Philippe in Switzerland asks:

"Hi Enrico!

Thank you for your information! I went to the Ferrari-garage in my city (Basel). They had put some pressure in the watercooling-system of the engine one night long to check the gaskets. But they say that the water in the oil must be condensation...

For me that is hard to believe because I've never had water in the engine oil in my previous cars ( Maserati 430, Lancia Thema 8.32 Ferrari).

Could it really be condensation? Is that a common problem of the Ghibli?

I have to say that my Ghibli also smokes a lot with cold and hot engine. The engine never crosses 90°C.

Yes I have a workshop manual. My car has now 84000km, last big Service at 80000km.

Is a little vibration at idle ok?

kind regards,

Philippe."

Reply from Andy:-

Re: Ghibli II:

"Henry,

Chances are it is the head gaskets. However, before getting too depressed:

1. Does the engine actually overheat? If so are the fans working? If yes and yes, then definitely head gasket.

2. If yes and no, then fix the fans and go back to 1 above.

3. If no and yes, then have a diagnosis done as Enrico suggests.

4. If this is inconclusive and the amount of emulsion in the cooling system is only a small amount, then have the whole system flushed thoroughly and new antifreeze put in, then drive around GENTLY for a few miles and check again.

If there is a definite head gasket problem, then you MUST do both sides at the same time, the cost is not much more anyway.

Cheers,

Andy."

Yiorgos in Denmark asks:

"Hello Enrico,

Where can one read in the Ghibli the following information?

1. Type of engine and number of engine.
2. Type of gearbox and number of gearbox.
3. Type of rear axle and number of rear axle.
I would appreciate if you could indicate how these numbers should look like in an example.

Thanks and best regards for the coming holidays!

Yiorgos."

Reply from Marcello:-

Re: Ghibli II:

"1. The engine number can be found at the back of the engine on the right hand side (viewed from the front of the car) where the engine meets the gearbox bellhousing.

2 & 3. The numbers of the gearbox and the differential are to be found stamped on metal tags that are attached to one of the casing bolts.

Marcello."

Frank in Luxemburg asks:

"Hi Enrico,

I have a 97 Ghibli GT and also a crashed new Spider 4200.

I want to know if its possible to fit the brakes from the Spider to the Ghibli if yes what are the changements to do?

My last question is, what kind of brakes are mounted on the Ghibli Cup are they from the Quattroporte Evoluzione?

Thanks,

Frank"

Reply from Andy:-

Re: Ghibli II brakes:

"OK,

I do not know if the brakes from a new Spyder will fit on the Ghibli GT but I would assume that they would not as the Ghibli has 17inch wheels and the Spyder has 18inch wheels. Therefore I would assume that the discs will be too large to fit.

The Ghibli Cup front brake discs are the same as those for a Ghibli GT except that they have the extra cross drilling. The rears are the same.

The Ghibli Cup brake front callipers are completely different to those fitted on the early GT. The GT is an ATE iron calliper with a single piston. The Cup is a Brembo aluminium calliper with 4 pistons.

The Ghibli Cup and early GT rear callipers are the same and are ATE single piston callipers.

However, the last GTs (1999 cars) were fitted with Ghibli Cup front callipers and twin piston rear callipers from the QPV8.

I think that the front brake callipers on a QPV8 are the same as Ghibli Cup as well but the part numbers are different!!

Confused, you will be!!!

Andy."

Yiorgos in Denmark asks:

"Hello Enrico,

I do not drive my GT anymore (as most who live in cold countries) due to the winter season   (5°C now during daytime and already salt on the roads) the car is put to standstill. I have two questions however which I hope that you or anyone from the 'Maseratisti' could help me with answering.

1. Yesterday I started the engine to warm it up a little. Fine no problems there. I noticed however that the left side of the exhaust twin tail pipes smoke more than the right side; I remember it was the same last winter.

Is that normal when the engine is cold and the outer temperature is very low? If yes, why does it smoke more on the left than in the right side of the exhaust pipes? If it is of any worth I must say that the same does not happen during spring and summer periods.

2. One other thing; My car will have covered 100000 Km the next time I have it serviced. According to the car's handbook there are specified services up until 100000 Km. What happens afterwards? Is it still every 10000 Km that the car must be serviced? If yes, what is it that should be looked after? Are the service agents familiar with cars with so much mileage?

Thanks again for the time you take to help.

Best regards,

Yiorgos."

Reply from Andy:-

Re: Ghibli II:

"1. I presume that you mean steam (i.e. white) rather than smoke (blue or black), in which case all you are experiencing is condensation being steamed off from the exhaust system. You may find that it is a feature of your exhaust that it steams from one side more than the other, but as far as I know, there is no technical reason why one side of the engine should create more condensation than the other. Either way, it is not a problem!!

2. What we have always done is to start the whole service schedule again. Yes, you should service every 10,000kms and pay particular attention to making sure that the cam belt is changed every 40,000kms. Yes we are familiar with high mileage cars - up to 200,000kms on a Ghibli now! Hope this helps,

Andy."

Josef in Austria asks:

"Hello Enrico,

Josef again, where I can find - when the service is and what is to change (95 Ghibli)?

Example - 7500 oil and filter .......... Thank you,

Josef."

Reply from Enrico:-

Re: Ghibli II:

"Dear Josef,

Please find attached the service schedule for the Ghibli II.

Hope this helps,

Enrico."

Michael in Germany adds:

"Hi Henry,

Thank you for your message concerning my Ghibli. Andy's opinion has helped me a little.

The check engine lamp is connected and the check system works how I noticed when I forgot to tighten the screws of the battery clamps after the standstill during last winter!

Now I wrote earlier that the throttle valve potentiometer had been replaced and after this the car worked really well. So why shouldn't it be the same part again which is defective? I think the so-called "new" potentiometer may have been a used part. After driving my car yesterday, I further noticed that the disturbance appears only at a special position of the acceleration pedal / throttle valve.

Finally the throttle valve and its potentiometer is the first link in the line when the driver gives the order to accelerate. So what happens if a defective potentiometer "says" that the throttle valve is closed while it's opened? I think if the rpm are over 1800 or so, no more fuel will be injected. And this means no increasing air quantity, only little pressure from the turbochargers and no acceleration, while the control units doesn't realise this because they "think" that the driver doesn't want to accelerate and drives downhill for example. And this would be also the explanation for the check engine lamp which didn't light up.

This is what I know from the BOSCH MOTRONIC-system, and the WEBER MARELLI IAW-systemis similar.

But this is only my theory. What do you think?

Mit freundlichen Gruessen / Best regards,

Michael."

Reply from Koen in Belgium:-

Re: Ghibli II:

"Dear Enrico,

I want to reply to what Michael from Germany writes about his Ghibli II. This problem sounds exactly like my problem last year, I would like to ask him if he has the same problems after a cold start???

With my car it goes as such:

I start the car and drive about 30 minutes in traffic for about 30 km. I stop, park the car and leave it for about 45 to 60 minutes, I come back, start the car and check engine appears, I switch it off, start immediately again, no check engine anymore, but the car does not respond accurately to the throttle for about 1.5 km, it really slows down (which is quite dangerous in traffic), I have to push the htrottle and the car all of a sudden accelerates again slows down and this for about 1.5 km.

If I leave the car for over 1 hour and 30 minutes it does not happen. If I start 15 minutes after a 10 km drive in which the problem occurred, it does not occur again. Very annoying ....

A very helpful mechanic sorted it out last year by cleaning all the contacts. The official Maserati technician could not detect anything, he only sold me a turbo waste gate which did not solve the problem.

Unfortunately the problem occurs since 5 months again and this time cleaning of the contacts did not help, the battery leads were controlled and still I have the problem.

My helpful mechanic also suggests that it might be the valve sensor. Any idea about the price???

Yes I have to say this is the best Maserati site by far.

Best regards,

Koen from Belgium."

Reply from Koen in Belgium:-

Re: Ghibli II:

"Dear Enrico,

I would be very pleased if you could mention that my problem was completely solved by replacing the throttle valve sensor.

Thanks a lot,

Greetings,

Koen."

Michael in Germany writes:

"Hi Henry,

I'm Michael from Germany. I own a Maserati Ghibli GT 2.0-litre, first registrated in April '98, equipped with the Quattroporte Evoluzione V8 rear axle and its brake system. It is one of the the last 27 Ghiblis that were constructed.

A short time after I had bought the car the following problem appeared:

Sometimes it was almost impossible to accelerate. The pressure of the turbochargers went nearly to zero in spite of pressing down the acceleration pedal. A few moments later the appearance faded and the car worked fine - till the same disturbance appeared again. After a visit at an authorized German dealer, the throttle valve potentiometer had been changed and the car worked perfectly - but only for about 8 weeks.

Now almost the same problem appears from time to time and each time the car is in for service, it runs perfect again. I suppose that sometimes there work only one cylinder row of the engine. An Italian mechanic told me that the diturbance could be caused by a broken pressure sensor.

Can you or any other visitor of the Enrico's Maserati Page tell me what could cause this problem?

What about the cold start valve? Could it be, that it is permanently open, because a temperature time switch doesn't work correctly anymore, so that the engine gets too much fuel?

The "Check Engine" light never lit up and the fuel consumption is very high (15-18 litres per 100km minimum!).

I would be glad if you would give me a tip.

Thank you and kind regards from Germany.

Mit freundlichen Gruessen / Best regards,

Michael."

Reply from Andy:-

Re: Ghibli GT 2-litre:

"Hi Michael,

Not really enough information here. It is strange that the engine check light does not come on. Are you sure that it is working correctly on start up as some of these cars have had the check light disconnected. Basically, if the check light does not come on, then the fuel mixture cannot have changed very much when you experience your problem. Maybe you should look at an ignition or turbocharger mechanical fault.

Andy."