Locked out of my 4.2 GT - help needed

Bobby Dandruff

Junior Member
Messages
313
I went to take my son to school today but couldn't, and still can't, unlock my 4.2 GT with the remote.

The car still makes the same beeping noises when I use either of the two remotes supplied with the car, but the doors do not unlock. Also, the lights on the top of the inside of the doors that usually flash red or green showing if the door is locked or unlocked are not working at all now (does this imply that there is something wrong with the battery?)

I have yet to try to unlock either door using the key itself for fear of setting off the alarm.

Luckily the car in in our garage and we have another car that I can use, but this is highly unsatisfactory!!!!

I'll be straight on the phone to Bowkers tomorrow as I have only had the car since just before Christmas, but does anyone have advice?

The car is used quite frequently by the way, and always starts first time so this has come as a bit of a surprise!
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,594
It's not one I have heard of before if I am honest.

Does it unlock then lock straight away again?

This was a trait of the Alfa GTV when it used to freeze the locks. Maybe one is broken or stuck.

If it were me I would use the key.
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,594
Oh one more thing you can try is press and hold the unlock button till the indicators flash, this is the usual reset procedure.
 

Bobby Dandruff

Junior Member
Messages
313
Thanks for the speedy response.

Yes, the indicators flash and the car beeps on pressing the lock/unlock button on the remote, as it always has done, but the lights on the doors are not illuminated at all and the 'electric' half/button of the door opening mechanism on the inside of the door handle doesn't open the door, hence me not being able to get into the car. So the doors are not unlocking then immediately re-locking.

I haven't tried opening the door using the 'mechanical' half/button of the door opening mechanism on the inside of the door handle, as I may set the alarm off (and it is evening time now!)

I have held down the unlock button on the remote to try a reset but that does not seem to have any effect.
 

highlander

Member
Messages
5,214
It's not one I have heard of before if I am honest.

Does it unlock then lock straight away again?

This was a trait of the Alfa GTV when it used to freeze the locks. Maybe one is broken or stuck.

If it were me I would use the key.
also a trait of the alfa gt matt. had to change the driver lock to fix it for the mot today
 

Bobby Dandruff

Junior Member
Messages
313
OK. So I got into the car, using the traditional key in the lock method and the battery is flat.

So now I have to find a way of starting the car (it is in our garage) but....why would the battery be dead when the car is used regularly?
 

Felonious Crud

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
21,016
Do you do short runs, Bobby? You'll need at least 20 to 30 minutes to restore the charge you lose each time you start the car.

I tend to put mine on a CTEK 5.0 conditioner (Amazon is cheapest) which is permanently plugged-in to the always-live 12V socket in the boot (left hand side as you look into the boot).
 

Bobby Dandruff

Junior Member
Messages
313
Do you do short runs, Bobby? You'll need at least 20 to 30 minutes to restore the charge you lose each time you start the car.

I tend to put mine on a CTEK 5.0 conditioner (Amazon is cheapest) which is permanently plugged-in to the always-live 12V socket in the boot (left hand side as you look into the boot).

Yes I do in fact!

Bowker Maserati are helping me out - they suggested something similar, so I maybe that is what I need (which is a shame as surely the battery should hold its charge for more than a few days!)

:unsure:
 

Felonious Crud

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
21,016
Do you have a tracker? They tend to drain batteries as well, but are well worth it in my view!

My battery generally goes on the charger for a day or so every week / fortnight / ish. No hard and fast rules but the more time it spends with the little green "conditioning" light on the better as far as I'm concerned.
 

Bobby Dandruff

Junior Member
Messages
313
Do you have a tracker? They tend to drain batteries as well, but are well worth it in my view!

My battery generally goes on the charger for a day or so every week / fortnight / ish. No hard and fast rules but the more time it spends with the little green "conditioning" light on the better as far as I'm concerned.

OK so........I wouldn't necessarily need the charger to be plugged in all the time that the car is in the garage?
 

Tilum

Junior Member
Messages
667
Hi Bobby,

Wish I'd seen this thread last night as I would have been able to help put your mind at ease a little....

I bought a July 2008 registered 4.2 litre GT back in Oct/Nov 2010... and I too had a similar problem. As you're probably aware, all the GranTurismos and GranCabrios have NavTrak trackers fitted as standard, and these drain the battery when the car is not in use. Although the car was a 'high miler' (based on its previous owners' usage) I too however mainly do short distances. I was washing the car one day and was listening to the car stereo one day, only to try and open the door and find that I was locked out with my key in the ignition. I looked at the user manual, but it didn't really help that much. After several phonecalls to the dealer and to Maserati Assistance, I bit the bullet and decided to unlock and open the door using the old fashioned way, using my spare key in the key hole and opening the door with the mechanical button.

Problem was solved, but what caused it?!? ....Answer: the battery! A few weeks later I had problems starting the car and had to call Maserati Assistance. They picked the car up and took it back to the main dealer, where they discovered (low and behold) the battery was flat. They took the battery out and tried charging it over night, but it wouldn't charge properly as the cells were faulty. Hence they replaced the battery under warranty and it was fine thereafter.

I didn't think I'd need a battery conditioner as I used the car every day, but as they were short distances, this didn't really help. I ended up buying a conditioner and every now and then would leave it plugged in over night just to top up the battery. I know you're supposed to leave it plugged in, so it maintains the battery, but I couldn't be bothered with having to connect/disconnect it everyday, so the 'leave on charge 1 night a week' routine seemed a sensible compromise.

HTH. Any other problems/questions, just ask. (I'll monitor this thread just in case.)

Good luck,
T
 

Tilum

Junior Member
Messages
667
surely the battery should hold its charge for more than a few days!
Yes it should, but if some of the cells are faulty, then even if you go for long journeys or charge it over night, the battery still won't last long with the car stood still over a few days.

T
 

Bobby Dandruff

Junior Member
Messages
313
Hi Bobby,

Wish I'd seen this thread last night as I would have been able to help put your mind at ease a little....

I bought a July 2008 registered 4.2 litre GT back in Oct/Nov 2010... and I too had a similar problem. As you're probably aware, all the GranTurismos and GranCabrios have NavTrak trackers fitted as standard, and these drain the battery when the car is not in use. Although the car was a 'high miler' (based on its previous owners' usage) I too however mainly do short distances. I was washing the car one day and was listening to the car stereo one day, only to try and open the door and find that I was locked out with my key in the ignition. I looked at the user manual, but it didn't really help that much. After several phonecalls to the dealer and to Maserati Assistance, I bit the bullet and decided to unlock and open the door using the old fashioned way, using my spare key in the key hole and opening the door with the mechanical button.

Problem was solved, but what caused it?!? ....Answer: the battery! A few weeks later I had problems starting the car and had to call Maserati Assistance. They picked the car up and took it back to the main dealer, where they discovered (low and behold) the battery was flat. They took the battery out and tried charging it over night, but it wouldn't charge properly as the cells were faulty. Hence they replaced the battery under warranty and it was fine thereafter.

I didn't think I'd need a battery conditioner as I used the car every day, but as they were short distances, this didn't really help. I ended up buying a conditioner and every now and then would leave it plugged in over night just to top up the battery. I know you're supposed to leave it plugged in, so it maintains the battery, but I couldn't be bothered with having to connect/disconnect it everyday, so the 'leave on charge 1 night a week' routine seemed a sensible compromise.

HTH. Any other problems/questions, just ask. (I'll monitor this thread just in case.)

Good luck,
T

This is VERY helpful.

So am I right in saying that if some cells in the battery are faulty then using a trickle charger is one solution, or just buy a new battery, and that should solve the problem permanently (until / unless the new battery develops a problem that is!)

Thanks again for the advice - it is most welcome.
 

bigbob

Member
Messages
8,952
Do you do short runs, Bobby? You'll need at least 20 to 30 minutes to restore the charge you lose each time you start the car.

I tend to put mine on a CTEK 5.0 conditioner (Amazon is cheapest) which is permanently plugged-in to the always-live 12V socket in the boot (left hand side as you look into the boot).

+1. I flattened the battery on mine when it was only two months old and had been using it. I now have the CTEK and use it if the car will be parked for more than a few days.
 

Grinzzz

New Member
Messages
925
Trickle chargers and battery conditioners should be different beasts. A trickle charger will help prevent deep discharge but won't recover a damaged battery permanently. A battery conditioner on the other hand will cycle the battery to attempt to fix issues with the plates. It doesnt always work as sometimes you can't get the right voltage to an individual cell. A conditioner almost always also has trickle charge capability. However I've noticed a fair few very cheap conditioners appearing over last few years. I strongly suspect they're nothing more than trickle chargers in reality.
 

Tilum

Junior Member
Messages
667
A trickle charger helps to charge up a battery to it's maximum capacity, and then maintains it at this level (if left plugged in, switched on, and connected to the car battery ofc). It keeps the battery at its 'optimum' level every so often topping up the battery when it dips below maximum.

However, it is important to note that any battery charger (be it a high amperage quick charger or a low amperage trickle charger (aka conditioner)) can only charge up the battery to the maximum capacity it cells will allow. Hence if the cells are damaged, then the battery will never be able to be charged up to the same capacity as when the battery was new. How many cells are damaged (and to what extent they're damaged) will dictate what the current maximum capacity of the battery is.

Car batteries (as with mobile phone batteries) can be damaged if they are ran completely flat. So a trickle charger helps to prevent damage to a battery and thus extends its life. It might be you are better of getting a new battery. Although the ones in the GT/GC are quite big, they aren't as expensive as you might think as they are a FIAT battery.
Imag0436-.jpg

Either way I'd recommend getting a trickle charger. I currently use the CTEK XS 0.8, which comes with permanent O-ring connectors as standard (meaning you can just leave them permanently connected up to the battery and then literally just plug in the trickle charger to the connector. You can get them off ebay for about £30.
20140521_133715.jpg
If you need a longer connecting cable, then Halfords sell the 2.5m extension cable for less than £12

T
 

bigbob

Member
Messages
8,952
This is VERY helpful.

So am I right in saying that if some cells in the battery are faulty then using a trickle charger is one solution, or just buy a new battery, and that should solve the problem permanently (until / unless the new battery develops a problem that is!)

Thanks again for the advice - it is most welcome.

Personally I would not own a GranTurismo without a trickle charger despite the fact that I live rurally so few short runs and do about 8000 miles a year. The cars should come with them really.
 

Grinzzz

New Member
Messages
925
Go to battery university...literally. http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/sulfation_and_how_to_prevent_it

Oddly it says desulphators using the technique they outline don't exist. Pretty weird since I had access to a bit of kit with that functionality for quite a few years. Wasn't intended for consumer use but it was ruddy good if you knew how to work it. I loved it as it also acted as a charger for virtually every type of battery available; it was the first charger to be able to properly balance charge a li-po, and even had temperature probes. It could be re-programmed to deliver the correct charge to almost any type of battery provided you knew the charge conditions and could handle the somewhat unique programming language.

Unfortunately some muppet forgot to reprogram it and got too lazy to hook up the probes - and got destroyed in the ensuing fire!. The closest I could get to it now isn't a patch on it and the small firm that produced it is nowhere to be found.

Just had a two minute google - everything I looked at called desulphator looked more like snake-oil to me. So much for progress.

But prevention is better than cure - I own and swear by the ctek too. Apart from it's "pulse-charge" function, which is also snake oil.
 

BJL

Member
Messages
1,364
They do come as standard kit in the Cali and although it has Ferrari written on it it is infact a Ctec and the handbook states it should be used if the car if left for more than a week as the security system and tracker will drain the battery.
Same systems fitted to masers so there we are....fit a Ctec
 

Bobby Dandruff

Junior Member
Messages
313
Ok so the conclusion is: a new battery was required and everything now seems fine.

But there are a few points worth mentioning here:

Firstly Bowker Maserati were really very helpful in sorting out whether or not the WarrentyWise warrenty that they provided with the car covered the problem. In fact I was messed around at first but Bowker took charge and even got the WarrentlyWise CEO to call me directly and 20 mins later the AA arrived - so pretty good service considering that the situation hadn't started well!

The AA man was really good and concluded that a new battery was required, which I ordered on line from the RAC yesterday for them to come and fit today (admittedly they did turn up with the wrong battery initially but the RAC bloke was really good too)

Bear in mind that the car is in my garage and I have another car that I can use so I'm not sure if I would have been so patient otherwise!

But hats off to Bowker Maserati and WarrentyWise (and the AA and RAC in fairness). All very professional after the initial hiccup and made the £150 spent on a new battery a little more paletable.......

Incidentally the RAC man recommended a battery conditioner even for a new battery on a Gran Turismo.