[gmgrodne]

Twice recently while running on the highway in 6th gear, the gear indicator light started flashing. I then noticed that the car would not downshift using the paddles. Hit both paddles and went into neutral, then tried to upshift but car went directly into 6th and gear indicator continued to flash.

Hit brakes and slowed down, and car automatically downshifted into 4th, etc. Came to stop, then started moving again. Car upshifted with paddles, but went straight from 4th into 6th, with gear indicator flashing.

Then after about 10 minutes, everything seemed to be working fine again. Then a little while later, started flashing again with same problems.

Oh, and this happened on the way to the dealership for annual service. They could not find anything wrong. Of course it did it the second time on the way home from dealership.

Anybody have any similar experience or advice?

 

[Troesma]

Twice recently while running on the highway in 6th gear, the gear indicator light started flashing. I then noticed that the car would not downshift using the paddles. Hit both paddles and went into neutral, then tried to upshift but car went directly into 6th and gear indicator continued to flash.

Hit brakes and slowed down, and car automatically downshifted into 4th, etc. Came to stop, then started moving again. Car upshifted with paddles, but went straight from 4th into 6th, with gear indicator flashing.

Then after about 10 minutes, everything seemed to be working fine again. Then a little while later, started flashing again with same problems.

Oh, and this happened on the way to the dealership for annual service. They could not find anything wrong. Of course it did it the second time on the way home from dealership.

Anybody have any similar experience or advice?

Has dealer tested the F1 pump..? Assume yes, if they said "could not find anything wrong." Only way to properly pressure-test the pump is to dismount (which means tranny down) so guess they checked using the SD2.

Could be electrics... have they checked there are no leaks in the loom leading to the tranny controls?

What error code got stored..?

 

[gmgrodne]

The dealer says no codes were reported on this problem. It was coding (and check engine light was on) for a bad oxygen sensor. They replaced the sensor, retested and no codes. They then did the one year/6,000 mile service, although car only as 3,500 miles. I had them replace the relay bcause of the prior posts about relay failures frying the pump. For what it's worth, pump sounds like it is charging normally and car is shifting ok except for these two recent instances. I am guessing electrical, which means it never gets found until total failure.

Thanks for the input Troesma

 

[GrndLkNatv]

Interesting....

Actually you might be experiencing problems with the software/firmware in the system... Remember that this car is a computer controlled vehicle and that people are writing the software for those controls. Not all of the exit paths are covered and some of what you are experiencing may be due to human error. I have had my gear indicator light flash the same way once or twice, no errors reported, and the only thing it could be is a bug in the firmware....

 

[Glenn Wallace]

I just had this happen TWICE this weekend, after about 90 minutes of highway driving.

Dealer didn't know anything about flashing gear indicator but the car jumping to N is when the TCU detects low hydraulic pressure and it shifts to N so you can stop, assuming it might not have enough pressure to hold the clutch in.
I assume it is all related. It flashes to let you know things are going south and then pops you out of gear.

Car upshifted with paddles, but went straight from 4th into 6th, with gear indicator flashing.

Mine did this too.

In my car I couldn't get 5th or 6th this weekend, and shifting is a lot slower.
I recorded it on video the 2nd time it did it. Previous times (this is about the 4th or 5th time now) I couldn't get it into 4th or above and had to drive home in 3rd....!!!!!

What is STUPID is no CC light or error code logged. What crappy engineering.

Car is at dealer --- they've tried to diagnose this problem twice before and updated software and tested pump current draw at 18500 service a few weeks ago and pump looked ok.

It is clearly a pump overheating problem (also my voltage gauge was down near the mark above 10v when I was sitting in traffic, no charge light so alternator is ok).

Service manager says the pumps usually take out the fuse/relay when they go, and this is just must be a new failure mode he hasn't seen (pump takes a dump after 90 minutes of highway use).

So they're replacing the pump (thankfully).

My advice to you is to tell them you're not taking the car back until they fix the problem and that it is a safety* related defect - I could have already justified a lemon claim with the number of shots they've had at mine. (to be fair they're hampered by the fact it doesn't log an error when it happens)

(*I know I'm not crazy about losing drive while doing 80 around a curve on the highway in the wet. grrrrr.)

Q: How many miles on yours? I'm at 18,000 or so.

 

[gmgrodne]

Glenn:

Thanks. Given its a Maserati and I am used to the unique, I still thought this was weird. Yesterday I drove the car 95 miles each way and it performed perfectly, reinforcing the pleasure you can find with these cars. But the flashing gear indicator and related problems are enough to make me believe there is some sort of problem some where. I have had a pump failure on my first Maser, a 2003 Spyder, I would not be surprised if it was the pump on this 2005. BUT THIS CAR ONLY HAS 3900 MILES ON IT. In any event, I plan on faxing your reply to my dealer and telling them to pick up my car and keep it until they find the cause.

Thanks again.

 

[Glenn Wallace]

Glenn:
Thanks. Given its a Maserati and I am used to the unique, I still thought this was weird. Yesterday I drove the car 95 miles each way and it performed perfectly, reinforcing the pleasure you can find with these cars. But the flashing gear indicator and related problems are enough to make me believe there is some sort of problem some where. I have had a pump failure on my first Maser, a 2003 Spyder, I would not be surprised if it was the pump on this 2005. BUT THIS CAR ONLY HAS 3900 MILES ON IT. In any event, I plan on faxing your reply to my dealer and telling them to pick up my car and keep it until they find the cause.

Thanks again.

Well, my observations are just my observations -- the dealer should be equipped to diagnose the problem and having either of our cars fail like this is unacceptable, as is a protacted series of failed diagnoses and repair attempts because the TCU doesn't record a condition it is clearly able to detect.

This is probably what it is like dating a super-model.

 

[Glenn Wallace]

Just because this thread was pointed to from another thread, I should point out the pump didn't fix my car, then they did a shift/relearn/recenter, which also didn't fix it, then replaced the CC "actuator" assy, twice. It seems fixed, but need to take a long test drive. The problem only shows itself on my car after 90 continuous minutes of the car being on.

 

[casinofan]

High Gear Clutch Failure

I am a little late to this post but I experienced the same flashing gear problem. Last year I was at DFW airport idling for 20 minutes in 95 degree heat. After picking up 2 people and their luggage and driving on the freeway for 20 minutes, the "D" started flashing and the car went into neutral. Manual mode allowed the gears to engage but not above 3rd. Car worked fine after cooling down. Trip to the dealer showed one actuator fault. They reset the SD3 and I took the car since clutch was 20% worn and they could not recreate the fault. The reset changed the cars clutch response and everything worked normally.
A year later I start having the same problem after driving the car for long periods on the freeway with a greater than usual load and an outdoor temperature above 95 degrees. Before I went to my dealer appointment for this issue I looked at the NHTSA website for Technical Safety Bulletins. I see one dated April 28, 2009 regarding a heat shield:
MASERATI: QUATTROPORTE DUOSELECT SERVICE CAMPAIGN REGARDING INSTALLATION OF THE RIGHT CATALYTIC CONVERTER HEAT SHIELD. THE INSTALLATION OF THE HEAT SHIELD WILL REDUCE THE HEAT GENERATED FROM THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER TO THE CLUTCH HOUSING AREA AND ALSO HEATING EFFECT IN THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. *PE
I ask the dealer about the shield and they showed it as needing to be installed. That was two weeks ago and the SD3 showed 60% clutch wear and no actuator/transmission faults. I think the catalytic converter radiating heat into the transmission on my long highway drives and the increased weight of the car may have caused my upper gears to not engage. I am having my independent shop replace my clutch in the next few weeks but will be watching for a recurrence of this issue. Bulletin search site:http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/tsbs/tsbsearch.cfm

 

[bundas]

clutch clutch clutch

well no flashing lights here. but i have 100% no clutch. strange, i can drive down shift(paddles) and rip and snort. but dealer says i have no clutch. i will let all know how long before it fails. i work 2 miles from home. car now has 25000 on clock 02cc spider. luv my maserati