Peugeot 206

206 1.4 petrol 2002, 47000 ish miles.

While driving on the motorway the other day (after about an hour) the
engine management light came on (with a beep). Now, whenever I switch
the engine on, after a few seconds the same thing happens - light comes
on and stays on and beeps once.

Car drives perfectly fine, other than the light coming on, its hard to
see what is wrong.

Any idea what this might be? Should I take it to Peugeot dealer, or
would any garage be able to help?

Thanks,

David

 

The light means that there is an error message waiting to be read. You
need to go to a repairer (not necessarily an expensive Pug agent) who has a
reader that will plug in and download the message from the car's computer.

 

Is the fact that the engine light is still lit an indication that the
problem (whatever it is) is still present? If the problem went away,
would the engine management light stop lighting?

Knowing this would help me to decide whether the problem was just a one
off (and see if it happens again - if I can reset the management system
somehow) or whether it is a problem that needs dealing with straight away.

Thanks.

 

No, the light will stay on just to show that there was a problem and a
code needs to be read.
I think if you disconnect the battery for 30 mins this causes the
management memory and light to be reset. So if after that the light
comes back on when you drive then the problem has returned.

Hope that makes sense
GGJ

 

Yes that makes sense. I'll try that then, thanks.

 

Hmmm, that didn't appear to work - so either the problem still persists
or it wasn't enough time. I'll try disconnecting the battery for a
longer time... I know it sounds silly but I'm just removing the positive
lead, is that enough?

 

Sorry for the flood of posts...

Rather than paying the £60 per hour rate for a mechanic to reset the ECU
(or more for a pug garage) I figure it will be cheaper to buy an ECU
reader / resetter.

Looking at this one:

http://www.talktomycar.co.uk/products/codereaders/mj004.htm

Is this what I need do you think?

Thanks.

 

Just the positive should do the trick, I know this worked in the 406 but
maybe they have changed it in the 206.
If all else fails a local garage with a reader should be able to plug it
in and tell you what the fault is. They can also reset the system so you
can see if it comes up again.
I am sure that there are also 2 pins you can short out which also wipes
the managment memory but i can't remember what they are.
GGJ

 

If you have a good local garage or even a good peugeot garage nearby
then it should take them no more than 15 minutes to plug in the reader
so hopefully they can then tell you what it says and reset it.
Hopefully if you can confirm the time it takes first then it won't cost
you more than £15.
I got a peugeot dealer to re programme a cd player to match the ecu for
me and only cost me £12.

GGJ

 

You should never undo the positive first. (unless you've got a positive
earth car)

Undoing the pos first means that if your spanner touches the car body there
can be a sudden shower of sparks which may cure your constipation, but it
won't do your car or your battery any good at all.

Even if you've got a totally dead battery, or if you're very careful not to
touch earth, you should always - earth off first, earth on last. This is
good practice, and good practice is *always* good practice.

Steve

 

The battery had a quick release on one terminal, so I removed that. It
would seem odd to design a battery with a quick release on the terminal
you're *not* meant to remove first, it was also the closest one to me as
well (leaning over the bonnet towards the windscreen).

It had a '+' sign on it. The battery cover also had a big '+' sign on it
at that end, its like they really wanted me to know it was there.

Perhaps I have a positive earth car?

 

No. They haven't been Pos earth since the 60s. The quick release terminal is
a modification. Be careful.

Steve

 

They haven't been positive earth since they realised one of the reasons why
60's cars rusted away so quickly, electrolytic action, which coupled with
the poor quality steel at the time meant many cars had big holes in them
within a few years of being made.