Piwoslaw's Peugeot 307sw modding thread

[PaleMelanesian]

I haven't had trouble using a simple tarp on the windshield, even in freezing rain conditions. It stays dry underneath. The biggest trouble is arriving home in such conditions and putting the cover on top of an already-wet car. That freezes very nicely.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

The biggest trouble is arriving home in such conditions and putting the cover on top of an already-wet car. That freezes very nicely.

When driving in snow I switch the air blowing on the windshield from warm to cold a few minutes before arriving at my destination. This cools it off so that snow doesn't melt on the warm glass after stopping.

[Piwoslaw]

Last weekend I drove to the mountains in very cold weather. Among the many things working against my milage I noticed that my engine DOES NOT like cold starts (no preheat) when it's below -15°C. Its idle is a little rough, and takes a looong time to warm up. But it starts OK, on the first turn, which is funny because I've been getting a gong signal for the last 2 months, which apparently means that the battery voltage is low (but the battery icon doesn't light up on the dash). But the engine starts much smoother than it did in the summer This morning I checked that the battery's voltage is 12.55V, which is very good for a 7 year old after a night at -17°C.

Engine warm up time was tragic - After a -18°C night the first 20 km of the return trip was downhill. After 12km the coolant temp was only 45°C Yeah, the passengers were asking about when the heat will start to flow
With the upper grille block my temps were usually slightly higher (84°-90°) than without (78°), but now they hardly ever were that high. Parking the car for only 5-10 minutes dropped the temperature by that many degrees. Coasting with the engine off for only 2km also cooled it by 8°-10°.

Good thing that I switched the oil from 5w30 to 0w30

I also had a small problem on the highway: On pretty much every trip I get error code P0234 when oil in the intake momentarily clogs the post-turbo pressure sensor. This time I noticed that the engine suddenly lost some power - it was very reluctant when accelerating just under 90 km/h and 2k rpm. I tried keying off to reset the ECU, but that didn't change anything, so I stopped, opened the hood, checked that everything is in place (didn't touch anything except for the oil dipstick), started up and everything was OK again. I'm not sure if this was related to P0234, but it sure looked like something caused a limp home mode.

I'd normally be happy that I managed better fuel consumption than my EPA (ECE, or whatever) on each leg of the trip, but not when that still ruins my average This tank is a bummer anyway...

[euromodder]

In that kind of weather, I'd say it's better to warm up the engine ASAP - even if it costs some extra fuel. Wear is excessive at low temperatures.

[Doni_99]

Hi Piwoslaw!

I can't find the right word for how I admire the body modifications you made on your car.
Oh, I've found: WOW....

[Nevyn]

Does that thing have some sort of EGR that may be getting clogged?

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Nevyn

Does that thing have some sort of EGR that may be getting clogged?

EGR - yes. But as far as I can tell there are no problems with clogging.
Maybe you meant DPF? In that case - no. I believe that my car has one of the last EURO 3 emissions engines that came out of the factory. The post-lift models had EURO 4, so they had to have a DPF.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

EGR - yes. But as far as I can tell there are no problems with clogging.

There are some problems with the EGR clogging though.
But more with malfunctioning EGR valves - I've had it replaced twice under warranty.

Maybe you meant DPF? In that case - no. I believe that my car has one of the last EURO 3 emissions engines that came out of the factory. The post-lift models had EURO 4, so they had to have a DPF.

DPFs are not mandatory on Euro 4 engines - the DPF was optional on my car as well. Regulations and user acceptance changed from country to country.

We have lots of Euro 4 cars without DPF, though Peugeot usually sold them with FAP/DPF.

Currently, all Euro 5 diesel cars have DPF as no-one has a better soot-filtering system on the market.

[Nevyn]

I meant EGR, but forgot you were diesel. Was just a random thought.


Carry on!

[Piwoslaw]

About 2 weeks ago we had a heat wave here, so I removed the upper grille block (ver 2.0). In warmer weather, with the upper grille blocked, the engine would warm up faster, even out around 78-80°C, and stay there until I hit a small climb or stop&go traffic. Then the temperature would rise to 90°C and slowly inch upwards, even if I'm peacefully P&Ging again. The temp would climb to 97°C, then quickly fall to 89°C (fan kicks in at lowest speed), then again and again. It's almost impossible to keep the temperature stable, opening the lower grille block only slightly extends the cycle.

With the upper grille unblocked, the coolant temperature hardly ever goes above 80°C, even with the lower grille closed.

So why am I complaining? Because I get better FE with a hotter engine. Example: Trip #1: 60km through the city, had luck with the lights, but lots of overpasses, outdoor temp 28°C, upper grille blocked, coolant temp at least 90°C, consumption 3.2 l/100km.
Trip #2: 40km on the city's edge, Sunday 8am, taking it slow, no overpasses and 2-3 lights, outdoor temp 8°C, upper grille open, coolant temp no more than 78°C, consumption 3.7 l/100km.

The above implies that even if the fan keeps turning on, then I still get much lower FC with a warmer engine. I admit that this is by no means a good A-B-A-B test, since the routes were totally different. Trip #2's route allowed better hypermiling, but the hot weather on Trip #1 probably resulted in faster engine warm up and lower friction in the bearings.

Unfortunately PSA doesn't make a hotter thermostat for my engine, and the one it does make is wrapped up with some sensors in a plastic housing, so no way to hack it like in a TDI. I could make an openable upper grille block, but that would be overkill: the lower grille already has two independently openable blocks.

Any ideas? Maybe a partial block for the summer?