Image Unavailable, Please Login Hi Guys, This 348/355 ventilation part (63307100) enables air flow to be diirected to either the windscreen, central vents or feet. If the part motor or gears are broken, air flow is locked into one position. The part is currently unavailable to buy new and as such sourcing a used part is hard to find and expensive. Eurospares in the U.K. has a used timing actuator available for £195 which is steep in anyone's currency, especially in Aussie dollars! I removed the actuator and tested the motor. The motor works OK but the plastic gears would appear to be shot. Can the actuator be opened easily and the gears reconditioned and regreased?. Thanks in advance for any help. I may have to just bite the bullet and buy the used part.
I bought mine (63306700) from scuderia uk for 55 euro about 3 years ago, today it's $155. Inflation I guess. You could try taking it apart, but I doubt those plastic gears are fixable
I had a look at one I bought recently and they don't look easy to get into. Ask John K and Eric how they did it https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/146430683/ https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/146434918/
The ones we opened up were for the recirculation flap. But basically the same deal. Gears fail. To open it's a matter of cutting along the seam and then prying. I ordered a pack of hobby gears off Ebay, but none fit. Probably some that would but I haven't looked any further.
Thanks for the replies! As an update, with a little help from friends I was able to pry open the actuator as shown below: Image Unavailable, Please Login Once open, the cause of the part not working was obvious, a brittle and broken 20 plus year old plastic connector!! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login The connector/wheel is 30cm long and the wheel diameter itself is 20cm. Firstly, I am going to email the Swiss maker of the actuator, MES, to see whether they can provide the supplier of this part. However, any other suggestions as to who may make or hold these would also be gratefully received - toy maker, robotic manufacturer?? Using a 3D printer may also be the way to go. If I can get a replacement, the actuator will function again no worries and will save me spending £195 (ouch!) plus shipping to Aussie for a 20 year old used actuator which maybe on its last legs in any case!! Does anyone reading this thread know if Ferrari plans to make this actuator available new any time soon?
The gear looks identical to the fresh air actuator gear. Instead of £195, you could buy a new fresh air actuator from Eurospares A$185 (plus postage and GST) and use the gear. https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/new-owner-with-ventilation-problem.514304/page-6#post-146430683. If the motor is the same, you'd also have a backup motor. You might want to drill some holes in the case and use self tapping screws to hold the case together (easier to fix next time).
Ian, looking at the photos I think you are spot on! Thanks for being so observant! This option is much more reasonable cost wise!! Cheers mate
Be careful. The linked post shows two fresh air actuators. The one from my 95 (left) is different. The other one is the same as the vent direction actuator but without the position potentiometer. If you buy the fresh air vent actuator you won't know which one you get until it arrives. Make sure it's returnable incase it's like my 95 one.
Ooops.. just read your notes. At first glance, I though you could change the motor and white gear as a unit, but now I see they are completely different. I wish there was a way of looking inside them without cutting them up. I have a spare fresh air actuator. It's marked 01/99
John, thanks for pointing this difference out. Am I right that the fresh air actuator of the the spur variety Is used in the older 5.2 F355 cars? If that is the case I am thinking I should be OK as I have a 1997 Spider. Cheers, Trev
They both look like different types of worm gears. Better specify white gear type. I see now you can identify the two types by case shape. (EDIT: no you can't.... The white worm gear type comes in two different case shapes, one of which looks like the black gear type case.). https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/146434918/
Image Unavailable, Please Login My new actuator (01/99) has no cutout. It's marked both MES and Magneti Marelli.
The outer cases for the two recirc actuators I have are obviously different. The one with white worm gear looks similar to the picture in post #1 expect it doesn't have the ribs on the area over the motor, otherwise identical. The one with spur gears has a different case. Of course, that's for the two I have. But I have no idea which cars got witch. I was luck to get OEM replacements for both. Got the HVAC vent position actuator last summer for $90. Must have been the last one. The parts place I ordered it from had to get it from over seas warehouse. They now list them as NLA.
John, are the cases you have marked differently - MES or Magneti Marelli. Trying to see if the cases with the white gears and spur motors are MES or is it random like the cutout/no cutout cases.
Perhaps this is an indication: On the white gear type case there are two pronounced semicircular indents in the case next to the mounting lugs (on the double lug side). On the black gear case, one of the indents doesn't curve back out again.
Too early to put on my glasses. For these spur gear is MM, others are MES. Image Unavailable, Please Login
What if you have both MES and MM on them? Transitional phase? It seems there are a dozen different designs. I also have a new (5 pin) air direction motor (bought this year on eBay but it may be older stock). It has no markings other than EP and the numbers "48_90" stamped on it (white paint). Date? I think EP is just the type of plastic used. It has no "cooling fins" on the case and only two mounting lugs. The case has those small dome shapes on two of the corners. My new fresh air flap actuator doesn't have these dome shapes. Could the dome shapes and deeper cutouts in the case next to the lugs signify white worm gear types?
I have found on-line a Japanese manufacturer of worm gear, KHK Gears (Kohara Gear Industry). Their website is: https://khkgears.net/new/ They even have an Australian distributor located in Melbourne which is handy! Now all I need to do is measure the teeth pitch and diameter, bore diameter and mounting distance for the worm wheel and ground worm!! Importantly there is no minimum quantity! They come in all types of material too which is great so not plastic - need to consider the weight though. Could be problem solved very very cheaply!!
Can you separate the broken wheel from the shaft? There are two worm gear sections. Is the potentiometer on the final output gear/shaft? If it is, the gears are only controlling the speed and the potentiometer is controlling the positions. If the potentiometer isn't on the final drive shaft, then the gear ratios may be fairly critical (to get the tambour in the right position). Or does the system self calibrate every time you power up the system? i.e. Does it run from one limit to the other and figures out where it should stop for the intermediate settings. Some of those gears are not all that cheap. Especially the metal ones. Anyway, good luck. Let us know how you go.
I'm tempted to buy this used U$79 fresh air vent to see if my theory is correct regarding case shape and internals. http://exoticsalvage.com/94-ferrari-348-ts-actuator-heater-box-lid-63306700-db007173
To open it there are 4 screws. After that there is a soldered plastic pin or 2 you can cut the solder flat head off then they just pry open. They go back together with the scews perfectly and seals as it was. the soldered pin is not needed more of a temper proof thing. Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using FerrariChat.com mobile app
If you use metal gears use metal everywhere or they will eat then plastic sides. Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using FerrariChat.com mobile app
