Gert in Belgium writes:

"Hello Enrico everything okay on the other side of the North Sea?

Can you help me with the following, the Carter ventilation tubes of my car has small cracks in them. This is not a main issue but has to be solved ...

I know you are loaded with information, maybe you have drawings of these tubes? Can you send them to me.

I also thought about taking pictures of the tubes but these are not very clear, because of all other things nearby.

Groeten,

Gert."

Reply from Enrico:

Re: Ghibli Cup - Non starter!

"Hi Gert,

I think you mean the crankcase ventilation system.

John in Greece writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I found to the cylinders:

No 1 cylinder - 8.0 bar,
No 2 cylinder - 7.0 bar,
No 3 cylinder - 8.0 bar,
No 4 cylinder - 7.5 bar,
No 5 cylinder - 7.2 bar,
No 6 cylinder - 8.0 bar.

I was told that the compression must be 7.5 bar. Is this correct? Is anything bad in my car?

Regards John."

Reply from Andrea:

Re: Ghibli Cup - Compression Testing!

"John,

8.0 bar is normal. 7.0 bar is still OK. 6.0 bar would be a problem.

Regards,

Andy."

David in Sweden writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I hope everything is well. Mabye you have heard this before. I have the Ghibli Cup from 1997 with the original Speedline 17 inch rims. I have a problem with the air leaking. The tires are brand new. The rims are not sone piece welded, and that may cause the leaking? Is it possible to change some kind of gasket that might have gone dry?

I hope you understand my question.

Regards,

David."

Reply from Andrea:

Re: Ghibli Cup - Speedline wheels!

"David,

We kind of gave up because we couldn’t find a company willing to take on the job. Even Speedline themselves wouldn’t do it. Most Cups have the problem with the air leaking between the two halves of the wheel to some extent but sometimes improvement can be made by polishing the inside of the rim where the tyre bead sits as you can lose pressure through here as well.

Regards,

Andy."

John in Greece writes:

"Hi Enrico!

Andrea gave me a piece of advice about my problem. I made the clean of contacts but the problem continues.

Can you tell me anything else to do?

Regards John."

Reply from Enrico:

Re: Ghibli Cup - Non starter!

"Hi John,

I'm afraid if you have atready cleaned the contacts, the next step is to replace all five relays. This is the simple fix that immediately springs to mind.

If it is a more serious matter, then you will have to consult a Maserati garage. It is very difficult to solve a problem without having an opportunity of testing the car.

The Maserati dealer should have a diagnostic kit that should pin point exactly where the problem lies.

Regards,

Enrico."

Nick in the Republic of Ireland writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I have a problem with starting my Ghibli cup. I have looked over previous posts for similar problems, and see a few that sort of fit but not quite the same. The car has always started first time, but 3 days ago it didn't kick in. I thought initially that it was because I was low in fuel. I turned the car over and it would not kick in. I put it into first gear and turned it over and the car moved slightly and then started. After that it started no problems, all through the next day. Yesterday it started first time, but when I turned off the ignition and then tried to restart straight away, it refused to turn over. I waited a while and the most I could get it to do was kick in, just about, on one or two cylinders, with no response from the throttle whatsoever, it would idle really badly for about 10-15 seconds and die.

The check engine light is NOT lit up.

Any Ideas?

Thanks, Nick."

Reply from Andrea:

Re: Ghibli Cup - Non starter!

"Hi Nick,

You should remove the five fused relays in the engine bay (on the LH inner wing/turret) and clean the contacts – or replace the relays if you are not sure. These govern all of the fuel injection/ignition circuits and corrosion or bad contacts is the most common cause of non-start.

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."

John in Greece writes:

"Hi Enrico.

My chassis nomber is ZAM366BOO00361*** and the engine nomber is AM496870***.

The interior has trim carbon. The colour is 'Blu Francia' and the leather interior is black.

Sometimes when the engine is warm and I try to start it has problem to start. After two or three efforts the engine starts.

Could you help me about this?

Regards,

John."

Reply from Andrea:

Re: Ghibli Cup - Cleaning electrical contacts.

"Try the bank of five relays in the engine bay, which commonly suffer from bad or corroded connections.

Regards,

Andrea."

John in Greece writes:

"Hi Enrico.

My name is John and I am a new owner of a GHIBLI CUP.

The previous owner made some changes to the car and I want to ask you:

A. what is the pressure of the turbo chargers (max pressure)?

B. what is the pressure in which the waste gates start to open?

Thank you for your time and I am waiting for your answer.

John."

Gert in Belgium writes:

"Enrico,

Can you tell me if it is save to disconnect the fuses in the engine department? With save off course I mean for the car.

I attached some photos in which you see them in a red box.

I want to clean the contacts of them to ensure good connections.

Gert."

Reply from Enrico:

Re: Ghibli Cup - Cleaning electrical contacts.

"Hi Gert,

If I were doing this job, I would first disconnect the negative terminal of the battery, then remove the fuses.

After you have cleaned the contacts, assuming that they need it, I would treat all contacts with a protective coating to ensure they do not corrode/oxidise in the future.

Regards,

Enrico."

Luke in the UK writes:

"Hello!

I am the lucky new owner of one of the right hand drive, Black, UK Ghibli Cups (30,000 miles).

Unfortunately even from the showroom I noticed that, at high speeds especially, the acceleration was not as savage as it should be. It seems that under high boost pressure (according to the gauge on dash), the engine is cutting/retarding the ignition slightly - less so if I ease of the pedal a little. It does eventually reach the rev limiter, but just doesn’t nearly reach maximum speed (tested on straight road in middle of night). The original dealer, from my description, thinks it is a split in the turbo 'T-piece' (though this means nothing to me) - they said they will fix it under warranty, but I am in Scotland now and the local dealer is stumped as he has not really worked on Ghiblis before. Is the original diagnosis likely - Any ideas?

Many Thanks!

Luke."

Reply from Alex:-

Re: Ghibli Cup turbo 'T-piece':

"Luke,

I'm having the same issue with a GT. I'm replacing the T-piece with a metal one and in effect, the plastic one was leaking. The plastic seems to harden with the temperature cycles it is put through. I will test the car and let you know. I tested for a leak in the waste-gate system by disconnecting the hose marked "W" on the solenoid boost controller on the front of the engine and attaching a foot pump to it. Sure enough, it would not maintain pressure and when you stopped pumping (when the waste gates have fully opened) you could clearly see the waste gates slowly closing as the air hissing out from the T-piece. It is found in vertical line with the left water hose coming from the water pump when looking at the engine. To best access it, remove the left water hose carefully and place towel to absorb the fluid. Also remove the central cam cover and backing plate behind the cambelt. I will let you know how I get on. Have you managed to solve the problem? I suppose the other possibility might be a faulty controller, or faulty controller relay (next to the fuel pump relay, on the left looking into the engine bay). The only other component to the system is of course the knock sensors, which if they are picking up a knock signal (or think they are), will inevitably cause the boost to be reduced to a safer level.

HOWEVER!!!!: Problem came back after a bit and I discovered how to solve this problem and some other problems I have had:

LUKE'S PROBLEM AND OTHER ISOLATED PROBLEMS:

- BANK OF CYLINDERS NOT WORKING
- CHECK ENGINE LIGHT FLICKERING AND NO READING ON THE REV COUNTER WHEN ENGINE IS RUNNING
- BOOST ISSUES (NOT MORE THAN THE START OF THE YELLOW ZONE)
- BOOST OK, BUT POWER REDUCTION
- FUEL PUMP NOT WORKING AT FIRST TURN OF KEY, OR ENGINE FAILING TO START
- HESITANCE UNDER ACCELERATION OR CRUISING

SOLUTIONS TO ALL OF THE ABOVE:

- CLEAN THE 5 RELAY AND 3 FUSE CONTACTS ON THE LEFT OF THE ENGINE BAY WHEN LOOKING AT THE ENGINE (ENRICO, FAI UNO SCAN DEL MANUALE) - IF PROBLEMS PERSIST OR APPEAR TO DIE AWAY THEN COME BACK, REPLACE ALL THE 5 RELAYS AND 3 FUSES FOR PIECE OF MIND.

- IF STUCK ON THE ROAD IN THE DAYLIGHT, REPLACE THE FIVE RELAYS WITH THE HEADLIGHT AND FOG LIGHT RELAYS UNDER THE COVER (beside the power steering fluid reservoir). READ MANUAL TO SEE WHICH ONES YOU CAN REMOVE. 2 RELATE TO THE RAD FANS, SO DO NOT USE THESE!!!

LIGHTS, RAD FANS, AIR-CON COMPRESSOR ISSUES

INITIAL SOLUTION: clean contacts or replace relevant relays under the cover on the left of the engine bay, beside the power steering fluid reservoir (when looking at engine) closer to the front that the ignition relay stack.

GHIBLI II IN-TANK FUEL FILTER

Maserati fuel filter for Ghiblis with filter in fuel tank is the same as for FIAT 500 second series (90's) and can be purchased from any FIAT dealer at less than half the price Maserati quote.

Alex."

Bob in the USA writes:

Re: Ghibi Open Cup

"Hi,

I lost one of my turbos at the track last week. Can anyone provide any input on the expected longevity of these under race conditions?

Also, what is the the IHI specification number for these turbos?

Bob."

Alan in the UK writes:

"Hi,

Ghibli Cup fuel filter part No M379200141

I have bought a replacement fuel filter from my local friendly Maserati dealer, but they are unable to tell me where the filter is actually located - beyond showing me the parts manual drawing. I've removed the fitted carpet from the boot that covers the fuel tank, but still can't locate this filter.

Can anyone help, please?

Any tips concerning the replacement of this item will be much appreciated.

Regards Alan."

Reply from Enrico.:-

Re: Ghibli Cup fuel filter:

"Hi Alan, The fuel filter is situated in the fuel tank itself. Remove the carpeting covering the fuel tank in the boot. You will then see a circular lid, remove this to replace your filter.

Here are the pages from the Ghibli Cup Engine Manual that you require.

Geoff in the UK writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I have a couple of problems on my Ghibli Cup, which I hope someone can help me solve.

1. I have had the car for 6 months and thought the air con worked fine throughout the summer. However, as it has become colder I have noticed that the temperature does not actually alter. The display adjusts right through from LO to HI but there is no change in temperature, in fact it remains very cold throughout the range. The only time I have experienced a change in temperature was on a recent 100 mile motorway run where it blew very warm and would not adjust to blow cooler air until I came off the motorwary, when it then went back to purely cold air. I recall that the previous owner had the temperature adjusted just before I bought the car as he thought it was not cold enough. As far as I'm aware I'm operatting the system as per the manual, any ideas?

2. The electric seats keep blowing the (30 amp) fuse when adjusted, I have changed the fuse a couple times and they work fine straight afterwards. However, the next time the switch is used the fuse blows, any ideas what could be causing this?

Thanks,

Brian."

Richard in Germany writes:

"Hi Enrico,

I want to replace my front catalytic converter to set the Ghibli Cup pipe without the cat in between.

Can you send me a detail picture of the exhaust system of the Ghibli Cup with the part number list?

Thanks a lot best wishes,

Richard."

Reply from Enrico.:-

Re: Ghibli Cup:

Hi Richard, According to the Parts Manual, the section of the exhaust system for the Ghibli Cup containing the catalytic convertor is the same as that mounted on the Ghibli GT, only the rear section containing the tail pipes is different.

Here are the pages from the Ghibli Cup Parts Manual that you require.

Robert in Sweden writes:

"Hello Enrico!

I am thinking of buying a Maserati Ghibli Cup. The dealers here in Sweden are not much help to me when it comes to Ghibli, especially the Cup model. What I been asking for is how much the Ghibi cost to keep on the road when it comes to service, how many Km between them and so on. They don´t know that much. I been reading the secondhand guide on your website. But I dont know how to calculate english miles to Km.

Compared to 3200GT is the Ghibli as expensive to run? From what I have been told so far it most probably is. Do you have any kind of service schedul so that one can se what is suppose to be done each service?

I would be most happy if you could give me any kind of information - good or bad. Today I drive a Alfa Romeo GTV 3.0 -98 and had no problem with it so far. I use it as an everyday car and had hoped that it would be posible with the Ghibli Cup as well. What do you say?

Robert."

Reply from Brian:-

Re: Ghibli Cup:

"Enrico,

A thought about your guy who wants to buy a Ghibli Cup regarding his comment "I would be most happy if you could give me any kind of information - good or bad. Today I drive a 98 Alfa Romeo GTV 3.0 and had no problem with it so far. I use it as an everyday car and had hoped that it would be posible with the Ghibli Cup as well. What do you say?"

The most annoying thing when driving a Cup is the lack of low-rev torque. There is virtually no accelerator response below 2,500rpm. A 3-litre injection car (Alfa GTV) would have noticeably more torque at low revs.

I would imaging that the guy wanting to buy a Cup has been used to low-rev accelerator response and a smooth acceleration curve. The Cup will be a very different driving experience, requiring fairly high revs to appreciate its capabilities. The Cup is also likely to cost a lot more in servicing/maintenance costs than the Alfa.

Deflating tyres is another thing to beware of. The Speedline wheels will eventually leak air. Although they can be refurbished, not many companies offer refurbishment for sectional alloys and having to check air pressure every few days can be frustrating. As a minimum he should check the wheels for signs of damage, since the more signs of damage the higher the chance of leaks.

Hope this helps. Brian."

David in the UK writes:

"Hi Enrico,

My Ghibli Cup is RHD but with a KPH speedo. I'm trying to find someone to change the speedo to MPH (since Maserati can't supply one).

By the way, you might be interested to know that I have had a complete replacement stainess steel exhaust system, with two performance cats, bigger tail-pipes and two new silencers - ALL FOR JUST £850 INCLUDING FITTING.

If anyone needs an exhaust system for their Ghibli then I don't think they will find cheaper.

Do you know of anyone who has had their wheels refurbished to stop the leaks? The three-piece sectional wheels on Ghibli Cups allow air to gradually leave the tyres, and I am trying to find a solution.

David."

Geoff in the UK writes:

"Hi,

I recently acquired a 1997 Ghibli Cup, which I'm extremely happy with. The car has covered approximately 60,000 miles and has so far had no significant faults (no more than I would expect from any Italian car of this mileage). There are a few niggles which hopefully you or some of your readers might be able to help with.

1. Front wheel wobble at most speeds, which becomes very pronounced under light to medium braking, but is not present under heavy braking. I had noticed that the RH steering idler bearings had become rusty so replaced the bearings and idler shaft on both the left and right hand side a few weeks ago. This almost cured the problem but since then it has re-appeared. I've check all the track-rod ends and ball joints and all seem OK..........what areas of the front suspension would you suggest looking at next. Are there any known weak points on a car of this mileage?

2. Voltmeter reads 13v when car is running but if left with radio on, for example, but engine not running the voltage rapidly drops, to below 10v, however the engine cranks over fine, indicating there has been no loss of voltage at the battery. I suspect a poor/corroded connection somewhere in the instrument binnacle (or elsewhere), do you have any suggestions as to where to look first?

3. When cold, and driving at low speed the car tends to 'surge' making it difficult to drive smoothly, occasionally if the throttle is pressed a little further I will get a pop/bang from the exhaust (or maybe the induction side). Is this normal due to thick oil running round the turbos and incomplete combustion or is there an underlying problem (possibly turbos due for reconditioning?).

4. The engine coolant temperature never seems to reach the temperature I would expect. Even after quite a hard drive and then sitting in traffic, it doesn't really get above about 1/4 round the gauge, about 80 degrees. I would expect to see at least 90-95 as a continuous temperature, do think that the gauge/sensor might be faulty, the thermostat faulty/wrong spec, or is this again normal.

In return for your advice, I've got a bit of a tip for your readers. After getting some spurious ''check engine'' lights, loss of power, tachometer sometime not registering anything and sometimes no turbo boost (as described by another reader), I have gone through most of the under bonnet electrical connections, relays etc, using a glass fibre pencil to clean all of the contacts and then applying a tiny amount of Silver Grease to each contact. The silver grease is super high electrical conductivity and can be obtained from 'Maplin' in the UK. It's an expensive solution but since then I've had no electrical problems at all (apart from the voltmeter and temperature gauge), also the car seems to fire up a little more eagerly. The Italians are renowned for completely messing up their plating specs for electrical contacts, hence all the problems on most Italian cars over a certain age. This might be the solution.

Look forward to hearing from you with a host of useful tips.

Regards,

Geoff."

Reply from Andy:-

Re: Ghibli Cup:

1. Front wheel wobble at most speeds, which becomes very pronounced under light to medium braking, but is not present under heavy braking. I had noticed that the RH steering idler bearings had become rusty so replaced the bearings and idler shaft on both the left and right hand side a few weeks ago. This almost cured the problem but since then it has re-appeared. I've check all the track-rod ends and ball joints and all seem OK..........what areas of the front suspension would you suggest looking at next. Are there any known weak points on a car of this mileage?

TYRES?

2. Voltmeter reads 13v when car is running but if left with radio on, for example, but engine not running the voltage rapidly drops, to below 10v, however the engine cranks over fine, indicating there has been no loss of voltage at the battery. I suspect a poor/corroded connection somewhere in the instrument binnacle (or elsewhere), do you have any suggestions as to where to look first?

YOU SHOULD CHECK VOLTAGE ACROSS BATTERY. GAUGES ARE NOTORIOUSLY INACCURATE. SHOULD HAVE 14V WITH NO LOAD.

3. When cold, and driving at low speed the car tends to 'surge' making it difficult to drive smoothly, occasionally if the throttle is pressed a little further I will get a pop/bang from the exhaust (or maybe the induction side). Is this normal due to thick oil running round the turbos and incomplete combustion or is there an underlying problem (possibly turbos due for reconditioning?).

A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF THIS IS NORMAL ON CUP ENGINE. PRESUME GOES AWAY AFTER SAY 30 SECONDS RUNNING. NOT A TURBO PROBLEM. CAN SOMETIMES BE IMPROVED BY CLEANING/CHANGING RELAYS ON BULKHEAD WHICH GOVERN FUEL INJECTION.

4. The engine coolant temperature never seems to reach the temperature I would expect. Even after quite a hard drive and then sitting in traffic, it doesn't really get above about 1/4 round the gauge, about 80 degrees. I would expect to see at least 90-95 as a continuous temperature, do think that the gauge/sensor might be faulty, the thermostat faulty/wrong spec, or is this again normal.

AT WHAT TEMP DO FANS CUT IN? SHOULD BE 90 ON GAUGE. IF YES, THEN THERMOSTAT IS FAULTY. IF NO, GAUGE AGAIN.

Enrico adds:

2-litre Ghiblis are fitted with thermostat part number 496045600 that opens at 83° C.
2.8-litre Ghiblis are fitted with thermostat part number 314020123 that opens at 73° C.

Hope this helps,

Andy."