welcome back Wm. Euro giving you fits. shocking for me to see.
Pardon the potentially obvious question, but does the Maserati V8 use a PCV valve, or hose, or similar system for crankcase pressure and gases? If so, might this valve fail, or hose clog, affecting running adversely? Where would this valve/hose be, if it exists?
There is a PCV Hose, but not a valve. It wents straight up to the air filter. You should check the hose to see if it is open. If the crankcase hose is closed you will have oil leaks for sure. And excessive oil consumption.
Good question. My guess would be this hose (circled in the pic) is what pulls the crankcase gases out. Maybe if you follow it to wherever it goes you'll find a check valve. I remember when I was doing the carbs some smoke would be escaping from it while the engine was running. I assume because the hose is inside the air cleaner housing the smoke gets burned off. Tony Image Unavailable, Please Login
Tony thanks for posting my pic. The hose I was speaking about. It just vents straight to the air filter. It will smoke, it lets out the steam from the crankcase. You will have some strange synmptoms when this hose is closed. It will drip oil from all strange places because of the high pressure internally in the engine. My 911 would drip through the crank seal in the front. The PCV valve on it froze.
Just got the engine compression tested, going to go methodically through the entire drive train until I find what's causing the poor mileage and lack of power. Cyl no. bar PSI 1 12.25 178 2 12.00 174 3 12.50 181 4 12.50 181 5 11.25 167 6 13.00 188 7 11.25 167 8 13.00 188 The mechanic commented that cylinders 6 & 8 jumped straight to 13 bar, whereas the other cylinders built up over a few revolutions, and he thought that strange. Everything is technically within spec, although cylinders 5 & 7 seem on the low side, even though still within 15% tolerance (188 - 28 = 160). The mechanic used a camera probe to have a look in the cylinders, and said all pistons look good and the cylinder walls are smooth. Unfortunately we didn't think at the time that we could have squirted some oil in the low reading cylinders to check and see if it's the rings or valves that are causing the lower figures. His leak tester was busted and another is on order, so I'll go back in a week or two to perform a leakdown test, we can re-run the compression test or try out a little oil in the cylinders first to see what it tells us. I also took the time to check the transmission fluid, the level is perfect, just under the top mark, and the color is still a nice light pink. If there was a problem with the transmission, or it was soaking up power, wouldn't I notice it through slippage, vibrations and other issues? The mechanic also wondered if the valves can be adjusted with the cams in the engine, or if they need to be removed first. He guessed it has a shim based system similar to Ferrari or Jaguar, although I haven't had a look in the service manual yet. Maybe someone has done this job and can comment?
Thanks for sharing! I was wondering what others were getting. Mine are attached. D=Dry W=Wet (a squirt of oil in the cylinder first) Tony Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm surprised the interior looks as good as it does after sitting outside for 6 years in Bakersfield...! I wonder what the VIN is... Which reminds me I need to get back to updating the registry soon and add the last batch of cars that have appeared around the internet lately.
Is this the registry? Maserati Quattroporte III Registry » Registry If it is I remember trying to add my car a while back but had issues. Not being sure if my car was entered from the last time I tried I decided to do a search for it by VIN. It wasn't found. Then I tested the search feature by entering a partial number "0132" that does exist (I see it on the home page) and the system doesn't find it. Then I tried entering the entire VIN and again nothing is found... t
That's it. I can't take credit for the programming, but I can take any criticism as far as updates go. My own fault for having far too many things on my plate, and simply haven't had time. Things are a changing and it looks like I'll be able to start updating and adding cars and checking/correcting info in the next few weeks. Stay tuned
Hi all, just picked up my first Maserati. Bought it cheap, because it doesn't run. Body is rust and rot free and there are only 29k miles on it, so this should be easy! Engine will start when I squirt gas down Webers. Fuel pumps are missing(as well as all the brackets). I removed tank to boil out, and old Jager fuel sending unit has seen better days. Is there a compatible newer one that I can replace it with or do I need to send it out to have repaired?
Hi and welcome. I never needed to play with the fuel tank because the car hasn't sat for any length of time so I can't help much more than saying I usually get my parts from MIE. Tony
Hello Nick / Tony... I had my tank boiled out last year, and my sending unit is not good as well. I believe these may be rare items, as I haven't seen them anywhere, not even on the MIE site. If anyone has any ideas, please let Nick and I know.. Mike
Mike, if you don't mind modifying the tank top ever so slightly the sending unit is just a question of finding a unit similarly shaped that has the same resistance and defining top and bottom within the tank (distance travelled for the measuring device) I would think that you might also be able to find a modern ultrasound (edit: external) tank sending unit that can send analoge signals in different Ohms via an converter. I did this on an old boat +10 years ago when installing new tanks and using my old Grey Marine Instruments but the tank sending units were rusted to death. Kind regards Kim
Not everything is on the MIE website. I usually just call or send an e-mail to Stuart when I need parts. t
I found a suitable fuel level meter. international auto parts carries a fuel sending unit for a 1980 Fiat Spider 2000 for about $58 plus shipping. I had to cut and lengthen it. i'll add picture. Item No.: 34285 Price: $57.45 Stock Status: In Stock
I added a 4" piece of 1/4 in round metal stock, so it would reach the bottom of the tank. order the fuel injected fuel level sender, the carbureted one has a fuel supply fitting. when testing this, I almost lost my marbles, before I realized it needed grounded to function properly. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Nick... This looks very interesting... The 4" 1/4 round stock you added. Is that what I'm seeing between the nuts, bolts and clamps? If so, would you be kind enough to attach a close up picture of this section? Thanks... Mike
Hi Nick, Nice work! I'm wondering if simply bending the float lever bar down 4 inches would give the same results? Either way after a fill-up, I would guess the fuel indicator would remain at the full mark longer before starting to go down because the float would be below the surface for a while. No modification would give a larger "reserve" after it reads empty. Seems best to modify to get better accuracy towards the lower end of the scale where it counts most. Thanks for sharing! Tony
I used 2 cable wire clamps (small u-bolts). I zoomed in on the original, couldn't take a close up as the sender is already in the tank. With any luck, I'll get the motor started today. Image Unavailable, Please Login
