ReMo in Canada writes:

"Hi,

My name is ReMo and I own a Maserati Shamal and maybe you can help me with some suggestions because my car is not running well. I am living in Canada and I brought the car with me 11 years ago when I immigrate from Europe. Two years ago, a friend who was a Maserati dealer help me to fixed the engine. I replaced the timing belt.

I think the car is running to rich and I don't know how to fix it. I replaced the water temperature sensor but is still the same.

When the engine is cold is starting easy but when is engine is hot is more difficult to start. I think the right side of the engine is not working properly because the spark plug's " head " is black and I have a black smoke on all the exhausts.

I can't scan the computer because I don't have the software and nobody knows to much about this car in this country. I have a manual for repairing the Maserati.

I hope you can help me with some advice.

Thank you.

Kindest regards,

ReMo."

Steve in the UK writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I have a 1990 Shamal that gets driven only occasionally - especially given the weather in the UK in Summer 2008!

When I last drove it, I noticed a burning smell after a sustained period of reaaonably quick motorway driving. When I got home a quick inspection revealed that the rear, nesr side wheel was extremely hot, smelt of burning and slightly smoking. Whilst all the other wheels were warm, this one wheel took well over an hour to cool down.

My first thoughts turned to the handbrake, but releasing the handbrake allowed the car to start moving down a very gentle slope on my drive. I am now thinking it could be the disk brakes, wheel bearing or drive shaft.

Any and all suggestions would be welcome!

Thanks,

Steve."

Ivan in Bulgaria writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I have a 1991 Shamal. Here in Bulgaria we haven`t any person who know this car and who could repair it. I have two main problems with my Shamal.

First problem is that "Check engine" is lightening very often and we can`t find out why.

The second problem is that the speed-mater don`t work properly. When I`m speeding the pointer is vibrating and always stops between 80km/h and 130 km/h. No matter how fast I`m driving the pointer never shows speed more than 130 km/h.

I hope that you could advise me anything or recommend me a proper service near Bulgaria.

Best regards,

Ivan."

Reply from Martin:-

Re: Shamal - Speedometer and 'Check Engine' light!:

"Hi Enrico,

Martin here, Myles has gone on holiday for a couple of weeks to the states, but I shall endeavour to offer as much advice as possible.

The check engine light is a tricky one because of the lack of information. Does the car run fine but the light comes on? Or has he noticed a running fault? In an ideal world the car needs connecting to the Maserati SD1 tester but this may well be a problem in Bulgaria. It may well be something as simple as an electrical connection, or possibly a faulty sensor such as a lamda probe in the exhaust.

The fault with the speed is slightly easier to offer some form of advice. 2 things that they suffer from, either the electrical connections on the back of the instrument pod or the speedo sensor on the differential. The first thing to do would be to check the output signal from the sensor.

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Martin."

Miguel in Spain writes:

"Hi Enrico,

Tell me friend, for two days now I've this problem: When turning left while driving I lose for some microseconds the power steering and then again I have it. Of course at low speeds it is worse, I have power steering but some effort must be done with my arms. When turning to the right, seems a bit better. No oil leaking and everything seems okay with the steering box.

From your experience what can it be? Faulty pump? Is it normal? Belt too old?

A/C belt loose. From some days now, I hear some a/c belt noise on cold mornings, could this interfere with the pump belt? I know it is the a/c belt because I've droped some water over the belt and the noise stopped.

Tomorrow I will bleed the system and add new Agip oil. Can you, please help me with your thoughts during the morning? It would be great. I will be connected all morning.

Regards,

Miguel."

Ben in Denmark writes:

"Hi Enrico,

Great site. I am a daily visitor.

Will you please post this letter? Thanks.

I have a 1991 Shamal with 21.000 km (13.000 miles) on it and a 1997 Ghibli GT with 81.000 km (50.300 miles).

This past weekend I was out driving the Shamal and I wonder if there is something wrong with the turbo pressure.

With hard acceleration the turbo pressure meter only goes barely up to the yello and is almost always inside the white zone. The Ghibli's meter is always in the yellow and often goes into the red zone. After hard acceleration there is a very brief smell of gasoline. In general I think there is more punch in the Ghibli, which of course has the smaller engine.

Anybody here that can help me or give some advice?

Thanks,

Ben....Copenhagen, Denmark."

Reply from Andrea:-

Re: Shamal - More punch in my Ghibli!:

It’s all subjective of course, but I would say that the Shamal should feel faster off the line but that the Ghibli will probably feel faster at the top end. Don’t forget that the Ghibli is only 25 horsepower less! The boost gauge characteristics you describe are not particularly unusual – though the Shamal should go to the beginning of the yellow section consistently. You could maybe check the pre-tension on your wastegates.

Cheers,

Andrea."

Karol in Poland writes:

"Hello Enrico!

In the beginning of my letter, sorry for mistake. My English is not perfect.

Your web site of Maserati is really great.

I am owner of Maserati Shamal 93' and in the Internet is so little information of it. Typical info only.

I bought a Shamal with a broken engine. I had to do the repair myself, and now I have a problem with the ignition timing. The V8 engine doesn't function correctly. The four cylinders on the left bank work fine, but the other bank isn't working very well. The engine has white smoke from the exhaust.

I have established that the right bank of cylinders are running too rich. I think that the ignition timing and set up are incorrect.

I don't know which should be first cylinder and what is sequence of igniton timing. Ant information about the camshafts will be appreciated.

Here in Poland we haven't any person who know this car. We haven't even any dealer.

Any information on the crankshaft are nice seeing too.

Thank you for your patience and time.

Best Regards,

Karol."

Attila in Hungary writes:

"Hi Enrico!

I have a 1992 Dec. Shamal and just recently I took off the calipers for repaint and when I put back all the brake lines and tried to bleed the system - there is no brake fluid or very little coming out. There is no air in the system it seems as the main brake cylinder does not produce pressure. I replaced the rubber seals in the main cylinder - still it feels as it was losing pressure. When pumping the pedal it gets a little bit better, but after a few seconds it is back to nothing. Any idea?

In any of the manuals or parts manual there is no detailed drawing of the main cylinder (ATE, perhaps an old BMW). Is there a source where I could find more about this system?

Thanks a lot,

Attila."

Reply from Andy:-

Re: Shamal brakes:

To my knowledge, Maserati never offered a rebuild kit for the brake master cylinder although there is one available from an unofficial source. However, I have tried this kit and found it unsatisfactory. The only real option is to buy a new master cylinder from Maserati or a secondhand one from a reliable source. The problem is that when you bleed the system, you are using an area of the master cylinder bore which is not used in normal service and if worn/corroded in that area, can damage the seals. This can be avoided by pressure bleeding the system.

Cheers,

Andy."

Tareq in Kuwait writes:

Reply from Enrico:-

Re: Shamal Parts Manual.

"Hi Tareq,

Thank you for your e-mail.

Below I have attached the pages from the CD-rom that apply to the differential and propellor shaft. As yours is the later model, I have assumed that it has an oil cooler attached - the earlier models did not have an oil cooler. Best regards, Enrico."

Martin in Switzerland writes:

Reply from Andy:-

Re: Shamal.

"Hi Mike,

There is no particular design fault with the Shamal engine although the crankshaft was changed when they started making the later V8s. Things to look out for include accident damage (they are a wild ride), diff problems (they still use the old Biturbo axle), leaky radiators, uncharging alternators and change the cam belt unless sure it was recently done.

No, you can't fit Ghibli GT wheels on a Shamal as the stud pattern is slightly different - beware though as they will go on and the unsuspecting/unscrupulous would not notice that they don't actually line up.

Ciao,

Andy."