on a open diff, are you supposed to be able to turn the gear inside w/ a finger, I poked my finger into the diff and and was able to do it, while the opposite side rotated the other direction. Is this normal?

Do open diff's turn easier than LSD's? I had a LSD trans and I couldn't do the same.

My old LSD pic so more ppl will look. Im talking about the 2 gears that drive the axles.

 

anyone w/ experience shed some light?

 

An open diff is supposed to do that. Nothing wrong with it.

 

So how can you tell if you have a bad differential on a lsd trans?

 

either trans will turn by finger. mine are too big to get in there and turn it, but when the case is open it's easy, and if i stick a tool in there it spins freely. if you have a bad ATB diff your car probably won't move. usually if it's broken it will explode, so no more moving. and the axles will pop out. that's for stock diffs, open and ATB. aftermarket (read: true) LSD's may be different.