Hi All!
Okay maybe a BIG mis-understanding on my part .. i was on Wikipedia looking at different types of differentials and what their purpose was and how effective they were for different situations and i came across this below. What worried me was that it explained that the viscous type differential that i believe is the same as fitted to the Panda are inefficient in that they loose power and dont stand up well to abuse. So much so that after about 60,000 miles because of wear they act as an open differential, the only remedy for this being to replace the whole unit itself as its unserviceable. I just wanted to know if any of you guys had heard anything about this? Whether it applies to the Panda? and if it does, is it going to be the case... when 60,000 miles get clocked up are owners going to be in for costly repairs to make sure their 4x4 is still acting as a 4x4?
Cheers Steve
The viscous type is generally simpler, it relies on hydrodynamic friction from fluids with high viscosity. Silicone-based oils are often used. Here, a cylindrical chamber of fluid filled with a stack of perforated discs rotates with the normal motion of the output shafts. The inside surface of the chamber is coupled to one of the driveshafts, and the outside coupled to the differential carrier. Half of the discs are connected to the inner, the other half to the outer, alternating inner/outer in the stack. Differential motion forces the interleaved discs to move through the fluid against each other. In some viscous couplings when speed is maintained the fluid will accumulate heat due to friction. This heat will cause the fluid to expand, and expand the coupler causing the discs to be pulled together resulting in a non-viscous plate to plate friction and a dramatic drop in speed difference. This is known as the hump phenomenon and it allows the side of the coupler to gently lock. In contrast to the mechanical type, the limiting action is much softer and more proportional to the slip, and so is easier to cope with for the average driver. New Process Gear used a viscous coupling of the Ferguson style in several of their transfer cases including those used in the AMC Eagle.
Viscous LSDs are less efficient than mechanical types, that is, they "lose" some power. They do not stand up well to abuse. In particular, any sustained load which overheats the silicone results in sudden permanent loss of the differential effect.[4] They do have the virtue of failing gracefully, reverting to semi-open differential behaviour. Typically a visco-differential that has covered 60,000 miles or more will be functioning largely as an open differential; this is a known weakness of the original Eunos Roadster sports car. The silicone oil is factory sealed in a separate chamber from the gear oil surrounding the rest of the differential. This is not serviceable and when the differential's behaviour deteriorates, the VLSD centre is replaced.
Okay maybe a BIG mis-understanding on my part .. i was on Wikipedia looking at different types of differentials and what their purpose was and how effective they were for different situations and i came across this below. What worried me was that it explained that the viscous type differential that i believe is the same as fitted to the Panda are inefficient in that they loose power and dont stand up well to abuse. So much so that after about 60,000 miles because of wear they act as an open differential, the only remedy for this being to replace the whole unit itself as its unserviceable. I just wanted to know if any of you guys had heard anything about this? Whether it applies to the Panda? and if it does, is it going to be the case... when 60,000 miles get clocked up are owners going to be in for costly repairs to make sure their 4x4 is still acting as a 4x4?
Cheers Steve
The viscous type is generally simpler, it relies on hydrodynamic friction from fluids with high viscosity. Silicone-based oils are often used. Here, a cylindrical chamber of fluid filled with a stack of perforated discs rotates with the normal motion of the output shafts. The inside surface of the chamber is coupled to one of the driveshafts, and the outside coupled to the differential carrier. Half of the discs are connected to the inner, the other half to the outer, alternating inner/outer in the stack. Differential motion forces the interleaved discs to move through the fluid against each other. In some viscous couplings when speed is maintained the fluid will accumulate heat due to friction. This heat will cause the fluid to expand, and expand the coupler causing the discs to be pulled together resulting in a non-viscous plate to plate friction and a dramatic drop in speed difference. This is known as the hump phenomenon and it allows the side of the coupler to gently lock. In contrast to the mechanical type, the limiting action is much softer and more proportional to the slip, and so is easier to cope with for the average driver. New Process Gear used a viscous coupling of the Ferguson style in several of their transfer cases including those used in the AMC Eagle.
Viscous LSDs are less efficient than mechanical types, that is, they "lose" some power. They do not stand up well to abuse. In particular, any sustained load which overheats the silicone results in sudden permanent loss of the differential effect.[4] They do have the virtue of failing gracefully, reverting to semi-open differential behaviour. Typically a visco-differential that has covered 60,000 miles or more will be functioning largely as an open differential; this is a known weakness of the original Eunos Roadster sports car. The silicone oil is factory sealed in a separate chamber from the gear oil surrounding the rest of the differential. This is not serviceable and when the differential's behaviour deteriorates, the VLSD centre is replaced.
