Quattroporte Problems

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MF2015

New Member
Messages
82
Hi all, my QP has started to play up.

First bit of trouble in 18 months and 20k so had to come at some time.

The car has two issues, possibly related, possibly not.

1, The car keeps going in to neutral when changing up/down.

2, The car keeps cutting out when slowing down to a stop, such as pulling on to my drive or coming up to a round about. Turn it off and back on again and it starts fine.

I thought it could be related to the battery but I've swapped that out today and it seems worse. I did charge the old battery up and it seemed to work fine for a few days but the faults came back so I replaced the battery.

I'll try giving the new battery a top up but other than that does anyone have any suggestions. I'm thinking it could be the clutch but would that also throw up the car cutting out?

The car is mostly used A/B roads and motorway so easy on the clutch, I did have it act in the same way about 12 months ago on a cold morning but had just done a 40 mile drive, it was fine after that.

My other thought is it could be a sensor.

Thanks.
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,904
When you say cutting out, you mean the engine is stopping?

Is it bogging down, like it's not coming out of gear as you slow to where it should be in neutral?

C
 
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Elliott653

Member
Messages
1,241
Which year and model? Jumping into neutral at slow speeds with a duo select hints at a clutch wear problem.
 
M

MF2015

New Member
Messages
82
2005 and it's not bogging down. The car totally shuts off, no power, no drive, steering. Just totally dead

First time it jumped in to neutral was during an overtake from 6th to 5th, after changing the battery tonight it seems to be 2nd and 3rd are affected too now.
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,904
No electrics at all? I think you've got a worn clutch and separately a bad connection somewhere.

edit: Actually, maybe there's a bad connection that might make it jump into neutral. Do the two things always happen at the same time?

C
 
M

MF2015

New Member
Messages
82
When the car jumps in to neutral there is still power.

It only cuts out when coming to a stop, I think there is electrical power but no drive etc.
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,904
So you have all the lights on the dash?

Sounds to me like two issues, but it's a bit of a guess.

C
 
M

MF2015

New Member
Messages
82
CatmanV2 said:
So you have all the lights on the dash?

Sounds to me like two issues, but it's a bit of a guess.

C
Click to expand...
When it goes in to neutral yes there are lights, the car.

When it cuts out the dash goes blank, come to think of it, I think it loses all power, even electrical. When I turn it back on it's always in neutral.

This is what lead my to a battery issue, I'll bring a volt meter home from work tomorrow and test both batteries, the old one was slightly down but the alternator was working fine.
 
M

MF2015

New Member
Messages
82
CatmanV2, can you recommend a decent indy to get it looked at, I'm just outside Saffron Walden.
 
M

MF2015

New Member
Messages
82
Thanks, just taken it out for the same drive I did earlier when the faults came up.

Only difference was I let the car tick over on the drive for 15 minutes with the lights etc off, the car was fine. No faults.

I'll drive it in to London tomorrow and see how it is, I still think it's possibly battery related.
 
outrun

outrun

Member
Messages
5,017
Sounds like a bad earth somewhere. We had a Lexus that had no response from the throttle pedal whatsoever after a battery change. Many many head scratching moments later and an auto electrician found the fault was a bad earth to the throttle potentiometer. I'd have a really good auto electrician check it out.
 
Parisien

Parisien

Moderator
Messages
34,927
Indeed, basics first, battery, connections etc.......all can play havoc with the electrics of our beloved Masers


P
 
TridentTested

TridentTested

Member
Messages
1,819
outrun said:
Sounds like a bad earth somewhere. We had a Lexus that had no response from the throttle pedal whatsoever after a battery change. Many many head scratching moments later and an auto electrician found the fault was a bad earth to the throttle potentiometer. I'd have a really good auto electrician check it out.
Click to expand...

Indeed. If you changed battery and it got worse it sounds like the earth strap from the battery is loose at the end connected to the car. Changing batteries might have moved it a bit more.
 
M

MF2015

New Member
Messages
82
Drove in to London fine, 42 miles so possibly the new battery was down on power a little.

Fingers crossed, but I'll keep you posted.
 
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Dhanj

Junior Member
Messages
408
Good luck with it. But I had something similar with it dropping out of gear (and sometimes cutting out completely). At first the problem was intermittent but then it eventually rendered the car inoperable and it had to go to the garage on the back of an AA truck. The maindealer diagnosed it as the F1 pump. At that time I had an Indie replace it and its been fine since - if it were to happen again I would try that swap myself - its not that difficult if you can get the car up in the air. In fact I have an F1 pump lying around in the garage, which I can let you have cheap if you find yours goes on you.

Dhanj
 
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Elliott653

Member
Messages
1,241
Dhanj said:
Good luck with it. But I had something similar with it dropping out of gear (and sometimes cutting out completely). At first the problem was intermittent but then it eventually rendered the car inoperable and it had to go to the garage on the back of an AA truck. The maindealer diagnosed it as the F1 pump. At that time I had an Indie replace it and its been fine since - if it were to happen again I would try that swap myself - its not that difficult if you can get the car up in the air. In fact I have an F1 pump lying around in the garage, which I can let you have cheap if you find yours goes on you.

Dhanj
Click to expand...

I remember reading on here that it's a good idea to change the F1 pump relay annually. I did that when I had my 4200. I really should do the same with my QP. I think Maserati charge their usual fortune for it. But, I got one for eight quid from my local FIAT dealer.

Can someone post the FIAT relay equivalent details once more please?
 
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