Rear Diff clutch plates installed incorrectly from factory
I describe mine as a faint chatter, it's not loud by any means.
A buddy gave me a 4oz bottle of Amsoil Slip Lock additive.
He said it should eliminate the noise. He said the Ford LSD additive (4oz. bottle) works as well.
I'll be adding it after work today, so we'll see.
A buddy gave me a 4oz bottle of Amsoil Slip Lock additive.
He said it should eliminate the noise. He said the Ford LSD additive (4oz. bottle) works as well.
I'll be adding it after work today, so we'll see.
Great write up for a DIYers. I decided to send mine to TRE because I wanted the whole diff looked at and I personal don't have the knowledge of how to re-shim my diff; We all know Mitsubishi didn't set them up right from the factory, at least not for high torque applications. I'm glad I had TRE look at it because I had cracks in one of the spider gears and the front pinion and side cover bearing went bad. I would have never knew I did until Jon showed me.
Last edited by awdboosted; Jun 24, 2011 at 07:44 AM.
Evolved Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 6,902
Likes: 151
From: Grand Island, NE
While I never had my Evo differential apart, I've done a couple of other cars and I did them both lying on my back with the diff housing still on car. When assembling it doing it that way, you hold everything in place with one had while inserting shims and bolts with the other. Slip and you've got the works on your face. So, doing it on a work bench should be a piece of cake.
I am glad to see that this info has finally been posted on the forums. The LSD itself was not set up incorrectly from the factory, it was done this way on purpose. As EVO8emUp said above the clutches were arranged this way to eliminate any clutch chatter (noise) from the LSD. It would cost Mitsubishi a fortune in warranty repairs for customers who complain about differential noise. Also, this is not done only by Mitsubishi, other OEMs do the same thing to reduce the noise from clutch type LSD units. This is a big reason a lot of OEMs have gone to Torsen style LSD units in IRS applications, which are nearly silent.
Ford lost a ton fixing this very issue on Explorers and even on the Mustang, crazy how people would complain about their limited slip diff actually working!
Had to re-shim the clutchpacks for looser clearance and "restack" them: plate-plate-plate-steel-steel-steel...made me sad having to do that to so many vehicles.
Guess I'll open mine up and change it!
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,202
Likes: 20
From: Orlando, FL
I dont know about fixing the stock 8 plate, but my 12 plate is quite chattery with redline 75w-140NS. During the winter Ill use factory diaqueen as Ive heard that pretty much shuts them up.
That slips the clutches and will allow them to get some oil in there, reducing some of the chatter. A diff additive would help as well. (friction modifier)