I saw this on craigslist and had to pull the trigger! 36,000 miles and really in pretty darn good shape overall The car has sat for a couple years after what I'm told were some choke and carb problems. It came with a spare carb/plenum and just needs put back together supposedly. I am starting with replacing all bazillion feet of vacuum hoses with silicone and I'd like to do the timing belt service before I try to put things back together. I managed to find the manual online but is there a good writeup of the procedure? I'm new to Maserati but have a bunch of experience with older Audis and have done engine swaps and all kinds of fun stuff with them. Also, it appears that I've bought the worst model in terms of the carburetor setup from 86. Is it simple to swap in the earlier version or should I just get this one up and running? thanks in advance! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
There's some good Biturbo resources here: https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BiturboZentrum/info
Me too. It's really hard to get info from. Also, I've tried to post there a couple times now and it hasn't worked for me for some reason
I would immediately look at the timing belt, tensioner, and water pump. Also the fusebox. Biggest headache to look for: blown turbos. A lot of Oil in the plenum or exhaust will give you a clue. You are right about the carbs. Difficult to get through emissions and the catalytic convers were often abused by owners looking for a quick fix once the got clogged. Good luck with the project.
Thanks. Luckily my county in Ohio has no emissions testing I have a new timing belt and roller that showed up today. Is there a good write up for this somewhere? Do I need to take the front end off to do it or can I get the fans out and get to everything? I've seen there is a newer tensioner that is an upgrade. Does my '86 have that already or do I need to upgrade?
I'll address this issue. I'm a moderator over there but not the owner who has mostly gone MIA. He got wiped by hurricane Katrina. Moving it requires his permission. He knows the desire and remains silent. Yes it's an old platform made even worse by Yahoo's buggy Beta change a few years ago. If you're willing to do your homework you can learn how to get around. The search function is like a lot of them including this place but it actually does a better job of finding stuff than here. There's a ton of good information in the files section and in the posts themselves. Maybe start at the first posts and get into it. There are some good engineers from all over the world on their even one from Mclaren. I suggest you "tough it out" and get cracking because I don't know where you can do any better. Be sure to check Enrico's website, just google Enrico Maserati", because there's lots of good and fun info on there. Now that does look like a nice clean car. You've already gotten some good advice. The 86 carb and automatic were the worst. The automatic didn't get decent till 1989 but I'd get this one running reliably before such an undertaking. If your state requires emissions controls be intact then just put it back up on eBay and get rid of it. You really should join Biturbozentrum before you begin working on what you've described. You'll save yourself a lot of time and from making mistakes. Hope to see you there. Good luck as they can be fun cars just not in stock format. If you've had some kind of trouble joining try again. Bob S.
Thanks Bob, I've tried to post there but they aren't showing up. I wonder if the pics are the issue or something. I think it said my first posts needed to be approved but I don't know why it would take 4 or 5 days to do it. I'll dig in to the search function today. I started in on the Vac lines yesterday and there are SO many to replace. I'm doing it all in silicone so they don't crack any longer. I'll go over to the Zentrum and give it another shot! Ben
The default is new members have to get moderated. We may missed approving of a post or the owner nixed you? It's a queue that I look at and if there's nothing in it for me to approve there's not much I can do. Typically I wait to see a new member's first post and then I switch them to not needing moderation. This is to cut down on the spammers.
Weird, I've tried 3 times now including this morning. The first one was very detailed and included pics so there's no way it could have been confused with spam
I just approved today's messgae and you are now no longer moderated so you should see your message. Ask about how to post photos. It's either as an email attachment (not inline with the text) or use the online photo post which works quite well. It's about the only thing that hey did well. Yes your post is there but that email address ... dhpxyxwhfyqojfjwsp657ncj3oh377kge5wia ... I suggest you change that.
