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1991 S4 Automatic - any being broken?

6K views 21 replies 4 participants last post by  spiderserie4 
#1 · (Edited)
I have had my gearbox serviced but this has been hampered by the unavailability of some parts. I have consulted all the usual suppliers on this side of the Atlantic to no avail.

Is anybody anywhere breaking an S4 Automatic, please?

I am looking for the following bits in good condition:

Speedo generator

Gearbox inhibitor switch

Gearbox dipstick

Alternatively, does anybody know where I get these parts, please?

I would either pay for the shipping to the UK or to an address in the US where my wife can pick them up on her next business trip to NYC and Minneapolis.

Thank you in advance.

Peter
 
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#3 ·
auto speedo unit (alfa PN 60575205, made by Veglia Borletti) shown here on this site in Japan.....I cannot read Japanese, but caption says
"Spider Series 4, for automatic transmission, Speedometer Sending Unit No. 60575205. 2 Sets. details Please inquire."

trouble is its difficult to see how/where to enquire.

But, it at least shows a good photo of what you are looking for!:)
scroll down about 1/2 way here for the japanese offering:
Spider | ADVANCE

very similar to ferrari units actually.
good site here (courtesy of someone on BB who posted it a time ago) how to open them and maybe carry out a circuit repair?
Veglia Borletti Speedo Sensors 68 1005, 68 1041, 68 0517
 
#5 ·
Thanks spiderserie

I'll see if a Japanese speaking friend can make head or tail of it.

Funnily enough, for the first and probably only time in my life, I'm going to Japan in just over a year's time for the Rugby World Cup. I was thinking of stocking up on parts until I did the currency conversion!!!

Peter
 
#10 ·
Dom

:0!

I hope so, too! If not, it is not the end of the world. I can wait until something shows up or even attempt surgery as proposed in the article above.

There are a couple of Maserati breakers here who charge reasonable prices and I'd guess the few QPs still around are rapidly becoming beyond economical repair.

In the interim, Waze tells me my speed as does that nice Mr Tom Tom.

Peter
 
#11 ·
And lo!

This gentleman is well-known on the Maserati circuit - David Askew's Maserati Parts Service - and was able to provide a Maserati tacho sender - Stamped 12v E8 VEGLIA - for around £50.00 all including VAT!

Am savouring the delicious irony of looking in the Maserati parts bin for a cheap alternative to an Alfa part:).

I may well have found a BMW ZF 3hp22 dipstick for the gearbox, too. (I'm wondering whether to grab the whole box to scavenge for bits, although Alfa seem to have customised the whole thing to a ridiculous degree...)

I'm a happy boy indeed.

Thanks all for your suggestions.
 
#14 ·
I am waiting for the rain in London to abate before attempting fitment of the sensor as I have no working garage here and the underground car park where the Spider lives is too dark to perform maintenance in.

Can I assume that, if I raise the car onto two tall (12") axle stands at the front, I can swap out the part easily from underneath? Or at least as easily as my creaking bones will allow?

TIA

Peter
 
#18 ·
Dom,

Thanks. I'll definitely speak to Nick first. I will need a clear stretch of clement weather then. Probably time to think of other things to do while I'm at it under there.

I'm off to Italy tomorrow and don't like the idea of driving through France with a defunct speedo given the current crack-down by the gendarmerie there. But I have my TomTom to act as a speedo, always supposing that the circuit it takes its power from doesn't go phut!

Incidentally, I have discovered that, as well as all those BMWs, Peugeots and Citroens of the 80s, the Maserati Biturbo automatics of the late 80s also had the 3 Speed ZF auto box used in the S4 if people are on the scavenge for bits. I am going to look at one close up shortly to see how closely it resembles the highly modified Alfa box. I'll measure it. If there is some commonality, that will be good news as Maserati does rather better, if expensive, after-care on its older models than AR's business model - i.e. non-existent.

An engineer who worked at Maserati in the era is a friend and neighbour of mine in Italy and I intend quizzing him on the box and whether any work was done on strengthening the internals to deal with the Maserati engine. Or indeed any work was done with Alfa on developing it - given the shared parts bins Italian manufacturers use, it is conceivable that the gearbox was breathed on by the same subcontractor. I'll report back.

Peter
 
#19 ·
Just a quick update.

I'm afraid I've been delayed by illness, an operation and recuperation but I finally got the Maserati QP pulse generator fitted that I bought from David Askew, the Maserati specialist, last year.

The difference between the Alfa and Maserati units is only that the Alfa unit is threaded all the way and the Maserati unit only half way but both fit perfectly well.

So I can confirm that as a substitute for the unobtainable (except apparently as NOS) Alfa PN 60575205 (made by Veglia Borletti), the part from a 1997 Quattroporte and other Maseratis of a similar vintage (Ghibli II and Shamal) is the same (?Veglia Borletti 68 0517 - it is stamped 12v E8 VEGLIA).

The best news is that it only cost me £44 plus 20% VAT - so £44 pounds, post paid.

It has come to a pretty pass when Maserati spares are so much cheaper than Alfa parts!
 

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#22 ·
thanks for getting back, Peter, and hope you are well on the road to recovery.

It is a useful tip for auto S4 owners.

so, just to recap, we have 4 part numbers worth searching that will work for the Spider S4 automatic speed sensor:
Alfa 60575205
Veglia (Borletti) 68 0517
Maserati 393650106
Ferrari 116987
 
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