Spot the grot
…where the Maestro moulders
a belt-driven overhead camshaft and redesigned head. The 2.0-litre engine used in fuel-injected form was the O-series, as seen in the Ital, Princess 2, SD1 2000 and Ambassador, while from 1990 there was a 2.0-litre diesel based on the O-series unit that was reliable but not very refined.
Cars with the A-series engine are still quite common – this well-known powerplant is tough but oil leaks are impossible to prevent. By the time 80,000 miles have been notched up expect some blue exhaust smoke from oil being burned, but a DIY rebuild is easy enough, and cheap at around £600 for the parts. The 1.6 and 2.0-litre engines are more durable, but even when the valve clearances are correctly adjusted can sound tappety– and adjustment requires shims and a special tool.
The 1.3, 1.6 and 2.0 SU carb-fed engines had an auto choke, which can be unreliable. A manual system was fitted to 1.3-litre cars from 1985. Rough or uneven running can be caused by split rubber vacuum hose connections, perished vacuum switch diaphragms, faulty overrun fuel cut-off switches (best left disconnected after ensuring the switch is open) and swollen fast idle stepper motor O-rings damaged by unleaded fuel. Unleaded-resistant rings are available cheaply from the owners’ club.
Oil leaks are par for the course, especially with the O-series engine. This weeps oil from the head
gasket near cylinder four and the distributor cap. Leaks from the lower part of the engine and transmission are common, but if things are really bad the crankshaft oil seal has probably failed. Replacement is involved and costly (typically £350 labour for the rear seal as the gearbox has to be removed). The 1.6 often leaks oil from the cam carrier gasket while both engines suffer from mayonnaise in the filler tubes due to condensation.
The 1.6 and 2.0-litre engines have a cam belt with a four years/48,000 miles replacement cycle; the 1.6-litre engine isn’t an interference fit, but the 2.0-litre unit is. If in doubt as to when the belt was last replaced just fit a new one to be sure – around £200 at a garage, but it’s a straightforward DIY job.
A four-speed manual gearbox was standard on the 1.3-litre engine, with a five-speed unit optional – this transmission was fitted to all but the first 1.6s, this bigger engine also being available with a Vw-sourced three-speed auto. Borrowed from the contemporary Golf, the gearbox came in two forms: regular or 3+E, the latter featuring a higher top gear to save fuel. There was also a 4+E box (optional in the 1.6L, standard on all other models) while MG editions used a close-ratio gearbox, borrowed from Honda after the 2.0-litre engine arrived in 1985. The gearchange on the Honda gearbox cars should be excellent and positive; on the VW box it can be vague and rubbery due to wear in the linkage ball-and-socket joints. Power goes to the front
wheels, so all Maestros feature CV joints, which are generally strong, with noises in that area often due to the front wheel bearings, which can wear quickly. The anti-roll bar bushes are another weak spot; the threaded mountings can break and replacements are now very hard to source.
Trim and electrics
Early Maestro cabins featured some low-grade materials put together without much care, but the quality improved as time went on. From 1986 the dash design was changed to the Montego style, eliminating some of the rattles and squeaks the earlier design was prone to, but this later dash is prone to cracking if exposure to sunlight takes its toll – the top of the rear seat back ages similarly badly. Rattles, squeaks and creaks aren’t unusual on Maestros of any vintage and trying to silence these can be a thankless task.
The trim itself tends to last well; some basic van versions were fitted with vinyl trim, but most Maestros got hard-wearing cloth upholstery. The poshest editions got leather for the seats, although the leather was low grade and prone to shrinkage and cracking. Watch out for a sagging headlining and don’t expect the carpets to be a perfect fit.
The electrics tend to give more problems, because of poor connections (especially within the fusebox), or component failure including relays. Engine bay electrics are a particularly common source of problems, with sensors failing, multi-plug connectors no longer connecting and the wiring loom chafing then wearing through. Pay particularly close attention to the multi-plug behind the windscreen washer as well as the condition of the ECU connector; both can degrade leading to poor connections followed by starting or running issues.
If the electric windows don’t work, it’s probably because the control module has failed – but replacement takes just a few minutes, as long as you’ve got a working part to fit. More of a problem is a heater motor that doesn’t work at all, or only on full speed. Fixing it means removing the dash, which you’ll also have to do to replace a leaking heater matrix. So in the case of the latter, keep an eye out for coolant leaks in the passenger footwell. Perhaps the trickiest parts to source are for the electronic dash – find a car with one that’s not working properly and you may just have to live with it.