GTS engine catastrophe

Absolutely gutted for you Sam.

Seems pretty odd and obviously the net result for you is rather terrible.

Sorry to hear this, it’s really rare and it seems you are in the correct hands. Hope you find the replacement soon.

This is just awful news for you. If it was my car I'd be angry, gutted and ranting to whoever would stand still for long enough, so hats off to you for remaining so philosophical (at least in public!). Hope Matt and Co can get it sorted asap.

Gutted for you mate.

What a horrible situation. As lots of people have said, you are with the right people to get you back on the road for the best value.

Sorry for not responding earlier or to each recent message individually, I've been sharing a bottle of gin with the wife and watching two episodes of 'Normal People' - unfortunately not the sexiest ones but at least diverting. I'll certainly go through the messages tomorrow. Anyway, thank you to everyone for expressing concern, and for the great deal of sympathy in your messages. I appreciate it and I know it is heartfelt - what has happened is, as I think I said in the first post in the thread, the ultimate nightmare for those of us for whom a Maserati is a dream machine and the finances are not unlimited. When I bought the (2011) car in 2017 I inquired about an extended warranty and was told it would cost about £3500 a year but would have strict limitations. I guess I might have taken the hint and walked away at that point and bought a BMW. But I've had a few of those, and Porsches and Mercedes, and those wouldn't have hit the spot, as you all know. There's always a risk with any used car, regardless of full service history, but the stakes are higher in this rarified world. What happened to the engine is clearly unusual and at present the reasons for the presence of sealant etc are a mystery. So I thank you all for your very constructive thoughts and suggestions, and for not suggesting we put a diesel engine in there, or a small block Chevy, or a Tesla electric motor. I'm sure we'll find a superb Maserati 4.7. Seriously, I am most grateful to Matt and Ashley for their very simpatico advice, expertise and guidance - as others have said, I know the car is in the best possible hands.

Sad news but perhaps an opportunity...how about a Novitec supercharger on the new engine? Might as well do it in style!

Joking aside, it’s very rare and very unfortunate to have such a catastrophic issue. I’m sure Matt and Ashley will look after you.

I know that Porsche 911 gen 1 997 have engine issues that Harlech have solved with a rebuild, new liners etc. I wonder if calling them is worth a shot? I suspect that a good 2nd hand engine is better value but you never know, maybe they will fancy a challenge!

Otherwise you could follow the Overhaulin’ lead and drop in a crate LS2 and go full red neck. Ain’t no replacement for displacement. (Except lighter weight, better suspension, better braking.....)

Itare Sam said:

That's a heart-warming story for sure. I had an Audi cambelt go once - I was surprised when the Audi dealership said 'no charge' because even though the car had done about 70k miles it had a full service history with correct cambelt changes so Audi picked up the £1200 bill. Worth a try with Maserati I guess - thanks for the suggestion.

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I had the same with my first alfa 156 owned from new full service history. Cam belt failed at 68k. Scheduled change was 70k at the next service.

Top end rebuild 8 valves crushed. They took some persuading but in the end covered £1500 out of the £1550 bill.

The dealership covered the £50 when i pointed out that the car came from them and if they wanted to continue to service it then i was not paying a penny.

Zero bill 10 minutes later.

Sam gutted for you. Hopefully Matt and co can find a suitable replacement engine.

Good luck and best wishes for a speedy result.

Appalling luck, once its all resolved lets hope you have the Maserati experience you dreamed of.

Terrible news and probably the worse thing that can happen to any car but especially a Maserati.

It's done do just have to move on hopefully Matt can find a solution, he often comes up with something.

spkennyuk said:

I had the same with my first alfa 156 owned from new full service history. Cam belt failed at 68k. Scheduled change was 70k at the next service.

Top end rebuild 8 valves crushed. They took some persuading but in the end covered £1500 out of the £1550 bill.

The dealership covered the £50 when i pointed out that the car came from them and if they wanted to continue to service it then i was not paying a penny.

Zero bill 10 minutes later.

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I had exactly the same happen to me on a 1998 156 2.0 twin sparkat the same sort of mileage. Again, Alfa picked up the bill as FSH and belt failed before it was due to be replaced.

lozcb said:

Certainly is , each cylinder has a tiny oil feeder tube probably internal diameter about 2mm max , it would only take a small amount of sealant to block an oil feeder , and then another and so on ...............................im shocked and gutted for you mate because there are probably more of these feeders around the engine , almost wants one to be present to inspect the oil when its changed on service at the dealers

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that is scary. makes me wonder why blockage and therefore catastrophe doesn't happen more often?

allandwf said:

Sorry to read this. Hope for a good ending whatever you decide, or what happens.

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thank you

Mr S said:

No doubt that Matt and Ashley will get it sorted ASAP for you, though I do feel your pain having been there. At least you are now in good hands.

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thank you - yes definitely in the right place - I dread to think where I'd be now if it had gone to a main dealer.

Over the years having serviced and repaired many cars over 42 years I'm against long life servicing and oil and filters should be done annually especially as the cost is minimal.
I'm also in the camp of using a good flush and injection system cleaner problem is many are just rubbish.
Some like Wynn's have been around for many years and cater for the Proffesional trade.

Absolutely gutted to hear this, that is awful news. Briefly mentioned earlier that I had similar happen to a 996 engine and recently had to undertake a full rebuild on the Ferrari 360 due to monkey incompetence so I can sympathise totally and know what you’re going through.
You‘re in good hands and I’m sure a fix will be worked out somehow in time.
Best of luck going forward with this.

Wack61 said:

I had an engine swapped in a transit van , they couldn't get hold of a gasket so they used sealant , only they blocked an oil journal with it , it lasted about 15 miles before it blew a pipe off and lost all the oil , by the time the low oil pressure light came on it was clanking , by the time I'd got to the hard shoulder it was toast.

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yikes. one strange thing about my car is that it did over 1000 miles after the last service before any worrying noises started.

allandwf said:

Sorry to read this. Hope for a good ending whatever you decide, or what happens.

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thank you - much appreciated

Itare Sam said:

yikes. one strange thing about my car is that it did over 1000 miles after the last service before any worrying noises started.

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Thinking outside of the box what oil was put in at that service as there are numerous specs for 5W40 and every other grade.
The wrong one can cause problems like the VW diesels with the injector wiring harness running along the inside off the cylinder head.
The wrong oil attacks the wiring causing misfires.