28 Jan Spanner Works: JP du Plessis

A regular feature, outlining the activities of FMM’s workshop personnel who are responsible for repairing, renovating, refurbishing and restoring the museum’s large and varied collection of vehicles. This month, technician JP du Plessis reports on Donnie and a four-door…

After the controversial era of Citroën ownership of Maserati was over, the Italian marque’s Quattroporte III saloon was developed under the watchful eye of Alejandro De Tomaso. The Argentinian industrialist and former racing driver made sure that all of the Citroën-inspired aspects of the pre-production model were removed and replaced with more authentic Maserati designs before production began in 1979. This included the four-carburettor, quad-cam V8 engine designed for the Kyalami GT. The Quattroporte III was one of the last hand-built Italian cars and was in production until 1990.

The museum’s example is a 1984 model with the 3-speed automatic gearbox option, and while on a monthly test run, the car suddenly leaked transmission fluid. Upon further inspection, it was found that a hose to the gearbox cooler had popped off and leaked substantial amounts of ATF.

Donnie Tarentaal was entrusted to find what caused the problem. He drained all the old ATF, inspected the gearbox from underneath and cleaned the existing filter element so that the gearbox could be flushed while waiting for a new filter and gasket kit to arrive. The oil cooler was flushed out in the wash bay and a new gasket was made in the interim to make driving with the gearbox flush possible. Once back from the flush cycle, Donnie removed the original filter again, along with the inlet and outlet hoses from the cooler. These hoses were then sent away for new ones to be made up with stronger crimped fittings.

Once all the new parts arrived, Donnie reassembled and test drove the Quattroporte and all was in order.