2009 Symbol Spare Wheel

While checking the van type pressures recently I felt it would be prudent to check the spare.  On my 2009 Symbol the spare wheel is lowered by hand cranking it down on a wire chain.  The crank is located on the offside, just behind the rear wheel and you need a special tool to lower it.  I discovered two things:  first, there was no such tool in the Peugeot toolkit supplied with the original base vehicle; second, the special tool is a 5-sided shaft designed to fit into the crank mechanism, and is turned by the wheel brace.

Quite why Peugeot decided on a 5-sided, tool rather than a hex bar, is beyond me ...... I suspect it's purely so they can hold us to ransom and charge an inordinate amount for a very unimpressive piece of steel, approx 200mm long, available only from their dealerships.  I gather some Boxers require a 6-sided tool, just to add to the fun.  Whichever version yours is, without it you're stuck, unable to use the spare wheel.  I wonder if the breakdown recovery guys keep such a tool in their kit.  

I've now lowered the spare, but found it easier to turn the 5-sided bar with a 1/2 inch ratchet tool and an appropriately sized socket.  Even then, the spare is very awkward to manhandle off the carrier, as the wire chain isn't long enough to allow the wheel to get sufficiently clear of the vehicle.  I think if I needed to change a wheel at the roadside I'd call out the breakdown service.  It's a great piece of engineering but I don't relish the thought of using it 'for real'.

Thankfully I discovered all this on my drive, rather than at the roadside.  Definitely worth checking .... this is the second breakdown item I've discovered missing, the first one being a towing eye - equally essential when you've got a problem.

Thanks S-B, I must check mine.

G

Well at least there is a spare wheel (as we have on our Symbol).
On our other vehicle, a Vito, there is none... so when my wife had a flat on the motorway one Friday evening, and the slime+pump did not work, it was "game over" until the tyre shops were open the next day.

But a good tip, we'll check ours.

Thanks for the tips, and checking our spare is on the 'to do' list!

Well, I've done my dummy run today.

My vehicle toolkit includes the pentagonal thingy with which to operate the spare wheel winch.

The pentagonal thingy is not long enough to clear the side of the van so the wheel brace has to be plugged on to the end of it.

Trouble is my wheel brace is deficient a handle.  I had previously assumed that the pentagonal tool is to be used as a tommy bar when removing wheel nuts.  However, this can't be done when using the tool to operate the winch!

So I need to purchase a large tommy bar for my toolkit.

I eventually sussed how to remove the spare wheel from the winch cable.

I'm glad I tried it!

G

Our 2008 Warwick was part of a Peugeot recall to relocate the cranking point location from it's original access through the rear bumper to the place stated above just behind the rear wheel, the garage that carried out the recall put the extra parts required in with the jack, I don't know at what point (by year) the recall finished and the new crank point was standard but it's possible that your van went through the recall and the extra part was not handed over or was lost by a previous owner, unless of course you bought the van new in which case ignore the above.
Neil

Check this thread
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I posted photos of what you should have.