I'm glad to report that after a three week hiatus, I am back in the water swimming with the shark!

Tiny problem: after installing the transaxle, the speedo (which was faulty to begin with) went dead altogether. I noticed what appeared to be corrosion on the speed sensor, so I took a little brush to it and cleaned it up before reinstalling it. It occurs to me that the "corrosion" may have been some sort of dried dielectric grease. Did I screw myself?

Here's the fault:

Prior to LSD/Transaxle installation--speedo doesn't come off the peg until about 20-30 MPH and then reads about 10 MPH low all the time. If you were realy ginger with it (like keeping it under 2500 RPM) you could keep it on the peg pretty much indefinitely. Odo read wrong all the time, it would only turn when the speedo was reading, and then it would still read wrong.

Post LSD/Transaxle intstallation--speedo is dead, odo is dead.

Please tell me that this is only going to cost me $0.99 at Auto-Zone for some electrical lube.

 

Jack up rear wheels safely, park brake off, box in neutral. Disconnect sender wires at the connector in spare wheel well (front right corner). Put a DVM across connectors set at continuity (sound symbol). Turn wheels slowly - you should see closed-open-closed- 8 or 9? times per turn. BOTH wheels need to turn same direction to get diff centre to turn. If you remove the pick up, it should close if you move a magnet close to it. DOnt think mine had any lube on it when I looked at it once.
jp 83 Euro S AT 50k

 

Thanks alot, I'll try it right away.

 

Tried to troubleshoot it as described. Seems like the sensor is good, but whatever is supposed to trip it is either de-magnetized or not installed.

I just had a LSD put in, anything I ought to ask the guy to look for at his shop?

 

Doesn't the 85 pick the speed signal off an ABS sensor?

 

Tim, on the opposite side of the diff from the ring gear is an aluminum disc with one or more magnetic pieces in it. That is what the sensor detects.

BTW, my diff cover had rotted through (don't know how or why) and the space between the sensor and aluminum wheel was a solid block of road gunk, aluminum chips (diff cover), caked gear oil, and magnetic dust. It still worked. I doubt the dielectric grease or whatever it is that you scraped off had any effect on function.

 

Not if it doesn't have ABS!

Alright, so how often does it happen that someone 'forgets' to install the piece? What about if it gets de magnetized?