Rudi in Belgium writes:

"Hi,

Wonder if you help out regarding the following. I have a friend who is modifying his Maserti Ghibli. One of the jobs he is doing is fitting an aftermarket ECU.

In order to set this system up he requires some basic engine information which we struggle to find or if we find to be reliable. I am working my way through a list of sources to try and find it but haven't so far.

Here is the information we look for:

Location of cylinder 1. Which one is cylinder 1 on the V6 engine. Somebody informed me it is front cylinder, on right hand bank viewed from inside vehicle. Is this correct?

Firing order. I have firing order 1-6-2-5-3-4. Is this correct? Whether yes or no, where is or which one is actually cyl 2, cyl 3, etc. as different manufacturers number cylinders in different ways or order.

Third and last question. Somebody told me this is an special fire engine. They explained it to me as a normal V6 or normal straight 6 cylinder fires every 120 degrees crank angle (=720/6). But apparantly the Maserati V6 is not symmetrical (?) and therefore consecutive cylinders do not fire at 90 degrees crank angle. Is this true? If so what are the crank angles between these cylinders.

Sorry about all these questions. Hopefully this time or place somebody can help us.

Thank you very much in advance for any help.

Good idea of website, which there were more people/sites like that.

Michel (in name of Rudi who is less fluent in English then me)."

Reply from Andrea:

Re: Ghibli II firing order:

"No 1 cylinder is the front cylinder, right hand bank as viewed from sitting in the car. No 2 and 3 are the middle and rear cylinders on the same side. No 4 is the rear, No 5 the middle and No 6 the front most cylinder on the left hand bank.

The firing order is 1-6-2-5-3-4.

The firing angles are: 1:6 90 degrees, 6:2 150 degrees, 2:5 90 degrees, 5:3 150 degrees, 3:4 90 degrees and 4:1 150 degrees making a total of 720 degrees of crank movement.

Andrea."

Karel in Belgium writes:

"Hello,

I have a '94 Ghibli 2.8 for more than 3 years now. Thanks for helping me out in the past with your accurate information!

Now I have the following problem:

It happened in the past that oil pressure dropped to 2-2.5 bar when accelerating fast in 1st or 2nd or when cornering fast. When that happened I checked my oil level using the dipstick and found out that the oil reached the the minimum level.

Now the same oil pressure drop occurs when accelerating, but the oil level seems to be OK. I know it is very difficult to read that silly dipstick but after adding 0.5 liter of oil, the level "seems to be" above the maximum.

Now the oil pressure drops to 3.5-4 bar in 2nd gear but still to 2.5 in first gear.

What could be the problem here? I hope not a stretched dipstick? :)

Thanks in advance and best regards,

Karel."

Reply from Andrea:

Re: Ghibli II fluctuating oil pressure:

"I think that the dipstick is confusing you but unless the oil level is really low, it will not affect oil pressure. More likely you have a problem with the oil pressure gauge sender unit.

Andrea."

Reply from Enrico:

Re: Ghibli II fluctuating oil pressure:

"Here are two images from my Ghibli II Parts Manual CD illustrating the oil pressure gauge sender unit (part no. 12).

Gwen in Belgium writes:

"Hello once again,

Our Maserati passed MOT without the cats eventually so all good news, an independent Maserati specialsit repaired the handbrake, new brakes etc.

But I have an other question I think that it has lost power...

They did a leak test once and one was bit off not much a bit...

We have a stainlees steel exhaust system bit larger, not much, without cats.

Turbo meter goes to middle yellow...

Two new turbo's year or two old +-25,000km.

Am I getting used to it? "The power" or is it really losing power? Can I check things myself? Valves that need checking up, maybe?

Hope you can advise me.

Greetings,

Gwen."

Reply from Andrea:

Re: Ghibli II poor performance:

"Removing the catalysts should not harm the performance (if anything, should slightly enhance it!). A slightly larger exhaust system should also have the same effect. You do not say what the leak test results said, but it is common on higher mileage cars for the valves to stop seating so well with the result that performance is lower.

Andrea."

Reply from Jonny:

Re: Ghibli II poor performance:

"Hi there Enrico,

I read Gwen's comments in the Ghibli can you help section.

Sounds like he might be running in fail safe mode, with the boost pressure at 0.7 bar. I'd suggest that he tees a pressure gauge into the boost control system and measure the inlet pressure in the Intake manifold.

If the pressure only reaches 0.7 bar max, then chances are he needs a new solenoid valve.

Hope this helps!

Cheers... Jonny."

Stan in the UK writes:

"Hi Henry,

We went out last Saturday with everything appearing to be as it should and the car running fine. I stopped for petrol and we continued our journey. We stopped for about 1 hour to do some shopping and on our return to the car it refused to start - no sparks. We had to make our return journey home on the back of a recovery truck.

I've checked the "usual suspects" and I am now stuck for inspiration so I wonder if you could offer any suggestions.

The engine turns over OK on the starter but will not fire; the fuel pump works OK but there is no spark at the plugs. With the ignition switched on I have measured around 12.5 volts at each of the low tension leads on each of the coils (two connection per coil, all reading about the same value) - is this normal? I also measured a similar voltage at the HT connection at the coil which is not normal!

From what I have read in the past the relays are always the prime suspects for causes of electrical problems so as I had a spare one identical to the set of 4 to the side of the engine I substituted each one in turn with the new one but this made no difference each time I tried to start the engine.

I've now run out of ideas - any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, especially if they help me to solve the problem. If I'm successful we hope to see you at Stanford Hall.

Stan."

Reply from Andrea:

Re: Ghibli II non-starter!:

"If changing the relays has not made any difference then start thinking about checking the crankshaft sensor and camshaft sensor.

Andrea."

Follow-up from Stan:

Re: Ghibli II now a starter!:

Dear Henry,

After a few days break away from trying to get my car started I set to with renewed determination on Monday - what better way to spend a wet Bank Holiday?

A few days earlier I had followed your suggestion and cleaned all the relay contacts, both male & female - still no spark. I then substituted all four "suspect" relays with new or proven relays (2 new ones that I already had + two headlight ones that I knew were OK) - still no spark.

So, on Monday I checked the crankshaft sensor. This appeared to be working as I could detect a change in output (resistance) as I moved it around the crank pulley, passed the steel pegs. The terminals in the cable connector (the one near the oil fill pipe) seemed a bit suspect so I cleaned these and applied WD 40 - still no spark!

I then unplugged the throttle position potentiometer and reconnected it and did the same with the plug and socket on the bulkhead, about 70 mm to the side of the coil (sorry I don't know what this is for). I also took the cowling off the steering column to investigate anything untoward around the ignition switch. Everything seemed OK but I didn't really suspect the ignition switch as there was a 12 volt supply at the low tension side of the ignition coils when the ignition was switched on so this appeared OK to me.

I put everything back and decided to try the starter again and guess what - about two turns of the engine and it started immediately!

I'm not quite sure what I did to fix it but I think it was either the throttle potentiometer contacts or the other "mystery" contact but it looks like we'll be at Stanford Hall on the 11th.

I've attached an underbonnet photo just for interest.

Gwen in Belgium writes:

"Hi Henry,

Here Gwen from Belgium with the silver Ghilbi GT.

I've met Gert from Belgium with his black Cup at an Aston, Lancia, Maserati Meet last time, nice guy - "Aren't we all!"

But I have a question for you.

OUr Maserati has problems passing our Belgian MOT.

First the CO test is bad but I have ordered metal sport kats so that should be solved...(we drive with a open stainless steel system what give nice sound and power ;)

But the main question for you is: the handbrake does't work very well, even our garage says they can't do anything about it.

There must a difference between left en right torquepower says de MOT paper but honest I did never work very well the handbrake...

Do you have some tips for this prob?

Kind regards,

Gwen."

Reply from Andrea:

Re: Ghibli II handbrake adjustment:

"The handbrake is always marginal on these cars but they can be made to be a) equal side to side and b) good enough to pass MOT.

First make sure that the handbrake shoes (inside the rear disc bells) are in good order and properly adjusted. It is amazing how much rust occurs in here, which doesn’t help.

Make sure that the cable itself is doing its job. They do need replacing every few years to get the best from them. There was a modification that Maserati suggested to the lever, which changes the pivot point and therefore gives greater purchase. This is just a question of drilling an extra hole once the lever has been disconnected and removed and is well worth it.

Andrea."

Nick in the UK writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I'm really hoping you'll be able to help me sort out a problem on my Ghibli Cup.

I little while ago I had an engine fire which whilst not doing too much damage, has obviously wrecked the engine harness. I've got all of the partstogether to repair all of the melted bits in the engine bay but the harness is beyond repair.

I've got the engine bay side of a harness from a '99 Ghibli GT and plan to splice this into my existing harness around the bulkhead but an extremely nervous about doing this because obviously a mistake could do further damage to the ECU or the engine.

I have the full set of workshop manuals on CD ROM but these do not really cover the electrics very well (only really the earlier biturbos, not the Ghiblis running two ECU's), but I've noticed on your site that you say youhave the electrical manuals for the post '96 Quatroporte and Ghibli. Would it be possible to get a copy of these (I would be willing to pay.....obviously).

Alternatively, do you know which models of the Quatroporte/Ghibli would use the same engine harness as the '97 Cup model, so that I can try to get a complete harness from an alternative model.

Finally, do you have any suggestions or could you quickly investigate via some of your contacts where I might be able to get a pair of harnesses so I get this great car back on the road where it belongs.

Thanks in advance.

Look forward to hearing from you,

Nick."

Steve in France writes:

"Hi!

I'm French and I've bought a Maserati Ghibli 2.0-litre first series (1993) and I have a little problem, I suppose...

When I push the accelerator command at the bottom when the engine are in 2000 rpm, the turbos begin to enter the yellow zone and the engine cut-off at 3000 rpm!!!

I restart the contact and the car are no problem, but if I do the same acceleration the motor cut-off again. if I ride normally, the car are no problem.

I bring you a precision, the catalyst are in very bad condition.

Thanks for your help.

Excuse me I don't speak english very well !!!

Best regards,

Steve."

Reply from Andrea:

Re: Ghibli II (1st series) engine cut-out

"Steve,

Je pense que peut etre c’est une petite problem avec le rotor dans le distributor. Si ca ne marche pas, demonter les cinq ‘relays’ sous le capot d’automobile et laver!

Finalement, laver les mains et buver une biere!

I think that it could be a small problem with the rotor arm in the distributor. If this doesn't work, try removing the five relays under the bonnet and clean the contacts.

Finally wash your hands, sit down and have a nice cool beer!

Andrea."

Keith in the UK writes:

"Hello Enrico,

Firstly, I love your website, really informative and some superb pictures!

Why am I contacting you? Well, I've got a burning desire for a Ghibli. I've wanted one for years. I'm no stranger to Italian cars. I've driven Alfas for years, more recently owning a GTV 3.0 V6 and then a 156 GTA before moving on to a Lancia Delta Integrale (which I'm currently driving).

However, I'm now thinking of a Ghibli. The Lancia has cost me a lot of money in the last year as have most of my Italian cars so I'm no stranger to big bills. However, I'm not loaded! I just find the money and pay for my passion.

In your honest opinion, what do you think of the Ghibli? I know it's a superb car but what's it like to live with? I presume bills will be high. Will it finish me off? One good thing is I dont need the car everyday. I take a train to work. One of the reasons I took a chance on the Integrale. I can get by if I have car troubles. And I've got my wife's car anyway.

I really fancy the Ghibli Cup, not just because of its reputation but also as it's a late model so I'm presuming better put together.

Just wanted to run all this by you. It all comes down to money. What is a good ballpark figure for one of these cars assuming its been looked after? We talking 5k per year running costs? More? Less? Remember it's only a toy for me so fuel costs dont worry me too much. I'm more concerned with servicing.

Cheers,

Keith."

Reply from Prag and Enrico:

Re: My Ghibli Cup, how much?

"Enrico,

Having run a Ghibli Cup for 3 years, I can categorically say they are brilliant. I miss mine.

The bills should NOT be £5k per annum. As long as you get a good car, allow about £2k pa. In fact with careful usage, it should be about half this. The Cups are getting old and rust is becoming an issue. Get the car inspected by McGraths. They really are the experts. Thereafter, use the car with care, warm her up gently, and then spank her.. but make sure you 'warm down' as well. Keep her in a dry Garage, keep her maintained and she will be a joy... better than a mistress in fact!!! (and cheaper) .

What about the future? They already are a classic and values may harden. I'd be surprised if the fall any further or rise significantly. Buy with care and you wont go wrong. 24 left, I think!

Prag (now-driving-an-automatic-Ghibli-and-missing-his-cup)."