Shock actuators again

Need some help with shock actuators. My left front is broken, the gear inside the actuator, not the gear on the shock strut, will not turn, I tested all and only that one won’t turn. I have read all I can find about actuators and I keep seeing references to the replacement metal gear on the strut. Mine are all metal from new so I don’t need that part, I need the red actuator.

I read about using Corvette actuators, and it looks like the gear on the 92-95 Corvettes is the same, but is the Corvette actuator a replacement for the Ferrari actuator? Has anyone done more research on this?

Replacement actuators are now $1411.08 from Ricambi. At that price the option of replacing the Bilsteins with Konis is appealing, especially considering that this probably won’t be the last one that needs replacing.

I am aware of the rebuilding service from http://captainzcnc.com/index.html but I think mine might be beyond that

Any thoughts anyone?

 

I did that already with the CS paddles on a 355 and the back up sensor system

 

I shoulda bought the ones Redliner had on eBay last week, I remember thinking about it, but then I thought, I love my car, it loves me, it’s not gonna let me down after all I’ve done for it………..heartless wench.

 

I desperately need a non-functioning actuator, perhaps one that Captian Z has returned as non-repairable as a donor to continue my research.

I will post soon with pictures showing the non-repairable part that is broken and my plans to fix these things

 

I took apart the bad actuator, destroyed the case in the process and found that the black plastic “ring gear” plate was broken in three pieces. This is not the part that Captain Z replaces with metal, those parts were OK. The motor is OK

If you are trying to turn the gear inside the actuator by hand with a screwdriver, don’t bother, it will not turn even if the parts are not broken due to gear reduction.

My plan is to buy a Corvette actuator, cut it open (carefully this time), and replace the Corvette motor with the Ferrari motor. The difference between the two is that the Ferrari motor has two Hall Effect sensors while the Corvette motor has only one. (The Corvette has a three position switch while the Ferrari is continuously adjustable.)

The bottom section with the gear train should be the same. I will join the two halves much the same as Captain Z with a plastic sleeve and epoxy.

This will result in a Ferrari motor driving a Corvette gear box

I can’t see why it wouldn’t work, and should be a cost effective method of repairing Ferrari actuators for the cost of a Corvette actuator plus some labor.

I have all the tools I need to do this.
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Can you tell me which direction you turn to go either firm or soft? Clockwise = firm, or the opposite?

That's what I'm going to do until I get this sorted and fixed.

 

I misspoke above, the Corvette is speed sensitive, ie, continuously adjustable, at least that's what I am reading.

I'm not understanding the effect of two Hall Effect sensors vs. one, might be in the software, but using the Ferrari motor there should be no problem.

As soon as I get a Corvette actuator I can finish up the Beta work and test it.

Keep your fingers crossed while Humpty Dumpty glues back together top half of the Ferrari Adjuster

Wish I knew then what I know now
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Yes

That’s proprietary intellectual property, and don’t bother sending any Mata Hari’s or Nigel Stepneys sniffing around,…………well, Mata Hari’s maybe


I really want to wait until I have proven this procedure works, or if it was a giant waste of time and money, then I’ll tell all with pics.

 

I just now won a Corvette Actuator on eBay, they are not easy to buy from a Chevrolet dealer, one said it was discontinued, the next one said maybe a week or two, and one had no idea of what I was talking about.

When it comes, sometime next week, it’s a simple matter to separate the Corvette gear assembly lower half and fix it to the Ferrari upper half, and then comes testing and a final report.

BTW, Thanks Carm, saves me some work

 

$150. There are several for buy it now at $300, price at dealer is almost $600. Some are listed as reproductions I can't imagine why anyone would reproduce such a low volume item. I would really like to see and disable one. Heck, the one I bought on ebay might turn out to be a reproduction, just have to wait for it to come.