[DBR7]

After only 300 miles, I decided to park my new Ghibli for two days while a small rain storm rolled through. Two days later, I am off for an important business meeting and the car does not start. Instead I get a very loud clicking sound that I isolated to the fuse box in the engine compartment. (I recorded video on my phone and will try to post). This lasted for approx 10 minutes straight with no response from the key fob a all. Once the loud clicking ended, the lights on the speedo starting going nuts with various blinking frequencies accompanied by a clicking sound of its own.

Needless to say, I was able to engage neutral through he floor board and have it towed to the nearest dealership. It has been there for 5 days now and I still have no answer as to what is going on. Only thing I got 3 days ago from the tech is that he was able to pull error codes from the car and sent them to Maserati. He says the battery is definitely dead, but he does not know what has caused it to die and does not want to simply replace it as he is afraid this will just happen again.

I also had a separate isolated problem on the third day of driving it where the lights to the left of the shifter/gear selector (M, ICE, Sport, etc...) did not turn on, nor did they respond to the buttons being pressed. I quickly developed the habit of selecting sport immediately after start up and was surprised it did not work. I had to restart the car several times before it worked. I hoped it was just an isolated incident, but I am now beginning to think they are all related.

Has anyone else experienced similar problems? What was done to remedy the situation? I hate having to pay good money for a car I cannot drive after only 5 days. Thanks in advanced

 

[Doing 185]

Welcome to Ghibli ownership! In your next 300 miles you have the following to look forward to:

• Subwoofer rattling requiring insulation to be installed
• General car part rattling requiring increasing your radio volume
• Stuttering at low speeds or in turns likely due to summer tires
• AC issues requiring a software patch
• Poor satellite reception requiring a new antenna
• Random failing audio requiring a new amp which likely won't help
• A desperate search for available winter or all season tires so you don't die on a dry day when it dips below 35 degrees.
• Extreme wind noise requiring the passenger window to be reset.
• Possible failure of keyless entry abilities
• Random douchebags keying your car out of jealousy

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I ran out of bullet points anyway. Good luck!

 

[Aquemini27]

Welcome to Ghibli ownership! In your next 300 miles you have the following to look forward to:

• Subwoofer rattling requiring insulation to be installed
• General car part rattling requiring increasing your radio volume
• Stuttering at low speeds or in turns likely due to summer tires
• AC issues requiring a software patch
• Poor satellite reception requiring a new antenna
• Random failing audio requiring a new amp which likely won't help
• A desperate search for available winter or all season tires so you don't die on a dry day when it dips below 35 degrees.
• Extreme wind noise requiring the passenger window to be reset.
• Possible failure of keyless entry abilities
• Random douchebags keying your car out of jealousy

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I ran out of bullet points anyway. Good luck!

My favorite part of this quote is the last bullet point.

 

[DBR7]

Already dealing with the Subwoofer. Supposed to complete that fix while its in.
Turbo waste gate clips also supposed to be installed for that rattling.
Tires not an issue as new wheels and tires where installed within one day.
AC is good so far.
Already experienced Satellite Radio issues. Might have the dealership tackle that as well, now that you mention it.

I guess I just need wind noises and keyless entry failure to complete the list??

Given the amount of issues people seem to be having, I cannot be the only one with these electrical issues? Hopefully someone out there has some experience and wisdom to impart on the situation. Thanks again in advance.

 

[salayc]

Given the amount of issues people seem to be having, I cannot be the only one with these electrical issues? Hopefully someone out there has some experience and wisdom to impart on the situation. Thanks again in advance.

These issues being somewhat universal gives me comfort. Imagine if everyone had different random issues. At least we have a clear (somewhat) path to a fix.

 

[Gibs]

Definitely sounds like a dead battery. Have had the clicking and electrical wooziness on my slk 320 as well. Perhaps you left the dome light on? Perhaps the alternator is not charging sufficiently. Could be anything.

 

[mrpa1999]

the loud clicking noise you once heard when trying to start the car, was your "starter" trying to start the car however it could not b/c you had a dead battery. what part of the country do you live in? is it extremely cold where you are now? perhaps you had a faulty battery or a faulty alternator which didn't charge the battery and you simply drained it after 5 days. 5 days seems logical to kill a new battery without any alternator to charge.

the lights flashing next to your gear shifter im guessing is a separate issue, I do not believe they are related however I may be wrong and it could be that you had a dead or dying battery which prevented the signals / buttons from sending the message to change your selector.

alternatively you may have a faulty or lose wire.

the garage will most likely test the alternator to see if its burned out or not. if its in good shape then they will install a new battery and go from there. I can tell you that Maserati corporate is not a company who just throws parts at the problem without having concrete evidence to support the part needs to be replaced. I would imagine a new battery and possibly a new alternator will be the call and then to follow the car closely from there.

I wouldn't worry too much though, dead batteries and Maserati are pretty common.

 

[sledge1100]

After only 300 miles, I decided to park my new Ghibli for two days while a small rain storm rolled through. Two days later, I am off for an important business meeting and the car does not start. Instead I get a very loud clicking sound that I isolated to the fuse box in the engine compartment. (I recorded video on my phone and will try to post). This lasted for approx 10 minutes straight with no response from the key fob a all. Once the loud clicking ended, the lights on the speedo starting going nuts with various blinking frequencies accompanied by a clicking sound of its own.

Needless to say, I was able to engage neutral through he floor board and have it towed to the nearest dealership. It has been there for 5 days now and I still have no answer as to what is going on. Only thing I got 3 days ago from the tech is that he was able to pull error codes from the car and sent them to Maserati. He says the battery is definitely dead, but he does not know what has caused it to die and does not want to simply replace it as he is afraid this will just happen again.

I also had a separate isolated problem on the third day of driving it where the lights to the left of the shifter/gear selector (M, ICE, Sport, etc...) did not turn on, nor did they respond to the buttons being pressed. I quickly developed the habit of selecting sport immediately after start up and was surprised it did not work. I had to restart the car several times before it worked. I hoped it was just an isolated incident, but I am now beginning to think they are all related.

Has anyone else experienced similar problems? What was done to remedy the situation? I hate having to pay good money for a car I cannot drive after only 5 days. Thanks in advanced

Sorry to post on an ancient thread but I'm having the exact issue on my 15 SQ4.

Did the dealer ever say what the problem is? Mine is getting towed under warranty thank god. But the clicking in the fuse box killed the battery and drained it over night.

 

[BeerGuy]

Sorry to post on an ancient thread but I'm having the exact issue on my 15 SQ4.

Did the dealer ever say what the problem is? Mine is getting towed under warranty thank god. But the clicking in the fuse box killed the battery and drained it over night.

If you have original factory battery that could be the issue. The MY14 and MY15 batteries were not great. The new ones are AGM ... much better. I replaced mine at 3.5 years of age even though dealer recorded good voltage ... just wasn't worth the short non use time concerns. I easily do 3 weeks with no concerns now ... except winter. If more than one week ... on the charger it goes.

There have been few reported problems with alternators.

 

[sledge1100]

If you have original factory battery that could be the issue. The MY14 and MY15 batteries were not great. The new ones are AGM ... much better. I replaced mine at 3.5 years of age even though dealer recorded good voltage ... just wasn't worth the short non use time concerns. I easily do 3 weeks with no concerns now ... except winter. If more than one week ... on the charger it goes.

There have been few reported problems with alternators.

That's exactly what it was. They replaced it under factory warranty with an Interstate which the technician described as much better than factory and it is an AGM.

It would be nice if they made just so the car doesn't start instead of the insane screwy stuff that goes off electronically from wipers to fuse box ticking to error messages flashing up. You would think the car was possessed.

 

[BeerGuy]

That's exactly what it was. They replaced it under factory warranty with an Interstate which the technician described as much better than factory and it is an AGM.

Good you got it resolved and covered under warranty. The electronics in that car are very sensitive to the voltage ... that's one of the first signs other than just not starting, (or enough power to release the brake interlock to start car).

I fell into an exception ... they wouldn't cover my battery under warranty after year one even though it was within new vehicle age/mileage ... my annual average mileage was below the 6000 miles/year cutoff. I could see on my battery tender the charging was off, even though it passed Maserati test criteria ... wasn't worth hassle or risk of being stranded so paid out of pocket. I went to new Maserati dealer who gave me 25% off battery list as a good faith gesture.