Losing faith

[St Ivian]

Last year, when our MH was only a couple of months old we had a problem with the ASR system. The light would come on intermittently and we would lose the hill assist facility. After a few trips to the Peugeot dealer we were told it was a problem in Boxers usually caused by pressing the accelerator and brake at the same time. The problem has now come back with a vengeance and now the light is on permanently. Also, every 30 miles or so the engine goes into limp mode meaning we just can’t trust it anymore. She is booked into another Peugeot branch because the first one can’t accept big vehicles now. If they don’t sort it for good this time, we may just get rid at a loss and give up the MH dream. Mrs St Ivian has threatened never to get in it again unless all is tip-top and, right now, we can’t even get to the next town without difficulty. So frustrating and sad.

 

[Silver-Fox]

How old is it now.
I presume it’s still under warranty, maybe time to get tough and start making noises about rejection.

Better to keep the van but it might spur on some action.

Good luck

 

[Manxcat]

I'm not technical but this is a problem with the van, not the motorhome. Perhaps you should be annoyed with Peugeot, who should be able to fix it. If you ditch it choose another van based on a different manufacturer like Ford or Fiat.

 

[Silver-Fox]

I'm not technical but this is a problem with the van, not the motorhome

It comes as a package from the supplier ?

 

[St Ivian]

It is still under warranty Silver Fox. One of the problems is that the previous workshop said there was no real problem and the notes they wrote don’t make sense to the people who are looking at it next week. I suggested that they start from scratch when looking for the problem. I also told them I would be parking it on their forecourt and will refuse to collect it again until I am convinced they have fixed it. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll post updates in case anyone else has the same problem.

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[Jewellbags]

Complain and complain loud , if you or a relative are twitter friendly start shouting - it’s not fair that is mere mortals make such investments - money and emotional and get let down by the corporates - shout !

 

[Silver-Fox]

It is still under warranty Silver Fox. One of the problems is that the previous workshop said there was no real problem and the notes they wrote don’t make sense to the people who are looking at it next week. I suggested that they start from scratch when looking for the problem. I also told them I would be parking it on their forecourt and will refuse to collect it again until I am convinced they have fixed it. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll post updates in case anyone else has the same problem.

All issues should be logged on the ecu so I find it difficult for anyone to say there’s no real problem.

 

[St Ivian]

I'm not technical but this is a problem with the van, not the motorhome. Perhaps you should be annoyed with Peugeot, who should be able to fix it. If you ditch it choose another van based on a different manufacturer like Ford or Fiat.

You’re correct Manxcat, it is a Peugeot problem but they seem to struggle with even simple explanations. Maybe they are just trying to put me off.

 

[St Ivian]

All issues should be logged on the ecu so I find it difficult for anyone to say there’s no real problem.

Exactly what I said but got the shrugged shoulders treatment. Computer it says “ no problem”. Will keep pushing.

 

[Lenny HB]

After a few trips to the Peugeot dealer we were told it was a problem in Boxers usually caused by pressing the accelerator and brake at the same time.

If they told you that I wouldn't have much faith in them as pushing brake and accelerator at the same time cuts the engine. Good job you are taking it somewhere different.

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[Silver-Fox]

Exactly what I said but got the shrugged shoulders treatment. Computer it says “ no problem”. Will keep pushing.

Thought about buying your own cheap obd reader.
Plug it in and take pictures of codes etc.
You’ll have evidence if they try to blind side you.

 

[St Ivian]

Thought about buying your own cheap obd reader.
Plug it in and take pictures of codes etc.
You’ll have evidence if they try to blind side you.

I thought about that but it looks like the ones that cover braking or ASR systems are the more expensive ones. I may have to resort to it though.

 

[AXO66]

Slight tangent here, but might be helpful.
We had a problem with our ford based van. Went into periodic limp mode.and service needed light came on.
took to dealers , no problem via computer codes.

second time told us to report when we had the problem , drive over to ford dealers who had serviced van, and keep engine running, do not switch off. Did so and they discovered a heat sensor fault giving false reading of outside temp to ecu.
replaced under warranty , no problems since.

 

[Landy Andy]

I would buy and fit a new brake light switch.

 

[St Ivian]

I would buy and fit a new brake light switch.

I’ll mention it to them next week.

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[Wh05apk]

If under 12 months, seriously look into rejecting the van, they have had an opportunity to fix it and failed, if it's going into limp home mode every 30 miles, it is clearly not fit for purpose, get some proper legal advice.

 

[PeteH]

Some EUCU`s, only retain certain limited information. The more sophisticated ones (expensive OBD Readers) are needed to access some ie; ABS and Air Bag. Probably not helpfull, but in the early days of OBD (1990s) I had an Astra, which kept going into "limp". The "cure" was a complete cleaning of the Vehicle EARTHS!, after which we had it for 5 +years and it never happened again. Modern "canbus" systems rely on such small currents to measure parameters, that even small earthing issues can cause errors.

 

[Two on Tour]

When we first picked up our present Peugeot Boxer based van it had been standing unused for some 18 months plus due to the previous owners ill health and on the way home from picking the van up the I had the warning light come on as I braked coming down the slip road off the A1 a few miles from home. Thinking it may have been caused by heat from long heavy braking down the slip road I gave it a couple of hours to cool down and checked the fault codes. From memory the fault code came back as the ABS did not receive data from a sensor within "x" amount of milli seconds. I cleared the fault codes and went out for a test drive and the warning light came on again.
To cut a long story short a bit of digging around on the internet came up with 3 main causes of this problem. In order of cost, damaged wiring to one of the ABS sensors at the wheels, a dirty or corroded/rusty ABS ring or a dirty/ corroded connector in the ABS wiring. Next a faulty ABS sensor and the biggy for cost, a faulty ABS pump.
I unplugged and cleaned the terminal on each of the connector in the ABS wiring from the sensors at the wheels and luckily this cleared the problem and it has not returned since.

 

[maison]

You have a bad experience with the first Peugeot dealership but are now moving to another.

If you are lucky you may well get better service.

In your OP you say that the original dealer can no longer take large vehicles. Is that because they are more of a car dealership? If so a commercial dealer may have more experience of the Boxer.

When we had a FIAT based m/h a local FIAT car dealership did the routine servicing but, for warranty work and problems, we always used the FIAT commercial dealership although it was further away.

 

[St Ivian]

In your OP you say that the original dealer can no longer take large vehicles. Is that because they are more of a car dealership? If so a commercial dealer may have more experience of the Boxer.

The one I took it to first was the only one who had big enough ramps But they say they no longer have the capability. The second one, part of the same franchise, now have the bigger ramps installed. They are a car and commercial dealer.

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[David and Sally]

Slight tangent here, but might be helpful.
We had a problem with our ford based van. Went into periodic limp mode.and service needed light came on.
took to dealers , no problem via computer codes.

second time told us to report when we had the problem , drive over to ford dealers who had serviced van, and keep engine running, do not switch off. Did so and they discovered a heat sensor fault giving false reading of outside temp to ecu.
replaced under warranty , no problems since.

Again, a tangent but on a motorcycle tour a friend's bike kept breaking down but the dealer could not read a code. Eventually he rode it to a dealer, left it running with all the dash messages on and they agreed there was a problem and set about curing it. Switching off deleted all the OBD codes for some reason.
Good luck getting it sorted and don't give up.

 

[StephandJohn]

Have you had a good google around to see if its a known problem. If it is you can present the information to them so they can't say its not happening.
Years ago I had a problem with a washing machine and couldn't get Curry's to take any responsibility for it. So I told them that I'd be in their shop everyday telling their customers how bad they were. It only took a couple of hours of me doing just that for them to say they'd give me a new one.

 

[hilldweller]

If you ditch it choose another van based on a different manufacturer like Ford or Fiat.

Out Swift was badged FIAT. The engine had a cam chain. That was called a Peugeot engine. But later it turned out the Peugeot engine was made by Ford.

It was a grand engine.

 

[Juggler]

Is Peugeot really a Fiat in disguise? If so my experience might help you. I have a Fiat MH which came up with different sensor problems. After changing the indicated sensor. This did not cure the problem. I lost faith with the garage and took it to another garage. The same happened. It went to three garages, all with recognised reputations but the same happened, The third kept it for 3 weeks, blaming one thing after another. Eventually I took it to a Fiat Professional garage.This had access to the full Fiat circuits, diagnostic system and contactable staff at Fiat head quarters. By the time I got home (12 miles) they had left me a message saying that they thought they knew the problem! A day later the problem was confirmed, damp in wiring loom and connectors which were replaced by a special propriety kit. The different attitudes of the garages was immense. The final garage did not rely on the OBD codes, in fact they confused the problem!

 

[Jerrycan]

I would buy and fit a new brake light switch.

Another vote for the brake switch. Had exactly those symptoms (and similar run-around) with my fiat. Luckily a mechanic had come across it before - quick, cheap and permanent fix. I'd certainly try it before giving up. Good luck.

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[whingyraindrop]

Hello,
I would go straight to the top. I have just screen shot the attached details of the Peugeot CEO for the U.K. Write a polite and factual email detailing all the facts. I generally put what should have happened, what actually did happen and what I now want / require to happen. Make it Peugeot’s problem, not yours.

I have had some excellent results when contacting CEOs, though no experience with Peugeot.
Good luck,

Lorraine

 

[TUCANO]

My Fiat based van went into limp mode twice on a trip. The AA guy told me to switch off the engine for at least 30 seconds otherwise the OBD would not store the fault code.

 

[thebriars]

If under 12 months, seriously look into rejecting the van, they have had an opportunity to fix it and failed, if it's going into limp home mode every 30 miles, it is clearly not fit for purpose, get some proper legal advice.

There is nothing in the Consumer Rights Act to suggest you can only reject the van if it is under 12 months old. If you have a vehicle that is not fit for purpose it can be rejected long after that.

 

[Neil Bedwin]

Unfortunately this is just a symptom of the situations at most garages.....

You bring a vehicle in and mechanic reads the OBD code. Looks the code up in the book and is given a list of parts to change in descending order of likely failure. He swaps the first, most likely parts and clears the code then sends you on your way. As the fault is intermittent it could be hours, days or weeks until the fault reappears. When it does, if you take it back to the same mechanic, he swaps the next part etc, etc.....
And that's all they are. Cheaply paid part swappers.

Garages are busy places, the one guy who understands how things work is in a senior position and everyone want's his expertise and experience. With an OBD code he is not needed until the third or forth visit and the customer starts complaining.
If every mechanic there had the same training and experience you would pay a lot more for service and repair.

Fortunately this Maintenance Analysis Procedure (MAPS) system works well most of the time. Common faults are common! Swapping the usual failing part fixes the fault most of the time. It's when it doesn't you need the senior tech.

I'm not excusing the first garage for not fixing the fault first time but I understand from their point as I was the 'Technical Specialist,' not for vehicles but computers, however the fixing pressures are just the same.

 

[Otter Spotter]

Can I suggest that you call your breakdown service out on the pretext that it has gone wrong and they will plug into the diagnostic socket, then ask them for the results so when you go to your dealer you can talk with some conviction.
i did this when myCitroen started playing up after 2000 miles. The engineer quickly could see the issue and I had Citroen replace the wiring loom for free under warranty. I honestly believe they would have tried to fob me off because of the cost of the work needed.
good luck

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