4200 Cranks but no start...

[FL510]

Long time lurker and big thanks to the forum which has enabled me to do some big jobs on the car myself including clutch, radiator, fuel pumps etc

Few days ago my ‘02 4200 Cambiocorsa stalled at the lights, stuck in 1st gear...

Got it towed and of course Murphy’s law it was literally 1 street away from the MOT test centre I was on my way to....

Anyway back where I park the car, I pumped the brake pedal and got it into neutral and subsequently no issues selecting all gears etc, F1 pump primes normally. I’d replaced the brake switch about 12 months ago, gearbox and brake switch seem fine now.

However now I’m totally stumped as the engine cranks fine but won’t start, no warning lights, no red immobiliser light, no code lock icon, ran my foxwell code reader...nada

Fuel pump fuse is good, fuel pump relays good, tried the inertia switch its fine, also the fuel pumps are “new” replaced them in past 12 months.

There’s fuel in the rails but no pressure, haven’t got a coil tester but assume it’s in some sort of protection mode.

Was thinking once I’ve charged the battery up, over the weekend I could try;

starter fluid (see if it fires up momentarily)

plug in the foxwell while cranking see I can see any rpm in live data to know crank angle/speed sensor working

Maybe the ignition switch coil for the key is bad but would have thought I’d get an error light on gauge cluster

I’m running out of ideas and appreciate any insight or something obvious I’ve missed !


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[Wanderer]

Similar happened to me, North Strand, Dublin, literally the Main Street into the IFSC, at rush hour, dead embarrassing.

Sat at lights, revs died, cranked but wouldn't start. It was the engine speed sensor. Got at replaced at Ken Plant's in the Northside. No problems since.

 

[CatmanV2]

Battery reset first?

C

 

[FL510]

I’ll take a closer at that crank/speed sensor over weekend Wanderer, hopefully my obd reader can show live data while cranking but would have thought I’d get an error code for it. Thanks Catmanv2 tried the reset a few times but no luck.


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[maseratimike7]

I had the same issue with my GS, mine ended up being the alternator that prevented the car from firing.

You can check this by removing the relays in the foot well and bypass the starting system check.

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[FL510]

Thanks maseratimike7 will try that too


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[FL510]

Some progress, OBD2 reader with live data showed rpm while cranking so crank/speed sensor is good.
However while at passenger footwell changed micro relays C&D and thought I’d double check the fuses again and found #9 blown (+87 main relay for injectors/coils), pinched the same 15amp fuse from horn circuit and subsequently blew that one too so know I have a short somewhere to track down now, least getting closer a fix.


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[FL510]

Following on from yesterday, checked the coil/injector harnesses as have read the c clips can break allowing the wiring to rest on the exhaust but mine where fine and there was nothing obvious visually checking the wiring. Now feeling rather daunted with the thought of a hard to find chaffed wire somewhere I set about by doing the following;

I disconnected all the injectors and ignition coils and then connected them one by one checking #9 fuse each time with ignition on.

All the injectors where fine, wasn’t until I got to #1 ignition coil the fuse blew again, continued checking the remaining coils successfully. So # 1 ignition coil shorted.

I started the car up momentarily with #1 ignition coil disconnected, (started easily on 7 cylinders) so least I know the problem and need to replace that ignition coil, must have shorted internally as you can see the resin is starting to melt, anyway appreciate everyone’s input and will report back once new coil installed but suspect that it for now.

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[Zep]

Good, methodical fault finding. I imagine it is very satisfying.

 

[CatmanV2]

Nice work. Jolly well done

C

 

[philw696]

Well Done indeed.

 

[Wanderer]

Following on from yesterday, checked the coil/injector harnesses as have read the c clips can break allowing the wiring to rest on the exhaust but mine where fine and there was nothing obvious visually checking the wiring. Now feeling rather daunted with the thought of a hard to find chaffed wire somewhere I set about by doing the following;

I disconnected all the injectors and ignition coils and then connected them one by one checking #9 fuse each time with ignition on.

All the injectors where fine, wasn’t until I got to #1 ignition coil the fuse blew again, continued checking the remaining coils successfully. So # 1 ignition coil shorted.

I started the car up momentarily with #1 ignition coil disconnected, (started easily on 7 cylinders) so least I know the problem and need to replace that ignition coil, must have shorted internally as you can see the resin is starting to melt, anyway appreciate everyone’s input and will report back once new coil installed but suspect that it for now.

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Nice one! I had a coil melt the first journey in mine, only two melted full on and filled the cabin full of acrid smoke. Replaced under warranty....

 

[BennyD]

Just a thought; have you parked next to a 3200 recently?

 

[Wanderer]

Just a thought; have you parked next to a 3200 recently?

I had three warranty claims in first month, two coil packs failed at once, clutch position sensor in ASDA carpark, then engine speed sensor in Dublin's Main Street into town at rush hour. I felt like giving it back then. Since then (three years ago) been perfect. Car was a weekend car for previous owner, must have suffered. It's a DD for me and Ive had little trouble since.

 

[BennyD]

Maserati’s do not like being parked up. For the first 3 years I used mine a lot, c 10-12,000 miles a year, and it was almost always fault free. Since using it less I’ve had nothing but problems with it, alternator x 2, hood, gearbox actuator, cats, Etc, Etc. However, putting the boomerangs on it has completely f*cked it up, so much so I’m beginning to think it needs exorcising, not exercising.

 

[Vampyrebat]

Maserati’s do not like being parked up. For the first 3 years I used mine a lot, c 10-12,000 miles a year, and it was almost always fault free. Since using it less I’ve had nothing but problems with it, alternator x 2, hood, gearbox actuator, cats, Etc, Etc. However, putting the boomerangs on it has completely f*cked it up, so much so I’m beginning to think it needs exorcising, not exercising.

I have Prelude back lights and mine works just fine!

 

[Gazcw]

Great work!