GTS engine catastrophe

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,593
Another GT/QP, factory stickers left on the solinoid valves.

When you next have your cam covers done ask for them to be removed:

71592
 

StuartW

Member
Messages
9,306
I'm guessing that this can't be just a Maserati thing though, there must be other manufacturers who do the same. Definitely something to be looking out for though
 

Scaf

Member
Messages
6,511
Agree about the age thing, which kept me sane in another incident. My 3200 was household third car and we only had parking for two on the drive, side by side. My freshly polished and serviced 3200 AC was parked two car lengths behind Mrs rs48635 truck - a Jeep Patriot. Got a tearful call at work one day. My wife reversed with gusto not looking behind. Hit NSF corner of the 3200 shifting it several feet back into the road.
Nobody more surprised than me as the words rolled off my tongue, "nobody hurt, it's just a car that can be fixed".
took 6 months and sh!t loads of aggro , but fixed it is.
My wife reversed into the side of my DB7 just after I had done a deal to sell it !!
Like you, the best of me came out and I said don’t worry it’s just a car, it can be fixed..........
 

Pramrod

Junior Member
Messages
70
Very sorry to hear.
However lockdown also seemed to ruin my QP 2005. A huge variety of engine fault errors - that finally resulted in a diagnosis of low compression in one cylinder. Just one though?
She barely made it up the ramp onto the BMS Salvage truck. A sorry sight indeed. Kinda broke my heart to see that beast barely crawl along.
78,000 miles - got £3000 for scrap.

Neither HR Owen (attempting the diagnosis - but how many costly attempts to get to the bottom of it?) - nor Nareman at Nuvola had ever seen an F136 engine fail like that.

I'll try to share the full story - at the moment trying to get some refund from HR Owen for charging me for work and parts - across multiple attempts that did not resolve the issues.
(£1000 for fuel injector rails?)
Why can't they just diagnose the issue accurately first go?

I am sure I've been remarkably unlucky. However I will steer clear of Masers until my pockets are much deeper.

Kia e-Niro for now and a BMW 530d in a few months.

To get back into V8 land - will probably be an XK-R.
 

EnzoMC

Member
Messages
1,998
this thread has been like a thriller, reading through looking to see what happens.
cliffhanger...no update for a while?
hope Matt and the gang got the Mas back on the road and wasn't too many limbs.
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,593
To date we have only seen one engine failure that was not caused by misuse/water and this was down to the variator solinoid stickers washing off and blocking an oil gallery (as pictured previously in this thread)

So, the 4.2 and 4.7 dry and wet sump engines are extremely durable.

You could even argue that the stickers were also not the fault of the engine.

We see regularly these cars now well up over 100k miles and still running sweetly and have yet to see a worn out example.

Get the stickers removed, don’t let anyone use sealant when doing cam overs etc and keep the oil and filter fresh and I don’t believe anyone will be replacing a tired engine.
 

philw696

Member
Messages
25,113
Matt do you not put a little sealant across the front cover joins ?
Every manufacturer I have worked for we do.
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,593
We did a 4.7 auto for £7k fitted plus vat

both outgoing and incoming engines had circa 35k on them
 

Pramrod

Junior Member
Messages
70
To date we have only seen one engine failure that was not caused by misuse/water and this was down to the variator solinoid stickers washing off and blocking an oil gallery (as pictured previously in this thread)

So, the 4.2 and 4.7 dry and wet sump engines are extremely durable.

Sorry but the 4.2 in my 2005 QP completely failed.

Neither HR Owen nor Nuvola could explain why.
Initial diagnostics were electronic. All fixed.
Then that car had been over-filled with oil. But by who? Both denied over-filling.
That was all cleaned up.
Then injector rails.
That was done.
Massive loss of compression in one cylinder. Just not worth resolving on a car that might be worth £9k - but not with the list of other faults that needed resolving.

Nareman at Nuvola had never seen anything like it before.
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
If it is massively overfilled with oil, the rotating components effectively whisk the oil into a froth, which has the counterintuitive effect of reducing oil pressure as the oil pump can’t pump air.

I don’t suppose they did a leak down test to identify the cause of low compression? Could be rings, head gasket or valves not sealing.

What Matt is saying is that they rarely fail, which seems to be backed up by what Nareman and HR Owen said. Doesn’t help you though, you seem to have been very unlucky.
 

philw696

Member
Messages
25,113
Can't second how important doing a leak down test is and have mentioned it a few times on the forum.
When I brought my 456 my father told me I was mad not doing one on a V12 Ferrari.
I did say if it had been a 50's or 60's model I'd agree but you can really see how good an engine is.
 

Itare Sam

Member
Messages
131
so Matt is it all sorted, is the GT back on the road ?
Apologies for the late response - having started this scary thread I should have posted a final update earlier. Yes the GranTurismo was back on the road by late 2020, replacement engine as good as new. While it was with Matt they did a thorough check-over and everything else that needed doing was done, including new front suspension bushes, various gaskets and underseal. It drove beautifully, and I am very grateful to Matt and Ash for sourcing the replacement engine (not easy) and completing the work to a high standard. Their evident expertise and attention to detail, plus excellent communications throughout, were very reassuring in a sometimes scary situation for me. Plus they obviously saved me a ton of money compared to a factory engine replacement.

I sold the GranTurismo in June last year, mainly because the roads around here (Norfolk, farming country) are dreadful and I didn't relish more bills for pothole-inflicted suspension damage so wasn't using the car much at all. A Range Rover V8 diesel on all-terrain tyres is certainly more usable around here, if not remotely as much visceral fun of course. I havent ruled out returning to the Maserati or possbly Alfa fold sometime - I can't possibly be that unlucky again - can I? Thanks everyone who responded to this thread for your interest, sympathy, help and encouragement, it was invluable.