I'm new to the world of corvettes, if anyone can help? schocks with ride control had to be replaced, leaking. At $240 each. Once work was started the shop seemed to be having trouble based on a call I made to check status. Now they are telling me that 3 of the actuators are bad and need replaced at $250 each. My question first are these prices in line? Also would it be possible for the tech while replacing the shocks to have damaged the actuators? If yes how common would this be?

 

Very common the plastic gear in them breaks. Here is a link to a forum member who rebuilds them with metal gears.

http://captainzcnc.com/index.html

 

The Bilstein FX3 shocks are designed to have a slight amount of excess oil in them. A very small amount of "leakage" is not a big deal. This would be more like a very light sheen or film on the paint and most likely have dirt covering the film and not a drip or soaking wet area.

Don't know how far you are into this work but FX3 shocks can be had for around $200 each for new (not too far out of line from your quote but that's still a $160 difference) or Bilstein can rebuild them for you; not only to stock specs, but they can even do custom valving specs. Bilstein has a shop in Poway CA (near San Diego) that does that work. Takes about 2 weeks turnaround time. The rebuild cost is somewhat less but you may be out the use of the car unles you buy some cheapie shocks

As for the actuators, the "moving part" is a ring gear inside the actuator that is a nylon material and it can break or lose some teeth on the gear. They are an electric piece and there could be a problem there.

There is a CF member who does actuator rebuilding at a reasonable price compared to what you have been quoted. His name escapes me right now but you can use the search function to find him. Try terms like "shock actuator"

As far as damaging the actuator when installing it, that is pretty hard to do. The actuator simply sits on top of the shock and is held in place by a large C-clip. It does need to drop down on the shock evenly and in the proper orentation and forcing it may damage it. But it's a simple step unless your tech is a gorilla.

The FX3 system has it's own set of error codes that can be accesed simply by a paper clip connecting pins A and C on the ALDL. There are 13 or 14 different error codes and there are specific error codes for the shock and for the actuators.

This thread shows the FX3 error codes. I had originally posted these a few years ago and they came out of my 92 Factory Service Manual. I would suggest that you print the page and show it to your tech guy. I would also suggest that you get a FSM for your car too.

Once the codes have been displayed, that information leads the tech to where the problem lies. Is it possible for 3 actuators to go bad? Over a period of time, yes; but if heavy force was used on them, they can break. Typically, the biggest problem with the FX3 shcok is the small gear at the top of the shaft. They are pot metal and they can sear off or break teeth.

 

The prices for fixingthe FX3 and the advice is good. There is however a better option. Put on a new set of regular shocks from GM or KYB or others for about $150 in parts, dissconnect the electronics, and have a better ride and you don't have to worry about the system. The newer stock replacements are gas shocks with better handling and provide the performance of the FX3 without going for the switch.

Unless the car is a show boat and you need to keep it bone stock, make the change. I did it on the 91 vert and have been very happy with the results.

Good luck, Polo.

 

Because Bilstein offers custom shock valving (they have a custom valving setup called "Moracco" that was designed by a CF member) and with companies like Doug Rippie offer custom prom's for the controller, you can customize the FX3 system to provide tremendous performance from it. It all really depends on what you want from the FX3 system.

Because the FX3 system manages the valving in almost real-time (the controller looks at vehicle speed as one value to determine how the actuators operate which determine shock stiffness), you can see a wide range of comfort or performance levels at each of the three switch settings.

KYB shocks, as well as "regular" Bilsteins, are definitely an excellent value as a replacement if somebody chooses not to spend the money to repair the FX3 components, but IMHO do not provide a better overall level of control compared to a properly operating FX3 system.