Is there a quick & easy way to inspect the diff?

Rob, although a bad scenario could have been much worse. The good news would be that the debris should be contained in the rear section of the transaxle and little should have moved forward. The flushing will tell and the side access gives a good look at gears etc for peace of mind. 2.5 mm shim would be a good start point.

 

Good God Robert.
I am blown away by the destruction. This just doesn't seem typical of what we all have heard and seen.
I feel really sick just looking at it and it's not even my car.

Since you made the generous announcement to everyone about the sudden failure last year I parked my TR and it has not moved since.
Mine has about the same mileage, (27k miles).

You may be aware of this but I'll throw it out there anyway.
If and when a world wide search is on for a Crown & Pinion, brand new ones are available through Newman, made from the latest materials and processes.

I for one wish you the best of luck on this, (as I stare at my new Diff from Newman).
Thanks for posting all the great pictures.

 

Wow, that's great that Paul is now doing a CW&P for the cars.

Yes, the damage is awesome. And no bang or anything to make it dramatic when it happens.

If this is what happens at 10km/ph and a drive of about 200m after you 'feel' somthing is wrong, imagine what could happen at 100 mph on a track.

How many Testarossa's are running around right now with cracked diffs just waiting to let go as mine did?

And to think that just 750km ago it had a full engine out major including valve clearances, and nothing at all showed up to the mechanic at test drive time. There is no warning, it just happens.

 

Geez Robert, don't tell us stuff like that! Now I'm not sure I'll sleep well tonight...

The diff is the next big thing on my list, I'll probably do it in the next year. Crossing my finger in the meantime; your pictures are seriously scary...

 

He is offering sets for Boxers in different gear ratios if desired. The TR is the same more or less. I am guessing with the latest metallurgy and heat treat processes these may be better than OEM.

He also designed a stabilizer/reinforcement block for the LH bearing cap in the Diff IIRC. There are pictures in another thread.

My point exactly.
Wow!

 

Holy smoke !

Do feel your pain Rob, really do.

Best of luck

Gianni

 

@ In my case, I have no original shimming materials from the LHS to place under my bearing, and in fact I have no bearing either. @

Robert, sorry, but you may have the wrong idea about shimming a TR dif ...

Where do you think you have to place these shimms ?

 

Rob just looked a little closer at your photos and if I am correct post 84 second shot shows your LHS shim in tact. It is the ring in the bearing carrier and if you measure it's thickness will be a start point but no guarantee as all diff's vary.

 

I think that the shimming process is not at the diff bearings location inside the gb but on the outside of the gb, between gb housing and differential R.H. side cover.

See part on position # 10, a shimm / spacer of 1,638mm.

See figure below, table 25 of the OEM Spare Parts Catalog of the 512TR: Gear Box - Mounting and Covers.

It states that these spacers / shimms are available in the following thicknesses:

1,2mm, 1,3mm, 1,4mm, 1,5mm, 1,6mm, 1,7mm, 1,8mm, 1,9mm and 2,0mm.

For Testarossa look here at # 43. Look at the xxxxx prices...
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I have checked that Mel, from what I understand the expensive LARGE shim you refer to is to set the crown wheel to pinion clearance. The shim that Mike is referring to, sets the differential preload. BOTH need to be correct. I have not checked the WSM yet but I would guess that the preload is set first and the crown wheel to pinion adjusted. But it may be the other way around.


P

 

You are right: it's these two shimmimgs that have to be performed.

My gb builder quotes me 40 hrs of work .... I hope Robert really knows what this job is about

As said before: gb work needs extreme skills and a fault of 1/100th milimeter will / may cost you lots of money (a C & P set or more) .....

 

Looks like what was left of the bearing shim is 2.6mm.

Might as well start there on the way back together again. Work calls for a few days so there will be no progress.

 

Not quite the case Phil. With any change to either shim both the pre-load and backlash change. Think of it in terms of putting in a thinner shim on the LHS which will bring the diff to left and therefore make the backlash tighter but you have also made less preload as you have moved the bearing carriers further apart.

 

Dont want to start another panic attack or anything, but just trying to think abit more about this.

Is there a posibility that these diff failures could be attributed to factory diff setups going out of tolerance, or even worse, setup up incorrectly at the factory (it was a friday), in terms of preloading and shimming?

Could something like that cause the eventual failure of the carrier?
Failing carrier bearings could also start an out of center axial load on the carrier, with the eventual failure.

Just putting it out there as another analysis point, as not every diff has failed, which leads me to ask other questions. I'm an engineer, cant help asking questions.

Hopefully this wont infuriate people, not my intention.

 

Hard to say definatively Anthony. Anything is possible but we all hope that Ferrari QC is good enough to ensure that high load precision components such as the diffs are setup correctly, I mean, they do have a serious reputation to maintain.

That said, it's possible that on Friday mornings, that Mario, Guida and Alphonse were more concerned about going fishing on the weekend and slapped a few together.

In all seriousness, the damage appears to be coming from the centre letting go forcing the bearing to fail and carrier to shatter, rather than the other way around.

 

Do TR diffs really have a problem ???

 

No. No, not at all.
Just a figment of everyone's imagination.
Mine is perfect and will never break..................................

 

Hahahahaha................you wish!!!!!!!!!

 

What was that Monty Python song again ? ...."always look at the bright side of life "....

And at the end: "you come with nothing" (birth), "and you go with nothing" .... (at least for F owners) ....


Picture for Shamile ... where is he ....
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Hmmm...

remember the woman that buried herself in a Daytona?

Rgds,
Vincenzo

 

There is a particularly nice shine on those bumpers Mel


P

 

Bumpers Phil ...... I don't see bumpers ......

 

Yeah, Shamile if you are reading this, we miss you...............come back.