GranSport (Fuji White) Running report

[Wattie]

One of the best threads on here.
Sorry to hear about your problems with the GT.

 

[CJ Romeo]

Nice job Chris, still looking super clean.

 

[Chris155]

Nice job Chris, still looking super clean.

Thanks CJ, nice to see you're still lurking on the forums.

 

[CJ Romeo]

Thanks CJ, nice to see you're still lurking on the forums.

Oh yeah, here and there, this daft name only gets changed if I’ve been barred!

 

[Chris155]

As you might be able to tell, I have a new camera lens. I've been using a Canon 50mm F1.8, one of the really cheap ones but it has served me well. Until dropped it. Again. This time it was terminal. And a replacement was required. I found cheap F1.4 50 on eBay. It just needed a quick clean as it has some dust in it...

IMG_8481 by Chris Upton, on Flickr

Which is why most of the pics below have a really shallow depth of field - I was mostly shooting at f1.4, just to get a feel for the lens. They're not the best photos I've taken. The depth of field is difficult to manage at 1.4, mainly because I was shooting subjects up close.

Anyway. Back to the Maserfarti...

2 simple jobs. The air con was broken and the parking sensors weren't working properly.

I'll start with the air con. The problem with this was fairly obvious. The car's outside temp reading, which is displayed in the instrument cluster, was all over the place from -40 deg c to around +5 indicating a problem with the temp sender which is housed in the driver's door mirror.

IMG_3914 by Zombie, on Flickr

Or course, removing the door mirror requires removing the door card. again. Frankly, I'm getting fed up with taking the door cards off cars at the moment.

IMG_3915 by Zombie, on Flickr

IMG_3929 by Zombie, on Flickr

Of course, with the mirror off, the simple job escalated. It turned out that the mechanic that adjusts the mirror angle (they're electrically adjustable, heated and folding) was broken.

IMG_3934 by Zombie, on Flickr

You'll have to play spot the difference here. There's 2 motors with integrated reduction gearboxes that move the mirror glass in the X and Y planes:

IMG_3944 by Zombie, on Flickr


They operate on racks with ball joints that snap into black donut that retains the glass. The ball joints had snapped off but the mirror would still move. Which is why I hadn't noticed there was a problem with it.

Broken mechanism;

IMG_3937 by Zombie, on Flickr

IMG_3938 by Zombie, on Flickr

And this is what it is supposed to look like:

IMG_3936 by Zombie, on Flickr

Obviously we found a solution in that the door mirror is shared with an Alfa 166 but the electric folding mechanism is not common on 166s. In addition the wiring to the motors is not the same as the spare door mirrors we did have. So fixing this was quite involved. But it is fixed.

Replacing the temp sender was straight forward:

IMG_3950 by Chris Upton, on Flickr

IMG_3946 by Zombie, on Flickr

Obviously, all the bits removed were cleaned up before being refitted as well.


2nd Job. Parking sensors. We ken that one sensor wasn't working properly and that this wa causing the system to intermittently think there was an object within the minimum distance.

Therefore replacement required. Another simple task, except for the fact the rear bumper needs to come off. Which means dismantling the boot. Again.

IMG_3910 by Zombie, on Flickr

IMG_3942 by Zombie, on Flickr

IMG_3961 by Zombie, on Flickr

predictable, it kept raining as soon as significant amount of parts accumulated on the drive necessitating everything to be gently placed back into the boot about 10 times over...

IMG_3953 by Zombie, on Flickr

My Dad and I have had this job mapped out for some time. New parking sensor acquired. Painted. Wiring identified and accounted for.

Sensor changed... Bumper about to go back on, but not before a quick clean;

IMG_3958 by Zombie, on Flickr

IMG_3957 by Zombie, on Flickr

 

[Chris155]

And I looked at the wiring harness from the sensors going back into the car...

IMG_3964 by Chris Upton, on Flickr

Oh. Right. That'll be the problem then...

It had been hanging too low and melted on the exhaust.

I think I'm going to have to take the credit for this fault. Its appears that i didn't pull the wiring harness back into the car after we last had the bumper off. Not a problem though. It just need the damaged section cut out and re connected:

IMG_3970 by Zombie, on Flickr

IMG_3973 by Zombie, on Flickr


With that fixed, the diffuser had a clean along with the bumper and we put it all back together.

IMG_8820 by Zombie, on Flickr

IMG_3977 by Zombie, on Flickr

As a final point, whilst I was yet gain refitting the boot carpets, I did wonder how many 4200's still have their original POS toolkit? I can testify that it is unbranded cheap and nasty rubbish.

IMG_8819 by Zombie, on Flickr

 

[philw696]

Great write up and attention to detail again.
Totally agree on the toolkit but I always carry my own comprehensive kit with me as a mechanic it's just a habit I have.

 

[Gooner]

Thanks for the write up. I still have my original Spyder toolkit. I can testify that the big allen key for the manual roof opening procedure has worked well on several occasions…

 

[RoaryRati]

My car too suffered a 'fever' with the external temperature reader all over the place - the temp sender was fine - I think the issue was some loose wires and possibly the HVAC

 

[dgmx5]

@Chris155 you continue to do a great job on this car. What a custodian you and your dad are.

 

[Chris155]

Thread Update - Sold the car.

I advertised it on PH and PH only thinking it probably wouldn't sell as it wouldn't get much exposure. I did price it to sell though - I've lost money over what I paid for it but not by a large amount.

Truth is, I didn't want to sell it.

I anticipate that it's new owner, Nick, will keep the thread updated as he has joined the forum.

Unfortunately, the car didn't get Nick Home. Obviously, I was both disappointed and concerned that this had happened.

When I spoke with Nick at the time he explained where it had broken down and it sounded to be significantly sub optimal.

Initially, through phone calls / texts we thought the gearbox pump relay may have failed. But Nick was able to verify that this was working so we think its the pump.

Whilst the sale included some spares, my plan was to sell the pump separately. But, given the current situation, I've given it to Nick and I think we're both hoping it solves the problem.

I just wish it had happened in my ownership rather than leaving a new owner stranded.

 

[Wattie]

Thread Update - Sold the car.

I advertised it on PH and PH only thinking it probably wouldn't sell as it wouldn't get much exposure. I did price it to sell though - I've lost money over what I paid for it but not by a large amount.

Truth is, I didn't want to sell it.

I anticipate that it's new owner, Nick, will keep the thread updated as he has joined the forum.

Unfortunately, the car didn't get Nick Home. Obviously, I was both disappointed and concerned that this had happened.

When I spoke with Nick at the time he explained where it had broken down and it sounded to be significantly sub optimal.

Initially, through phone calls / texts we thought the gearbox pump relay may have failed. But Nick was able to verify that this was working so we think its the pump.

Whilst the sale included some spares, my plan was to sell the pump separately. But, given the current situation, I've given it to Nick and I think we're both hoping it solves the problem.

I just wish it had happened in my ownership rather than leaving a new owner stranded.

Hopefully Nick has read this thread in which case he’ll know how much time and effort you’ve put into trying to bring this car back to its finest.
Things like this happen and it’s to your credit that you’ve acted accordingly.
Fingers crossed, but don’t feel guilty.

 

[philw696]

Second that the hours you and your father spent getting the car up to scratch is a big crédit to you.

 

[CJ Romeo]

Oh dear, still he has a bargain and loads of jobs done that most on the market will be hiding

 

[spkennyuk]

Thread Update - Sold the car.

I advertised it on PH and PH only thinking it probably wouldn't sell as it wouldn't get much exposure. I did price it to sell though - I've lost money over what I paid for it but not by a large amount.

Truth is, I didn't want to sell it.

I anticipate that it's new owner, Nick, will keep the thread updated as he has joined the forum.

Unfortunately, the car didn't get Nick Home. Obviously, I was both disappointed and concerned that this had happened.

When I spoke with Nick at the time he explained where it had broken down and it sounded to be significantly sub optimal.

Initially, through phone calls / texts we thought the gearbox pump relay may have failed. But Nick was able to verify that this was working so we think its the pump.

Whilst the sale included some spares, my plan was to sell the pump separately. But, given the current situation, I've given it to Nick and I think we're both hoping it solves the problem.

I just wish it had happened in my ownership rather than leaving a new owner stranded.

Chris your getting complimented on a FB group.

 

[Hugo1088]

Hi chris155...great thread. Any adevice on how to get my clock out without taking the dash apart? My clocks' taking speed and needs replacing!! 2006 Gran Sport

 

[Zep]

Hi chris155...great thread. Any adevice on how to get my clock out without taking the dash apart? My clocks' taking speed and needs replacing!! 2006 Gran Sport

You want this thread:

Post in thread 'Clocks - I couldn't resist'
https://www.sportsmaserati.com/index.php?threads/clocks-i-couldnt-resist.2783/post-444380