355 Left front shock problem

Okay, I am wrenching on my bro's 355. He was getting occasional suspension light so after reading all of the relevant threads I tore in to it. I figured I would try all of the easy stuff first, so I pulled off the batwings and checked the rear shocks first. Actuators looked ok, cycled at electrical "on", no cracked actuator gears, and no broken/cracked shock gear. Naturally. Ok, so now for the front. Pax side is same as the rears, everything A-OK but definitely bad news on the drivers. The gears inside the actuator seem ok, but there was a small chunk of metal stuck in the gears when I pull off the actuator. I look down at the shock itself and low and behold the gear there is missing half. ( The chunk of metal that was in the actuator). I figured that I can order the gear from Ricambi (40 bucks) and we should be back in business. Now here is the weird/bad news. When I spin the gears on the other three shocks there is approx. 90 degrees of travel. When I do the same with the broken gear shock it just spins continuously. And, no, the gear does not appear to be spinning on the shaft. The shaft itself acts as though there is no internal stop. Thoughts? Order the gear, replace it and see if thats it (which I don't think will stop the problem). Remove shock and get it rebuilt. Remove shock and replace. Something else I am missing? Also, anybody out there encounter this? Thanks, Scott