[whett]

I recently aquired a 3200 gt auto (2000) about 8 months ago (soon after finding this forum) and have been enjoing it very much and have been using it as a daily driver (about a 4km round trip to work). However this car is starting to cost me. in the first month of ownership the water pump blew up and the dealership who i got it from got me to drive it in and subsequently a gasket blew and wound up costing me a fair bit. After fixing that problem and replacing the engine mounts (as they had sagged) the car was working fine for about a week when the radio started to turn itself off (aftermarket so I’m not concerned with that). Then with about 2 months of blissful problem free ownership the ABS and ASR lights were permanently on. I didn’t notice for a while as I usually drive with the ASR off, however thought it was odd for the ABS light to be on. Then that was fixed. And to top it all off just yesterday the car’s engine was making odd sounds like it is revving up and down without any accelerator on, or its missing or something. I think maybe one of the turbos has given up?? This car cost me $100,000 (Australian car tax is insane) and in less than a year of ownership has cost over $15,000 in repairs. Is my car a lemon? Or is this kind of thing normal. I know a car of this stature is going to cost more to run than a Toyota but the frequency of my visits to the mechanic is something I wasn’t expecting.

Thanks Whett.

 

[lozcb]

hi whett,

best you really get on the maseratiforum.co.uk 3200gt or gta or assetto corsa are not in the US there is loads on the uk forum about this , its most likely the throttle body , there is a reset procedure you go through using the mar position of the key ignition its permanently posted on the uk site as a sticky, failing that get in contact by email to Vbird once you have registered he will definately put you right he,s the top man on the 3200 they have fly by wire throttles and get out of sink and have to be reset occasionally. Worst case scenario there are places that refurbish the throttle body for a few hundred pounds but im not sure in Oz , we have a few ozzies on the site so you be more than wellcome

Regards loz

 

[lozcb]

Hi whett, just found want i think you need , if this doesn't work try getting in contact with Vbird on the uk forum

Yes V_Bird, I too have seen several versions but the Official Workshop Manual describes just one for the sole purpose of correcting a Hypersensitive Throttle.

For completeness, my full article written a couple of years back is as follows:




With use and due to its design, the "fly-by-wire" throttle system gradually narrows its operating band between idle and full throttle. If left unchecked, this can result in an increasingly sensitive throttle pedal affecting drivability. As it's not exactly insensitive to start with, the result is a PITA with hill starts etc

Whilst you would normally use either an SD2 or SD3 to reset the engine ECU, the factory manuals (Engine volume: page 96 of the Fuel supply section) do contain another approach from the comfort of the drivers seat but do read very carefully.

If you are not sure of what you are doing, leave it to someone who does!


1) Reset the mechanical zero position

* Put gear lever in neutral
* Switch on ignition (to MAR position) but do NOT start the engine
* Do not touch the throttle pedal for 2 minutes
* Switch off ignition


2) Reset the mechanical Full Throttle position

* Put gear lever in neutral
* Switch on ignition (to MAR position) but do NOT start the engine
* Fully depress throttle pedal and hold for 5 seconds
* Release throttle pedal completely
* Switch off ignition



The full text does not specify waiting until the various warning lights have extinguished themselves after switching on ignition, but I do not depress throttle (item 2) or start timing until they have.

By way of explanation, the no throttle setting (tickover or lower value) is 350/650mv whilst full throttle (upper value) is typically 3,100/3,300mv.

Apparently, the management system strategy gradually reduces the full throttle value by 5mv (for the next switch-on) every time the ignition is turned on (whether engine started or not) UNLESS full throttle is applied for 5 seconds at least once in that cycle (eg climbing a steep hill with full throttle etc). Therefore, under certain circumstances, the full throttle setting will gradually reduce, leading to over sensitivity at the pedal. The manual reset procedure restores the upper and lower values to their default design settings.

hope this helps

regards loz

 

[whett]

Thanks

Thanks for the help. I thought it best that i dont try stuffing around with resetting anything my self so i took it to maserati and the technition tried that and another simple fix, but neither worked. It seams like the previous owner buggered the bloody thing and something was loose and it was rattling around or something. to cut a long story short i now have a $5000 paper weight and a new throtle box.