[nomorejags]

Okay, this is the 3rd straight week I've had a problem with Ebony. Earlier this week my check engine light came on. So I pull the code and I get p0116 (coolant temperature sensor). So I clear the code and I figure if it comes back I'll go to the dealer or see if i can replace the sensor myself.
A couple days later the light comes back on. I pull the code yesterday expecting it to be the same thing and now the p0116 is gone and I have a p0300 (multiple cylinder misfire) and a p0304,p0301, and one more cylinder I can't remember.
My car does have 38,000 miles and Has not had the 30k miles service done and i know that a tune up is done at that interval. I would like to know is it normal for all to be well one day and then be running on 4 cylinders the next. And before I start paying $12 a plug and doing the tune up tomorrow is there something else I should check out.
A few years back when my lexus sc400 starting missing this bad on a road trip back to college I gave it a tune up with plugs and wires and even changed o2 sensors and it turns out there was a short in one of the coil packs ( it had 2, one for each bank). Being as though the maser has individual coils for each cylinder like the jag I don't see that being the issue.
I went outside tonight and pulled one plug and it is the NGK 5851 pmr8a. Is that the stock plug or has some work been done?
Also what options do I have as far as plugs so far I've came up with
NGK 5851
SplitFire sf430c or tp430c
Autolite

Thanks in advance.

 

[The Head]

I am sure Beru makes plugs for the maser...thier silverstone plugs are the best I would use nothing less in any high performance engine

 

[nomorejags]

Thanks. I'll look into them. Anyone insight on this overnight misfire? I called the dealer and they said that the fuel Rail recall had been preformed so I'm not sure what it is. I'm about to drive it to the stealership now and see whats going on.
Anyone have experience with Lake Forest Sportscars "By Mancuso"?

 

[nomorejags]

Okay so I go to the dealer and really didn't discover much. They say it could be a number of things but my entire passenger side bank is reporting a misfire (cylinders 1,2,3,4)
They say it could be the ignition ecu ($2300), ignition coils ($~$140 each), fuel rail ($1400), or spark plugs ($36 each)
I went to Advanced auto parts and ordered the plugs today for $9.98 a plug . But as far as the rest I don't even know where to start.
Here is what I assume and hopefully SOMEBODY can give me some input.
The problem was progressive and didn't just happen at once. i noticed a little bit of a miss at first and took about a day-day and a half for it to get to it's current state of missing on all 4 and not being able to get above 80 mph.
I believe the Miss is an ignition problem and not a fuel issue because:
1. with my homemade stethescope ( i think I spelled that wrong) I can here the fuel injectros on that bank click
2. Watching my gas mileage it seems like it's dumping fuel.
3. There is also an engine code error for the cats over heating.

So according to their theories this only leaves me with Plug, coils, and ignition ecu (my least favorite option)

Plugs go in tomorrow and from there I wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go. I have the battery disconnected now to clear any codes in the ECU.

I was considering replacing one coil on one of the missing cylinders and checking to see if that cylinder still reports bad.
If anyone has the service manual or specs on the coil so I could simply test them with my multimeter that would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Anyone know who makes the coils?

 

[BeeYouZeeZee]

Okay so I go to the dealer and really didn't discover much. They say it could be a number of things but my entire passenger side bank is reporting a misfire (cylinders 1,2,3,4)
They say it could be the ignition ecu ($2300), ignition coils ($~$140 each), fuel rail ($1400), or spark plugs ($36 each)
I went to Advanced auto parts and ordered the plugs today for $9.98 a plug . But as far as the rest I don't even know where to start.
Here is what I assume and hopefully SOMEBODY can give me some input.
The problem was progressive and didn't just happen at once. i noticed a little bit of a miss at first and took about a day-day and a half for it to get to it's current state of missing on all 4 and not being able to get above 80 mph.
I believe the Miss is an ignition problem and not a fuel issue because:
1. with my homemade stethescope ( i think I spelled that wrong) I can here the fuel injectros on that bank click
2. Watching my gas mileage it seems like it's dumping fuel.
3. There is also an engine code error for the cats over heating.

So according to their theories this only leaves me with Plug, coils, and ignition ecu (my least favorite option)

Plugs go in tomorrow and from there I wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go. I have the battery disconnected now to clear any codes in the ECU.

I was considering replacing one coil on one of the missing cylinders and checking to see if that cylinder still reports bad.
If anyone has the service manual or specs on the coil so I could simply test them with my multimeter that would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Anyone know who makes the coils?

First look at the things that control the entire passenger side. Since there are separate fuel pumps for each side, I'd suspect the pump or fuel filter for that bank. The schrader valve on the fuel rail is where you measure (VERY simple). Nothing else really makes sense if all cyls are missing (especially randomly). Have you removed a plug on that bank to look at it? A whitesh color indicates running too lean, which would support the fuel theory. Those plugs can tell you a lot Good luck!

Buzz

 

[nomorejags]

Thanks. I knew the car had 2 fuel pumps but I didn't know it was on nfor each bank, that makes sense. I think I have a fuel pressure gauge in the garage but I don't know if it fits the maser. I'm about to step out and pull the plugs now and I'll report back what I see. I'll even post some photos. But if it is a fuel issue why are the cats over heating? Doesn't that sound rich to you and not lean?
It also seems as though Eurospares.co.uk has been an EXTREME help and I thank whoever poosted that link. And since I can also order parts from them and so far they have been cheaper than maser but I'm not sure about after taxes.
Oh by the way how you coming with that service manual. Looks like I'll need a little more than just the clutch portion Thanks in advance.

 

[nomorejags]

Also I just looked at the Eurospares diagram and I see no in line filter between te tank and the rail on the vehicle ??

 

[cardiffGiant]

Thanks. I'll look into them. Anyone insight on this overnight misfire? I called the dealer and they said that the fuel Rail recall had been preformed so I'm not sure what it is. I'm about to drive it to the stealership now and see whats going on.
Anyone have experience with Lake Forest Sportscars "By Mancuso"?

I suppose you're in the Chicago area then? I do not have any direct experience with LFSC, but purchased mine from Continental FM in Hinsdale and have been pleasantly suprised with their service (my '02 was just out of warranty when I bought it). I would be interested in your impressions of LFSC though after this is sorted out.

 

[nomorejags]

Just pressed schrader valve on fuel rails and there is pressure. not sure if it exact pressure but there is fuel making it up to the engine. Which leads back to ignition. Plugs, coils, ecu.

 

[CDF]

Just possibly it could be related to the O2 sensors. I kept getting those same multiple-cylinder-misfire codes after connecting resistors to my O2 sensors. Took the resistors out and never a problem again.

 

[nomorejags]

When your light was on was the vehicle actually misfiring or was it just falsly reporting that? Mine is running HORRIBLE.

 

[nomorejags]

I suppose you're in the Chicago area then? I do not have any direct experience with LFSC, but purchased mine from Continental FM in Hinsdale and have been pleasantly suprised with their service (my '02 was just out of warranty when I bought it). I would be interested in your impressions of LFSC though after this is sorted out.

Normally I do go to Continental in Hindsdale since it is closer. I'm actually in Crown Point, IN. But they said they could even see me yesterday so since LFSC said yes I drove out there. Service was okay and they had some BEUTIFUL cars. There was actually an Enzo waiting to be picked up from service.
They checked the engine light for free But couldn't really help as far as what they thought was wrong.
I test drove a Quartroporte while I was there....nice car!
I was looking seriously as a 360 but if I were to of purchased a car like that I'd have to buy a qp or something I could actually drive daily.
I am about to go outside with my multi meter and compare the reading on the right bank coils to those on the left bank (bad side) and see what I come up with.
Surprisingly even though thru the deal our plugs are 4x the cost of normal plugs thru a dealer our coils are about the same.

 

[CDF]

When your light was on was the vehicle actually misfiring or was it just falsly reporting that? Mine is running HORRIBLE.

Not sure if the car was misfiring or not. The ECU was not able to read the O2 sensors. When I upshifted the engine would pause a second, then erupt with tremendous power for a second, then run more smoothly. The car was fast but it felt horrible.

Good luck, please tell us how you resolve your problem.

 

[nomorejags]

I'm about to run a series of test with my multimeter and attempt to track down the problem. I'm going to check the resistance on all the coils and compare them to the readings on the good bank since I have no figures to go off of.
And that checks out since the entire left bank is not firing I will run the car and check for voltage at the plug where the coils connect back to the ecu. I PRAY there is voltage otherwise that ecu is looking like the issue and that is not what I want to replace.
I'd prefer to have all the coils end up dead than to replace the ecu. Anyone know of a wrecked maser laying around or a maser scrap yard??

 

[nomorejags]

Looks like Coil #1, but what about the rest??

Okay so I went out and check the resistance on all the coils. I used the readings from the good coils 5-8 as a benchmark for the failing bank (1-4). Here's what I got, there are 3 pins on each plug so here are the readings.

Cylinder 1:
Pin 1-2: OPEN
Pin 1-3: OPEN
Pin 2-3: .84k

Cylinder 2:
Pin 1-2: 4.43k
Pin 1-3: 5.09k
Pin 2-3: .85k

Cylinder 3:
Pin 1-2: 4.54k
Pin 1-3: 5.21k
Pin 2-3: .84k

Cylinder 4
Pin 1-2: 4.58k
Pin 1-3: 5.24k
Pin 2-3: .85k

GOOD BANK READINGS
Cylinder 5:
Pin 1-2: 4.61k
Pin 1-3: 5.2k
Pin 2-3: .84k

Cylinder 6:
Pin 1-2: 4.6k
Pin 1-3: 5.25k
Pin 2-3: .84k

Cylinder 7:
Pin 1-2: 4.42k
Pin 1-3: 5.08k
Pin 2-3: .85k

Cylinder 8:
Pin 1-2: 4.41k
Pin 1-3: 5.08
Pin 2-3: .85

Okay it's pretty obvious but here's what I gather. Coil #1 is BAD. So I went a step further and checked the resistance going back to the ECU and they all check out at 6.51k.

So next I checked the voltage signal coming from the ecu while the car was running to check and see if the ecu was still functioning.

Cylinder one seemed to still be active. But after all this starting and shutting off to compare the battery died so I'll have to go back on and check cylinders 2-4.

I hope everything is still working on those because that would be I only need one coil. But could 1 coil throw the whole bank off???

Well thats all for now.
Till next time on "Shade Tree Maserati"....... thanks for tuning in

 

[Fred]

I think you are on to something here.
If #1 does not fire, it will dump unburnt fuel in the exhaust.

If I assume correctly (big if) the O2 sensor will read that bank as rich, and lean it out.

Leaning it out that bank would cause all the cylinders to misfire.

 

[BeeYouZeeZee]

I think you are on to something here.
If #1 does not fire, it will dump unburnt fuel in the exhaust.

If I assume correctly (big if) the O2 sensor will read that bank as rich, and lean it out.

Leaning it out that bank would cause all the cylinders to misfire.

I think you're right. It'll lean it out the best it can. The easy test would be to swap coils with the other bank and verify the problem follows. Don't forget to make a cool Maserati coil paperweight out of the bad coil!

 

[nomorejags]

So if I change the coil from 1 with let's say four. What should happen? Should the car then only miss on cyl 4 or would it still miss on the entire bank due to the fact that it would then be dumping fuel out of 4?
I'm getting close......

 

[Fred]

It looks like the system controls the entire bank.
It should run "the same", just the other side would miss.

 

[nomorejags]

I think you're right. It'll lean it out the best it can. The easy test would be to swap coils with the other bank and verify the problem follows. Don't forget to make a cool Maserati coil paperweight out of the bad coil!

Opps, I misread the post. You said swap with another bank, not cyl. My only question about that is I thought the left bank coils were different from the right? I know they are two different part numbers and two different prices. Or is the mounting the only thing that is different?