Maserati cylinder head problems

[jeff1234]

Has anyone heard anything about the TC Maserati cylinder heads cracking?

[4 l-bodies]

Jeff, They can crack between valves like the swirls. Like the swirl, usually this doesn't effect anything except obviously have less press on the seat. Also like the swirls, I imagine once in a while the crack could continue on the other side of the seat and can eventually find water. These can be repaired. Overheat any cylinder head and bad things will happen. The exhaust guides and exhaust valves have been known to fail on these cylinder heads, resulting in large leak down due to valve not closing. What is the issue?
Todd

[jeff1234]

Hello Todd, I am looking at buying an 89 TC Maserati, owner claims that the head gasket has a crack causing an exhaust bubble somewhere in cooling system. He claims to drive it everyday 25 miles each way and thata it doesnt affect anything. Im thinking that head gaskets dont crack and there is a more serious problem. Anything else to watch out for in these cars?

[martin kolner]

you can get lots of answers here too........

http://forums.aaca.org/forum/39-chry...c-by-maserati/


plenty of 16 valve owners there

[jeff1234]

Thanks Todd. Some parts like the headlamps are very expensive. Even at $500.00 could be a bad deal.

[Reaper1]

Martin is correct, the resource he's given is a very good one. There are several very knowledgeable people about the Masi's there.

Todd is correct in that the exhaust valves and guides are known to be of lackluster quality (although I just took apart my 135,000 mile head and none of the valves have any run-out that I could see).

They *can* crack, but I own 3 (2 of which were beat pretty bad due to negligence) and have seen quite few others and none of those were cracked.

The headgasket is unique to the Masi and only MLS or modified aftermarket are the choices.

There are some parts for the cars themselves that can be expensive or hard to find, but people in the TC community are usually pretty helpful. For the Masi engine itself...it is *totally* unique (for all intents and purposes). Only main bearings and a few gaskets and seals interchange.

[2.216VTurbo]

If you specified I didn't see it Jeff, is this a 5 speed TC or an auto? If auto the cylinder head *IS* a swirl head so subject to same wear and tear rate. If its a 5 speed car then the head as you know is very different, I've had a few of these and never seen one crack. As far as the head gasket weeping a bit, in my experience they don't seem to fail as much as the 8V motors but I'm sure it's possible. What's the color combo? Careful tho, if this is your first TC and you thinking it's like every other TM, it's not. TC Masi's are their own breed subject to their own challenges. Good news is, they have plenty of their own charms too. I bought my first TC to harvest the drivetrain out of, 400 miles later after getting the car home I knew I wanted to keep it intact and drive it-a lot I'm 6 TC Masi's later...

[johnl]

When mine overheated it warped but didn't crack.

[jeff1234]

Well, it turned out that there were a raft of turbo mopar fans who were there ahead of me. I'm sure it's gone and I let the seller know I was out. Under the hood the car was pretty chopped up, although I only saw pictures. I had really been set to buy it but the posts I read indicated that numerous buyers were out to dismantle the car for parts. I sure appreciate the input that will be helpful if I run across another. I feel these cars will have value in the future plus they are very cool.

[2.216VTurbo]

The one that got away then. Is it too much to ask to answer my question since I chimed in a tried to help you? How many valves Yo? Color combo?

[wheming]

That one from FB was an 8v auto.
Honestly that was way worth the $500, as that car could have been parted for thousands.
But even with needing a rebuild for the head or headgasket, i think it was a good deal. Had i been closer i would have grabbed it to resell after fixing.

[jeff1234]

2.2, sorry. I overlooked that question. It was red with tan or buckskin interior with silver wheels. The AC was gone. Other than that it looked pretty clean. The owner said it it had one small rust spot but this is wisconsin so who knows how deep that went. Again my apologies for the late answer.

[2.216VTurbo]

Gotcha, the pool of TC's is getting smaller and smaller. Fotunately some gearheads from this community have gotten their grimy mitts on them