Can someone school me on the stop and start vehicles

[rollinpete]

Is there a deactivation switch in these vehicles? Starting and shutting off for a 45 seconds to 1 min. traffic light seems useless to me, (how much gas are you really saving)? Seems you could be doing harm to your engine and other parts, (starter wearing out) ( loss of oil pressure ) when having to restart, not long ( but still doesn't seem well for the engine). Any thoughts Any of you guys own one of these vehicles?

 

[KrisZ]

If the EPA MPG figures were published based on the vehicle having the start/stop feature, then you can only temporarily disabled it. It will be on the next time you restart the car. There might be some aftermarket tunes that will turn off this feature permanently, but that would be make and model specific. As for the benefits of this so called tech, I'm not sold on it, but there are many that like it or at least don't mind having it enabled.

 

[bdcardinal]

It depends on the vehicle. Some allow you to disable every time you start it, don't have no way to disable without reprogramming.

 

[SeaJay]

Personally, I would avoid owning one of these if at all possible.

 

[supton]

Don't forget, they oversized the starter (and battery?) on these models. Or they said they would... The feature has been around for a while. Has anyone noticed an uptick in starter failure on these models? I mean, it's been a few years now--I'd think we'd have seen problems by now. If it was a problem.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by rollinpete

Is there a deactivation switch in these vehicles? Starting and shutting off for a 45 seconds to 1 min. traffic light seems useless to me, (how much gas are you really saving)? Seems you could be doing harm to your engine and other parts, (starter wearing out) ( loss of oil pressure ) when having to restart, not long ( but still doesn't seem well for the engine). Any thoughts Any of you guys own one of these vehicles?

Switch? Yes and on some makes it's temporary (typically requires programming to make it permanently off). The savings are real and has been thoroughly proven time and time again. More cylinders = greater fuel savings. Some have opined a concern over increased wear on the crankshaft however it's not clear that the additional wear shows up within the 150k miles. The technology has been used in Europe for about a decade. The starters contain beefed up internals. They're entirely different animals. I have it on my 435i. I could take it or leave it.

 

[demarpaint]

Some can be turned off manually, each time you enter the vehicle it would have to be done. IIRC many of the 2019 models will have the system active all the time with no way to disable it w/o some aftermarket hack or dongle, if available. A headache looking for an Aspirin in my book. Having said that unless they do away with the system I will end up owning a vehicle with it. I will however make sure there is some hack or device I can buy to disable it or I will pass on the vehicle, and search for one that has the dongle or hack available. I better again.......

 

[PeterPolyol]

They start. They stop. They start they start they stop. Start start start, stop stop stop. It's the Starty and Stoppy Show

 

[Greggy_D]

I have one on the Fusion. I find myself turning it off more than I use the feature. I get irritated when I only need to stop for a second or two and the engine stops and starts within that time frame. Now for known long red lights, I definitely will leave it enabled.

 

[MNgopher]

In some cars, yes, there is a switch. Most will require you to re-engage the switch each time you turn the car off and back on again. Some can be programmed / jumpered / bpyassed out. Studies have shown for any stop greater than about 10 seconds, you come out ahead if the engine is turned off (fuel mileage wise). Starters and batteries are typically beefed up versus the same vehcile/engine that doesn't have start stop. (In my trucks case, regular engines get standard lead acid batteries, the start stop ones get an AGM battery). There is literature out there on the needs for bearings in these types of vehicles. All that being aid, I have it on my F150, and the only time it gets disengaged is when I am towing - I put the truck in tow/haul mode, and when the truck detects a trailer is connected / plugged in, start stop is disabled. No problems or troubles to report in 36,000 mile and 2 1/2 years. You realize how long you spend just idling when you have one of these.

 

[goodtimes]

On some like the Chrysler Pacifica they have two batteries. Not something I would want to add to the list of expenses down the road. Besides being an annoying feature I would think. Not to mention the heat and ac go off. There should be an on off switch but probably then they can't claim the city mpg increase. Which it will do in some amount.

 

[UncleDave]

Not all start stop is the same. on my RX400h everything runs while the engine is stopped - air conditioner compressor, all power and accessories. In most gas autos - when the engine stops so does the AC. UD

 

[skyactiv]

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a...deactivate-stopstart-systems-temporarily

 

[admzn]

My friend has a Golf R and he was able to code it to disable it. Otherwise it is automatically on again at startup. I find it annoying especially in a manual transmission vehicle. the 30 cents in fuel I will save means nothing to me if I start to sweat when the AC turns off in the summer.

 

[RamFan]

The Alfa has this and I disable it 99% I'm in the car. Not because I don't like start-stop tech, but because on this particular vehicle, it takes too long to engage when I release my foot from the brake. I drove one other vehicle with this a loooooong time ago, a Saturn Vue. On that vehicle, the re-ignition was seamless. From what I remember, my foot wouldn't completely leave the brake pedal and it had fully restarted. On the Alfa, there's a hesitation of sorts, almost like the car is trying to figure out if I'm actually going to hit the gas. If it weren't for this, I'd keep the system engaged (once the engine is fully warm). Where it really comes in handy for me is that if I'm driving with it disabled and I'm at a train crossing or a known long red light, I can hit the deactivate button (to activate) and it will kill power to the engine but not the other features; radio, heat, a/c, etc. and when I'm ready to roll again I simply deactivate again and it kicks power on without going through an entire starting cycle which would temporary kill those features. For those stating that these systems cause increased starter wear. That's simply not the case. The starters in these vehicles are not like an ordinary starter, they're specifically built for this kind of usage.

 

[skyactiv]

Consumers Reports once state GM does the best job implementing the start & stop feature. I plan on buying a new 2019 Ford Ranger which comes with it.

 

[PimTac]

"For those stating that these systems cause increased starter wear. That's simply not the case. The starters in these vehicles are not like an ordinary starter, they're specifically built for this kind of usage." From what I have read and heard, systems are in place to help the engine start quickly and efficiently. This includes piston position and the engine firing. This may not apply to all makes however. Here is some info on Mazda's start-stop technology. http://www.mazda.com/en/innovation/technology/env/i-stop/

 

[TheLawnRanger]

I can't stand the sound of the start/stop feature in a parking lot after a game or concert. Engines constantly off and on. It sounds like the driver is not BITOG enough to maintain their ride.

 

[StevieC]

The highlander I had, had this and there was a button to disable it but you had to do this everytime you got into the vehicle so I bought a module off eBay that plugged into the switch and kept it turned off for me. Other manufacturers will disable the feature if the vehicle has something plugged into the trailer hitch electrical connection because it thinks it's towing. Some OEs like Mazda won't even let you disable it at all. I find it an annoyance and would try to avoid buying a vehicle with the feature if possible but it's not the end of the world and as others have said you usually get a beefier starter and battery because of this which is a plus and if you can disable it, it's no issue. I'm not against it I just prefer not to have it.

 

[meep]

it does save a significant amount of fuel. take a 4 hour highway drive and look at your mpg. Stop for 3 red lights at 1 minute each and watch what happens to the mpg over that tank of gas. now get back on the highway and see how long it takes to get back up to that economy. Studies show 7-8% for city economy, and lesser of course for hwy. I've hand-mathed that it gains me about 1mpg in my commute, which is ~5% gains. I leave it enabled, and it's fine. It disables when towing, as it should. A lot of ppl hate on it, but I'm not sure how warranted all the hate is. When it's hot out, the engine will restart to bring the air back on; the duration depends on temps. The driveability isn't impacted, as the restart is fast. It's not worth complaining about to me. I chose to just adapt. -m