I'm not sure how you're calculating the wipe angle. Is the potentiometer on the output drive? I don't know what the gear ratio is without pulling the actuator to pieces, but the drive moves through just over 180 degrees with the motor detached from the car (I'm not sure if the car will permit 180 degrees). Drive fully anticlockwise, the resistances were 1706 ohms and 623 ohms (green to violet-back/yellow to violet-black) Drive fully clockwise, the resistances were 4 ohms and 2265 ohms (green to violet-back/yellow to violet-black). It seems this far end of the potentiometer is violating the 2326 ohm sum. So 185~190 degree drive angle = a 1702 ohm range on the green to violet-black a 1645 ohm range on yellow to violet-black.
Yes, the pot is on the output (air flap) drive so the angular movements of the drive, the flap and the pot are same. The pot maximum angle needs to be slightly bigger than the drive maximum angle (between its stops) to avoid the drive forcing the pot beyond its range of wiper travel, thus your measurements of some residual Ohms at the drive extreme (stop) positions - the pot does not get to its extreme positions with the drive at its extremes. On the other hand, the angle between the air flap lowest and highest positions is somewhat smaller than the drive angle between its stops - the drive never hits its stops, the motor is stopped by the ECU somewhere close to them. Based on your measurements of the drive angle stop-to-stop, the pot should be at least 188 degrees or maybe a bit more. The next higher degree pot (from the same Ebay seller) is 225 deg. but it is 10K (this would probably still work). I will probably buy a few of these pots in various angles (just in case I one day decide to build robots!). Once the mechanics are set as described, the motor control chip is programmed to the voltages from the pot representing the various positions of the air flap so that it "knows" at what volts (angular position of the pot) to stop the motor. I believe that the chip programming is applicable to the 348 system as it uses momentary switches to select flap positions. In the case of the 355, I think that the responsible chip just compares the voltage from the air flap pot with the voltage coming from the rotary switch for the air flap positions and equalises them by rotating the air flap motor and stops it when the voltages are equal.
In my quest to control the actuator by a on/off/on spring switch and bypassing the ecu I went to the auto electrician thinking that he would be able to tell me what I needed to cut the power when the actuator shaft reaches the end of its travel. As there is no room for a mechanical switch to be installed so it needs to monitor the motor's supply and recognise when it is at the end of its travel and kill the power. Unfortunatly he couldn't suggest anything, saying that motors like side window winder motors have curcuitry built into them to prevent burning out the motor when the window gets to the top/bottom. Perhaps someone here can suggest something?? Another alternative I thought of was a new motor that rotates 360+ deg without stopping, but like the actuator, it would have to be geared down to the required speed. As the air direction flap can go round and round without stopping you wouldn't need the power to auto-cut. Finding such a motor would be a tough call though I think.
There is plenty of room for two micro switches of the size as shown on the pic. The aluminium flat (1 mm thick) shown is similar to what I used, probably somewhat longer, to make an arm to actuate the micro switches. I cut a square hole at one end of the flat to go snug over the actuator's square shaft. There is no need to glue the aluminium arm the the shaft as the arm is held steady in place (sandwiched) when you mount the actuator. As I remember, I used strong thin double sided tape to attach the micro-switches to the outside of the actuator body but also used short self tapping screws, so that they do not penetrate too much inside, in addition to the tape. I positioned the micro switches so that one corresponds to the air flap middle position (blowing through the dash vents) and the other to the position at feet. Did not include the defrost position as it is not required in Malaysia and actually better not to have it as, if the AC is on and blows cold air to the windscreen, it causes it to mist on the outside. I will try to take some pictures of my installed actuator tomorrow and post. Once you position the two micro switches and the aluminium arm, the rest is easy. If you decide to do it, I will post a diagram showing how to wire the micro switches - you will need two diodes, wires and whatever switch you decide to use to operate the actuator. You can use a window switch or two single momentary (spring back) push switches, one for up and one for down, with two mini relays with them. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I could not take a picture of the actuator in-situ (no good view) but by looking at the small parts of the actuator that I could see, including a bit of one of the micro-switches, I remembered how I did it. Here's a crude drawing of my installation - it shows the approximate position of one of the micro-switches, the other one is on the vertical side of the actuator, to the right. The added arm travels from one to the other which corresponds to the air flap positions centre - feet. Image Unavailable, Please Login You can get the type of very small micro-switches I used on Ebay. A few examples: https://www.ebay.com/itm/10Pcs-Limit-Switches-Miniature-Micro-Switch-Automatic-Control-Switch-For-DIY/182672057725?hash=item2a881a657d:g:5ZoAAOSwxH1UK9XA https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-5-Lever-Miniature-Micro-Switches-250V-5A-NO-NC-Railroad-Pinball-SL-104-125V/291283984045?hash=item43d1e0dead:g:Oo8AAOxy63FSzOhI This one is even smaller: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-Germany-CHERRY-DG1-1-47N-Hinge-Lever-Micro-Switches-Sub-Miniature-Snap-Action/123366050801?hash=item1cb9308bf1:g:hxUAAOSwcW9bmPae
I can't see how I could make that work as the arm would have to pass one of the fixing points which would block its path, and the actuator is tight up against the unit so I'd have to pack the fixings so it is further away, which would mean there would be less of the peg going into the drum potentially increasing the stress on it. I have now removed the new sub loom and reinstated the original wires and checked that they are all good (not that that makes any difference to the operation, but it does mean that a new (s/h) actuator could be bought and would fit into the wiring without modification). I will get a diagnostic on it depending on who I get to sell the car for me. If I end up selling it myself then I'll leave it as it is and hope it doesn't come up. Where would the technician plug into the HVAC to interrogate it? On the plus side I did find a watch I lost about 3 years ago and a bottle of 'touch-up paint in the 'glove caddy'. I just noticed that the light in the 'frunk' does not light up and I checked the bulb which is good, is there a sensor to sense the frunk lid open? I can't see one. Any other reason it should be out? (btw, we don't have 'trunks' in the UK, we have 'boots' so really I should call it a 'froot').
There is a diagnostic plug shown in the wiring diagram. I can't say I've seen it, though. In the workshop manual, it's shown close to the front right hand corner of the fresh air box in the frunk (RHD car) The frunk light requires the sidelights to be selected on (Crazy Italian logic). Failing that, when refitting the front luggage compartment liners, I sometimes forget to reconnect the plug to the light assembly. The light is shown in the diagram as 06040 (bottom middle) Lighting Schematic (5.2) It is powered by fuse #12 in the frunk. As far as I can see, this light won't work if you just use your centre console switch-activated parking lights. You need to turn on your ignition and use the stalk light switch.
Well I have now decided to sell my car. I am taking it to ARUN in West Sussex who are going to sell it for me. There is no one on my island with a SD1 / 2 diagnostics, so they are going to get it inspected for me and I'll report back here with their findings. It's a shame I never beat this problem, but we may yet still get it sorted. If not it shall carry on as it is. Perhaps this thread will help the new owner if he wants to sort it.
It took me 8 months and U$1100 to find an answer to this one (I recently purchased some F355 paper wiring diagrams). After the '95 model, the wire colour changed from green-white to blue-black and the HVAC control panel is now powered by the Windscreen wiper/Brake light fuse. Go figure. So if your HVAC control panel doesn't seem to be doing anything and your wipers and brake lights don't work on your 96 or later F355, check that fuse. Fig6_Cooling_Circuit_&_AC_System_5.2(1997~) I'm currently comparing all my other digital diagrams with the paper versions. A few mysteries have already been solved, but some will remain unsolved. The original diagrams don't always go into enough detail.
Apparently by the time I posted that they were NA. Seems I got the last one. Let's see. I bought the ventilation flap motor (under the front bonnet, from AW Italian. I bought the dash center vent motor from All Ferrari Parts who ordered it from somewhere. But since then I was told there are NA.
i believe the internal gears that fail are the same as the recirc flap gears so a swap there should work. someone needs to confirm by trying else i will when mine faile. Sent using FerrariChat.com mobile app
As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, the internal gears in recirc flap actuators can be different from one sample to another, so you would have to be lucky finding a match. https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/146430683/
indwed, But if your motor happens to fail it's worth checking your gears. I bet mine are the same but then again I'm lucky. Sent using FerrariChat.com mobile app
My mechanic checked the signal sent from the ECU and it was 5V only. Is it normal ? Or should it be 12V ? And when he opened the vent motor box , the gear is broken. Image Unavailable, Please Login Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
Not sure about the voltage but the gears get so brittle you can flake the teeth off with your finger nail.
you should be able to buy them its a matter if figuring out teeth and pitch and size, you'd have to do it regardless, not sure of 3d will print the teeth fine enough. If someone gives me the details I can draft it in CAD and have a shop make a batch.
The 5V measured is the supply from the AC ECU to the potentiometer of the flap actuator (5V should be either on the yellow or on the green wire of the short actuator's loom). This voltage, as divided by the potentiometer, is sent back to the AC ECU (via the purple wire) to tell it the position of the flap. The motor of the actuator is operated at 12V which is sent by the AC ECU to the motor only during the movement of the motor (flap) and it will be in one or opposite polarity to the motor's red and black wires depending on whether the flap movement is up or down.
anone have a broken one. i can take a crack at making the gears as long as you have all the gear bits. Sent using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Mine is broken but I re used it to hold the position of the rolling drum inside the blower such that the air could come out from the central vent ..... Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
It appears that the gears of the air recirculation actuator (the one attached to the evaporator box and which is available but at about $250) are similar to the gears of the air direction actuator. There were two versions of the air recirculation actuator having different gears: Early: Image Unavailable, Please Login And later: Image Unavailable, Please Login The above later version, which I believe is what is currently available (p/n 63306700), could perhaps be used as a donor of the gears and the motor for the air direction actuator: Image Unavailable, Please Login Is it worth risking $250 to try the transplant?
my recirc flap has the same gears visually as the later dirextional motor. I can make gears either way assumong the later 63306700 version. Sent using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Very odd as i can control the fan speed with the AC ECU disconnected, there are two cables to my AC control unit that shouldn't be there originally, if that is some bypass for the fan speed control?
