I have a 97 5spd and I had my car jacked up today and put the gear in first. The driver side wheel spins fast, however the passenger side wheel budges only, it looks like it wants to turn, but doesn't. When I rev the engine it begins to spin a little bit, however as soon as I let off the pedal, the wheel comes to a complete stop. Also when I'm making a right or left turn in first or second, many of times I hear a one time clunk. I know the clunk is something that needs looking into, but what about the passenger side tire that doesn't move.

-Thanks.

 

Are you trying to move the wheel or just using the engine? I imagine you are just putting it in gear and reving the engine. This is normal in that case. That is the way open differentials work.

 

yep, only 1 wheel is supposed to spin. unless you have a pos-track trans in which case both wheels would spin. the clunking noise may be a mount or something loose with your suspension.

 

that means he has a VLSD or LSD tranny ? i keep mixing the two up

 

VLSD and LSD are the same thing. Vicious Limited Slip Differential and Limited Slip Differential.

The OP's shouldn't be concerned with only one wheel spinning as it normal of a car with an open-differential transmission to do so (all USDM 5spds).

To the OP: Check you CV boots for rips/tears/grease. If your boots are good, I would next check out your swaybar endlinks, tie rods, and ball joint. If those are good, check the wheel bearing.

 

And make sure your calipers arent seized, rotors warped or anything like that which could cause rubbing.

 

I think one brake side is dragging a little more than the other causing the one-wheel action.

Dave

 

^^^ thats right.... besides both wheels are supposed to spin regardless if its LSD or NON LSD..

 

ok so is it supposed to be spinning or not, too many different opinions, thanks.

 

thats not true.

im not sure if there was an option for just an LSD in america, or if nissan just had an open and a VLSD for the max.
obiously all canadian models came with VLSD, but the two should not be confused for the same thing, they are a different type of differential all together.

as for it spinning only one wheel, if you have a VLSD or LSD they should both spin.
If you have an open diff only one wheel will spin, but if you have it jacked up on an angle or anything like that the other wheel may try to spin instead.
basically just understand that whatever wheel has less resistance will spin in an open diff.

I also from the OP's post thought this sounded like a brake holding a bit as Dave said so I'd look into that. From the sounds of it that is very likely. But check the obious things as stated by everyone else as well.

 

It is normal for one side to spin since the brake drag is grabbing one side more than the other. If anything, clean out your brakes and inspect for uneven wear. If the brakes are wearing normally then don't worry about it.

Dave

 

like i said... both wheels should spin regardless if its vlsd or lsd or open diff.

 

How are they different? The differentials may not be identical, but both VLSD and LSD do the same thing, they both direct power to both wheels.

 

He's being **** retentive.

Viscous is only one of several ways to make an LSD work. There are clutch-type LSDs, Detroit lockers, viscous LSD, Torsen LSDs, etc. Some Maximas come with VLSD. A phantom grip is just a form of clutch LSD.

Dave

 

Wow lsd hlsd vlsd are all lsd's wow . And they were offered in america on some max's . The 2001 AE had vlsd . I have one in my 97.

 

yeah i wasn't saying they don't perform the same task, just that they are not the same type of limited slip. Guess it was a bit **** and doesn't make any difference to the OP's question.

I guess the big question for the OP is whether its an LSD or not.
from the sounds of it it is not.

and yeah my 97 has an OE vlsd I was just curious if the american 4th gens had a standard clutchpack LSD or the viscous.

 

No worries man...for general reasoning, VLSD and LSD do the same thing and that was all I was implying.

All USDM 4th gens came with an open diff tranny. The I30 5spd's had an option for a VLSD. All Canadian 4th gens came with VLSD standard. That should clear it up for most everyone (unless you had a tranny swap )

 

If theres equal resistance, both wheels should spin regardless of what diff. An LSD will transfer power to the wheel with more resistance(more traction) when the resistance on the two wheels aren't equal.

 

^ a lot of things that people underestimate about LSD is that if there is too much resistence on one side it will still spin the least most resistent side because they use clutches and clutches are gonna slip if say ur car is on a hill with one wheel on ice. In other words it will not spin both wheels with 100% power 100% of the time...They both spin yes but more power will go to the less resistant side no matter what(so you don't burn out the clutches) but at least there is still a good amount of power going to the other side vs. barely nothing at all in a open diff. :-P

aka Limted slip... Not anti-limted slip... :-P

 

All I30Ts came in VLSD btw too...

And there are like maybe 1-2% of 4gen Maximas in the US that had VLSD.

 

this is how it works but if the original poster has the car jacked up with both front wheels in the air, so there is zero resistance on either wheel. an open diff gives the power to the wheel with the LEAST resistance so if they are both off the ground it will power the one closest to the differential ie, the drivers side.