Worrying sound on cold start

J

jamesbilluk

Junior Member
Messages
114
Hi all,

Ive noticed, now the weathers colder, when doing a cold start, theres a worrying sound coming from the engine bay, it only lasts for a few seconds, ten settles into a smooth idle. It doesn't do it when warm either, Ive recorded a short clip

[video=youtube;O1tj2Lr0A5s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1tj2Lr0A5s[/video]

James.
 
J

jamesbilluk

Junior Member
Messages
114
Many thanks for the replies, Ah, thats annoying! Ill get it booked into with my local specialist, will have to wait for a while though as were moving in to a new house...
 
D Walker

D Walker

Member
Messages
9,827
Was it a private buy? Otherwise if had less than 6 months you should be covered under warranty from dealer.
 
Ewan

Ewan

Member
Messages
6,812
The vairiator repair should be around the £3k mark inc VAT from a good specialist. But there's no need to panic or rush into this work. In discussions with specialists I'm led to believe it does no harm to the engine to have it like this for a while, and countless 2007/8/9 GranTurismos and QP's up and down the land are just like this. So while it'll need doing eventually, don't let the thought of it spoil your house move, Christmas, etc.
 
J

jamesbilluk

Junior Member
Messages
114
Hi Ewan,

Ouch! Certainly not cheap, which I had researched a bit more now. Thats goo that the car can still be driven though, was a bit concerned I would have to take it ASAP

James.
 
alfatwo

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
In the early days of the Alfa 156's, the then new veriator's only lasted a couple of years before they rattled there heads off

But none ever failed completely


Dave
 
MarkMas

MarkMas

Chief pedant
Messages
8,925
Yeah, I've had this with my QP about four times in the past six months, twice in the past two weeks. I'm just hoping it might go away; and assuming it is currently doing no harm.
 
alfatwo

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
I won't go away Mark, It just gets worse over time..

I dismantled one once to see what fails and causes the rattling.. its the worn internal clutch mechanism chattering before the oil pressure gets up and locks it into place


Dave
 
B

beau

Member
Messages
1,391
A lot variators on cars rattle on cold start up, i wouldn't worry too much, as long as it stops once oil pressure is there it will be fine
 
UlstermanAbroad

UlstermanAbroad

Member
Messages
1,687
Thanks for the audio clip James and commiserations. I've been reading about the dreaded variator issue since my first interest in buying a Maserati, but it's only now that I've heard exactly what it sounds like. You've done future first time buyers a great service and maybe this thread can be pinned somewhere or at least tagged with helpful search terms etc
 
Contigo

Contigo

Sponsor
Messages
18,376
Yep apparently on the 4.7's it's not an issue to leave it but with the 4.2's it can really affect the variable timing but I'm not sure I would want to leave them and test that theory!
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,786
Matthew told me that as it gets worse you run the risk of damaging the cats. You'll get CEL first though, I'd expect

C
 
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