[Puppet]

I have an automatic 1.6 - 206. In the car manual it says there is a choice of 3 driving transmissions: normal , sport and snow. [which infers that it would be OK to choose and drive in either one]
Will driving with the 'snow' mode option all the time affect the auto gear box [even if there is no slippery surface or snow] I prefer how the auto gears change in 'snow' mode but am afraid to always have this on in case it may adversely affect the gear box or engine or something??
Your help is much appreciated as a hundered so called in -the -know- Peugeot people have told me contradictory things and I can't understand why it is so difficult to get a consistent, straight answer.

 

[mrgq]

i dont know too much about the gear functionalities...but id suggest not to drive in snow gear all the time when there is smooth and flat terrain...might be some long term negative effects..

maybe someone else on here will know the technicalities of it

 

[Puppet]

driving in 'snow'

What long term negative effects do you think driving in 'snow' all the time would have? Half of the Peugeot dealers and mechanics have said it is perfectly OK. This is what a guy in NZ said :

"Please refer to the General folder for book "Principles of Operation AL4" ref 1233-GB for special operating features of the SNOW program".

"Driving permanently in SPORT/SNOW mode will not effect the life of the transmission, however I would suggest that if your customer was taking off from a stand still on a steep gradient that the SNOW programme be switched off. (Reason being that in SNOW mode the Gearbox will never select first gear.) "

Best regards
Greg Sillitoe
National Technical Advisor
Sime Darby Automobiles NZ Ltd.

 

[ahmz1969]

Puppet is right. In Snow mode the car starts off in second gear, so as to reduce the likelyhood of wheelspin. The transmission will have fewer gearchanges, will not kickdown unless below 15 km/h, and will force downshifts on application of braking.

 

[Puppet]

So if there are fewer gear changes in 'snow' etc. wouldn't it be OK to drive with this option all the time?? ie. No adverse affect on engine etc.

 

[drew]

So if there are fewer gear changes in 'snow' etc. wouldn't it be OK to drive with this option all the time?? ie. No adverse affect on engine etc.

no using the snow mode is made just for snow or very slipery sufaces as above the car will pull away in second which puts extra strain on the gearbox and clutch to do so. also when braking/slowing down it tends to force it down a gear. using this mode all the time will wear the gearbox and clutch down alot faster.also its not always best to drive your car at low rpm as the engine will build up horible stuff inside the fuel lines ect a car needs a little high revs now and agin to burn off the deposits left behind. hope i cleared that up for you

 

[Ivor-5008]

Timewasters

MRGQ - allow me to welcome you to the club for people who post "I don't know anything about this but am going to post anyway".

If snow mode pulls away in 2nd gear then can this also be achieved by selecting M2?
and are you better off changing gear manually (like I've done for the last 40+ years?

If I'm really stuck, before I get the shovel out of the boot the manual suggest switching off DSC/ASR. I guess it can't hurt to try (automatically switches back on at 30mph).

 

[IanML]

Snow mode works as described above with earlier AL4 transmissions. However, later cars have a different set of controls.

The earlier cars Handbooks describe the AL4 as autoadaptive, i.e. the operation adapts to the driving conditions and the driver. These have the PRND32 (and, in the very earliest case, 1) gate.

Later cars have the Porsche Tiptronic System, and the AL4 is not described as autoadaptive. These have the PRNDM+/- gate. In this case, snow mode does not start in 2nd, the change points still occur at lower roadspeeds and I think the signal rates from the accelerator pedal are limited to reduce the chance of wheelspin.

With the autoadaptive system, starting in 2nd does not stress the transmission more, but the torque converter will slip more, and the fluid will heat more, which may reduce its working life, and will certainly cost more in fuel consumed.

With the Tiptronic system, the only downside of snow mode I can see is the lack of revs clogging the engine, mentioned in an earlier post, so if you want to do that, you need to give it an "Italian tune-up" occasionally.

 

[Ivor-5008]

'snow fun.....

IanML - thanks for that. I don't do a lot of driving in snow, as here in the French mountains they seem to have a bigger budget for salt and plenty of snowploughs. However today I did have to drive through fresh snow and it was a bit slippy - I do have winter tyres on (best when temperatures fall below 8 degrees) and saved money by using steel wheels, standard valves and living with a permanent 'no TPS' warning (costs too much to have the dealer deactivate it in the winter and re-activate it in the Spring).

I do have the Tiptronic so plan to go out and play tomorrow - trying 'snow' mode, manual mode and switching off the DSC/ASR.

I'm not worried about a few miles at low revs as every 6 weeks we do a round trip back to the UK - 500 miles each way at 85mph - that should clear the cobwebs

 

[storeman]

Hmmmm

I'm still trying to figure out why the question was asked in the first place. From the OP's first post he says he has contradictory views from apparent Peugeot specialists but from the tone of the second post in reply to mrgq's opinion it sounds like he/she has already decided which of the conflicting views from the specialists suits him/her best.

Asking a question on a forum who's membership is made up by enthusiasts with a sprinkling of members who earn a living working on the marque that returns contradictory advice from specialists can only result in exactly the same kind of reponse and that is exactly what has been acheived.

I can't give advice as I don't know one way or another. I read the thread as the question in the original post intrigued me but can't say I'm shocked to read replies that aren't all in agreement. What was a bit of a surprise was the OP quoting what a guy in NZ said without also quoting a response from one of the 'hundered so called in -the -know- Peugeot people' who contradicted that statement.

It's easy to understand why you can't get consistent advice - it's simply a case of different people have differing opinions on the subject.

 

[IanML]

... I do have winter tyres on (best when temperatures fall below 8 degrees) and saved money by using steel wheels, standard valves and living with a permanent 'no TPS' warning (costs too much to have the dealer deactivate it in the winter and re-activate it in the Spring).

You could invest in Peugeot Planet/Lexia 3, and thereafter do it yourself

We seldom get snow in Jersey, so I don't have experience of snow driving in my auto 206cc. I'd be interested in your experiences.

 

[reliable406]

Using the older style box in snow mode would put extra strain on the box in the long term it is not just for snow though it is also useful on loose surfaces mud etc but is not intended for everyday use.

The box as IAN says is autoadapting so what would be a better option would be to have the ecu reset to allow it to adapt to YOUR driving style and it then would drive the way you drive I done this to my espace which uses the same system and it helped a lot.

This thread has 2 different people asking about 2 different types of box i am replying to the Opening poster

 

[Ivor-5008]

I'm not driving a car - I'm driving a computer

I have been having some EMC problems - 'gearbox problem - contact garage' (gearbox locked in 3rd gear - limp home mode) and 'Engine problem - contact garage' (no other symptoms) both of which cleared - happened twice. First time happened on a Sunday, a recovery company technician reset the fault codes - then I took it to main dealer who said "someone has fiddled with this". 2nd time I took it to main dealer who had it for 3 days, reset the fault codes (cleared the log?) and said nothing wrong....of course not now - they hid the evidence. I bought a cheap OBD2 dongle and loaded 'Torque' on the phone but the faults haven't occurred again....yet.
The car is still under warranty but if I start changing things they will be logged in the ECM memory and the dealer will use that to claim nothing is their fault. They even suggested the faults I've had could have been caused by having a tow ball fitted by a 3rd party weeks before. So I've hung back from buying Lexia.
I'm not driving a car - I'm driving a computer and we all know how often they need to be re-booted!

 

[reliable406]

Auto boxes are very complex and an engine running fault CAN affect the gearbox badly in your case its probably the engine fault that upset the gearbox ecu which then locked you out of top gear for ITS safety.

I had a mazda bongo i ran on cooking oil till recently and last winter i had a little too much cooking oil in it and the power could be felt to die off this upset the gearbox ecu which put the light on in the dash and locked me out and this was a 20 year old gearbox ! modern ones are way more complex.

Doubt the towbar could affect anything but everything is networked nowadays and if towbar is wired the old fashioned way it may cause issues but doubt it would affect engine or box.