Odd Cambiocorsa Woes!

Evo Cymru

Evo Cymru

Member
Messages
688
Well I suppose it had to happen sometime! After 6 weeks of going really well, first gremlins struck the GranSport today. Out for lovely drive in the fine weather - cambiocorsa warning light begins flickering on temporarily but still drives well. Start to head for home and suddenly stuck in 3rd gear (no warning light on though?). Pull in, try switch off and back on but still no gear but now in neutral. Switch off battery at isolator switch, leave for a minute or so, power back on and try again but now wont even start. Switch off power at battery again thinking will leave for longer and then compound it all by shutting the boot! Arghh! Stuck lock means cant get it open! No power at all etc! ********!

To cut a long story short - manage to get the car back home and then with the help of a locksmith get the boot open and power back on. Still no joy starting it but at least I can close the windows (looks like rain tonight!) Leave it an hour or so and then think about checking fuses, relays, etc. Think will try just once more before I start again - jump in, starts first time! Surely no gears though? Yes! All works as normal??!! What the ???!!

Anyone any ideas what might have caused this? I replaced the relay with BMW one as a precaution when I got the car (even though the old one had not caused any problems) but has run fine since this.

Is the pump on the way out? Clutch? - wear was only at 25% 5k miles ago although these can be unreliable?

Did a quick search and one owner reports something similar here:

http://www.sportsmaserati.com/showt...-wont-go-start-and-im-slightly-stranded/page4

In particular this comment was interesting:

"Guys - when the AA man came to look at the car before towing it, the bleeding thing started!!! he didn't have maserati error codes list on him but he did have an alfa one.(bear with me on this) my misses told him the error light that came on and funnily enough for selespeed alfa's this warning light means that the gearbox oil/transmission fluid is too hot it causes the F1 system to fail.

I was set to ignore what he said but then realised that over the weekend the car only seemed to have issues once it was up to operating temperatures and had been driven for about an hour or more. Once it cooled down (i.e. over night) it was fine again and the pump would whir in to action when i unlocked the car."

Anyone had anything similar? Is it worth changing the fluid?

Thanks for any advice,

Olly

PS Sorry for the long post!
 
Gixerboy

Gixerboy

New Member
Messages
549
It needs a replacement F1 pump, my QP did exactly the same thing,
The F1 pump is not producing enough pressure, but like a starter motor with worn brushes.
When starting from cold mine worked fine for 15 mins then the pump could be heard to be struggling to reprime, whilst tucking over.

Speak to Jeff a Shiltech he'll sort it.
Cheers
Dave
 
Evo Cymru

Evo Cymru

Member
Messages
688
Thanks for the replies everyone. Will double check the terminals although pretty sure they should be OK as I fitted a new battery recently and checked them all then. Will check CC fluid too and give more attention to listening to the pump. Will report back with findings but pessimist Italian car owner in me fears the knackered pump option!

Olly
 
mjheathcote

mjheathcote

Centenary Club
Messages
9,046
If the pump, plenty of options, not just Maserati main dealer part prices.
I recall it is possible to just buy the motor only, was on Youtube, American seller I think with the part fitted to Ferrari as well as Alfa Romeo and Maserati.
 
zagatoes30

zagatoes30

Member
Messages
21,024
Battery is you first point of call but if it is an F1 pump they can be got hold off cheap enough
 
Evo Cymru

Evo Cymru

Member
Messages
688
Hi all,

Well have investigated a bit further and done some more research on the pump on here. Interesting!

I have tightened the terminals although they appeared to be OK. On checking the fluid level (thanks for the 'How to..' post on here!) I found it to be OK but the quality was awful! It was black in colour and felt very thin and watery! Think I might change it all to be on safe side...

I am now wondering though whether I should just replace the pump anyway as it is all open and (relatively!) accessible - this brings me to some questions though. I saw this posted:


Alfa Selespeed F1 pump Part no 51736315 £ 319.26 plus vat

Maserati old style F1 pump Part no 178757 was £ 950.00 plus vat
Maserati Updated F1 pump Part No. 213264 new superceeded £1223.07 plus vat


Relay comparison

Maserati F1 pump relay part number 155437 £ 32.70 Plus Vat
Alfa relay part number 11130287 £ 8.50 Inc Vat


Would it be better to use the later pump? Would an Alfa one work if I had an existing later Maserati pump (I have 2006 GranSport)? Did Alfa also produce an uprated later one? Were the relays 'improved' as well? I think I saw mentioned a 50 Amp version?

Again thanks for any help!

Olly
 
conaero

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,656
Further info, it appear the early cheap pump I listed is rubbish. The video below states that you can by the pump only and change it over at about half the price of the complete unit and you can do it without removing and need to bleed the system. If you find a link to the pump let us know:

[video=youtube;r6jh5SV8t1w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6jh5SV8t1w[/video]

And here is Craigs video that reveals the numbers on the pump unit only:

[video=youtube;RaNQvOtA6mw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaNQvOtA6mw[/video]
 
Evo Cymru

Evo Cymru

Member
Messages
688
Thanks for the reply - will check out the vids.

Slight update - checked original relay and it has 50 Amp stamped on it. I see Jamie Porter has 2 Alfa ones listed, 30 and 50 amp, with the 50 amp having 4 blades rather than 5. I'm not sure what the BMW ABS alternative one is rated at?

Olly
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,908
The Alfa part is the uprated pump. It's all the same Magneti Marelli unit.
They are all interchangeable.
The only difference I'm aware of for the later relay is they are rated at higher amperage. In theory that may reduce arcing and the possibility of the pump being stuck on.

C
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,908
Conaero said:
Further info, it appear the early cheap pump I listed is rubbish. The video below states that you can by the pump only and change it over at about half the price of the complete unit and you can do it without removing and need to bleed the system. If you find a link to the pump let us know:
Click to expand...

I suspect you mean motor, not pump?

Could be wrong. Too tired to watch :)

C
 
Evo Cymru

Evo Cymru

Member
Messages
688
Again thanks for the info - if pump is same as Alfa that is good news!

I will try changing oil and relay first and see what happens - pump change seems pretty straightforward.

In the mean time I have looked into the oil change and found a mention on Maserati Life forum

http://www.maseratilife.com/forums/coupe-spyder-gs/5425-all-fluids-change-2.html

that it requires a SD2/3 to bleed the system properly - can anyone confirm if this is so? Would this require a visit to a specialist/dealer?

Thanks again,

Olly
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,908
The pump is definitely the same as the Alfa

Not sure about needing the system bled. Craig (on here and ML) has done a swap (can't recall if it's pump or motor). He wrote an excellent HowTo on one of the sites.

C
 
philw696

philw696

Member
Messages
25,619
You don't need diagnostics to bleed her as I was told by Dick Lovett's one person on the blead nipple and one on the drivers door opening it to prime it and a couple of times job done.
Phil.
 
conaero

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,656
Evo Cymru said:
Again thanks for the info - if pump is same as Alfa that is good news!

I will try changing oil and relay first and see what happens - pump change seems pretty straightforward.

In the mean time I have looked into the oil change and found a mention on Maserati Life forum

http://www.maseratilife.com/forums/coupe-spyder-gs/5425-all-fluids-change-2.html

that it requires a SD2/3 to bleed the system properly - can anyone confirm if this is so? Would this require a visit to a specialist/dealer?

Thanks again,

Olly
Click to expand...

Just remember, the Alfa part failed regularly so was superseded with a new part, hence why the Alfa part is cheap.

I personally would try and buy the upgraded motor only and fit it to the pump head as the guy in the first video points out.

If you do find the pump, let us know, Ill get one for the spares box.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.