Hi everybody, I have an early 3500 GT, # 368, and I have an oil pressure problem. On driving round a left-hand or right-hand corner, I experience what appears to be an oil surge, a drop in oil pressure from 50-60 psi to 25-30 psi. Normal oil pressure when warm is about 25 psi (first mark on the gauge) at idle (600-700 RPM) and 50 to 60 psi (middle mark) when driving above 2000 RPM. I've done two oil changes. I first put 12 quarts of Mobil 1 15W-50 in and later on someone's advice, changed to straight 50 W. I've replaced all external oil lines, tried a different gauge and removed & inspected the oil pump. While the pump was off I blew back through the oil pickup port with compressed air on the chance that something might be blocking the oil pickup in the sump. My car, being very early, has an external oil pump. By the way, it's massive, twice the size of a comparable Ferrari. The 50W seems to have masked the condition somewhat but it still exists. Any suggestions or advice? Thanking you in advance
Hi Catana, Unfortunately a well known problem with the 3500 or generally the 6 cilinder engines. I had the same with my Vignale Spider and Sebring S2. In the later engines Maserati did put certain vertically mounted perforated shields in the sump to prevent the oil from being drawn away from the inlet suction point to the oil pump. I cured mine by adding these shields in the sump. However at high speed long corners both the Sebring and the Vignale still suffered from the same problem. I always had ti keep an eye on the oil pressure gage and de-clutch whenever it happened and wait at idling RPM to mount again. I used to run the oil level about 2cm above max level which made the problem appear a lot less!! Success with the car, Ciao, Bart
Thanks Bart for your answer. The engine is now all dismantle to a complete rebuild. I'l mesure how many maximum oil liter i can put in it before touching the con rods. I'll also modified the sump baffles to prevent oil drop, i'll let you know. My car is prepare for racing, it had belonged to Gino Munaron (sn AM 101 368). Best regards Hugo
Hi Hugo, I have seen the car being raced by Munaron and to me it is hard to imagine that he, and or the people surrounding him, would not have taken the described counter measures against the oil pressure drop! However from my experience I do not know any other reason that may cause this! Any other suggestions by any other readers? Ivan? Ciao, Bart
Bart, It's very intersting, do you have any fotos, revues articles, or informations on the car. I'm trying to do his historic. Regards Hugo
Hi Hugo, Those were the celluloid days and i did not always carry my camera outfit. I remember the car as sitting very low in red with a yellow or light blue marking on the nose spreading out to the width of the grill. There was a publication of the French magazine Automobiles Classiques or its Italian equivalent in the late eighties where they did a write up on the Maserati Spiders and the 3500's. In there there was a picture of Gino with his car on the track. I did check my files but i no longer have it. Ciao, Bart
Catana, I knew I had it somewhere and did some digging and found the picture in the Italian Auto Capital magazine No 7 of July 1988 It indeed had a blue section under the grill.... Ciao, Bart Image Unavailable, Please Login
Dear Bart, it's fantastic for me to see that. Can you scan this article and send it to me on my mail. I'll give it on pm. Best regards Hugo
