No differential

[Mike Arman <armanmik@n-jcenter.com>]

Ozman Parvez relates the story of being told that since his car is FWD,
there's no differential.

Ignorance of the monkey-lad (thanks for the phrase to our UK listers!) is
the problem. Rest assured, the differentials are still there.

In many FWD (especailly automatic tranny) cars, the differential is
lubricated by the transmission fluid, so checking the tranny fluid suffices
- what idiot boy MEANT to convey is that there's no _separate place_ to
check the differential oil (FWD=No differential should have said FWD=diff
lubricated by tranny, no separate place to check, so diff level OK by default.)

Be well aware that this is NOT always the case! Many FWD cars DO use
separate tranny and diffs - ATF or SAE-whatever in the tranny and Hypoid 90
in the diff, and the two are not interchangeable (mostly because Hypoid 90
goes right past oil seals designed for SAE 40 - BTDT) - You'll recognize
Hypoid 90 by its distinctive smell.

Fun for all, and I say again - Don't let these morons work on your car -
EVER!! -  EVER!!!!

Best Regards,

Mike Arman

PS - please don't let Mel know I have a hitch on my 5ks - I very
occasionally tow a lightweight 4 by 6 foot flatbed trailer - I simply refuse
to put a bag of cement into the trunk of my German Driving Machine, and an 8
foot 2 by 4 looks awfully silly sticking out of the sunroof. (Grin). It's
also hard to straighten out one of those 8 foot fluorescent bulbs after I've
folded them in half to fit 'em in the car.