Peugeot 208 gear box warning fault not on neutral

Until you work your way through the fault codes and rectify same , you will probably continue to have problems

Hi. Into local Peugeot dealer, read codes, downloaded sw (no update), reset auto gearbox timings, clutch etc settings and all tested ok. Three days same fault happened again.

Hi, I am having the same issue with my Peugeot 208. The engine just won’t crank over. Says “put the car in neutral and start the engine’ but the car is in neutral? And it won’t start until it’s like jump started and no one knows what the issue is at all at the garage and auto electricians . I don’t know where to turn because it’s been happening for almost 2 months and I need my car to get to work it’s a nightmare

Are you saying it starts and runs o.k when jump started ?

Yes I took my high power jump starter to one breakdown occasion with the error message and after a couple of tries it started and thereafter with no issues for a few days. But the battery was charged up that evening just in case.
Also on another occasion when the breakdown truck came to load it and it was pushed closer we rocked the car and moved it some metres and I heard a click and we tried it and lo and behold, it started no issue, and the gear error message disappeared. The RAC van towed it back home, as we had waited 4 hours on that occasion so we didn’t want to risk breaking down again (and the breakdown company won’t return for the same fault!).

Our local Peugeot garage worked hard to rectify this issue. They followed up on the fault codes for gearbox selector ECU and main ECU…and the various relays. Relays are similar and substituting made no difference. They all worked. They carefully removed and cleaned contacts on ALL the components involved. The issue of getting inside the (double clutch system, semi auto box) clutch casing to check on the condition of the selector is pricey as are the two controllers involved. It seems not to have been needed. The sensor/selector is a complete unit and cost around £600 with fitting. The main ECU is a £1400 job.
But since the hot weather and the “clean” the car has run ok.

I believe that component wear wasn’t really an issue due to very low mileage and gentle use from new, BUT the age means some wiring / connectors deterioration can set in. After the really intensive clean and attention to detail and replacing some of the wiring spade terminals it looks as though it has helped to solve the issue (as they deteriorate and can oxidise over time and give intermittent connections) and perhaps were a cause.

Also the intense summer heat maybe affected the electronics and connections (which the clean and replace seems to have solved). We’ll only really know next summer and the return of very hot weather returns!
The main control unit and gearbox controller are pricey ( up to £2000 if all are changed BUT the ECU controllers shouldn’t be faulty unless some sort of electrical discharge has partially damaged. They are robust units. Also breaker yards can have used ones far cheaper as long as the donor car can be verified as running ok. Not so easy to do and the Labour to get into the clutch housing isn’t cheap to have to dot it twice…. For me if the car is worth it - new is best. There are few tax £0 cars about and the car is a real looker) but so far (as they didn’t show proper failure on the codes, just intermittent and pointers ) the tracing of wiring and the real careful cleaning work looks to have solved the issue.
The car has been driven for over a hour a few times now, stuck in queues so some heat builds up when engine is not in start/stop mode; longer journeys 40 mile return, etc and no repeat of the error in any scenario. Fingers crossed the manager was really good and did a great job at Boston Peugeot.
The system works when you can hear the “click” between reverse and neutral and thence into Drive, as the auto gear selector changes position. When it is in error and showing the display error message there is no “ click”. It brings up a few codes at that time.
Also check battery with a professional tester. Well a low, flat or even just worn and poor battery can give the same error message (“select neutral” etc) and charging the battery full will remove the error I found at one time. However after the error happened again … I replaced the battery (it was the original so was over 8 years…) with a quality new stop/start battery as proper voltage and amps is also key for the sensors on the car. The battery must give full current and not lose charge. Sometimes it seems up to charge (and checking the alternator showed full 14.4 v output so no fault there)….but when starting the CCA cranking amps were lower and the current battery output is important to the cars sensors and the p won’t work if the battery is below proper performance. The sensors are sensitive!
The car is a 2013 but only approx 15K. So little worn out. Interesting the semi-auto system used (manual gearbox plus an automatic gear selector changing system) has been stopped and not used in later year cars for an auto gearbox.