With Baited Breath I await my 4200 Spyder

[spkennyuk]

yes Roary I have bought some chocks as the handbrake does not work at all,however leaving it in gear hmm not sure about that,would that also not cause problems, or are you only meaning short term leaving it in gear untill you can block it?
Does anybody know where the adjusment for the handbrake is on these cars? On some cars it is under the storage box at your elbow, on others its underneath

It wont cause any issue leaving it in gear. You will also find that the handbrake is basically just for MOT purposes.

If you use the handbrake after the car has either got wet from rain or washing and leave the handbrake on they oxidise very quickly and seize up. You can then be left with your handrake seized on. If its been left a few days like that then the shoes can delaminate when you try to move the car.

if you have the handbook for the car there is a procedure for cleaning up break shoes to try and stop this happening.

I kid you not the procedure is drive the car and pull the handbrake up while maintaining 3k revs to scrub off the shoes.

 

[joered]

Yes I understand kenny,still I would like it sorted so will take it to a friendly mecanic i know!
Over the winter i will just put chocks on it, and leave the handbrake off as you suggest .I have also bought a trickle charger, do you have any advise as to winter storage?

 

[Corranga]

Well as a member of a local car club I have am sights set on a car show next sunday (9th July) at Glamis Castle here in Scotland.
I have a few days to make her look her best and with a bit of luck will be showing the car at Glamis.
I will take all your comments onboard and will post photos.
Joe

I wondered if the owner was on here, I spend a few minutes looking around the car and looking for an owner, but didn't spot anyone, then later in the day you were gone.
First time I'd seen a red one, it's really quite lovely in red.

Last year I was the only Maserati in the show (not registered for the show, but the Lotus let me down!), this year the green machine was reliable and tucked up over on the Lotus club stand.

 

[joered]

Oh sorry about that Corranga I was either in the club tent just along from the car, or was out having a look at all the great cars that were there
Allan who is also on this forum came to the tent and it was really nice to meet him, the Stirling club will be at a few other events this year, Bigger, Linlithgow etc so I will probably also be at them.

 

[allandwf]

I wondered if the owner was on here, I spend a few minutes looking around the car and looking for an owner, but didn't spot anyone, then later in the day you were gone.
First time I'd seen a red one, it's really quite lovely in red.

Last year I was the only Maserati in the show (not registered for the show, but the Lotus let me down!), this year the green machine was reliable and tucked up over on the Lotus club stand.

I saw your car I think, but didn't see , elusive owners! lol

 

[RoaryRati]

It wont cause any issue leaving it in gear

Agreed - hasn't caused me any. And in the winter/when not using much I don't leave it on the c-tek all the time any more - just plug it in every 7-10 days for a day or so

 

[joered]

Thanks Roary that sounds like good idea

 

[joered]

Well have driven the car quite a bit now and am absolutely loving it!

Flappy paddles took a bit to get used to although I have had paddles on several of my past cars I just did not use them.

Small problems such as the handbrake not holding the car will be fixed when I get new disks pads and shoes and also a new rear handbrake cable (Luckily car came with 4 new disks in the boot so one expense less)

One expense I will face is a new oil/water pump as you can hear the water pump when standing next to the car. Before ordering the pump I was asked if it was a 2 pipe or 3 oil pipe engine as I did not have a clue, I managed to download a workshop manual for £5 and I could see where it was located, ah the joy of Maserati ownership!

 

[allandwf]

Watch the water/oil pump as it can corrode and fail, so good idea to change. Not a small job though I believe.

 

[joered]

Watch the water/oil pump as it can corrode and fail, so good idea to change. Not a small job though I believe.

Hi Allan
it looks like its on the left hand side but am not sure if you can get at it from the top or underneath,but I have a good friend/ mecanic so will let him sort it out!
Trouble is pump comes from Italy so will take several weeks to arrive.

 

[Gazcw]

I have to admit i did not realize this is a twin system, pads and brake shoes, sheesh! Thanks for the info Phil

I would pull the discs and make sure you have no pad delamination first. They love to do that which is why people tend not to use the handbrake most of the time. Then you can adjust after.

 

[philw696]

Hi Allan
it looks like its on the left hand side but am not sure if you can get at it from the top or underneath,but I have a good friend/ mecanic so will let him sort it out!
Trouble is pump comes from Italy so will take several weeks to arrive.

I thought there was no stock anymore and certainly not a cheap part I did mine in 2014 £1500 part.
I did it at home from underneath on the drivers side of the car UK spec and it's a fair bit of work.

 

[joered]

Hi Phil thanks for the info, new pump is £1630.00 but has to come from italy so will be a few weeks before it arrives
I will need to see if this pump has 2 or 3 oil pipes, so I have one of those long scopes somewhere so will dig it out and probe into the innards, lol

 

[philw696]

This was the one for my 2004.

 

[joered]

I can see your pump is a 3 oil pipe, I am trying to see what mine is but it is hard to see how many oil pipes it has,acording to the supplier some of these cars have 2 oil pipes and some 3 so I do need to find out what I have. Is it easies to see these pumps from underneath the car Phil?

 

[Gp79]

I can see your pump is a 3 oil pipe, I am trying to see what mine is but it is hard to see how many oil pipes it has,acording to the supplier some of these cars have 2 oil pipes and some 3 so I do need to find out what I have. Is it easies to see these pumps from underneath the car Phil?

The 3 or 2 refers to the number of bolts on the oil pipe connection at the pump.
It’s visible next to the oil filter

Examples

 

[philw696]

You will see it all from underneath preferably on a lift but either way just do it safely.

 

[joered]

Ah GP thanks for that.I thought it meant the main tubes on the side of the pump. acording to my vin number the car has the 2 bolt type But i suppose i had better make sure.
Thanks again GP that cleard up the confusion on my part!

 

[ravingfool]

Btw, I would say the handbrakes aren't that bad but are not self adjusting so need regular fettling to get good performance.

It is a faff but similar systems used on BMW and rover/MG in the past with a small inspection hope in the drum to enable handbrake shoe adjustment with a flat headed screwdriver.

Entertaining to find the cylinder and adjustment wheel through the little hole with a torch but not difficult by any means. Usually going to be necessary to pull the wheels off to gain sufficient access buy depending on wheel and how fitted it can in certain cases be possible without even removing the wheel.

A job I always delayed dealing with because it seemed such a faff for a minor issue and always regretted delaying because once you get down to it the adjustment is very quick and simple and it does massively improve pleasure of driving not to have a fear of hill starts!

 

[joered]

Ah right Rav, sheesh this truley is a learning curve! however as i have the disks that came with the car. new pads and shoes will. along with a new rear hanbrake cable should improve things in addition to your suggestion for adjustment so thanks for that Rav!