in perfect condition.
When the oil was changed Shell didn't have that oil in Australia so we used what they recomended which worked too well (took too much torque to make the clutches slip and instead of moving smoothly when the axle windup became high enough they slipped a small amount then locked again, which sounds exactly like your diff is doing. Our solution was to use the same oil we were using in the Holdens.
After you change oils drive slowly in circles each way to work the oil through the clutches, even after putting in a suitable oil it will take time to take effect, good luck with finding the right oil.

All fixed now. The LSD was removed again and sent away. The shop worked out that it's a clutch type KAAZ, not a Cusco. Which makes SFA difference in the real world. Anyway, they've adjusted the pre-tension, rearranged the clutch packs and inverted the shims.

There's a little bit of grinding when it's cold, but nowhere near as bad as it was. It seems to be getting better the more I drive it. First day I actually had some tyre squeal around a corner, but now I don't get any.

They say the changes have made it all 30% less effective than the original settings. But if it is less effective, I can't tell the difference. And going around the bridge underpass with my foot to the floor tells me it's all still working perfectly.

Now it's a nice car to drive again. A car that can accelerate around corners rather than clutching it. Everything is actually working properly for the first time in a year. Time for some fun.

nice to hear its all good! last time i saw you if didnt sound that bad