Need help and advice

highlander

Member
Messages
5,214
A bit of history first.
Some may remember that in the summer I had a total gearbox failure which PK fitted a 2nd hand box to fix. Now just before that, she was giving me problems with not starting if I tried when the fan was on just after turning her off. I had also noticed I occasionally got a CEL and NO ASR warnings but since I got her back from PK this got a lot worse. within 20 min of switching her on I get The CEL, NO ASR and a SLOW DOWN warning and if I didn't switch her off, she would cut out. The drive back from PK in sept was long and eventful to say the least with having to stop every few miles before starting her again after a few minutes.
Given the coffers were empty from doing the gearbox I decided to sorn and store her till spring when I would then get her trailered down to have this looked at. All was going fine starting her up and letting her tick over monthly for 20 min till today. Within 10 min she had cut out and would not start with the CEL, SLOW DOWN, NO ASR, KEY LOCK AND RCY lit up. I disconnected the battery and it cleared everything and she started but within 30 secs all the same lights were on and she cut out again with the fan staying on. Disconnected battery again and left her for 30 min. Connected her up again and got her started and backed into the garage just before she cut out again with the fan still on and all the same lifts on except the KEY LOCK one.
spoke to PK in September when I eventually got home and Phil thinks it is the ECU failing and needing replaced.......... and 30 min later, fan was still on so I Have disconnected and just left her that way for the moment. Temp is fine so guessing there is a misread somewhere telling the ECU to put fan on.
Any insight appreciated.
 

davy83

Member
Messages
2,809
**** Greg that sounds awful. I presume this all happened after the gearbox replacement? It was the right gearbox? :) Its quite a list and it suggests the problem is not these individual errors but some more general problem like the ECU failing, or the battery is not good? Are you keeping the battery topped up? Have you checked the big connector on the ECU has not been disturbed maybe? it might make everything fail at the same time? Is it possible there is a wire trapped or caught during the gearbox replacement that is causing shorts to the power, or some other similar problem? Hard to know where to start here dude!
 

Ewan

Member
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6,756
Well, at least it's the right time of year for your 3200 dash to light up like a Christmas tree!
 

allandwf

Member
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10,958
Oh no, sounds a lot worse than it probably/hopefully is. Do you know what triggers the CEL? Maybe just check all the connectors you can find and get to for water/corrosion?
 

highlander

Member
Messages
5,214
**** Greg that sounds awful. I presume this all happened after the gearbox replacement? It was the right gearbox? :) Its quite a list and it suggests the problem is not these individual errors but some more general problem like the ECU failing, or the battery is not good? Are you keeping the battery topped up? Have you checked the big connector on the ECU has not been disturbed maybe? it might make everything fail at the same time? Is it possible there is a wire trapped or caught during the gearbox replacement that is causing shorts to the power, or some other similar problem? Hard to know where to start here dude!
It got worse after I picked her up from PK, but tend to agree with Phil that this deterioration is probably linked to the ECU failing.
 

MRichards

Member
Messages
278
I hope this is helpful. The fan problem tells me there is a wiring short somewhere. Fitting a gearbox you can inadvertently crush some wiring causing a short.
The multiple error lights suggests to me you may have an immobiliser fault which is shutting off the ignition. In my experience there can be faulty wiring connections to the immobiliser.
I'd suggest you hire the best auto electrician knowledgeable about Maserati that you can afford.
 

highlander

Member
Messages
5,214
I hope this is helpful. The fan problem tells me there is a wiring short somewhere. Fitting a gearbox you can inadvertently crush some wiring causing a short.
The multiple error lights suggests to me you may have an immobiliser fault which is shutting off the ignition. In my experience there can be faulty wiring connections to the immobiliser.
I'd suggest you hire the best auto electrician knowledgeable about Maserati that you can afford.
Thanks, but finding an autoelictrician that knows masers easier said than done 30 miles north of Inverness! Actually have considered this but given some of the issues happened before the gearbox change I'm not convinced the gearbox change is more than a coincidence.......
 

philw696

Member
Messages
25,113
Sorry to be reading this Greg.
As a skilled Technician myself I can't believe its been fitted wrong and I have only ever heard good things about PK.
I'm sure they would have thoroughly road tested your car and scanned it before you taking her away.
I hope you informed him as soon as you could of the issues.
 

highlander

Member
Messages
5,214
One way to find out Greg. Borrow an ECU.

You know what I think.

If you know where I can get one and fitted, point me......and yes, I know.

Sorry to be reading this Greg.
As a skilled Technician myself I can't believe its been fitted wrong and I have only ever heard good things about PK.
I'm sure they would have thoroughly road tested your car and scanned it before you taking her away.
I hope you informed him as soon as you could of the issues.

Spoke to him the same day i picked her up in sept Phil.......was just the other side of the forth road bridge at the time, 20 miles from PK and nearly 200 from home, and on the white lines with a bridge breakdown truck haunting me. Honestly not really convinced anything happened when gearbox changed, given stated issues before, this seems like a deterioration issue probably. Only question for PK is why this deterioration was not picked up before I picked her up, so to speak, especially given nearly 2k of the nearly 5k bill was work on the named problem.
 

outrun

Member
Messages
5,017
Are they straight swaps? I'd ask the fellow northern owners if they are. Otherwise, pointing to an electrical issue seems common sense and worth trying. I'm sure there are good auto electricians in Glasgow, you could trailer it down here? Happy to have her in my driveway as a base for the work if you need.

I can ask around if you like. Have you got a trailer?
 

Twinturbo

Junior Member
Messages
101
If it got worse after the swap it stands to reason something was disturbed during it look for the logical solutions before jumping to more unlikely ones, check all earth, connections and voltage is all in good shape reset ecu and pray on the next drive best of luck
 

voicey

Member
Messages
660
There's a little connector down by the RHS front shock top mount - it is the wiring between the ECU and the fuse board for the fan control. When the fan is running unexpectedly, disconnect it and see if the fan stops. If it does then it'll be the ECU commanding the fan to run, if not then you have a wiring fault downstream of this connector.

I think the connector is light in colour but it's been a while since I've been in there and don't have a 3200 to hand to check.
 

Contigo

Sponsor
Messages
18,376
Blimey Greg sorry to hear that and I thought my 3200 ownership was fraught with issues! :(

Some great suggestions on here to try so I have nothing to add at all. I remember the wiring which Voicey elude's to above so well worth a check.
 

Andy Marshall

Member
Messages
297
I read somewhere that the SLOW DOWN warning light is triggered by the cats overheating. Is it possible that something is faulty around the cat/lamda sensor wiring? If the car thinks it's too hot it might explain why the fan is coming on - even if the car is not hot. It certainly sounds like some sort of electrical connector issue - or is it possible one of the cats has collapsed?

Just a thought.

Hope its an easy fix for Xmas!
 

madmanmart

Member
Messages
377
I read somewhere that the SLOW DOWN warning light is triggered by the cats overheating. Is it possible that something is faulty around the cat/lamda sensor wiring? If the car thinks it's too hot it might explain why the fan is coming on - even if the car is not hot. It certainly sounds like some sort of electrical connector issue - or is it possible one of the cats has collapsed?

Just a thought.

Hope its an easy fix for Xmas!

That’s a good shout, check the thermocouple on the exhaust. The exhaust would of been removed to access the gearbox.
 

highlander

Member
Messages
5,214
Thanks everyone for input. Even though I'm pretty inept with car maintenance, I'll give some of these checks a crack in the new year.
Athol, if you know a good autoelictrician down your way let me know and I might just take you up on the offer of free parking ;)
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
Even with what every one says it must have be something that PK disturbed when they changed the gearbox

The onus is on them to sort it out and divvy up accordantly.

Small claims.. They'll just blag it if you don't insist!

Dave
 

Rex B

Member
Messages
657
I would check the battery and that the alternator is charging at around 14.2 volts. I think there was a case on this forum recently where a member with a 4200was having similar problems and his were eventually traced to a faulty alternator.


Rex B
Manual 3200