Gears & Axles - LSD not LSing...

I am in process of replacing the clutch in my 02 Z28. I found the pinion seal is leaking and thought this a good time to replace it. In finding the in/lb torque needed to turn the pinion nut before dis-assembly, I noticed only one tire spins when turning the pinion.

That means the limited slip is worn out doesn't it? How much hassle is involved in repairing the limited slip? I plan on installing an 8.8 in the future and don't want to spend too much money on the 10 bolt. But it will probably be 6-9 months before I put the 8.8 in. So should I invest the time and money to repair the 10 bolt or just deal with a lack of traction until I install the 8.8?

it depends alot of the later model 4th gens had the torsen diff which i believe only activates as both tires start to spin with a load impossible to duplicate this by turning the pinion yoke by hand on the other hand if you have an auburn diff then yeah it probably needs a rebuild

That makes me feel slightly better. How do I tell if I have the torsen or the auburn? I am accustom to old school chevys, if both wheels turn the same way it's a posi. I appreciate the fuel injection and a/c, but this Camaro is much more complicated than my 79 Camaro was.

02 z28 had torsen in the stock rear. You should be fine. Yeah just a little more complicated than a 79! Better hp and mileage though!

I don't miss the harsh, loud ride. I don't miss 12 mpg, or no a/c, or no cruise, or constant dumb sh!t breaking, or......

So how do you operational test the differential? Without laying rubber on the street? :) For instance, in the older ones you jack the back of the car up, lock one wheel down w/ trans in park, then use a torque wrench to turn the other wheel, you are looking for a specific torque value. Anything like that?

well see the cool thing about a torsen is that you don't really have to test them lol. the torsen doesn't use clutches like an old lsd unit, instead it uses a series of worm gears that climb on top of each other as on wheel turns eventually the gears mesh together and lock the wheel. so if its quiet is most likely working... if it sounds like marbles rolling around in your rear most likely its broken haha.

if you are dead set on testing it you could just do a small power brake which would be the easiest way but keep in mind the torsen will take a couple seconds to lock. otherwise i have had luck turning them up on jack stands but you have to spin the tire a good number of ters because as i said the torsen gears have to "walk" on eachother and then lock up the wheel

When the torsen is unloaded it behaves like a plain open differential (lift rear of car, with trans in Park, rear wheels rotate in opposite directions)...

when the torsen is loaded, it biases torque toward the axle whose wheel has the most traction... so if a wheel starts slipping, it gets less torque (reduces slip) and the other non-slipping wheel gets more torque (starts to slip), and the process ends up evening itself out if the torsen is functioning correctly, with both wheels slipping evenly (i.e. you should be able to leave two tire marks, not one).

Thanks for the info guys. After I get the clutch broken in I will have to test the torsen unit then. :)