I installed a quaife differential in my tranny a while ago, and noticed it was grinding a bit going into gear periodically. I put the car on a lift and found the passenger side axle had popped out of the tranny, and caused all the tranny fluid to leak out. It obviously can’t pop all the way out, but it was out far enough so that the surface that the axle seal seals against was no longer in contact with the seal. I figured the clip on the end of the axle was just worn out, as the axles were not particularly new, and I’d installed and removed them a number of times from a previous integra I had. So I bought a new axle and the clip did seem a bit springier, so figured that was it. Well I checked it again today, and found that one had popped out as well. It seems that the splined section of the axle isn’t long enough for the clip to reach the groove in the quaife.
I’m going to call quaife tomorrow, to see if they have an answer, but does anyone know if any B-series axles are different from others? I just quickly checked at autozone, and they list the same part numbers for all 90-01 axles, both gsr and ls. Quaife does have different part numbers for gsr/type r trannies and regular b series trannies, but I’m not sure if there is any difference in the axle connections. I also don’t have the paperwork anymore for the quaife, so I don’t remember the part number of the one I have. Anyone know what the differences would be between gsr/type R differentials and regular b-series differentials (other than the type R being an ATB like the quaife)?
Sorry to be a bit long winded, but really trying to figure out what the hell to do…
The difference is in the bolt pattern on the ring gear. It is different in the CTR/ITR vs. the GSR/LS trans. IF the axle is popping out so frenquently, also think about checking your radius rod - it might be loose, letting the arm swing back just enough to pull it out.
ok cool, good to know. Everything is in alignment and I replaced the radius rod bushings not too long ago. The issue is really that the clip on the end of the axle is not clipping into the groove in the quaife, and from what I can tell it’s because the splined end of the axle going into the tranny is too short. I haven’t actually measured, but I can pull the axle in and out easily, there’s no real resistance like there usually is when the clip engages correctly. Hopefully quaife will have some answers…thanks again for the info moonscryer
make sure that the clip is spread wide enough to lock in. at my shop we see it all the time with part store axles. we always use a prybar once the axle is in to verify that the clip is holding.
Well just pulled it out again tonight. spread the clip a bit wider, still doesn’t catch properly. Used a tape measure to measure the length of the stub versus the hole, and looks almost correct, but the axle does appear to be barely too short to get the ring into the groove in the differential. If the stepped section of the axle that seals against the seal was a bit narrower, I think it’d fit. I didn’t have anything with me at my friend’s shop I was at tonight to measure accurately, but with a crappy tape measure, it looked like roughly 1/16" was all it was off by. Anyone else have this issue before? I put a little paint on the edge of the differential to see if the stepped part contacts it, and it does in fact hit it, so it’s not an issue of the differential being shimmed too far into the tranny. Hopefully the additional friction of the spread clip will help hold it. Anyone ever use the green temporary loctite on something like this? I’ve seen it used on taper shafts before, so figure it MIGHT work in this situation, as it really shouldn’t take much to hold the axle into the tranny, and the green stuff isn’t considered permanent.
Spiki,
I am almost 100% positive that you are experiencing an axle issue, and not a trans issue. As a matter of fact, have you confirmed that you actually have a set of axles for a DA?
The reason I suspect “this scenario” is that I ended up with a set of axles for an EG years ago on a friends DA and didn’t know it for weeks as I was trying to diagnose his issue. It was the most frustrating thing in the world and it was just a matter of some Numbnut not labeling the box correctly at the rebuild shop.
I might try to find a stock set of DA axles and compare them to make for sure it’s not something that simple!
Hmm…i’ll check that out, i’ve tried multiple axles i’ve had lying around, i’m 99% sure they’re DA ones, pretty sure the first one i had in there was an OEM one from my original integra, which hadn’t been changed ever since buying the car new (got wrecked with 72k on it a few years ago). Definitely gonna look into it tho, something I hadn’t really considered, that it could be a civic axle. Haven’t called quaife yet either, as I want to have exact masurements of what’s off, and haven’t had time to do it. Thanks for the suggestion
