Clutch Replacement

[Migliore]

Picked up the car last night from my local indie, a few minor things to sort out, but early days. I'm very happy to have the car back in the stable.
It's an episode a lot of owners fear encountering, I went through all the scenarios too, sell the car, get something less high profile so that when it breaks down you don't have to suffer the inquisition from less brave hearted and stylish souls than Maserati owners!
Forgive the self indulgent post but sharing my experience may be of interest to those who find themselves in the same position. I thought I'd driven over a piece of tin plate in the road but the sound I heard was probably the pressure plate tangs. My 24 yo old daughter was with me in the car, she's a decent looking girl so the resultant high revving from the middle aged man in a Mas with a young blonde in the passenger seat is not the look I've been trying to cultivate.
The car was booked in for a service with my local guy for the first time rather than the independent through whom I imported the car, I'd imported the service pack from Eurospares all ready to go, when I called and told him about the recent development he said "yeah, no worries we'll give it a go" he's a honest guy and a bit understated.
I odereded the clutch replacement kit from Eurospares which arrived very quickly, as did the advice from FedEx to pay the duty! On imports over $1000 au . I'm patient to a fault (some say) but I didn't want pressure the guy to get it done and out the door, I can't be easy dealing with the general public and their lack of understanding, we all have timeframes to fit into, so I just let him have it to get it done when he can, with the maybe misguided notion that he'd have a quiet few hours to work on it and enjoy getting under a nice piece of Italian beauty.
I sent him a few links and posts on this site regarding the PIS point, he's just spent $10k on kit and fully expected it to read what was required, I don't think that it did but when I drove the car yesterday I'd have to say it was the best it's driven in the 2 years of ownership! Far more responsive from a start and pulling very easy through the revs up to 4200k. I haven't had the full debrief yet but he told me there was a lot of plate left on the clutch replaced about 15k miles ago.
I've read here about the learning mode for gear changes etc so maybe the facelift software is all what it was intended to be?
Only issue I've noted is an unsteady idle or "hunting" as I've heard it described on here. Driving the car yesterday evening I'd forgotten or got used to the number of people who check out the car, I found myself thinking "what you looking at?" It's been a long 3 weeks.

 

[safrane]

Glad your back on the road and enjoying the car.

 

[VMSRTI]

Best it's driven for two years - Happy Days!

 

[Fair2]

Well done. After brake in period ,give it some stick!
Robert

 

[Wack61]

Did he have to get the PIS point set up elsewhere , how did he find the job , I also have a very good mechanic who doesn't seen phased by cars he's never seen before so I'm hoping a Maserati will be the same.

He's had a pretty varied career which started with building and tuning engines for Carl foggarty before he hit the big time.

When he got his first factory ride Steve got left behind because while he could do the job he didn't have the qualifications to back it up so they didn't want him

 

[CatmanV2]

That's a shame when you hear stories like that

C

 

[Wack61]

I know, especially when Steve played a big part in giving him a head start by building engines he could win with, he told me it was when he was racing 250s in the 80s

He's proper down to earth like foggy, he just looks at it and says if it sucks,squeezes, bangs and blows I can fix it, when there were bits of jaguar engine all over the floor while he pulled the cams out with the block on a wooden box I admit I had my doubts but it all went back together, fired up first time and ran without a hitch in the 4 years I owned it

 

[CatmanV2]

Proper mechanic. Sadly they also need the tools.

C

 

[Wack61]

It's the electronics that are the problem, he only has a basic scanner, can get hold of the snap on kit easily enough but no use for a Maserati hence my interest in how Migliore's guy got round it

 

[Zep]

Doesn't sound like he did. From what I read only the clutch cover was replaced and the clutch plate left in place.

The issue with the diag software is that the clutch needs to be balanced on the car if you go by the book, which can only be done with an SD3. Craig Waterman had his entire flywheel and clutch assembly dynamically balanced off the car and then fitted with no issues as I understand it and others have not bothered with it at all, which is a risky venture if there is a problem after reassembly. This leaves setting the PIS.

You need an SD3, an Autoenginuity scan tool with the right upgrades or a Leonardo tool to do this. You could trailer the car to a suitable specialist after fitting the clutch and it only takes a few minutes and some people have found their cars are drivable without setting up as the OP here has.

A place near me would do it for £30 but that's probably a bit of a schlep for you....

 

[CatmanV2]

A place near me would do it for £30 but that's probably a bit of a schlep for you....

Is there? What has he got?
C

 

[Zep]

Is there? What has he got?
C

An SD3. Literally 5 miles away.

 

[Wack61]

That's worth knowing , I'm originally from Kettering and still have family there

 

[CatmanV2]

That's worth knowing , I'm originally from Kettering and still have family there

£30 sounds like a steal as well!

C

 

[Zep]

£30 sounds like a steal as well!

C

It might have something to do with the money I have already spent with them! It takes about 10 minutes to set and then a spirited drive to check it will still select reverse when hot and off you go. He is also the nice chap who lent me the tool to do your oil pressure sender....

 

[CatmanV2]

It might have something to do with the money I have already spent with them! It takes about 10 minutes to set and then a spirited drive to check it will still select reverse when hot and off you go. He is also the nice chap who lent me the tool to do your oil pressure sender....

A prince amongst men!

C

 

[Migliore]

It's the electronics that are the problem, he only has a basic scanner, can get hold of the snap on kit easily enough but no use for a Maserati hence my interest in how Migliore's guy got round it

I get the chance to quiz him this after work today, I`d sent the links from Craig as to how he set his up, the whole clutch and flywheel was replaced and we talked briefly on the phone about PIS numbers and Craig`s post gave a rough guide and indication of which direction to go. I think my guy could see the number but when he drove the car it was not in sport mode and maybe he felt that surely that`s not right. The difference is quite marked a lot better. The service cannot have been the only contribution to the way the car seems to a lot more responsive.

The cold start is different though, a couple times now it has started without the flourish? The idle speed is smoothing out, after previous services they`d been no noticeable improvement only a dent in the credit card, I`d come to doubt the credentials of what was being done by someone with all the diagnostic tools. Having done more research I now know what to look for or ask about in terms of diagnostic equipment used.

I have seen on other websites mention of reverse engineered tools, the software would be over 10 years old now (pre-smart phones), it would not be unimaginable for the kit to be cheaply available if you knew what to look for without the Ferrari/Maserati mode,is that just code cracking to get around it?
The return of investment in future development of the software would that be worth it ?

 

[Migliore]

It would appear that the pressure plate/flywheel may not have been balanced, one side of it was significantly bent in than the other, so would it be fair to assume it was dragging and not freeing up the crank the rotate freely, Otis this the way all failed clutch assembles look.

 

[Zep]

It would appear that the pressure plate/flywheel may not have been balanced, one side of it was significantly bent in than the other, so would it be fair to assume it was dragging and not freeing up the crank the rotate freely, Otis this the way all failed clutch assembles look.

Do you mean the fingers for moving the diaphragm? In which case this is the spring tang failure. If doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't balanced, just that you were unlucky.

Was the new assembly balanced?

Regards the software, I doubt it would take someone a long time to find a way of getting into the protocol, however you would need a lot of confidence or a good insurance policy before letting it lose on customer cars. The potential market is limited and I think this is why there are so few alternatives and they are expensive. If only it were a VW, we could have full access for £150 but we would be bored to tears!

 

[Migliore]

Do you mean the fingers for moving the diaphragm? In which case this is the spring tang failure. If doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't balanced, just that you were unlucky.

Was the new assembly balanced?

Regards the software, I doubt it would take someone a long time to find a way of getting into the protocol, however you would need a lot of confidence or a good insurance policy before letting it lose on customer cars. The potential market is limited and I think this is why there are so few alternatives and they are expensive. If only it were a VW, we could have full access for £150 but we would be bored to tears!

The new assembly was balanced, I'm making the huge assumption to rationalise the failure and the totally different feel of the car down to some kind of drag from the clutch and flywheel as it was previously.
I've only ever driven the one car so my point of reference is limited.

What I was leading to with regards to the software, is that if it were cheap enough we have a diagnostic unit with the car and we then have more servicing options.