The AL4 - A Good News Story

Just wanted to share my AL4 adventure ...

I drive a 206CC with the dreaded box in it, and at around 115k it started doing the dreaded THUMP into limp-home mode - usually first thing in the morning, going up the massive hill that is my morning drive into town / work. A stop-and-restart once it was warm would reset the box and fix the issue (got quite good at this while still moving in traffic - naughty I know), but it never really got any better ...

At 145k, the local auto specialist diagnosed a solenoid fault and advised replacing both solenoids ...

Not afraid of a bit of mechanicking, I drained the box, pulled the valve block off, stripped it down, flushed everything, reassembled it KEEPING but SWAPPING the ORIGINAL solenoids over, and put it all back together.

Now at 165k, never had a recurrence, and the box changes like a newbie.

And the magic 'fluid' that is recommended? Try Penrite ATF FS - it works great in my box. The label says it can be used where 'BMW LT71141' spec is recommended ... same same ... and it's easy to get your hands on.

And it's red - like all ATF should be - lol.

Cheers

A good news story has been a long time coming for the AL4. is a CC similar to the XR?

http://my206xr.blogspot.com.au/2010/06/al4-hydraulic-valve-block.html

So what did the trick?

Flushing?
Swapping the solenoids?
New fluid?
All of the above?

Or was it TLC or just magic?

kinroh - don't know whether a CC is anything like an XR - the CC is my first and only Peugeot to date - but it's great!

perpignan - you'd have to ask the box that question - but my thinking was that IF the solenoid was worn (and being an electronics engineer with a curiosity for pulling stuff apart, I very much doubted it) then swapping them over would at least ensure that that particular issue was 'relocated'.

kinroh - addendum (now that I've reviewed your blog) - your box looks identical to mine - good blog!

PhilDW56 said:

kinroh - addendum (now that I've reviewed your blog) - your box looks identical to mine - good blog!

Click to expand...

no no its not my blog ive got a Gti ... it is a helpful source of infos. though

replacing both was the norm under warranty, but changed to just the one.

which solenoid did you swap was it the two at the top on the back of the body or the ones along the side as i have one with the exact same syptoms

Balki - the two large ones at the back. If you're going in there (and you haven't been in there before) note carefully the position of the gear selector detente roller as you disassemble - getting it positioned properly on reassembly can be a chore. My other suggestion is to dismantle and wash everything in the valve block - don't be afraid!