Bye bye my front diff!!

It has to happen and it happened last Sunday! I was at the Sepang F1 track...racing among others with a really fast modded Porsche Turbo...2 R33 and 1 R34 running a TO4R and loads of Evos.
First, chasing the Porsche ad kissing his rear end along the back staright...I was about to go to the right to overtake him...suddenly a piece of shyte came off his rear tyre and bang...it came on my windscreen and cracked it quite badly! Shyte! Pitted...found out that the debris was apiece of glass!
Anyway...continued to race till later...took a blind turn leading to the back staright...my normal line and speed...but coming out of it...the car just spun...the front tyres felt strangely recalcitrant!
At the end of the day, the car lost power...in the workshop now...found out the front diff had taken leave to junksville big time...apparently, a bolt or screw unbolted itself...shot through the oil pan creating a hole in it!! The other 3 bolts are dangling in the diffs! Dunno exactly what happened. The mechanic said that shouldn't happen even considering my power...cud be factory defect or wrong installation!:confused: :(
I have however managed to source a replacement...luckily...it will only cost me circa USD400 inclusive of delivery! Engine is now being pulled out.....further damage not known. Crossing my fingers!

devastated i bet u poor thing!!!!!! it will be ok man

I hope the engine is OK. Sorry to hear about that.

We have our collective finger crossed, right guys:)

At least you were enjoying the car as usual, :D

good luck dude

Man that sucks. Diffs breaking are unusual on most GT-R's. Anyways I hope all else is well and that it is fixed soon;)

Should have used it as an excuse to get CUSCO replacement diffs. =)

Thanks everyone for your support during these hard times! I was more upset than anything else because nobody knows how that could happen.:confused:
Anyway, on the bright side, I managed to sourse a replacement very quickly and for a very reasonable sum. The engine seems okay...it revs happily and as usual when the gear is not engaged but will instantly lose power when a gear is engaged. We will sort out the diff and then will find the fault in the power loss...as long as it is not coughing white smoke, which it is not, it should be ok.

Well that sucks. What's the rest of your drive train look like? All ok?

Nurse your vicious beast back to health, please! :( Keep us posted!

what tipe of diff is it? viscous?

Damn mate sorry to hear that!

You going back to factory or possibly looking at a cusco?

Yeah Cusco are good some of the best WRX's and Evo.'s use Cusco diffs. Too bad none of them come close to the GT-R:D ;)

I have been searching for a Cusco unit for the past 4-5 days...nobody stock this thing :mad: An order would mean 4-6 weeks delivery. So, I stuffed the idea and am gonna use factory instead.
I am suffering from withdrawal symptoms now that I am deprived of my daily drive in the GTR!!:( I mean, driving the Lexus is like not driving at all...the car is so quiet n smooth with no vibration of any kind...it feels like I am in bed!

You poor ol' man:)

If you get a chance, can you take some pics of the work being done. That would be killer.

Originally posted by R33
I have been searching for a Cusco unit for the past 4-5 days...nobody stock this thing :mad: An order would mean 4-6 weeks delivery. So, I stuffed the idea and am gonna use factory instead.
I am suffering from withdrawal symptoms now that I am deprived of my daily drive in the GTR!!:( I mean, driving the Lexus is like not driving at all...the car is so quiet n smooth with no vibration of any kind...it feels like I am in bed!

lol, feels like I'm in bed he says :hehehe:


Any how, I'm supprised that you were still using the factory diff. And even more supprised that it has survived Mr. Nagatas tuned engine :D DOnno what your plans are for your car in the future, but I'm sure an aftermarket diff will be nessecary, so why not go ahead and buy it instead of buying a factory one that your gonna have to replace agian some time?

I just have 2 things more to do...a 2.7/3 litre stroker kit and finally a 6 speed seq dog box. That's it! No more after that. Serious. Promise!:)
I had soursed a second hand diff (stock) for the time being. Perhaps, the aftermarket diff could come at the time I install the stroker kit. But wait....that wud make it 3 things to do...oh what the hell...:D
The beauty of owning a GTR.....

I take it u have a shitload of money. =)
OS Giken 3L kit costs around $15K US and the sequential six speed for a GTR is a Holinger which is made in Australia. They are about $10K US.
That is a damn lot of money!!!!!

R33,

That was funny:)

Wow, a stroker kit that cost more than my GTR:eek:

Well I knew going into my purchase they are a money pit!

Not sure how far I am going to take mine. I am shooting for a streetable and reliable 600hp. Instead of a sequencial box at this time I am going with an OS Giken gear set.

RazorGTR,

Your view on the way you want your car set-up is exactly the same way I want mine set up.

Streetable, reliable, with a decent amount of power. I must reiterate reliable:D

Originally posted by RazorGTR
Well I knew going into my purchase they are a money pit!

Not sure how far I am going to take mine. I am shooting for a streetable and reliable 600hp. Instead of a sequencial box at this time I am going with an OS Giken gear set.

Whats not streetable about a sequential dog box? ;) :D


My view is it's street able as long as you wanna deal with the clutch.

sequential boxes are designed for street applications. Yes they can be used, but bare in mind they were designed for racing applications. I don't think putting on 10,000 k's were in the vision of the designers. Generally those boxes get rebuilt after a ceratian amount of use. Not to mention you need to set up some sort of ignition cut in order to shift them properly.

I've looked at 5 and 6 speed non-syncroed straight cut gear sets. Noisy as a sequential box but they have the longevity of basicly factory box. The OS GIKEN gear set is a direct replacement and can withstand a tremendous amount of punishment.

Skyline USA that is for sure. Because I am not a rich bloke reliability is #1 in my build up. I will sacrafice hp to acheive it. At the end of the day it is not a full on race car but a road car and that is where I intend to keep it for the time being. Unless of couse I pick up a full sponsor. :devil:

Well, that's actually what is in my mind. But I sure as hell do not know whether the plan is gonna suit my needs or not...I mean the GTR is my daily driver first and foremost..I only am on the track about once a month. I can get a HKS 2.7 litre kit for about USD 4500 and a HKS seq box for about USD 8500 inclusive of installation.
But I do not whether these things will really improve my lap time or will make my street drive more manageable. Like you all, I am no rich ass myself. As Sky said, reliability is foremost in our mind. And I am not about to install things in my GTR just to earn bragging rights.
Razor, are you saying the Giken gear sets are better and stronger than the HKS or Hollinger? How much are they? Is it 6 speed? And is it seq?

Arent all the tuning houses sequential gearboxes (HKS etc) just modified versions of the Holinger???

Finally, the car is back...and better than ever! All in all, 3 things happened on the track that particular day! It surely pours when it rains over here!
First, my front diff gave way. When the car spun at turn 14 that day I knew something was wrong with the 4WD as I took my normal line and speed there. One of the bolt shot out and blew a triangular hole in the diff oil pan! Just amazing! Till now, nobody knows why that happened. Could be wrong installation/factory defect etc.
Secondly, one of the OE wires from the AFM to the ECU went berserk and started feeding wrong signal to the ECU. This resulted in really rich mix and that explained the loss of power and the black smoke!
Thirdly, the i'cooler hose at the turbo side burst...dunno when this happened...:confused: but I reckon it happened the same time as the AFM wire going bonkers.
Anyway, everything is sorted out now. Took the opportunity to resparay my front bumper and lip (as they were really looking horrible with chips etc). Also changed the clutch to HKS GD Pro double plater...still struggling to cope with it....always stalling the car in traffic! :eek: Damn good clutch and a lot softer than my previous OS Giken twin plate.
Yeah...the BEAST with the BOOST is back in town...:bandit:

Razor,
Have you driven an OS Giken gear set yet? First gear is ridiculously long. Although the parts are a direct replacement, the gears are a little different ratio. A lot of guys I talked to hate the Giken gear set. I don't see that it is that bad. But I'm also gettign ready to spray the car to compensate for some serious spool time.

Just be glad that your engine did not go lean:)

Glad to see your on the road again, R33.

You spun out?

You spun out?

Yes!:o It was at turn 14....turn 14 is a sharp right hander leading to the 0.7km back straight. It is a difficult turn as it is placed just after a sweeping right hander...sorta a double right hander if you must. I was chasing my friend's R34 and had another friend as a passenger. Took the corner in my usual line and at my usual speed...nothing dramatic...the car went into the corner, clip the apex, came out of the apex...now...normally the car would go wide to the left just when I enter the straight ready to power on...but that day...it refused to drift out to the left no matter how much steering input I made...the front tyres refused to follow instruction and the car spun in the middle of the track!
It was kinda funny I thought....my passenger said I was too fast (it was his first time in my car)...I said it was my usual speed...I told him something is definitely wrong with my 4WD/ATESSA...yeah...as it turned out my diff took leave!

OS Giken gear set...is it strong? Anybody?

I figured it had to be the car, since you have been at that track many times. I am just glad that it did not screw up anything else:)