GT - Sat Nav stuck on Maserati logo when it's cold

FerrersWay

Junior Member
Messages
31
Hi,
Recently purchased an '08 4.2 Granturismo which I'm loving so far, but I'm experiencing a weird issue with the sat nav:

Every time I start the car when its less than about 12C outside the sat nav gets stuck on the Maserati logo, after about 15 minutes of driving and exactly when the engine temperature reaches 90C the screen restarts and 30 seconds later the system works perfectly.

Has anyone else heard of this and know what the problem might be or where to start looking?

=====================================To Save much time reading this thread here is a concise explanation.
The OEM hard drives ultimately start to fail in the head unit (NIT) which will exhibit symptoms such as freezing or slow response to inputs, freezing on boot up (white screen), loop booting, or general instability of the NIT. We can offer a replacement HDD or SDD to fix these common problems...
 
Last edited by a moderator:

dickygrace

www.richardgracecars.co.uk
Messages
7,309
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it sounds like it's on its way out. They do freeze and thankfully it's infrequent, but about £4K to replace, repair is rarely possible. Get it looked at ASAP, and hopefully your warranty will cover it.
 

rossyl

Member
Messages
3,312
Sounds rather odd that is should come on exact certain temperature. Seems like an electrical gremlin.

If purchased from a dealer get it back ASAP otherwise hopefully someone on the forum may have experienced this before or be able to recommend a good electrics person.
 

dickygrace

www.richardgracecars.co.uk
Messages
7,309
If purchased from a dealer get it back ASSP otherwise hopefully someone on the forum may have experienced this before or be able to recommend a good electrics person.

Only Maserati's new SD system will be able to look into this, that's MD, Emblem, McGrath or Autoshield.
 

FerrersWay

Junior Member
Messages
31
Hmm, worrying! As its been hot over the summer I haven't noticed it, so no warranty (was not a main dealer car)

The fact that its like clockwork is interesting, something is heating up and then working. Are these units self contained or is there a hard drive/cd drive unit somewhere else?
 

dickygrace

www.richardgracecars.co.uk
Messages
7,309
Hmm, worrying! As its been hot over the summer I haven't noticed it, so no warranty (was not a main dealer car)

The fact that its like clockwork is interesting, something is heating up and then working. Are these units self contained or is there a hard drive/cd drive unit somewhere else?

It is linked to the binnacle etc, there is no separate DVD drive, there is a hard drive within the unit which is an obsolete part. If one can be found, it can be replaced but the software is encrypted and can't be uploaded onto it.
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,539
It is linked to the binnacle etc, there is no separate DVD drive, there is a hard drive within the unit which is an obsolete part. If one can be found, it can be replaced but the software is encrypted and can't be uploaded onto it.

The drive is a Hitachi Endurastar PATA 2.5" At least that's what's in the photo. I'm prepared to bed that any PATA drive would do. They are getting rarer, but not impossible to find.

There are a load of techniques to allow data to be copied over. Depending on how good the copy protection is, it might, or might not work. If anyone has a broken one, I've willing to give it a try. I'd expect the odds to be in favour, frankly.

C
 

FerrersWay

Junior Member
Messages
31
Am I right in thinking that the unit controls all the fan and heating controls as well? Because even when its stuck on the Maserati logo these controls still work

Hard drive is interesting, though I'm not sure a hard drive would be effected by the weather? Shame there isn't a separate component, thought it might be a relay in the engine bay that wasn't working until it had been warmed by the engine or something.
 

AaronE

Junior Member
Messages
156
you were right, PATA. Parallel ATA vs Serial ATA (SATA) which all new drives are.

as far as copying, encryption only keeps you from understanding the data, not copying it. a plain ol' block copy should work fine.

I'd suspect solder joints in the head unit before the HD though if it's temperature sensitive...
 

FerrersWay

Junior Member
Messages
31
you were right, PATA. Parallel ATA vs Serial ATA (SATA) which all new drives are.

as far as copying, encryption only keeps you from understanding the data, not copying it. a plain ol' block copy should work fine.

I'd suspect solder joints in the head unit before the HD though if it's temperature sensitive...

Solder joints does seem likely, anyone taken one of these apart before?
 

rossyl

Member
Messages
3,312
Hence the need for a good electrics person.... ;)

Could be a re-soldering points given how temp sensitive it is. Also, maybe the hard drive is giving up and only works when "warmed up"
 

murph7355

New Member
Messages
245
...Hard drive is interesting, though I'm not sure a hard drive would be effected by the weather? ...
The bearings in a hard drive could get clagged up in an automotive setting, making them more susceptible to not spinning up in cold temps...but 12C isn't really cold. Sub 0degC (I'm assuming you're talking Centigrade) or over 40degC would be more likely to generate issues.

Solder issues may well be the problem, but I wouldn't have thought these to be so temp sensitive either. However electronics can be a ***** :) (I'll be encouraging my boys to get very into soldering and electronics when they're old enough - this sort of thing will kill cars moving fwds and being able to fix them will be an in demand skill).
 

murph7355

New Member
Messages
245
Yep
Bog standard, if old IDE. I'm probably not being fully correct in my terminology and showing my age :)
C
You were correct.

I've actually been thinking that a faster hard drive might actually pep the overall system up a bit.
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
How about a block level copy or duplication to a replacement IDE/PATA drive? I'd lend a hand if Hertfordshire is local for you. I'm sure we will have an old working drive knocking around to try. We can also test the old drive.
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
Even back to 2007 I'm surprised it was an IDE/PATA drive. Maserati weren't even cutting edge there either then.