Bought Lucia in April with assurance she was the best GT in western Canada! No prior inspection as she was a partial trade for heirloom antique car. What does everyone preach on this forum? GET A MECHANICAL INSPECTION! Did not happen. Had to have an out- of- province inspection. This is my tale . I am a Schoolbus driver/wannabe Ferrari mechanic. GT failed out of province inspection. Leaking valve cover gaskets,Maserati of Alberta gives me a break and with the help of Youtube Robert Spinner. I replace the gaskets. Hey, this is a great time to modify the Cam Cap Holders ! While waiting I paint the valve covers and change the differential fluid. Re- inspection time comes but M of A techicians half have CO-VID. postponed for two weeks. In the meantime, I do an oil change. Discover right bank gasket leaks ! Three days before reinspection. Redo right bank, but how much oil did I lose on my test drives? I add one litre but forget that I used oil for lube on the newly machined Cam Caps, So, I oil poisoned Lucia ! Fails 2nd inspection. Take Jason`s advice and soak up oil out of the plenum through the throttle body, drain oil a half litre at a time. This is my problem, my dip stick alway reads dry . I know it is a wet sump ZF tranny reading done engine off . oil filler loose, engine up to temperature, I have given up on readings from the dip stick. .but finally have it not going into the plenum. It is not affecting startups . Oh yes the MAF sensor is not working. My oil poisoning days are over.I relied on the oil pressure sensor . This does not make sense a reading taken on the level ground should show on the stick with a paper towel to indicate oil?
A sad tale of a 08 GT ownership with a happy ending [ I Hope]
MAT
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Bought Lucia in April with assurance she was the best GT in western Canada! No prior inspection as she was a partial trade for heirloom antique car. What does everyone preach on this forum? GET A MECHANICAL INSPECTION! Did not happen. Had to have an out- of- province inspection. This is my tale . I am a Schoolbus driver/wannabe Ferrari mechanic. GT failed out of province inspection. Leaking valve cover gaskets,Maserati of Alberta gives me a break and with the help of Youtube Robert Spinner. I replace the gaskets. Hey, this is a great time to modify the Cam Cap Holders ! While waiting I paint the valve covers and change the differential fluid. Re- inspection time comes but M of A techicians half have CO-VID. postponed for two weeks. In the meantime, I do an oil change. Discover right bank gasket leaks ! Three days before reinspection. Redo right bank, but how much oil did I lose on my test drives? I add one litre but forget that I used oil for lube on the newly machined Cam Caps, So, I oil poisoned Lucia ! Fails 2nd inspection. Take Jason`s advice and soak up oil out of the plenum through the throttle body, drain oil a half litre at a time. This is my problem, my dip stick alway reads dry . I know it is a wet sump ZF tranny reading done engine off . oil filler loose, engine up to temperature, I have given up on readings from the dip stick. .but finally have it not going into the plenum. It is not affecting startups . Oh yes the MAF sensor is not working. My oil poisoning days are over.I relied on the oil pressure sensor . This does not make sense a reading taken on the level ground should show on the stick with a paper towel to indicate oil?
My car is dry-sump, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I would be wary of running any wet-sump engine without oil showing on the dipstick. As a last resort to getting the problem resolved, I would drain all the oil out, leave the filter in place, and replace the oil with a measured quantity, less 1/2 quart. Then you know you have an adequate amount to run the engine. Just a guess, but has someone put the wrong dip in it? Good luck.
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+1...Drain all the oil and start over..J
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Oddly enough my valve covers leaked a little bit, worse in the cold. Now it’s summer time and they don’t leak at all. Go figure.
😆. And cold water .
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indeed!😆. And cold water .
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It is funny how Maserati of Alberta found my valve cover gaskets sweating oil and would not pass the out- of- province inspection, however if it did pass I would never have due diligence to fix the variator lubrication problem or the lack of it.
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Well I brought in the car from Quebec last fall and shopped around for a shop that would do an out of province inspection. Found one in Edmonton that was going to do it for about $140 if I remember correctly and told me it was going to be about 4 hours. I was a bit surprised when they said 4 hours because who would do all that work for $140? Not having planned ahead I said I would wait. Inspection was done in a bit over an hour and passed all the required checks - imagine that. Out of province inspections are all bullshit - they will fail your car for having a chipped windscreen but everyone else gets to drive with the entire car ducked taped to death. My advice is - play their game and beat them at it.
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There isn't enough shit on a car to charge 4 hours labor honestly...It is a car...Not a rocket ship...Jason
I ended up going to Canuck tire for it to pass the inspection, The only reason I went to the dealer was a brand new keyfob came with the car. Which had to be programmed. It passed the out-of -province in Saskatchewan with leaky VC and no daytime running lights[ told to drive with headlights on].But I understand the integrity of Maserati of Alberta not passing it for a CEL. The reason CT passed it was the CEL has no safety issues pertaining to a non- functioning MAF sensor . The dealer was good to point out the issues such as good tire brand to buy and how to resolve the oil poisoning. They gave a semi retired School bus driver/ wannabe Ferrari mechanic a break . Were happy to sell me the parts and research torque secs for doing my own labour, which I will reward them for annual 4 wheel alignments.
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We have quite a few members on the Porsche forum who live in various EU countries, and when I read some of the regulations there , it makes California’ s restrictive rules seem like ...well, Georgia . This is too much to read ( link ) but just a few lines will give you an idea of how onerous the inspections can be.. key note; random road inspections where you‘re pulled over and your car pretty much anally probed . And those no advance warning stops do happen !
. This is too much to read ( link ) but just a few lines will give you an idea of how onerous the inspections can be.. key note; random road inspections where you‘re pulled over and your car pretty much anally probed . And those no advance warning stops do happen !When in college (the 1970s) I had a buddy from Germany whose BMW failed the rear axle x-ray due to cracks. They are serious over there about cars being mechanically sound, especially at >130mph. Sorry, Jason, but USA states are too lax and there are many death traps driving I95 through Hotlanta. Bald tires, bad brakes, bouncy shocks -- and the car they hit with their $100 beater would be one of our Maseratis.
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I'm not disputing that in the least..They let anything on the road in Atlanta...I try to avoid all the POS cars myself...Jason
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