rayaapp2 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 (edited) Hey guys, so I have the story of the morning. I almost never drive my 240z these days. It lives in the garage as a storage shelf sadly. It just turned 40 earlier this year. So I decided it was time to take it out and run to the gas station this morning for a monster energy drink and gas. On my way home I got to my long driveway that goes up hill and decided that the old tires were a bit slippery from sitting. So if Im honest I will tell you I am not nice at all with my Datsuns. In fact Im a little rough. So I did a burn out all the way up the hill in my driveway. I get to the top and thud. It free revs out and I start to roll back. WTF? I turn the car off and get out to inspect. I dont see anything. I really expected to find a half shaft hanging in the breeze. Nope. Nothing seems wrong. I put the car in gear and let it roll back it just starts to roll freely. So I pull the shift boot back and let it roll some more while in gear and the driveshaft isnt turning. So I know what has happened. Something in my 40 year(94.5K miles) old diffy has given up the ghost. I sit there and contemplate the circumstances and I cant think of a better way to go than a phat roast season up a hill. I almost made it into the garage. Another 20 feet and I would have made it into the garage. One of the mustache bar bushings has been out since long before Ive owned the car. Its always had a thud shifting hard into gears and on takeoff. So Ive been looking into getting an R180 from a 200sx for a little bit, but now I guess its time to jump on it. I believe I may end up purchasing a stock 240Z r180 for now just to keep it on the road, but its time to replace the whole unit and go with better gears. The funny thing is though, that I have had an R180 in my stock 260Z (up until its 35th b-day and 140K miles) and It went 3500 miles with no gear oil in the pumpkin without any problems. So I was under the impression that these were pretty bullet-proof internally. Well at least for stock conditions. Like I said I was expecting to see a half shaft hanging in the breeze. I cannot wait to pull it out and pull it apart for my trophy! I have my choice of R200 3.9 gears or R180 4.11 gears. So other than my little story I have a question. In my 260Z now I am running 3.7 gears and before that it was 3.9 gears and before that was the 3.54 R180. Personally for that particular car with an engine swap now I preferred the 3.9 even though I now have 3.7 gears in it. In the 240Z Im running a ZX 5spd and I was hoping I could get some feedback on the 3.9 vs the 4.11 gears if anyone is running them in a mostly stock 240Z with a ZX 5spd. Is there a preference? Im trying to stay with the R180 as I dont want to convert the half shafts and mustache bar, but so be it if its the only way to go. What is your preference for gears in this type of setup and why? Its a weekend worrier/garage queen and when Im done will have a good amount of torque from a 2.7L L24. Thanks for your opinions guys Edited April 15, 2011 by rayaapp2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 A long burnout in an open two pinion diff is the classic way to blow it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I will tell you I am not nice at all with my Datsuns. In fact Im a little rough. So I did a burn out all the way up the hill in my driveway. Made my day. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhm Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Blew my diffy too! Good luck with the fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayaapp2 Posted April 23, 2011 Author Share Posted April 23, 2011 (edited) Found a R180 4.11 on the cheap. Problem is its got a welded carrier. So Im going to have to buy a second R180 stock 240Z unit and cannibalize the carrier to get back on the road. Hopefully the 4.11's work out well as Im just guessing at this point. I have a feeling I may not be happy on the highway anymore, but thats really okay since this is not a daily driver. anyway cheap pics via phone, cause I know all you really wanna see is carnage. Edited April 23, 2011 by rayaapp2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 Be glad your carnage didn't injure anybody. When I lost the spider gear in a 71 Box Skyline, my buddy Lary Mason was standing obliquely from the launch point, and got part of the spider gear right on the right kneecap! Almost like getting shot by a mob hitman! He dropped, and picked up the offending part. While I was marvelling at the slick of Hypoid I laid in my driveway he limped up and said "missing something?" Shot that puppy right through the back cover! Killer thing about the whole affair....It was Larry's car! "I guess you needed a new differential!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayaapp2 Posted April 24, 2011 Author Share Posted April 24, 2011 Be glad your carnage didn't injure anybody. When I lost the spider gear in a 71 Box Skyline, my buddy Lary Mason was standing obliquely from the launch point, and got part of the spider gear right on the right kneecap! Almost like getting shot by a mob hitman! He dropped, and picked up the offending part. While I was marvelling at the slick of Hypoid I laid in my driveway he limped up and said "missing something?" Shot that puppy right through the back cover! Killer thing about the whole affair....It was Larry's car! "I guess you needed a new differential!" Yeah, I try to make sure there is no one anywhere near the car when I execute such things. I was really expecting one of those half shafts to have broken loose, and that would have been the scary part for me. It turns out my gear fluid was slightly low. I got just over a quart out of the rear end. I believe it should have been around a quart and a half. The fluid smelled and looked good though other than the broken bits. I guess I should have done a fluid check on the car. I kept up on all the other fluids. Somehow I over looked that diffy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getoffmyinternet Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Perhaps a good embodiment of the saying "If it ain't broke, fix it till it is." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RACERZ Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 We have run both 3.9 and 4.11 in our street Z with ZX 5 box and found for every day driving 4.1 a little to tall esp if doing any hwy driving, if you are using it for performance/autox then the 4.1 is the ticket, also if you have a performance cam/carb system then the 4.1 is better, The 3.9 works better with the stock cam/carb set up with respect to optimum power range. I also recomend to bump up your came timing with the 3.9 and advance timing slightly with the stock set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RACERZ Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 We have run both 3.9 and 4.11 in our street Z with ZX 5 box and found for every day driving 4.1 a little to tall esp if doing any hwy driving, if you are using it for performance/autox then the 4.1 is the ticket, also if you have a performance cam/carb system then the 4.1 is better, The 3.9 works better with the stock cam/carb set up with respect to optimum power range. I also recomend to bump up your came timing with the 3.9 and advance timing slightly with the stock set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RACERZ Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 We have run both 3.9 and 4.11 in our street Z with ZX 5 box and found for every day driving 4.1 a little to tall esp if doing any hwy driving, if you are using it for performance/autox then the 4.1 is the ticket, also if you have a performance cam/carb system then the 4.1 is better, The 3.9 works better with the stock cam/carb set up with respect to optimum power range. I also recomend to bump up your came timing with the 3.9 and advance timing slightly with the stock set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 (edited) anyway cheap pics via phone, cause I know all you really wanna see is carnage. That's a factory option bro. Quick change rear end so you can set it up for a track weekend. While I was marvelling at the slick of Hypoid I laid in my driveway he limped up and said "missing something?" Shot that puppy right through the back cover! My dad did the same thing, among others (cough, breaking 3 axles), duct tape saved the race weekend to hold all the oil in. British cars are suppose to vomit all over the track, this one just had a bad case of the runs. "Factory option, removable hard top" or "I planned it that way, obviously" Edited September 25, 2011 by josh817 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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