348 shifter repair

My micrometer says 9,37 mm at the gate.

 

Could you imagine the recall efforts and media noise if any other car makers gear shifters had a tendency to break clean off.

 

No, it is an old Italian car. And I care for her just like I care for my beloved wife. Maby more sometimes..

 

I´m happy to help.

 

So you're saying that Ferrari has a reputation for gear shifters/levers breaking clean off? - How many cases have been reported then?

 

Just a quick search found these. So yes, I would say they do have a tendency to break.

 

So three cases out of the 8,844 348's made (let alone the total number of manual cars that Ferrari have ever made), means that Ferrari have a reputation for gearlevers/shifters breaking?


In My attic I have a "CAR" magazine from back in '85 in which there is a story about a guy going with a "CAR" journalist to Sant 'Agata to collect his brand new Lamborghini Countach from the factory (which, despite being told it was ready for collection was actually still being assembled when he arrived!).

During the drive home, not only did the car have a minor fire in the engine bay (funnily enough, a heatshield had come loose and caught fire!), but during some enthusiastic driving, the gearlever tore off in the owners hand!

Stuck at the side of the road, between the owner and the journalist, they managed to cram a long socket extension onto the remains of the lever inside the open gate and continue their drive back to the UK (Where the car was repaired and finished off correctly by an official Lamborghini dealership. They noted to the owner that certain parts of the car had blatantly been rushed in order to make the car available to him and were not up to the usual Lamborghini standard).

Considering the lower numbers of Lamborghini's made compared to Ferrari's, they must have dreadful reputation for gear lever/shifter failures based on this one failure alone!



Sorry for being argumentative and pedantic but Ferrari do not have a reputation for gearlever/shifters breaking as you seem to believe.

Yes there are a few occasional cases, but these are quite rare and certainly not numerous enough to demand an official recall, nor are they enough to create a reputation!

 

Well spoken.

 

It is M10x1.25

Mine broke and i know of another in the UK that did the same. From speaking to Paul Hill about it, the issue is wear from the gate to the side of the shaft "metal on metal" It wears a groove into the side of the shaft then it fractures.

Paul Hill was going to make some as he has been asked for them before, but it would be some time before they would make any and then test them.

I ended up repairing mine by drilling the centre of shaft to around 5mm pressing a 5mm rod of silver steel in and making up a new top part of the shaft and pressing that onto the old shaft and brazing it. Touch wood it has been ok, but i do put a small about of grease on the gate.

 

Keep a light film of grease in the gate and this should not happen


1994 ferrari 348 spider , third owner purchased may 2013 w/ 27804 miles

 

I do now, but all the wear on mine was from previous owners. I brought my car and stripped it down for a full resto and that is when i noticed it.

go_faster> are you going to make more than 1 ?

 

Interested to see your solution. Please post pictures of the broken shaft. Mine, I estimate, was broken at some point by a former owner due to the shaft being bolted together in the middle.

 

Chris,
Looks great, what material is it made from and what type of hardening are you doing?
4140 or 4145 and case hardening? Nitriding?
I'm no machinist but those are the grades of steel for shafting I believe.
Dave

 

Hi go_faster,
Appears I have run into the same problem on my 348 and was wondering if you still had the extra one
Thanks
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