CODE system relay very hot

Swedish Paul

Member
Messages
1,807
Still having issues starting, nothing happens when cold. After 20 mins of trying to start, in fires into life. Just driven for 4 hours and the relay for the CODE system in the footwell is very hot to touch. Only supposed to carry 20A. Is this normal?
 

Swedish Paul

Member
Messages
1,807
Not just warm, it’s almost too hot to touch. Seems warmer than the rest. I presume the CODE relay is triggered when the immobilizer Is deactivated. Or should be. Or?
 

spn

Junior Member
Messages
88
Not sure how much current actually goes through that relay but if its fairly high (more than signal level) and the contacts are not very good (carbonised / pitted etc.) then that could explain the reluctance to start and the heat (due to the increased contact resistance).

Not saying this is the problem but worth checking.

Cheers,

Simon
 

Nikue

New Member
Messages
9
This is an immobiliser issue that occurs with older ECUs.

The only option is to have the ECU taken out , immobliser removed. I would recommend doing this soon. Worst case scenario is the heat from the relay will start an electric fire!

20 amp is not meant to make components very hot.
 

Swedish Paul

Member
Messages
1,807
Put in a new relay and it ran fine for a while. Talked to the Maserati guys and they think it’s the clutch ready for replacement . It’s been at 70-80% worn for the last few years and whilst the reading is not reliable, they think it’s the clutch position sensor. It can not detect the clutch position and so won’t ok to startup. Interestingly the paddles will select neutral, first, reverse etc, but the paddles work independently of the CPS hence why you can always select neutral. When it won’t start, the guy said leave it in first and push it. This can trigger the CPS to detect and it’s interesting that at times, selecting first, reverse with the paddles for a minute results in the car starting. They can reset the CPS, but if the clutch is too worn, it cannot figure where the clutch is anymore.

Also of interest is in Sweden, the recovery of a car to the Maserati dealer is only 130 pounds irrelevant of distance. We shall see.
 

Nikue

New Member
Messages
9
The immobiliser relay heating up is a total seperate issue to clutch position sensor. You would have an error code if the clutch positon sensor was faulty for sure. Ive known readings to have 94% percent worn and no clutch position sensor error message.

Many relays are failing on the Ferrari 360s 430s 456s and replacing the relay doesnt solve it permamently because multiple components around it are coming to end of life. You need an immobiler delete on the ECU to take the weakest components out of the chain of failing.

People offer virginising the ECU and then associating it with a new immobiliser. But then these components are now very expensive dealer prices and 2nd hand ones may fail again in a years time. Simplest and cheapest solution is to remove the immobiliser coding in the existing ECU and then no issue.

You should then install an insurance approved immobiliser after which can be done for little cost.
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,552
This seems somewhat extreme given that either here or on MasertiLife there have been precisely zero incidents of immobiliser failure in the manner you describe, and I've been reading them both every day for about 10 years.

C
 

Nikue

New Member
Messages
9
This seems somewhat extreme given that either here or on MasertiLife there have been precisely zero incidents of immobiliser failure in the manner you describe, and I've been reading them both every day for about 10 years.

C

Lets see what the result is from the replacement of clutch and position sensor. I am not of the opinion this is the cause of the problem because there is no error code for the CPS.

I was volunteering information to help the original poster and I thought bringing forward ideas and solutions are what these forums are about.

By all means, my friend, with your experience of reading these forums, I would be happy to learn what ideas you may have to resolve this issue.
 

Swedish Paul

Member
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1,807
I will butt in here. I am not sure they are connected. Investigating relays and fuses as to why the car wouldn’t start was why I found the relay hot after driving for 5 hours. What would be interesting to know is other 4200/GS owners can see the same thing. It is a really easy thing to do. Maybe the wider community here can contribute with their findings. If this is a potential problem, we should all know.
 

Swedish Paul

Member
Messages
1,807
And as the car will not start again without ‘tinkering’, I will check my ODB reader, although the Maserati guy told me he can only truly diagnose if the CPS is the issue when he can read it and it won’t actually start. Which may point to a non ODB reader plugin. And as an afterthought, he told me they don’t use SD3 any more. There’s a new tool.
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
Lets see what the result is from the replacement of clutch and position sensor. I am not of the opinion this is the cause of the problem because there is no error code for the CPS.

I was volunteering information to help the original poster and I thought bringing forward ideas and solutions are what these forums are about.

By all means, my friend, with your experience of reading these forums, I would be happy to learn what ideas you may have to resolve this issue.

And it is appreciated!

Knowing Catman well, I am completely sure he was making an observation rather than criticising your contribution.

As Swedish Paul says, it would be interesting to see if others with 4200/GS also have hot relays.
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,552
Cheers, Zep

No offence was intended. Replacing the CPS is going to be expensive, and certainly would not be something I'd undertake lightly with a very clear, logical route as to why it would be an issue.

All is good

C
 

Swedish Paul

Member
Messages
1,807
Replacing the CPS along with thrust bearings, bolts and clutch balancing is part of a clutch change as I have been advised. My car has done 35000 km now and is still on it’s first clutch, and knowing it was city driven (Stockholm) for a lot of its 29000 km might indicate it’s ready. It will be interesting to see the difference.
 

Nikue

New Member
Messages
9
Replacing the CPS along with thrust bearings, bolts and clutch balancing is part of a clutch change as I have been advised. My car has done 35000 km now and is still on it’s first clutch, and knowing it was city driven (Stockholm) for a lot of its 29000 km might indicate it’s ready. It will be interesting to see the difference.

Yes that would be an opportune time to change clutch as city driving is not kind on clutch.

Let us know how you get on with the difference. You could also get a slightly lighter flywheel which will help acceleration and clutch pedal weight. Or get a engineering company to drill holes in flywheel to reduce weight by 15-20%. Any more and then there is risk of flywheel rattle like race car. :)
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
Yes that would be an opportune time to change clutch as city driving is not kind on clutch.

Let us know how you get on with the difference. You could also get a slightly lighter flywheel which will help acceleration and clutch pedal weight. Or get a engineering company to drill holes in flywheel to reduce weight by 15-20%. Any more and then there is risk of flywheel rattle like race car. :)

I would urge some caution here. The Gransport flywheel is already lighter than a early 4200 version, plus a simple change of friction material in the clutch has been known to make it very difficult to set up the clutch on the CC gearbox. A different story on a manual car as the human left foot is a lot more adaptable.