Ian in New Zealand writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I have just had quite a bit of work done on the 430.

A problem that I am having trouble getting resolved is the idle of this car.

My mechanics have asked me if I can get information on "sensor adjustments".

The problem at present is that on start up it will "over rev" and then it surges for a few minutes, after driving for about five minutes it all seems to come right. The car is running good at top end and once warmed up, no more surging and idles okay.

My mechanics have looked through the workshop manual but can't seem to find anything on sensor adjustments. They mentioned something else to do with "balancing" this mixture/sensor adjustments (your thoughts?).

As always your help is much appreciated.

Regards,

Ian."

Jonathon in the UK writes:

"Dear Enrico,

Can you help me????

I have a 1992 430 - with Bosch ABS.

A previoius mechanic has cut a wire in the ABS loom - near a relay, added what looks like an additional earth, and spliced into the original loom.

Presumably they were trying to solve a problem.

I would now like to put the car back to full and correct wiring - and wondered if you had or could point me in the direction of a wiring diagram.

My ABS works perfectly when I supply a direct feed to it. So it seems I will have to investigate the wiring, relays, switching etc.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Jonathan."

Aksel in Norway writes:

"Dear Enrico how are you?

Thank you for a great site!

I am currently working on a 1990 model 430 for a friend of mine.

We are having problems in "cleaning up" after someone else's attempt to fix a problem on the car.

The three relays on the right side inner wing/fender are not identical/the same. Should they all three be of the grey type with a fuse on top and all pins numbered the same (type B047)?

I haVe two relays (fuel pump and injectors) are of an different type and do not have the same markings in the same places as the others. #86 and #30 have switched places.

The car has ignition/sparks, but the injectors do not seem to work.

I love Maseratis in all shapes and sizes, but this is a dark cloud in sunny Norway right now.

Hope you can help.

I send you my very best regards.

Aksel."

John in the UK writes:

"Dear Sir,

Could you please advise where I can obtain a good electrics manual for the above car as I am desperately trying to put this car back on the road.

Thanks in advance.

John."

Terry in Australia writes:

"Hey there,

Recently purchased a 430 – I’m in Love – sorry!

Anyway I was running the air conditioning and noticed a burning smell and the fan stopped working.

The obvious conclusion is that the fan motor may have burnt out, or there is a connector that burnt out. There are some wires getting hot when the fan is switched on but it is not blowing the fuse.

I was wondering where to find the fan motor or if there is a known connector that can be checked first. By my first looks it appears as if it’s a dash out job to get at the fan motor.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards,

Terry."

Reply from Andrea:

"It is unfortunately not uncommon for the fan motor to seize up and yes, this does mean removal of the entire dashboard to get to the heater box. It is not what you call a difficult job but very long winded. The specialists will charge around 14 hours time to replace the motor. The usual problem is that over the years debris has got into the heater box and eventually it snarls the fan blades up. You can try to prevent reoccurrence of this by cleaning any leaves out of the scuttle panel under the bonnet and from the mouth of the heater box (the plastic panel on the scuttle) at regular intervals.

Andrea."

Tony in the UK writes:

"The near side rear (right-hand drive) suspension on my 1989 430 has sagged; I believe this is likely to be caused by a corroded sub-frame.

If so, can it be repaired or does it need replacing? Could there be any other cause? (It's not the strut/spring - I've checked that).

Thanks,

Tony."

Thomas in Denmark writes:

"Hi there,

I have a problem with my 430 of 92, and I hope for at little help.

The car runs but has lost its power completely – it can barely pull it self. It smells a lot of gas, and it seams as if it cannot use all the gas it gets. The mixture is very high, about 10 %?

It takes rpm – but slow!

I have replaced the lambda sensor … no effect!

Could anyone give some advise – I’m a little desperate and don’t know where to start.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Thomas."

Reply from Andy:

"This sounds like a failure of the water temp sensor for the injection – the blue topped brass sensor in the cooling system near the throttle. Remove the connector, if nothing changes, that’s the problem. If it does change, try the same procedure with the air temp sensor (the brown version of the same thing). Don’t continue to run your engine for long with that mixture as you will damage the catalyst.

Andy."

Jesus in Spain writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I have a 1992 430 with ABS and I´ve a problem, the rear wheels don´t brake and I´ve three warning lights on my dashboard.

The car has been for two years quiet, I saw the ABS system and it´s composed for three parts; the servo, a pump, and another (think I don´t know what is).

Please could you say me what´s the probable fault I have that stops me to brake the rear wheels.

Thanks a lot and sorry for my Spanglish."

Harry in the UK writes:

"Hi there,

I own a Maserati 430SE on a J plate 92. It has the standard wheel hub like wheels fitted and I wanted to change these for a set of 17" the problem is I dont know what fitment fits a Maserati. I was told that it might be 5x108 fitment but not sure, please can you help. Thank you."

John in the UK writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I have a problem with my 430 4v. When I accelerate normally, the car runs well up to the red line, but if I accelerate hard, then the car feels like it cuts out momentarily before accelerating normally. It appears to cut out just before the turbos come in.

Also I cannot get any power to the rear heated window. The lamp on the dash lights up but I cannot find the associated relay, (if indeed there is one as the fuse box cover & the hand book say two different things with regards to the designation of the fuses).

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Matt."

Tony in the USA writes:

"Enrico,

I hope you are back and well. For Tony in the UK who's 430 idled for 5 minutes and died, refusing to restart; The problem is almost certianly fouled spark plugs. Biturbos run pretty cold plugs. Extended idling will cause them to carbon up and quit working.

Pull the #1 plug. If it is black, that's the problem. Mine did this after replacing the turbos. I idled the engine for several minutes, shut it off, then came back a half hour later for a cruise around the neighborhood. After that, it wouldn't start. Sure enough the plugs were black as coal. A new set and it ran perfectly.

Best regards,

Tony."

John in the UK writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I've got a 1989 430 auto which suddenly cut while I was driving. I appear to have fuel pressure, starter, ignition, dash electrics and everything seems normal. I saw the comment on relay 45 and I do have an intermittent problem with relay 45 where the instruments die but the engine keeps running.

When I try to start, the engine catches for less than half a second and then dies. Every time. There is no smell of unburnt fuel at the tailpipes. I think that the injectors have stopped and suspect an electrical problem at a common point.

I've got the MCI 430/422 wiring diagram but there is no mention of the injection system.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the problem or a diagram?

Thanks,

John."

A reply from John:

"Hi, Enrico.

I've got my 430 going again. The problem was the ECU in the footwell. There are no obvious signs of disintegration but I plugged in a 4 cylinder Fiat Coupe unit and the car ran on four cylinders.

I obtained a second hand ECU from the ever-helpful David Askew and we are now back to full operation.

John."

Tony in the UK writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I (to be more precise, my wife) has a '91 430 SE with 3 valve engine which is undergoing body restoration at the moment. It has been unused for most of this year apart from moving in and around the garage and has always behaved itself when started etc..

Today, however, it started fine, was moved ouside and left ticking over for about 5 minutes, driven back into the garage and again left running, but then just died and is now refusing to start!...........It does have fuel!!......

Any suggestions as to possible problems would be very welcome.

Just wish to say that you have an excellent website.

Regards

Tony."

"Enrico,

I'm glad to hear you are doing well. When news of your condition was posted on the Maserati group, my wife (who is a nurse) said that your Modenese Guardian Angel was working overtime!

My 430 is finally running, after two rebuilt turbos, a water pump, cam belt and assorted bits. It still has some electrical problems (windows, climate control and the other usual things) and will probably wind up with a new fuse box. At least I can drive it to work and enjoy the trip.

I'll keep visiting your website, both to learn from the experts, and throw in an occasional comment. Thank you very much for your service to the Masertati community.

Tony."

Tony in the UK writes:

"Last month I had some answers, this month I have a couple of questions.

I'm putting a new cam belt in my 430 and have come to a problem. How does one lock up the crankshaft in order to remove the front pulley? I tried putting it in 5th gear and also wrapping rope around the pulley and tying it to the sway bar. Both allowed too much crank rotation for me to feel safe.

Several people have suggested taking the lower cover off the flywheel and blocking the starter gear, but a frame seems to be in the way. The car is on blocks in the driveway and I'd really like to be driving it!

Also, how does one adjust the air conditioner belt. I got the belt off by dismounting the compressor, but can't figure out how to get to the adjusting bolt once the unit is back in place.

Thanks,

Tony."

Matt in the UK writes:

"Hi,

I have recently bought a 1994 430 4v, & am looking to rectify a few problems.

1. the speedometer doesnt work. I removed the unit & found that one of the resistors was burnt out, I replaced this but still no joy. There is a spade connector with the green wire from the speedo attached but nothing from the wiring loom. Is this the problem & if so which wire is meant to be connected or is the problem the sender. I cannot see this anywhere on the car.

2. The A/C doesnt blow cold air, & when I press Auto both the radiator fans come on. Is this normal & if so where is the recharge point for the gas.

3. Finally, is there a schematic diagram with the position of all the fuses & relays available, or even a set of wiring diagrams.

Hope you can help me get these problems sorted so that I can enjoy this fantastic car even more.

Thanks,

Matt."

Another reply from Andy:

"4v may have Ghibli instruments which I am less experienced with (they don't go wrong as often). Not sure about the 'green wire' but sounds as though your problem is at the sender and cleaning the connections here (on the side of the gearbox or the torque tube, depending on the age of your car) is the first thing I would try.

2. Fans coming on is normal when you request low temp settings. Sounds as though you have no gas. Re-charge point is under the bonnet on the o/s near the suspension turret.

3. I'm afraid that most of the schematics relating to 430 that I've ever seen have been for 3v LHD cars. They will help but are not great.

Andy."

Tony in the UK writes:

"Is it possible to remove turbo's from a 1989 430 without removing engine? (It's a RHD car).

Thanks,

Tony."

Reply from Tony:-

Re: 430 turbochargers:

"Hi Enrico,

I saw the question on your page about removing the turbos from a 3 valve 430 without pulling the engine.

Here is how I have done it on the left side. (Haven't had to pull the right one, yet.) This takes two to three hours after the first time.

1. Put the front wheels on 6 inch (15cm) blocks and chock the rear wheels.

2. Remove the air hose to the airbox.

3. Remove the air hoses to and from the turbo. They will probably be full of oil if your turbo died. Clean them out. If the compressor swallowed something, check for bits of metal in the pipes and be ready to pull and clean the intercooler too.

4. Disconnect the boost control line from the waste gate.

5. Drain the cooling system. (Dump screw is at the lower left of the radiator.)

6. Unbolt the coils and set them on the brake master cylinder, out of the way. It helps to tie them down with a piece of twine. Be careful not to close the hood on the coils!

7. Loosen the hose clamp on the turbo oil return line at the engine sump.

8. Disconnect the rubber water supply line between the engine and turbo (lower water line on the turbo). About 6 liters of coolant will pour out when this line is unhooked, even after the radiator has been drained.

9. Disconnect the turbo water return line. This is under the airbox and behind the block. It's a pain to reach but can be done.

10. Remove the water return line mounting screw (6mm Allen head) located on the back of the left cylinder bank. You can't see it, but once found it isn't hard to reach.

11. Remove the six 13mm exhaust manifold nuts. Some of these require a 6 point socket with a short extension, others need a box wrench with the outer surface ground thinner to fit next to the exhaust flange. Replace these with 12mm nuts and they will be a lot easier to take out the next time.

12. Working from under the car behind the left front wheel, remove the three exhaust pipe flange bolts from the back of the turbo. Take out the two bottom bolts first. If you are very lucky, the top bolt will then be hand tight and can be removed from inside the engine compartment.

13. From under the car, loosen the 19mm left engine mount bolt until it is holding by one thread. There should be about 20mm of clearance between the bolt head and chassis.

14. Place a jack under the engine and put a LARGE aluminum plate, at least 6mm thick, between the bottom of the engine and the jack. Jack up the engine until the mounting bolt head touches the chassis plate.

15. Drop the turbo, with manifold, off the cylinder head.

16. Disconnect the 14mm oil feed line from the top of the turbo.

17. Disconnect the two 17mm water feed line bolts from the turbo. It is a real trick to reach these. While you have these bolts out, cut the heads down to 13mm. Then a 13mm socket with flexible joint can be used to reinstall them after the turbo has been installed. Much easier!

18. Lift the turbo out of the engine compartment. It needs to come forward and tip up to get it out. This will test your creativity, but it's really not as difficult as it seems at first.

19. Once the turbo is out, with the engine still jacked up, remove the the oil supply line from the back of the block (a pain to reach) and check it for coked oil or other obstructions. This is usually the reason that the turbos die.

20. It is also a good idea to drop the pan (remove a bunch of 6mm allen screws) and clean out any coked up oil from the pan and around the oil pump pickup.

Tony."

Re: 430 Rev counter:

"Enrico,

Just saw the question on the 430 that has no power when the tach is not working. I had the same problem on mine. The tach is fed by a wire connected to the rear-most connector blade of the rear coil. If this connection is bad the tach won't work and the engine will be very balky. My connection had actually come loose. Reattaching it restored normal power and running.

Tony."