Metal cog underneath suspension actuator

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nigw

Member
Messages
904
Does anyone know whether the little metal gear on top of the 3200 shock absorber (part of the sport setting) is replaceable, or whether it's just a case of getting a new shock?

My Error light has come on, identified as n/s/f so I removed the actuator..... a few metal bits came out, and it appears to be the collar beneath the small cog that has broken up. On the eurospares pic it's hard to tell - on page 57 there is a "shock absorber motor tappet" (part 137824) but can't tell from the pic if this is what I need.

Cheers
 
lozcb

lozcb

Member
Messages
12,586
Nige google captainznc i believe there is a guy in the states that does a refurb for these its quite cheap aswell , sounds to me that yours has already been done once as the cogs are normally made of Nylon ,

regards loz
 
conaero

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,644
Loz, its the gear on top of the shock that the actuator turns that I think Nigw is talking about:

shockgearsrevised.jpg


105_0586a.jpg


...and yes, it is replaceable. I had one done by http://captainzcnc.com and hes brilliant. Dont know how to get off the gear, but send him an email, I am sure they just pull up and off.
 
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nigw

Member
Messages
904
Yep, thanks - it's that metal cog...in the top pic. I'd emailed the bloke Matt suggested, but have since discovered it's held on by a little pin....think it might be awkward to do with the shock in situ!
 
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Nigelo

New Member
Messages
25
Replacing the motor tappet in situ is the wrong approach as this suggests you have not ascertained the cause of its failure in the first place. As stated above, the actuator has a nylon driving gear which is designed to fail without damaging the slave tappet or indeed the shock absorber internals. My advice is to remove both shocks on the same axle and have them professionally rebuilt - Eurospares can possibly arrange this for you.

FWIW, using a zinc replacement for the nylon driving gear will damage the tappet / shock internals in the event of shock failure and my even damage the actuator itself meaning replacement of shock and possibly actuator rather than a pro refurb.

hope this helps
 
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nigw

Member
Messages
904
Thanks Nigelo - is the "shock absorber motor tappet" listed by eurospares definitely the same as the "suspension actuator gear" - i.e. the cog in Matt's pic? I was kind of joking about doing it in situ!

In terms of cause, I'm not sure, but I have been advised by a number of people that this is fairly common and usually just due to the brittleness of the metal with failure over time. The light just came on when moving the car on the drive, though I suspect it must have been 'about' to fail for a while.

Interesting what you say about the captainzinc replacement - this seems to be quite popular, both with forum members and in Ferrari circles....I hadn't heard that this could cause its own damage. I don't need to go down this route anyway as I think the actuator itself is fine, but if not I have a spare.
 
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conaero

conaero

Forum Owner
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34,644
Yes, DA rebuilt my shock, perfect.

The reason why the top gear may have gone is that the shock is seizing up, and loads extra stain on the top gear, and as Nigelo says, the nylon one is designed to break in this event. If you have had the actuator rebuilt then this wont happen, and thus your top gear shears.

The test for a seized shock is easy, you should be able to turn the top gear between finger and thumb 90 degrees in each direction. If you can still do this, the shock is fine. If the shocks are coming out, you might as well have them rebuilt.
 
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nigw

Member
Messages
904
The actuator is the original one fitted to the car, never rebuilt and with no signs at all of damage to the nylon gear within it. I have a brand new spare actuator as well.

Re the metal cog on the top of the shock, I'll get the shocks rebuilt to be on the safe side, though as I'd mentioned I'd been told that the metal can just fail as part of normal fatigue.
 
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nigw

Member
Messages
904
Just to close this one out - the "motor tappet" sold by eurospares is not the same as the metal gear that fits on top of the shock, so I had to order this from a Ferrari 355 specialist.....£27 delivered (which seems a lot for such a tiny part!).

Anyway, the spindle on the top of the shock was not seized and all seemed well, so I fitted the new metal cog. Quite fiddly, as once the old cog has been removed (involves tapping out a tiny...2mm dia, 5mm long pin) the new pin has to be carefully tapped in to hold the new cog on to the shock spindle. Anyway, all done, back together and 300 miles of varied driving with no error light.
 
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