Not so new 3200 owner

[elephant4009]

Hello Everyone.

Had my 2001 3200 since July last year & been visiting this site for quite a while, so really no excuse for not making a post. Anyway, it's a Netuno Blue Auto in good, if not perfect condition. Exterior paintwork is virtually unmarked but has clearly been resprayed in one or two areas. The interior is tan, which unlike black does unfortunately show up cracks. For some reason the immobiliser & central locking has been replaced by an aftermarket item. It was owned by a chap in Hadfield, Glossop (that's The league of Gentlemen Royston Vasey to you & me) he seemed to have looked after it & had it serviced by Autoshield Manchester, which is where I will be taking it. It's done 67,000 miles & appears to me to be in excellent mechanical order. Until last week that is (I'll come back to that) it has never failed to start. In fact beyond the £10,000 purchase price & fuel, it has yet to cost me a penny. Lucky eh?

Much as I love this car, I think I would actually prefer a manual. I'm not sure I appreciate the indirect link between engine revs & roadspeed. Moreover, despite the engine sounding great at tickover & full blast, at average speed it can sometimes just sound like a drone. I also have a problem with it's power delivery which seems to be either pootle mode or turbo nutter, 'I haven't got long left to live mode.' I do however love the looks & handcrafted feel, which I believe elevates it above the 4200. That said, I want a 4200 as well. I want the elastic response of that engine, the noise, the tractability, the power, a car that can thrill without driving at manic speed. I also want a car that has genuine real world usability. My car has the traction of an ice cube on grease. It is laughably incompetent. From driving a selection of 4200's, I know they just got better & better with age. The post 2005 models seems really well sorted in this respect.

So, I am still looking for a 4200. Ideally I would prefer a manual but a late model Race change would do (Reading the specs I suspect they are almost identical to the GS & therefore a bargain at the under £20000 asking price which seems the norm. I have been close to purchasing a couple of cars. One of the first I went to see was owned by a very prominent member of this forum from Warrington. It was very pretty & in his heart of hearts I don't think he really wanted to see it go. The latest I was interested in, was in a garage in Manchester, a 2007 model. The attitude of the owners however prevented me from pursuing that purchase. So there we have it, I shall be getting a 4200 but am ill prepared to abandon the 3200, which for me, always seems more of an event to drive.

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention my recent starting problem. So, coming back from holiday I went to start the old girl but despite churning over at what seemed to me to be the usual belt - nothing, not even a hint of ignition. Could it be the cam or crank sensors, the throttle body etc etc? All manner of usual suspects raised their head. Thankfully, scanned this forum & one or two members had suggested that notwithstanding that a battery turned the starter, might not be sufficient to energise the ECU. Took the battery out & it registered just 12 V. Charged over night & at nearer 14V. Popped the battery back in & barely touched the key & the engine roared into life. Coincidence? I have the feeling not.

Anyway, I think I have rambled on far too long for a Newbie, just pleased to be here amongst what are quite clearly a set of true enthusiasts.

 

[conaero]

Hi Elephant4009 and welcome to the fold. Sorry your post got moderated, we have been hit by spam of late so had to firm it all up.

Regarding the starter problem, I am sure one of the seasoned 3200 owners will be along shortly to blow my observations out of the water but if the dash flashes and you only get a click then that is indeed the flat battery.

The next thing to check is with the ignition on, press the valve on the fuel rails each side to make sure it spurts out under pressure...obviously project your eyes and makes sure you carry out necessary safety for not igniting the fuel.

The crank sensor is a well know issue so that would be next on the list.

One other issue I have seen a lot of with starting on the 3200 is the immobiliser. Make sure the key icon is off on the dash. You can also lock and unlock the car again as this usually fixes it.

All the best and lets see some pics!

 

[allandwf]

Hi and welcome, just a note re "pootle mode or turbo nutter". A throttle reset may help that, as the working band of the throttle starts to narrow in if you do not use wide open throttle until it eventually becomes more on/off. There are a few threads on here on how to do it, it's quite simple.

 

[Ewan]

Richard Grace has a nice looking late model 4200 for sale, at only a bit over the £20k. And at least you know that car will have been well sorted by Autoshield prior to sale, and will come with a warranty - both of which are worth money and give peace of mind.

Having two Maserati's is certainly better than having only one. I can vouch for that. It's when I had 4 (Shamal, Ghibli Cup, QP IV and QP V) with a 5th (3200) on it's way that my wife finally had a sense of humour failure. So I cancelled the 3200 and bought the Venturi instead.

Oh... welcome to the forum.

 

[jluis]

If you have dash lights when turning the key on and they go out when turning to start but have no cranking it's probably the battery that is flat.
If light remain on and you just hear the click of the starter relay, then most likely your starter is gone, which is a common problem on these cars but cheap to fix (50 quid for a rebuilt starter)

 

[redsonnylee]

Welcome, I've got an after market immobiliser and the key comes up on the dash quite often so you need to keep an eye on it. This also drains my battery so a trickle charger is worth considering.

Interesting you now want a 4200, I've made the same decision, had my 3200 since 2009 and the main reason for the change is reliability. I just can't drive it everyday, I probably average one drive in ten without a CEL and am a bit fed up now, keep missing meets as never know what's going to happen.

Anyway best wishes on your search.

 

[allandwf]

Welcome, I've got an after market immobiliser and the key comes up on the dash quite often so you need to keep an eye on it. This also drains my battery so a trickle charger is worth considering.

Interesting you now want a 4200, I've made the same decision, had my 3200 since 2009 and the main reason for the change is reliability. I just can't drive it everyday, I probably average one drive in ten without a CEL and am a bit fed up now, keep missing meets as never know what's going to happen.

Anyway best wishes on your search.

What are the CELs? Mine hardly ever throws one.

 

[Assetto 52]

I have yet to experience one!

 

[elephant4009]

I will certainly have a look at the Richard Grace 4200 but you know I do feel a little silly in considering having two cars. Twice the fun but twice the responsibility. Whilst the 3200 is probably not the most durable of beasts, my car continues to buck the trend as the starting problem was just the battery & I think it would be unfair to count that as a failure of the car. So the luck continues. I also have to say that I don't really count CEl warnings as a fail either. Virtually every other journey comes up with a suspension error after going over a bump & there have been a number of other misleading warnings. To date however, I still manage to resist ignoring them & check for problems at the first reasonable opportunity.

As always, there is stuff to do. The next project is to have the wheel bolts rechromed. I think I have a good price at around £125 but in no particular rush to leave the car on stands while the bolts are away.

Finally for now, going back to the power delivery of the turbo engine, I don't think there is anything wrong with the way the engine delivers it's rush, it's just never going to be as linear & elastic as the 4200.

 

[elephant4009]

Not to have experienced warning lights in a 3200 is an experience to be treasured.

I have just looked at the Richard Grace 4200. Crikey, it's a 2005 model, so lots of improvements & it's only done 18500 miles. I think I would be afraid to use it. Perhaps it would be best for it to be purchased by someone who would wish to maintain it in as new condition for posterity.

 

[redsonnylee]

What are the CELs? Mine hardly ever throws one.

Throttle-body mostly, had a refurbish twice then went contactless, lambda sensors, suspension, the list goes on.

 

[davy83]

Hi Elephant4009, welcome. I would agree your starting issue sounds like an immobiliser problem, try lock and unlock and also a battery reset perhaps. i have an after market central locking system too and if it gets out of sync with the immobiliser then it wont go.

 

[philw696]

Welcome from a Brit in New Zealand.
I'm on my second 4200 which I use at least 4 days a week and it lives outside albeit in a moderate climate but we get frosts and it was 2 degrees yesterday as she approached her 100,000 milestone.
I have worked on them all and in my opinion the 4200 is the jewel in the crown for the money.
Others will disagree and that's why we have this Band of Brother's forum.

 

[Andyk]

A big warm welcome to the forum.....If you get chance post some pictures of your Maserati as we would love to see her.