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Anatomy of a Quaife ATB LSD

6K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  Mister T 
#1 ·
First, the backstory to why you get to see this rarely seen part-

So i finally decided to rip apart my old transmission I blew last year and get the quaife out of it so i could get it installed in another trans and be on my way.
I thought all i had done was break one of the shifter relay rod pins and wore the 3rd gear synchro down. Well damn, was i wrong.

I pulled the mag drain plug and it was COVERED in about 2" high of brass and steel chunks and filings. My heart sank right there. Popped the diff cover off (after making an impromptu output cup puller rather than spending $300 on the vw tool) and there were quite a few LARGE chunks of brass and some smaller steel pieces. I'm talking about 1" long by 1/4" wide ****** of brass here. No Bueno. The gear oil was burnt, black, and quite shiny from all the metallic glitter floating around. On the outside, diff looked good, but there's really not much you can see from the small oiling holes on it. It was clear there was plenty of destruction in the rest of the trans. inside the diff housing, the pinion gear bearing was smashed in one place, as well as a part of the case ripped up right next to it. it was clear one of the chunks got wedged here between the ring and pinion. Opened up the rear case, and it was immediately apparent what happened. The 3rd gear synchro was GONE, i mean, not there anymore. Just a bunch of chunks at the bottom of the case. Also found 3 or 4 gears with a good bit of damage- ****** missing, serious wear, etc. It was pretty sad.

After seeing all this, I was worried about the Quaife. I know they're damn near bulletproof but I just couldn't be sure. After getting in contact with Quaife, we decided I should rip it apart and clean any of the filings/ burnt fluid out of it before trying to send it to the UK for a full rebuild (buku $ and time). Ripped it open, and Decided I should document the rebuild to give you guys an insider's view of how this beautiful piece of machinery is assembled (and so I can remember how to do it again if I ever have to :lol:)

Now that you're falling asleep from reading- on to the Pictures! What follows is a description of how to reassemble it all (didn't think to document the teardown)



1-Clean and lay out all the parts in order- making note of which side faces up (don't want to screw that up)











2-Flip the case upside down





3- Install the driver's side worm gears- make sure side with dimple faces into the case.





4- Drop in the worm gear covers





5- Install the spring clips over the gear covers- leave the open part facing the extended tip of the covers.





6- Flip the case over, and drop in the driver's side center helical gear. Make sure snout is facing up. May require a bit of rotating to get it to drop in.





7- Drop the worm gear center spindle in over the snout of the D/S helical gear. Obviously make sure the side with splines notched out goes over the snout.





8- Place the lower straight cut gear inside the spindle- does not mater which direction, notches are the same both sides.





9-place the cupped washers In the notch inside the straight cut gear. Note picture for orientation. convex facing out on both ends, and then opposite directions facing each other for the center.





10- Place the outer straight cut gear in the spindle, making sure notched side is down, and all cupped washers seat inside the notch. will sit above the lip of spindle when installed.





11-Drop in the passenger side worm gears. Side with dimple faces into case.





12- Install the Passenger side Center Helical Gear- make sure side notched without splines faces in towards center of diff.







13- Drop the cover on and bolt it down, make sure to use RED loctite on all Grade 12.9 bolts. I would recommend changing these if possible as grade 12.9 bolts are torqued to 90% proof load





14- Heat the ring gear up to about 100 degrees C and drop it on. Might require a few taps with a soft face mallet. Bolt it up (with NEW stretch bolts)
and torque it down.




15- Didn't grab pictues of it, but heat the tapered roller bearings up and drop them on the diff. Note which side is which- they get different sizes for either side. Then you can clip the speed sensor ring on the driver's side shaft.


16- You're ready to drop it in the trans! Follow Manufacturer's manual from here on out.





Thanks for looking guys! hope this was interesting/informative. any questions, ask away!
 
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#2 ·
next question is, are yours big enough to do your own Quaife install?

i mean come on you got a gt30 with an open diff, i got a k03 running stock software with a Quaife stop being a little baby.

jackarse :poke:
 
#3 ·
actually, after ripping the whole diff and trans apart, it's really not that bad. I think I am going to do the install on this bitch myself, and why not, then I only have myself to blame if it goes bad. Oh, and you don't have a k03, it's a Mikey special K03.5 :lol:
 
#4 ·
i think its more of a k03-71, its same boost just has lag it spools like your gt3071 :poke: dont hit full boost till 3300 :banghead:

i might have to throw a chip on this thing and see if i can get the tubro to blow, i can always liberate andrews good one if needed ;)
 
#6 ·
hey speaking of manual trannies i gotta rebuild the one that decided to spit out the flange on me :lol:

we should have tranny day at jons house one of these weekends :thumbup:
 
#9 ·
second weekend in nov? i should be off of work by then, i gotta pull the 1.8t out the cabby but thats only an hour.

just gotta check with the misses and see what her schedule is like
 
#11 ·
gotta double check my schedule, but im pretty sure that'll work fine.



Do they make these lsd's for the 2.8's?
It's the same as this one. 1.8t and 2.8 v6 use the exact same transmission except for 3rd and 5th gears. However, you will need a different diff cover and bearing, as the quaife uses a different style than all but the earliest of early 98 1.8t's. The diff cover needs to be sourced from Germany, they do not stock it in the US. That and a few other parts needed for the install will run you around 400 bucks.
 
#13 ·
Great read with excellent pix. Thanks.
 
#14 ·
Anatomy of a Quaife ATB LSD

So i finally decided to rip apart my old transmission I blew last year and get the Quaife out of it so i could get it installed in another trans and be on my way.

I was worried about the Quaife.
I know they're damn near bulletproof but I just couldn't be sure.
After getting in contact with Quaife, we decided I should rip it apart and clean any of the filings/ burnt fluid out of it before trying to send it to the UK for a full rebuild (buku $ and time).
Ripped it open, and Decided I should document the rebuild to give you guys an insider's view of how this beautiful piece of machinery is assembled.

Thanks for looking guys !
Hope this was interesting/informative.
Any questions, ask away !
:thumbup: GREAT pictures ! :thumbup:

Is this for a 2WD or 4WD Passat ?

What does ATB LSD stand for ?
 
#15 ·
It's for a FWD. Quaife does not make an application for quattro/4-mo. Most likey because of the fact they already have great tracion, or it may interfere with the center torsen differential action.

ATB LSD= Automatic Torque Biasing Limited Slip Differential.
Quaife units are gear type, similar to torsen units in quattro/4-mo. They will bias torque up to about 90% depending on some factors. They require no servicing or harsh engagement issues like clutch-type limited slip diffs. However their one drawback is they need some torque feedback on both sides to work. So if one wheel becomes airborne or slides with zero traction on ice, it will then behave like a factory open diff.
 
#20 ·
Interesting, looks like the Quaifes have a different configuration than what Torsen designed diffs use. Same idea, just the Torsen ones use a combination of helical/spur gear assemblies. Although I'm sure that both diffs are plenty rugged, I like the Torsen gear arrangement. Seems to me that redistributing the torque with a perpendicular gear assembly gives the gears a better leverage point than having them redistribute the torque from a parallel leverage point if that makes any sense. (the coffee hasn't kicked in and I'm not a morning person lol)
 
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