360 F1 reverse sending unit

The reverse lever on my 360 always had a lot of play since I purchased it - never really thought too much about it until it broke off completely yesterday. It has broken off right at the base of the shaft where the aluminum u-clamp is mounted on top of the switch. Stopped by the dealer to inquire about purchasing a new switch - but Ferrari only just sells the complete sending unit (for $ 3,400!!!!!! It contains 3 switches, a circuit board and a connector for the wiring harness lol). Does anybody know if individual parts can be purchased elsewhere or is anybody selling a complete sending unit from a totaled car? Thanks!!

 

I was going to have my machine shop do this, but fortunately it looks like Hill already sells the part. Thanks!!

 

Exactly what I need - thanks a lot greyboxer!!

 

Dis- and reassembly is quite easy - only "difficulty" I had is figuring out how to remove the top plate - once the complete sending unit has been removed, the bottom cover has to be taken off and the deep set center screw unscrewed to lift the top plate off. I will try to take some pics when I do this.

 

Received the replacement lever from Ricambi/Hill yesterday and replaced it today. The complete process was rather easy and if not for a previous owner having used Loctite to try to "repair" would have taken no more than 15. minutes.

1. Remove complete sending unit by unscrewing the (4) screws holding the sending unit to the center console, and then remove the wiring harness by unlatching the 7-pin connector
2. Remove the brown bottom cover by carefully pushing the (8) clamps out.
3. Remove recessed screw holding the cover on the sending unit (center of the unit - see pic)
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4. lift top cover (this might take a bit of force)
5. Remove the U-clamp from the activating switch (this took a bit of time as i had to remove the loctite, but normally could be done by carefully spreading the plastic clamp holding the clamp to the switch - see pic
6. Hill Engineering part on the left - much better design and material as the OEM part - of the (4) brass pieces that activate the lever, 3 were just lose inside the sending unit
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7. Assemble everything in reverse (note: put the lever in the upright guides and then insert the screw from the bottom to secure the handle - needed a bit of help from the vice to get the handle on the lever the first time......)
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Finished and saved $ 3,320.........thanks F-chat
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Maybe I am way off with this but this whole process leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth in regards to my local dealer. While I understand (and don’t mind) paying a premium for certain work to be performed at an authorized F dealer, this is quite hard to stomach:

After disassembling the control unit, I took all the parts to my dealer and was informed that that the complete unit would need to be replaced (as they had done to a few other owners before) and that they weren’t aware of anybody selling simply the reversing lever. Given that Hill Engineering manufactures this part I assume that problems with the lever happen quite frequently – and quite frankly I don’t know what would be worse: Dealer lying about not knowing about aftermarket availability or being too ignorant/lazy to try to source a part that apparently Ferrari doesn’t sell.
Sadly – if the complete control unit would have been $ 500, I might have just purchased the complete assembly, but at $ 3,400 for a replacement I would have had my company fabricator machine this…..

Maybe I’m being naïve, but there is no way I would tolerate this type of customer gauging from my employees. My company manufactures a very specific product and our worldwide market share is > 85%, but unlike with a Ferrari, there are no aftermarket products available for; i.e. all of our customers have to purchase replacement parts from us. Our equipment uses a multitude of very high pressure solenoid valves – these are specifically manufactured for us only. Replacement cost for a valve is roughly $ 1,500. About once a quarter we have a customer with a valve that won’t operate, and in 99% of the cases it is due to a faulty rectifier ($ 15) – and yes, we ALWAYS have the customer check and replace the rectifier as opposed to selling them a new solenoid. I am completely certain that NONE of our customers would even blink an eye if we told them that they needed a new valve for $ 1,500 – and none of them would question the price or the need for a new valve. I’m just feeling that as a general business model just because you CAN sell something to make more $$$, doesn’t mean you should. Sorry for the rant…….I’m just happy that my F-car is back up and running....

 

I hope you weren't charged any labor - actual time to replace the complete sending unit would take me about 4 minutes - and an actual mechanic could probably do it in half the time ;-)

 

Thanks for pointing this out; I never actually considered that my dealers service adviser might not have had the choice to do/recommend this.