Dashboard "ERROR" lits intermittently

Alecci

Junior Member
Messages
193
Greetings,

I'd appreciate some assistance on this one. During the last trip before putting the car into winter hibernation last year the ERROR light in the dashboard suddenly lit up. Didn't think about it too much about it at the time since the car was anyhow being put away for a while.

Once I brought it out of hibernation the light stayed lit, for the first two or three drives, since then it lits up intermittently. Sometimes it doesn't lit up at all during a drive, sometimes almost immediately after starting to drive, sometimes when just turning the key to MAR, and sometimes it also goes out during the drive. Enabling or disabling SPORT mode doesn't seem to affect the situation at all.

As far as I've been able to figure out, the ERROR light pertains to the shock absorber actuators. I used UniDiag to scan for error codes, but nothing shows up there (which is usually a good thing I reckon), but how to proceed now? Time is of the essence here since I'm unfortunately looking to sell the car before long due to building a new house.

As usual, my apologies for all and any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
It'll be one of the actuator's or a damper adjuster sticking, just drive it around for awhile it may clear

Dave
 

allandwf

Member
Messages
10,958
^ What Dave said. ERROR light is caused by the suspension actuators. I only had it once, when my car sat unused for just over a month. They drive in either direction, as a test, when the ignition is turned on, with a helper you should be able to trace which one is playing up.
 

Alecci

Junior Member
Messages
193
Yeah, been doing some driving over the last few weeks (at least several times a week), but it keeps lighting up intermittently.

I've been able to ascertain that the two front ones at least seems to be performing the startup-check when turning on the ignition, but how do I get to the rear ones?
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
Yeah, been doing some driving over the last few weeks (at least several times a week), but it keeps lighting up intermittently.

I've been able to ascertain that the two front ones at least seems to be performing the startup-check when turning on the ignition, but how do I get to the rear ones?

You have to pull out the boot trim around the petrol tank, It's a bugger to get back in though!
Then you can get your hands on the rear actuators

Dave
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,593
As the others say it’s probably the nylon gear that’s snapped or if your unlucky, the gear ontop of the shock. They are expensive or I would advise you send it here. I had one done and it was perfect and about $100.

They replace the nylon gears with metal.

There is a big clip on the base you have to pull off then check you can turn the shock gear 90 degrees with your fingers easily.

To check which one is bust just shake them, if you hear something loose inside the nylon gear has broken.

http://www.captainzcnc.com/
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
There's guy's in the US who do actuator refurbs, so its not the end of the world

As usual its just the cost!

Dave
 

Alecci

Junior Member
Messages
193
I had the car in for service and they managed to establish that it's the passenger side front one that's acting up (me being Swedish my car is a LHD). The error message was that it's stuck.

Fortunately this one is by far the easiest one to get to, so I got it loose and checked it. The gear looks completely new, no cracks or ruined teeth or similar.

The adjuster gear on the top of the shock itself is moving freely (not sure about the proper range of movement though), so as far as I can tell that's not the part that's seized.

I rigged a light and my phone and managed to record what happened when I turned the ignition to MAR; nothing... Seems the actuator itself is busted somehow.

Thanks for all your input.
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
I had the car in for service and they managed to establish that it's the passenger side front one that's acting up (me being Swedish my car is a LHD). The error message was that it's stuck.

Fortunately this one is by far the easiest one to get to, so I got it loose and checked it. The gear looks completely new, no cracks or ruined teeth or similar.

The adjuster gear on the top of the shock itself is moving freely (not sure about the proper range of movement though), so as far as I can tell that's not the part that's seized.

I rigged a light and my phone and managed to record what happened when I turned the ignition to MAR; nothing... Seems the actuator itself is busted somehow.

Thanks for all your input.[/QUOTE

That Ferrari actuator is very expensive.. It could also be a wiring fault though ,so check and go through all the connections!

Dave