namaste
Member
- Messages
- 212
A little while ago I realised my exhaust valves were stuck shut and after getting them working again, I wondered if there was a simple way to open the valves manually via a switch installed in the cabin or something. I was thinking of something along the lines of controlling the Maserati vacuum solenoid under the hood but it looked far too complicated because it apparently operates on varying voltages and would throw up error codes if meddled with. So I thought all was lost but Catman explained the simple idea of installing a standard 12v vacuum solenoid between the Maserati vacuum solenoid and the exhaust actuators on the tailpipes and simply control that on and off. This would avoid any error codes and run off a simple 0v/12v control.
So I eventually got round to doing it today. A bit of a pain getting under the front of the car to take photos of the pipes, but all in all an easy and very cheap mod for anyone who wants to have their exhaust valves open at the touch of a button. This mod allows you to have the exhaust valves open even when out of sport mode should you want the soft ride but the loud noise. But also switches back to standard operation with the press of another button. So here's the how to for anyone interested:
This is the main pieces you need. A mini piggy back fuse holder for an easy 12v feed out of the fuse box (£2.50 off ebay). A 12v vaccum solenoid (£6 off ebay 2nd hand). It was listed as a bmw exhaust solenoid and is bascially identical in shape to the Maserati one on the car. A 12v remote controlled relay (£5.50 off ebay). A bit tricky to understand the instructions but figured it out eventually. This isn't all you need, you'll also want some vacuum pipe, cables, crimps, heat shrink, etc.
Here's a view under the car once the front cover below the bumper is removed. The red arrow is pointing to the pipe you want to intercept. This pipe leads to the actuators in the tailpipes.
Wasn't really any obvious place to put the solenoid down by the original so decided to place it up top and feed the vacuum pipes down. Found a handy tie wrap there that wasn't doing anything much so clamped it down using that.
Fed the cables round the front. Obviously all this will be under the covers when they go back on.
The remote relay fit nicely in the fuse box with just a couple of wires exiting through whatever gap I could get them through. I piggy backed off the fuse for the 'air conditioning compressor relay' according to the manual.
EDIT: Avoid piggy backing off this fuse as it means the control only works if the air-conditioning unit is on. It was the only fuse I could get onto with the piggy back fuse holder. I've ordered a mini piggy back fuse holder to piggy back off one of the smaller fuses towards the front of the fuse box. These have a 12v supply when the iginition is switched on and 0v when switched off, so are much more appropriate to use.
And the outcome is it works perfectly. Start the car, press 'off' on the remote control and it opens the exhaust valves at all revs, regardless of being in sport mode or not. Push 'on' and it returns to standard operation, in my case on the GTS auto, closed at all times out of sports mode, and open above 3000rpm when in sports mode. And what a noise. I don't know how you put up with it all the time on the MC shift. It seems louder at lower revs than it does above 3000rpm. But I do love all the pops and crackles when you lift off when low down the rev range. But its proper asbo noise when driving around residential streets.
So I eventually got round to doing it today. A bit of a pain getting under the front of the car to take photos of the pipes, but all in all an easy and very cheap mod for anyone who wants to have their exhaust valves open at the touch of a button. This mod allows you to have the exhaust valves open even when out of sport mode should you want the soft ride but the loud noise. But also switches back to standard operation with the press of another button. So here's the how to for anyone interested:
This is the main pieces you need. A mini piggy back fuse holder for an easy 12v feed out of the fuse box (£2.50 off ebay). A 12v vaccum solenoid (£6 off ebay 2nd hand). It was listed as a bmw exhaust solenoid and is bascially identical in shape to the Maserati one on the car. A 12v remote controlled relay (£5.50 off ebay). A bit tricky to understand the instructions but figured it out eventually. This isn't all you need, you'll also want some vacuum pipe, cables, crimps, heat shrink, etc.
Here's a view under the car once the front cover below the bumper is removed. The red arrow is pointing to the pipe you want to intercept. This pipe leads to the actuators in the tailpipes.
Wasn't really any obvious place to put the solenoid down by the original so decided to place it up top and feed the vacuum pipes down. Found a handy tie wrap there that wasn't doing anything much so clamped it down using that.
Fed the cables round the front. Obviously all this will be under the covers when they go back on.
The remote relay fit nicely in the fuse box with just a couple of wires exiting through whatever gap I could get them through. I piggy backed off the fuse for the 'air conditioning compressor relay' according to the manual.
EDIT: Avoid piggy backing off this fuse as it means the control only works if the air-conditioning unit is on. It was the only fuse I could get onto with the piggy back fuse holder. I've ordered a mini piggy back fuse holder to piggy back off one of the smaller fuses towards the front of the fuse box. These have a 12v supply when the iginition is switched on and 0v when switched off, so are much more appropriate to use.
And the outcome is it works perfectly. Start the car, press 'off' on the remote control and it opens the exhaust valves at all revs, regardless of being in sport mode or not. Push 'on' and it returns to standard operation, in my case on the GTS auto, closed at all times out of sports mode, and open above 3000rpm when in sports mode. And what a noise. I don't know how you put up with it all the time on the MC shift. It seems louder at lower revs than it does above 3000rpm. But I do love all the pops and crackles when you lift off when low down the rev range. But its proper asbo noise when driving around residential streets.
Looks very similar to my install.
