High shift point, lack of power, overall dastardly

[Nemean]

Hi folks,

I was hoping I might be able to implore the help of this forum community to assist with a very peculiar problem!

We've had quite the run with this 2005 206cc 1.6L here in Perth, Western Australia and so far I've not had any luck with mechanics.

The basic run down of the problem is:

The car starts up and drives fine.
After x amount of time (normally at least 30 minutes of driving but especially after long freeway style drives) the engine and the transmission shift points starts to go a bit screwy. Basically it progressively gets worse until it won't change gear until it hits ~4000RPM. After cooling down, it goes back to normal.

Some vehicle history:
-Purchased in April 2014 with 120,000kms on the odometer
Within a week we had the gearbox fault and had new solenoids and ecu flashed. Problem fixed. Still cursing the private seller who knowingly sold the vehicle to us in this condition.
-Two weeks later it was in for a major service. It required a new water pump, timing belt and belt tensioner so they were all changed.
-Two days later the tensioner failed and the timing belt came flying out the timing cover and destroyed the cylinder head.
-The cylinder head was then rebuilt, all damaged parts replaced and vehicle returned to working order.
-I can't recall exactly but on one occasion, we received either the Anti-pollution fault or Catalytic Converter fault. The error appeared once some months ago and has not returned since.
-Unrelated but still pretty funny, one of the brake pads fell out mid drive. Didn't even think this was possible but apparently it is because it happened!
-Vehicle started to exhibit a weird overheating problem. I had all fans and fan activity checked and I replaced the fan speed resistor, temperature sensor, 2x fan speed relays etc.. found out the thermostat was faulty. Flushed block and radiator and replaced thermostat - temperature problem resolved.
-On a long drive down south (4.5 hours) half way through the drive when the current fault started happening (that is the late shifting) it again reported an automatic gearbox fault on the dash. We were able to complete our journey (and return) and had the error checked by a transmission specialist who knows these transmissions and had previously repaired the solenoids. Not a single problem was found. He tried tinkering with changing shift points etc to no avail.

The current thought is that there is some sort of engine fault and it's causing the engine to believe it's under load - with this thought it then dynamically adjusts the transmission shift point to accommodate. A mechanic has suggested it's likely the catalytic converter.

I hope the digest above is clear enough - really I'm seeking any help that may be offered. We have spent a third of the original purchase cost in keeping this vehicle operational. Through all of this my girlfriend still loves it so I'm doing my best to keep her spirits up and save us spending any more thousands!!

Regards and thanks in advance to all,

Anthony

[Capncol]

The fault will be with the gearbox not the engine. You are being fobbed off. Has the fluid and filter ever been changed?

[Nemean]

Hi Col,

Thank you - Transmission fluid and filter? I believe they have been when the solenoids were replaced but in all honesty I can't be sure. I've heard of this solenoid issue with these AW4s coming back to reoffend within the six month mark. Is there anything I can check to validate this or identify a problem?

I found it especially strange that the vehicle reported a gearbox failure but apparently there was not a single code lodged - the scanners failed to find anything. The obd/Ecu doesn't automatically clear them after a period of time does it?

Anthony

[Capncol]

May be that the code reader used couldn't find anything. Do you know what was used?
Any faults are stored until cleared even if the fault itself has been fixed.

[Nemean]

I'm not sure to be honest. I have two of my own code readers here, neither of them are particularly sophisticated but I do work across the road from a Peugeot dealership, might be that they could do a quick code check for me.

[gazza82]

2005 should be EOBD compatible but could it be an older car with a recent reg plate in Oz? Would Pug have held onto older cars for 5 years or could it be an import from Asia?

If you PM me your vin number I'll check it on servicebox and see what I can find out for you.