4200 Spyder broke down today, day one of 2 week hol. Any ideas why?

MattWill

MattWill

Junior Member
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67
Setting off today for the start of a 2 week driving tour of Scotland organised by the UK Maserati club and my 26,000 mile 2005 car stopped on the M1 After 4 hours driving. It’s been a hot day and we’d been crawling but the orange engine light came on, along with a message in red saying ‘Slow down’. Max speed we’d been doing was 80/85 and it came on while we we crawling off the slip road in a queue. All fluid levels look fine, no obvious sign of overheating.

i turned the engine back on, it sounded a bit rough. I put it into 1st (paddle shift) and the engine stalled. Tried it a couple more times and called for recovery.

i had noticed on the way up that the alternator was only charging at 11 volts or so. Jay, the excellent recovery man said it was common for failing alternators to trigger lights and other problems. He turned the engine on and this time it did go into gear and he could drive onto the low loader but it was in limp mode with only four cylinders working.

I found a Maserati specialist nearby so the car is there tonight and hoping he might find a fix tomorrow so we can carry on…

Anyone have any ideas what the problem is and, if it is the alternator, is there any way of getting one quickly - hoping it’s out of Fiat 500 or something!
 
Zep

Zep

Moderator
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9,285
The slow down light is, to my understanding, lambda related. Hopefully you haven’t had your cats breaking up.

Your AA guy is right though. A failing alternator can throw up all sorts of odd behaviour, so hopefully it’s that.
 
RoaryRati

RoaryRati

Member
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1,630
good luck - you have my utmost sympathy as the same happened to us on an SM trip - the SM mob were brilliant so we continued in a hire car - mine is also a Spyder
 
conaero

conaero

Forum Owner
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34,631
Cat overheat or oil too hot. First thing to check is that the engine belly heat shield is present as if not the engine superheats the oil lines to the oil tank and triggers the Slow Down light.
 
Scaf

Scaf

Member
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6,585
Sorry to hear of your troubles and so frustrating for it to happen during planned road trip.

I have no mechanical knowledge to offer, just sympathy and hope you get it sorted.

A bit of luck that you were close to a Maserati Specialist, lets hope they can get you on the road today.
 
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MattWill

MattWill

Junior Member
Messages
67
Thanks everyone. Sam at Stradale Italia in Uttoxeter says the smell of unburnt petrol and limp mode suggests a coil has gone. Will do full check on Tuesday but game over for our maser trip!
We’re on our way back south to pick up our old merc for our Maserati tour. Got to get up to Yorkshire tonight. 15 old masers and a Merc (like Top Gear tours being followed by a Dacia Duster!)
 
2b1ask1

2b1ask1

Special case
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20,275
MattWill said:
Thanks everyone. Sam at Stradale Italia in Uttoxeter says the smell of unburnt petrol and limp mode suggests a coil has gone. Will do full check on Tuesday but game over for our maser trip!
We’re on our way back south to pick up our old merc for our Maserati tour. Got to get up to Yorkshire tonight. 15 old masers and a Merc (like Top Gear tours being followed by a Dacia Duster!)
Click to expand...

Been there, done that and got the Chinese MG badge…

Hope it is a quick fix, daft place for the alternator in the middle of the V in all that heat!
 
P

Potakas

Member
Messages
86
Must be related to the injection system, meaning too much fuel coming into the cylinders and that overheats the cats.
 
BennyD

BennyD

Sea Urchin Pate
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15,006
Don’t worry about it, they all do that Sir. My Spyder has overcharged to the point of exploding the battery (at Le Mans), left me stranded with a major gearbox problem (at the start of the Route Napoleon), gave me an alternator fire (at a Prom delivery evening), and gave me an interesting drive back from the Mont Blanc tunnel with its rear end dragging on the floor (thanks Hodroyd). The Italians call it character, everyone else calls it unreliability. Whatever the bloody thing throws at you, be there and cope.
 
BennyD

BennyD

Sea Urchin Pate
Messages
15,006
MattWill said:
Setting off today for the start of a 2 week driving tour of Scotland organised by the UK Maserati club and my 26,000 mile 2005 car stopped on the M1 After 4 hours driving. It’s been a hot day and we’d been crawling but the orange engine light came on, along with a message in red saying ‘Slow down’. Max speed we’d been doing was 80/85 and it came on while we we crawling off the slip road in a queue. All fluid levels look fine, no obvious sign of overheating.

i turned the engine back on, it sounded a bit rough. I put it into 1st (paddle shift) and the engine stalled. Tried it a couple more times and called for recovery.

i had noticed on the way up that the alternator was only charging at 11 volts or so. Jay, the excellent recovery man said it was common for failing alternators to trigger lights and other problems. He turned the engine on and this time it did go into gear and he could drive onto the low loader but it was in limp mode with only four cylinders working.

I found a Maserati specialist nearby so the car is there tonight and hoping he might find a fix tomorrow so we can carry on…

Anyone have any ideas what the problem is and, if it is the alternator, is there any way of getting one quickly - hoping it’s out of Fiat 500 or something!
Click to expand...
Sadly, and I know this from bitter experience, it’s not. My advice, is DO NOT get yours repaired, just accept that you will have to buy a new one. So turn round, take up a comfortable braced position and await the supplier to mount you from behind, roughly and without lube. When he’s finished with you, pick up said life spoiler, mumble your thanks and leave as quickly as your cotton-like legs can carry you. I suggest you source your new one yourself, just in case the chosen repairers add on a percentage and finishes off what scraps the supplier left. I’ve been there, and it still stings. Good luck.
 
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