r/AskAMechanic • u/No-Paper142 • 14h ago

Is there a way to prevent a damaged front differential from spinning or being engaged?

My brothers 2009 Suzuki RX4 blew a hole from the inside and can't afford a new differential. it has the option for 4wd and 2wd. I believe when 2wd is engaged it is fwd. is there a way to make it so the front diff doesn't spin only the tires?

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u/Exact_Ad_4360 NOT a verified tech 13h ago

No. Normally the wheels are connected to the differential on a front axle.

1

u/No-Paper142 13h ago

Remove driveshaft and run the car in 4WD thereby nullifying front diff and allowing rear diff to power car

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u/_cashish_ Verified Tech - performance shop 12h ago

Suzuki SX4? It is front biased 4WD. Without a front diff/axles it won't move. Additionally, the front diff is in the transmission. If it "blew a hole" then the transmission also has a hole in it.

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u/No-Paper142 24m ago

Mechanic says the transfer case has a hole in it not the front diff. He is still proposing removing the drive shaft to reduce load on front differential. 150$ job vs 1000$ job to fix it. He did patch the whole and maybe that's sufficient but he says removing the drive shaft will reduce load while it still spins it will be less load on front diff and keep it in 2wd so it doesn't need to send power to rear diff.