Maserati Ghibli advice needed

Whatch out for rust and check if the body has tons of filler under the paint.

The 4.7-version has the little better engine but comes without power-steering while the 4.9-version comes with that feature. This engine has a vibrating-problem with the crank on high revs!

Check any leakings on the engine and the the gearbox for good connection and synchromesh.

Important. the more expensive car is mostly the cheaper car at the end of the day!

Welcome in the Maserati Universe!

Ciao!
Walter

 

Hi,

Ivan (TheCarNut) have great information on his website, and also one car for sale.
Have a look at his website here: http://thecarnut.com/maseratigt.html

Kind regards

Marius Sorteberg

 

I like Ghiblis, including the coupes but there are a few weak points. Of course, you want to check the items Walter pointed out but there are others.

1) The dry-sump-tanks are poorly designed. Scavenged oil from the engine is dumped into a center compartment in the tank and oil for feeding the crankshaft bearings, etc, is drawn from the outer compartment of the tank. The oil from the inner compartment has to flow to the outer compartment through openings covered with a fine mesh screen. Over time these screens become clogged. More than a few Ghibli engines have been damaged during higher speed runs when the outer compartment of the dry-sump tank couldn't fill fast enough to keep up with pump demand and the crank bearings ran dry.

Any Ghibli (any car really) being checked for purchase should have it's oil pressure checked with a mechanical test gauge (you can't rely on any electric oil pressure gauge to be accurate) and if the Ghibli is purchased, the tank should immediately be removed, cut open and the above mentioned screens should be inspected. If the screens are partially blocked there may be engine damage. It depends on how hard the previous owners drove the car. In any case, the screens should be removed (They were a bad idea). The tank should then be thoroughly washed, welded shut, rinsed out again (and leak checked at the same time) before reinstalling it.

The ideal thing to do is to make a whole new tank in the same proportions but with more modern dry-sump-tank thinking on the inside, including a swirl chamber to de-aerate the scavenge oil.

I'll write more later. There are some other issues to relate to you (I have to go help my 90 year old father move out of his house). This is not a put-down of the Ghibli. Every car has some issues.

 

Just FYI, there is a nice looking gold Ghibli Spyder for sale in Virginia.

Pics and website link posted in this thread:
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=139355055#post139355055

 

Good advice, the tip about the oil tank is right on the money.

Power steering is a big plus on these cars.

The Ghibli is a great car but you want the best specimen you can find. Maseratis in general can be expensive to fix (even compared to Ferraris and Lamborghinis), try to pick a car that needs as little as possible.

 

One addition I should make to what I wrote concerning the dry-sump tank is about the oil feed hose to the pump. The tank is rigidly mounted to the chassis while the engine is mounted in rubber so there will be movement between the tank and engine and they're connected by a very short accordion hose. I don't know what the availability of replacement accordion hoses is right now but is has been spotty sometimes. There may be a temptation to replace it with a short length of straight oil hose but that could lead to problems.

If a new tank is made or if the old tank is modified, it wouldn't be a bad idea to move the feed hose fitting to the side and run a longer hose to the engine so it can freely flex with engine movement.

 

Come on Walter, you give the impression that there's something really wrong with the 4.9 engine. That's not true. If you follow the rev limit guidelines you'll never have any such issues. These engines run to 100K miles and more quite regularly in QPIIIs. But not if they sit forever or are badly maintained. It's a stout workhorse with lots of nice torque. He'll be fine even when driving the car hard for extended periods which I doubt he ever will these days.

Bob S.

 

I haven't touched a Ferrari yet but maybe I should switch if they're that much cheaper to fix?

I know my Espada certainly hasn't been cheaper to work on than my Bora. Suspension and engine parts are being re-manufactured for both of these engines now at much more reasonable prices. The Bora has the ZF transaxle which I would think is cheaper to service than that proprietary Lamborghini 5 speed? Maserati tended to use more of the "off the shelf " stuff like gearing from ZF than Lamborghini did.

If you get into the interior, body parts or glass I guess you're pretty much on your own these days. It's damn tough. Even in the last 3 years Espada stuff seems to have gotten a lot more scarce.

I think they're all hard and expensive these days. Some of the LHM equipment must be unobtanium by now? None of that on the Ghibli. A restoration of a basket case Khamsin would absolutely terrify me if the LHM system has been abused.

Do a lot of research not just on Fchat or the internet either. Join the local club. Go to a couple of shows and get a ride & drive in a really nice example. You may like the way the car looks but dislike something about how it works. Not always that easy to do though.

Like everyone said, buy a good specimen.

Bob S.

 

The Maserati 4.9 V8 thread: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=246454 has some words for the potential Ghibli buyer, including mine concerning the carburetors, water pump and oil leaks, that I won't re-hash here.

All the usual issues about brake and clutch hydralics on older cars apply with a Ghibli. Brake fluid should be changed annually and don't use silicone fluid. Very often the regular fluid changes have been ignored and the result is rusted caliper pistons, leaking master cylinders, etc.

Later Ghiblis tend to have a spongy feeling brake pedal. The brake master cylinder, mouned behind the left kick panel, under the dash, on on later Ghiblis is a Bonaldi type with square O-ring piston seals instead of cup seals like the Girling master cylinders in the early cars. The O-rings flex under pressure and cause the spongy feel at the pedal and no amount of brake bleeding will make that go away. What I've done in the past is to replace the MC with one from a 1970s Mercedes that has the same inside diameter and uses proper cup seals. Unfortunately the part number has been lost and it will take a little investigation to come up with the right component.

The multi-function stalk switch behind the steering wheel that controls the turn signals, wipers, headlights, etc, is very vulnerable. The stalks are metal but the bases and switch housing are plastic that has gotten very brittle over the years. For years, replacements were not available and Vitaloni, the OEM manufacturer, could not be coaxed into making some more so the old switches had to be repaired. Substitutes, that are not entirely original in appearance, are available now but were not cheap the last time I needed one.

 

Heyyyyyy Bob,
no, I never mentioned that there is/was "...anything really wrong" with the 4.9! For US-speeds the crank will propably work well. But on Autobahns/Autostradas there will be some issues in higher revs after a longer period! The balancing of the crank was b********t and the works knew it - they limited the rev-band to 5,500 rpm! And they knew why!

For mzself I would always opt for a 4.7-Ghibli!

Ciao!
Walter (currently in NYC)

 

joe ventura has one for sale in san diego. it is black / black and is in very nice condition i am told. it is listed on the anamera website.

pcb

 

Freezing your *ss off here Walter? Like Germany is any warmer ... Actually it's warmed up quite a bit the last week here. Must be global warming ;>)

I've driven a couple of Boras at flat out top speed in Nevada, both 4.9L cars. There are some very long and desolate stretches in that state. Can you drive for an hour on the Autobahn at top speeds? I think that's enough of a test for what most people would experience with these cars. Maybe the 4.7 feels a bit different but I wouldn't be worried about a stock 4.9 blowing up. It's enough to propel a Bora to 160mph at an elevation of 5000ft. Faster than that isn't a good idea anyway. You can't really begin to experience cars like that properly except in those conditions. It's an amazing experience.

Bob S.

 

Back in The Fatherland after blowing away in the cold NYC!!!!!

Bob, then you had a good prepared car! Fact is, that the 4.9-crank is not very well balanced and tend to crack. I am not a technican but Doc Doll from Berlin, Germany had a lot of knowledge on this issues and solved the problem(s) with sience!

Ciao!
Walter

 

Well you missed another big storm that's falling today.

Mine was stock from the factory and the other one we drove at the Silverstate race had the european final drive ratio so 160mph was no problem.

I just haven't run across any such issues over here. These are all relatively stock motors though. No 7K rpm 450Hp monsters.

Maybe we're just more considerate with the mechanicals over here? ;>)))

Bob S.

 

I always wondered why that 4-cam engine had a 5500 redline. The 5.8 liter pushrod Cleveland in my Pantera is redlined at 5900.

 

Hello,
I have taken the dry sump tank out of the Ghibli and want to modify it in the way Wildegroot described in post #4 (cut open and take the screens out).
I read in an older magazine, that someone has written a guidance how to open it.
does anyone of you got that guidance or can you tell me where the best position is to cut the reservoir?
Thanks for your help,
regards, Hendrik

 

Hello,
I talked to MIE and they were very helpful and gave me good advice to cut the reservoir.

regards, Hendrik

 

I like the 4.7 better, but it took Maserati a while to get the bugs out of the car, so I would say 4.9 for better reliability. As mentioned above buy the best car you can it will be cheaper in the long run. I wouldn't buy anything thats been sitting around, find a car that the owner has driven on a regular basis.

Make sure there are no oil leaks and let the car warm up and check the cooling system
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