I have a 98 Prelude that I use for a track car. The trans has a 4.714 final drive and a Kaaz LSD. I use GM Synchromesh FM trans fluid.

Tonight when I drained the fluid, I noticed some "whiskers" on the magnetic drain plug. I'm fairly sure that I've had some "whiskers" on the drain plug before, but now I'm a bit more sensitive to it since I've just worked on two cratered H22 transmissions. One with a 4.65 FD with an OBX LSD, and one with a 4.714 FD (different brand than mine) with a Quaife LSD. On one trans, the countershaft bearing froze and destroyed the countershaft. On the other, some of the teeth sheared off the countershaft, and one of the synchro rings was torn up. I did not work on either of these trans, I just did a post-mortem.

So, now I'm starting to wonder if I have problems with my trans since I found these whiskers on the magnet. When I wiped the plug off on a paper towel, the metal looked like very small flakes. No chunks, just very tiny metal bits and small flakes. I'm wondering if this could be from the Kaaz LSD. I'd assume the friction plates are metallic. Correct?

Am I being a bit paranoid? Have you guys with clutch pack LSDs noticed metal on the magnets during each fluid change?

Thanks for any help!

 

When I was running a KAAZ in my Integra, I too, noticed the same whiskers you describe.

It wasn't anything excessive mind you, but it was more than I would find on my Civic and later on, on my Integra when I swapped the KAAZ out for a Quaife.

I'm sure there's nothing to be alarmed about

 

Great, thanks!