2003 HDi 406 HDi Automatic Estatew

[strapkass]

Hi

Never owned a Peugeot before so don't know what to expect from the automatic box., or the car for that matter. I recently test drove a 2003 HDi 110 auto estate with comprehensive independent service history. It's clearly been looked after and is clean and tidy throughout. It seems to be a bit of sluggish drive though and although it changes through the gears cleanly and smoothly, it does not appear to kick-down from 4th to 3rd. If I manually down shift, it revs at 4k but not beyond and when I manually up-shift it takes a few seconds before it goes back into 4th. There are no diagnostic lights on the dash and the sport and winter modes seem to activate when pressed and are lit on the dash to confirm. There is nothing in the service history to show any gearbox work or fluid changes. The car has done 113000 miles and aside from the gearbox anomaly appears to be a sweet drive...just a bit slow. Are these gearbox symptoms a likely need of new solenoids or is this just how the automatics are. Is it possible that a software upgrade and resetting of adaptive driving might help? Any thoughts or advice welcome.

thank you

[lozz]

Hi,
it might be best to take it on a longe'r test drive, if possible (1 hr ish)
find some realy steep hills,

[steve_earwig]

Hi there. I'm afraid we see very few automatic 406s so we have very little information on them. I couldn't even tell you which 'box it has (AL4 or 4HP20?). It might be worth a sniff around the 406 coupe club (http://www.406coupeclub.org) as there are more automatics in the larger-engined coupes.

I've had a quick squint on the parts and wiring diagrams, there appears to be a part number for a kick down cable but I can't see any mention in the wiring. Obviously if there is a switch then this could be faulty,or perhaps a problem with the cable, but if there isn't a cable this might point to an ecu problem. Obviously at those miles it would be worth doing a fluid change, which might sort out the lazy shifts, but I'm afraid I can't suggest anything further.

[Doggy]

Hi and welcome aboard.

As Steve says, a fluid change would be a good place to start.

If you post or PM your VIN code, we can probably tell you which box it has.