Alistair in the UK writes:

"Help,

I am a Biturbo novice, in fact, I am a modern car novice in all respects as my newest car prior to this was a '71 Porsche!

Anyway, this is the story....

Have owned my Biturbo for about 3 months and have had no problems...

Until now! It is a 1987 2.5 Carb model, and whilst driving to work today, the power went off completely...

It came on momentarily (luckily as I was on a very busy raod at the time!) and mangaed to pull into a parking space as the power went again...

Have hazards, coutesy lights and a New Very Good battery! No problems there...

Next trip is to the fuse box... Alot more wires than i'm used to!

I have worked out that my main plug into the fuse box is the 2nd from top on the left, (the one with 6 wires, inc. a thick brown and white one), everything is in order, no corrosion, burning, and no melted wires! In fact, to look at it, it looks like a new car! (only 52K miles and garaged for most of its life helps!!)

All connections seems nice and tight...

Whilst 'fiddling' in the vacinity of the fuse box, I did have all the dash lights and power come on again, but only for about 2 seconds. But even after spending another 30 minutes 'fiddling', NOTHING!!!

Could this be the 'consumable fusebox' problem?

Is this something that is common, and am I looking at buying a new fusebox?

One thing of note, I do have a 'stray' brown/black wire, which looks like its had a clean break.

Very little wire showing.... Any ideas would be appreciated, as I now have to go back to driving in the relative unluxuries of 'classic' car driving, and was really enjoying my new found toy!!

Many thanks,

Alistair."

Reply from Bill McGrath Maserati:-

Re: Biturbo 'Black-out'! Henry,

This sounds like typical fuse box problems. The only cure is to fit a new one - around £140. Easy to fit though. The bad connections are usually inside the box rather than visible externally. If you are really keen, you can open the box up and track a burnt connection on the PCB. As for the stray brown wire, er, er, er.

Andy."

John from ? writes:

"Hi,

Can you tell me what is in the handling kit that sells at Bill McGrath and the cost please?

Regards,

John."

Reply from Bill McGrath Maserati:-

Re: Biturbo Handling Kit:

"Dear Enrico,

Over the years, we have fitted a number of the MIE Biturbo handling kits to the carburettor cars.

This is effectively Bilstein shocks all round, lower springs, larger front anti roll bar and a rear anti roll bar.

Price for the complete kit is around GB £2000 inc shipping etc.

We have never marketed 'our own' handling kit. The MIE one does work very well though!

Regards,

Bill McGrath."

Julian from the USA writes:

"Hi Mate,

My car chassis number doesn't match the numbers on this site. I only know that the car is from 1984 and build in Milan this is the chassis number: ZAMAL1104EB310188.

Please help.

Many thanks.

Julian."

Reply from Enrico:-

Re: USA Biturbo VIN numbers:

"Hi Julian,

Your car appears to have a VIN number that is perculiar to the USA.

Below is an excerpt from 'Maserati Biturbo Central', a fine US based website produced by Doug Holtsinger.

You will find a hyperlink to his site on my 'Maserati Related Sites' page.

VIN Decoder -- North America

Here's a primitive VIN decoder for North American cars that I created by decoding a list of VINs. It is incomplete and not guaranteed to be accurate.

The following VIN is for an '84 Biturbo coupe.

ZAMAL1105EB318056
   ^    ^^ ^^
   |    || ||___ 
   |    || +---- Body, 31=coupe, 32=425 or 430, 33=Spyder, 34=228 
   |    ||
   |    |+------ Year, E=84, F=85, G=86, H=87, K=89, L=90, M=91
   |    +------- Check Digit
   |
   +------------ Body Style, A=coupe, B=sedan, F=spyder

You will note how his example for a 1984 Biturbo Coupe compares favourably with yours.

Hope this helps,

Enrico."

Erik from Norway writes:

"Hello Enrico..

I've fixed the headlight!! It seemed like all I had to do was to take out the fusebox disconnect all the contacts and re-connect them again. I also sprayed all contacts with CRC 22-6 Electro. After connecting the battery again, I started the engine and "Blink"!! The lights are back!!! And they still work!!

PS. Thanks again to my friend David for answering all my letters.

David how about this:

Now I've encountered a new problem.. It's the starter.. It somtimes wont receive any power.. When I start the Maser for the first time when it's cold, it always works fine.. but when it's hot outside, like the summer here in Norway, and I have been driving a while and stop it. The starter wont go! I turn the key, and everything else works fine, except the starter. There are no indications that the starter receives power. The warning lights in the dash is not getting any weaker (like when you use some electrical devices like window or fan).

Can anyone help me again?

Some people say: Why can't you just get rid of that car, and get yourself something that works?

I reply: What's the fun in that?

Best regards,

Erik."

Reply from Andy:-

Re: Biturbo ES starter:

"Hi Erik,

It sounds like a further problem with your fusebox. There is a starter relay on the side of the fusebox which if failed, could well be causing the problem you describe.

Cheers,

Andy."

Erik from Norway writes:

"Hello Enrico,

It's me again! I'm having a problem with the headlights, they sometimes won`t come on.

I have an 87 Biturbo ES with automatic driving lights. When everything is normal, I start the engine and give a little gas and "blink" the headlight come on.

Now when the engine starts no light appears. Neither the tail lights or dashbord lights appears.

Can anyone please help me??

PS. Thank you David for your answer, it really helped me a lot.

Best regards,

Erik"

Reply from David:-

Re: Biturbo ES?

"I am glad I could be of assistance to Erik, though the information was quite spartan.

In relation to his more recent problems I cannot comment directly as the automatic lights are a feature of Scandanavian cars and I dont know the set up. However I have some thoughts which you may chose to pass on to him, but I stress these are only opinions rather than factual in this case.

The lights may be activated through the check control box which performs a test on the warning circuits and lamps which are long the top of the dash. (these stay lit for a few seconds after starting the car then click out, this sounds similar to the sequence for his lights comming on, there may of course be another relay unit specially to do this which may be faulty). This unit is in the driver foot well below the steering column. This is a sealed Jaeger unit for which a wiring diagram is not normally available.

His problems sound basicaly to be poor electrical connections, this is similar to my own problems. My experience was that despite systems working they were often faulty i.e. the windows were slow, the lights were erratic and so on, also I only had just under 12 v showing on the dashboard volt meter and often less. This voltage was the best I could achieve in the system even though the alternator was putting out around 14v. The problem was that the fuse box had deteriorated, inside, to the extent that it was causing a voltage drop, even this small drop was sufficient to cause malfunctions and agrievate any potentially bad connections.

Erik should check what voltage he is getting in the car along the fuse rail. If this is less than 12v he may expect to encounter electrical problems. He can test this between fuse 9 (hazard warning lights) and ground or indeed any of the fuses which are live at the time, (It may be worth checking a few). A systematic clean of all the contacts will help but only if he is getting full voltage in the system. On the engine bay side of the fuse box is the main power feed in, (the heavy red wire) he can test for voltage at this point and also across the terminals of the battery with the car running to ensure he is getting full voltage i.e. up to 14.5v, and that the alternator is working. If he has 12.5v to 14 volts there but not along the fuse rail then he is losing power through the fuse box. A CAREFUL clean of all the contacts may help but if the damage is on the inside of the box this will be difficult to solve, he might want to consider a new fuse box!

As anyone with an elderly Biturbo will have experienced the electrics are poor, I know I have spent a great many hours on mine.

I hope this is of help,

regards David.

Lech from France writes:

"Dear Maserati friends,

Could you please tell me whether I'll be able to use unleaded fuel on my Maserati whose whereabouts are given below? I do not know where to find the unit number which according to Maserati factory's services can help determining that. The previous owner was cautious enough to run all the time on leaded fuel, but I'd love to know if it's really necessary.

Thanks a lot,

Lech."

Reply from Andy:-

Re: Unleaded fuel in Biturbos?

"Hi Lech,

You can use unleaded fuel in any Biturbo variant as they all have hardened valve seats. Super unleaded will give the best performance but regular is fine in normal driving and neither will harm the engine.

Regards,

Andy.

Erik from Norway writes:

"My Maserati Biturbo 2.5 ES suddenly died on the freeway. I wasn't going very fast. The engine stopped and when I tried to start it again it seem like there is no battery power. The starter goes, and so does the fuel pump, but no signs of any lights on the dashboard. (Red lights when you turn the key).

I've checked the fuses and none of them are blown.

I've talk to my Maserati Dealer and they say I should just take out all relays and put them back and see if this helps. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Best regards,

Erik."

Reply from David:-

Re: Biturbo 2.5 ES

"Hi Eric,

I have a 2.5 with the same problem. Basically I have tracked it down to the fuse box. When the ignition is on the power feed from the ignition switch goes into the fuse box via two main wires (one White one Brown). The white wire supplies power to No. 2 fuse and the fuel pump. It also supplies power to the No. 45 relay (top left as you look at the fuse box). This relay is the auxilliary power relay which provides power to all ignition operated equipment, i.e. the dash board etc. If as you say the fuel pump still runs then the fault is either the No. 45 relay or a break in the supply inside the fuse box. This is quite possible. Try changing relay No. 45 first.

My problem is slightly different in that the fuel pump does not run either suggesting that the fault is on the way in. I have power at the input side but no power at fuse 2 or relay 45. The fuse boxes are very delicate and suffer from dry joints. I replaced mine two months ago as the number of electrical faults had become unbearable. Replacing the box improved virtually all electrical systems in the car. This current problem started two weeks ago and I am not best pleased. You can put in manual by passes but this is not easy and can create more problems. If you do not have a wiring diagram don't even try.

If the problem is intermitent it sounds like a dry joint. To track it down you will need to take the glove compartment out and carry a volt meter with you when you are driving so that when it happens you can test for power at fuse 2 and at relay 45. In an emergency to get you home you can put in a jumper between some of the other fuses (no. 12 I think but you'll have to check as I can't remember at present) and fuse 2 to back feed power to these circuits, this is not a good thing to do but will help in an emergency.



Regards,

David.

Bill in the UK writes:

Reply from Andy:-

Re: Sequential turbos?

"Hi Bill,

They are most certainly not sequential. The whole point of having two turbos on a V6 engine and all that engine management was to make them both work simultaneously!

I would be very interested to know how the garage established that one is boosting more than the other as this is not easy to ascertain. The engine still benefits from the boost, whichever turbo is giving it. If the overall boost level is not down then verything should be OK.

If it is, then he may well have a seized turbo/split pressure pipe etc. If it is overboosting then he may have a seized wastegate. Whichever way, to say that one is boosting less than the other is kind of a strange diagnosis.

Regards,

Andy.

Nick from England writes:

"Hi,

I have a 'small' technical question about my 1987 Biturbo. Any advice you could offer would be GREATLY appreciated.

Firstly what oil would you recommend for the differential, and what is the oil capacity of the unit?

Is the rear differential an LSD unit? The manual shows an ordinary diff but I'm sure mine feels like its limited slip.

And this is the BIGGIE - At the weekend, I was holding a steady speed at 2500 - 3000 rpm in 4th, and heard a rumbling sound that resembled a puncture, coming from somewhere along the drivetrain. The sound continued in all gears at all loads (but not when I push the clutch in) until I come to a rest. At rest the engine is fine, so I pulled away and the sound had gone, it reoccurred in exactly the same way later. I got the car home (slowly) and drained the diff, of only about 2 cups of oil (with no bearing parts). The centre prop shaft bearing doesn't 'feel' sloppy and appears intact.

Any ideas? Could it just be low diff oil? Or are any of the bearings in the transmission particularly prone to failing?

Regards,

Nick (A very worried owner..)."

Reply from Andy:-

Re: Rear differential.

The axle oil should be Castrol Syntrax 75W/90. This is a synthetic oil.

The axle should hold around 1.75 litres so two cupfuls is not really enough. If the axle has run dry then changing the oil may change the noise but it will only be temporary and you will have to look at a repair/replacement soon. Worth a try though to get the diagnosis correct.

If it is not the axle then it could be the rear wheel bearings or the torque tube bearings, although once started, those kind of noises never go away.

If it was gearbox, then you would most likely get the noise at idle but disappearing when you dip the clutch.

Try the axle oil first and then we'll see!

Cheers,

Andy.

Marco from Switzerland writes:

Erik in Norway writes:

"Hello!
I am from Norway, Scandinavia, and I would thank you for your great site!
I wonder if there are any ways of installing a "trailer-hook" or "tow-bar" on a Biturbo.
I have a raceboat and I need to tow my boat-trailer.
I have considered buying such a car and want to know if it is possible to get a tow-bar from Italy or other places?
Thanks!
Erik"

Reply from Enrico:-

Pat from the USA writes: