Is using auto start-stop bad?

roadsidetree

Hello,

The car OH has auto start-stop which we leave it on.

At work I heard one colleague saying this must be switched off as it's not good. However OH went thru the car manual which seems to suggest leaving this on.

Should we leave this on or off? TIA

forgotmyname

Its bad if like the Fiesta that i spotted on Wednesday it was sitting there cranking over and not starting. Otherwise it will depend on your journey types.

If your journeys are so short that the battery may not be fully charging then disable it. If it gets a good run to recharge it and you also spend a bit of time sitting at the lights etc then leave it enabled.

londonTiger

time will tell in 10 years time when we see how these engines have fared. but now its inconclusive.

DUTR

roadsidetree wrote: »

Hello,

The car OH has auto start-stop which we leave it on.

At work I heard one colleague saying this must be switched off as it's not good. However OH went thru the car manual which seems to suggest leaving this on.

Should we leave this on or off? TIA

What excellency in the field does this colleague posses?
Many that are against SS perhaps don't have the technology on their vehicle or not aware of how it works, on my car at least , you have to hold the brake pedal for a time for it to activate, so it's not as if the car feels like it is stalling. For me with my car it appears to work seamlessly, on a 6 mile commute, it wouldn't be used daily.
If the traffic lights has just changed to red, then I will activate it, but if they were already on red as I approached then I don't bother as they will return to green shortly. Just common sense really.

WellKnownSid

Stop start normally measures, amongst other things, engine temperature, air conditioning system pressure, cabin temperature, alternator load, battery voltage, brake servo vacuum, and more.

It probably has a better idea when to stop than the driver.

arcon5

forgotmyname wrote: »

Its bad if like the Fiesta that i spotted on Wednesday it was sitting there cranking over and not starting. Otherwise it will depend on your journey types.

If your journeys are so short that the battery may not be fully charging then disable it. If it gets a good run to recharge it and you also spend a bit of time sitting at the lights etc then leave it enabled.

Stop start wouldn't kick in if there was battery voltage issues. There are numerous factors affecting when it is used

Zandoni

I'd be a little concerned about increased wear on the starter motor etc.

reeac

somewhere I read that manufacturers had to modify crankshaft bearings as auto stop-start was found to lead to excessive bearing wear. Fine if the mods. have been effective ...time will tell. I wonder about excessive wear to starter motors as well. If I had auto stop start I'd keep it switched off.

peter_the_piper

Picanto. I use stop start Stop/start when the lights have just turned red, if not I keep the foot on the clutch. If the level crossing is down then its used also, normal s/s in traffic I will not use it. Its turned off by turning the air vent knob(if that's the right word) S/S won't work if air con on.
Don't know if it makes any difference to mpg as I don't keep such a close watch on things. I do find leaving the MPG setting on the dashboard shows what my full tank would do and has a great effect on the weight put on the accelerator pedal.

daveyjp

Zandoni wrote: »

I'd be a little concerned about increased wear on the starter motor etc.

Many cars are fitted with a system which doesn't use the starter motor to restart.

My last car did 50,000 miles over 4.5 years. Stop start used a lot and no issues whatsoever.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Agree with those posters who say wait and see.
It's not something i'd be buying into, and i'd have disabled on a new car.
Those who buy new(ish) and renew regularly when or shortly after warranty expires its not a problem for.
Be interesting to see what further problems these systems bring as well as DPF DMF EPB EGR etc etc, and how much to fix, in years to come, the disposable car is here.