Stop/start engines?

[jkaetz]

Ford says their entire 2018 model line up will now have the start/stop feature.

I will NEVER own anything with this crap on it!

Good luck. These things are all a side effect of the government mandates on fuel economy. It will only get worse. If you are going to avoid these features you'll be driving cars from the early 2000's forever.

Commifornia and New York City and some more of the East coast is going to mandate this in the next few years. They are wanting to do it to the Diesel delivery trucks, ambulances, fire trucks, Ect.

Soap box Alert. !!!!! here is your chance to bail


But the EPA has infiltrated Car/truck/engine companies and anyone who has bought a 2015 or newer is in for a huge shock when the vehicle is 3-5 years old. You will be trading them in and your going to be in a constant cycle of a vehicle only economical for about 2-3 years of it's life. The technology that has been forced on the manufactures and therefore on you the consumer is not stable or proven. Dealing with the sensors alone will cost you about $800-$1500 everytime one breaks down. Plus the downtime and the fact that new vehicles are prohibited from having a limp home and will put you out of commission without warning will lead to a customer who just has to eat "poop" and smile and drive the new vehicle.

All true. I often wonder how long modern cars will last. I currently have vehicles from 2007, 2009, and 2011. Guess which one I'm more worried about for longevity purposes.

 

[Leo]

Government involvement is collapsing this country, making problems where there were no problems.

My friend owns several new diesel pickups for his company work. The take exhaust fluid. I thought he was kidding me. Every one of them has gone out of service when the sensor in the diesel exhaust fluid system gets fouled. The dealer can only shrug his shoulders as the sensors seem to be on back order every time a truck gets dragged in on the hook. He is seriously talking about buying old, pre diesel fluid trucks and having them overhauled an repainted. Down time is killing his ability to stay in business.

If you added start/stop operation to the already compromised reliability on these trucks, you ill pretty much loose the domestic truck market, something that has been consistently reliable.

 

[Benp]

Government involvement is collapsing this country, making problems where there were no problems.

The government reminds me of a relative with good intentions that tries to give a helping hand, but screws up everything because they don't actually know what they are doing.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

All true. I often wonder how long modern cars will last. I currently have vehicles from 2007, 2009, and 2011. Guess which one I'm more worried about for longevity purposes.

Cars have been trending toward longer life spans for quite awhile, I don't see that reversing. People who know more than me have told me that a lot of the improvement is due to tighter specs combined with improvements in oil and the various filters. I also suspect the lower revs of the modern cars reduces wear on the motor. I recall when low 3k was the norm for rpms for highway cruising. My Camaro doesn't top 2k until 80mph.

 

[Bfish]

Ford says their entire 2018 model line up will now have the start/stop feature.

I will NEVER own anything with this crap on it!

This is VERY disappointing. A buddy of mine had a work truck for 6 months with the start stop feature which was terrible. However, I've been lucky enough to drive a 2017 F150 for awhile and it's by far my favorite truck to date. With a stop start feature though it would be a NO GO in the sense I would not own one!

 

[DRob]

My 2015 F150 is equipped with auto start/stop. You can come to a complete stop without killing the engine if you aren't hard on the brake pedal once you stop. The engine starts as soon as you take your foot off the brake. There's a button on the dash which disables it. Push the button, it tells you the function is disabled, and you can forget about it. I'm not a fan but it's no big deal.

 

[Jaredjosh]

My F150 is also start/stop equipped. It has a button to disable it but resets when the vehicle is shut down so I have to push the switch every time I start it. I used to consider it a pain in the rear but it has became normal procedure and I don't even think about pushing the button anymore. Kinda like I don't think about putting on my seat belt anymore but much easier.

 

[spec4]

Rode in a Rover Evoque with the feature. Could definitely sense it in the passenger seat. It was a rental and the driver didn't care for it either. I would think the car companies would be glad to see it go considering cost and complexity.

I'll never get one until I have no choice.

 

[jkaetz]

Rode in a Rover Evoque with the feature. Could definitely sense it in the passenger seat. It was a rental and the driver didn't care for it either. I would think the car companies would be glad to see it go considering cost and complexity.

I'll never get one until I have no choice.

car companies love it, they get to count the fuel savings toward their overall mileage numbers. Consumers are the ones that will have to deal with the downsides.

 

[terrehautian]

Drove a 17 Grand Cherokee rental for five days with this feature. I only used it for a day before I disabled it in the settings. It burned me once, I got to a stop sign and the car that had the right of way signaled for me to go. I was too quick between my foot getting off the brake and pressing the gas pedal. As others have said, starter wear and battery life worry me about this feature. My 16 Equinox doesn't have this feature, luckily.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Maybe they're counting on the oil not draining out in the short time it takes a light to cycle. Interesting queston.

There are a couple of intersections near me where the light cycle (north and south bound anyhow) are long enough that I swear I could change the oil before I get the green light (east-west bound).

 

[1775usmarine]

My 17 Escape has start/stop. If I let off a bit on the brake the engine starts which is what I usually do as the light is about to go green so I can punch it if need be. The batteries in these start/stop cars need to be heavy duty with the ability to handle the deep cycling you get with the start/stop. As far as fuel economy studies have shown up to a 12% increase with this feature with an average increase of 3-10%.

 

[actaeon277]

Sounds like another NON-winner for cold climates.

I'm guessing "warming up" the car won't happen.

 

[SMiller]

Sounds like another NON-winner for cold climates.

I'm guessing "warming up" the car won't happen.

Sure it will, vehicle will idle like normal, actually doesn't even shut off in park, only in a forward gear with brake applied, betting if ecm showed low coolant temps or ambient it would not shut vehicle off.

Still a horrible feature...

 

[thunderchicken]

Cars have been trending toward longer life spans for quite awhile, I don't see that reversing. People who know more than me have told me that a lot of the improvement is due to tighter specs combined with improvements in oil and the various filters. I also suspect the lower revs of the modern cars reduces wear on the motor. I recall when low 3k was the norm for rpms for highway cruising. My Camaro doesn't top 2k until 80mph.

But the trade off is these start/stop engines and engines in hybrids when the automatically start the engine gets cranked over at 1k rpm. As an automotive technician, I have started seeing more reliability issues with cars 2012 and newer. Sucks

 

[edporch]

Since the great majority of the wear in an engine occurs when the engine is started and the oil pressure hasn't risen, I would NEVER own a vehicle with this stop/start "feature".
Though they can try to reduce the wear problems, I don't believe they can completely eliminate it.

 

[HoughMade]

Sounds like another NON-winner for cold climates.

I'm guessing "warming up" the car won't happen.

On the Chevys, the auto start-stop doesn't shut off the car unless it has reached full operating temperature.

 

[actaeon277]

On the Chevys, the auto start-stop doesn't shut off the car unless it has reached full operating temperature.

And when it's at operating temp., but you need to warm yourself?

 

[SMiller]

And when it's at operating temp., but you need to warm yourself?

Still TONS of warm coolant to provide hot air for the HVAC. For the very limited time the vehicle is shut off.

I don't think you would find the engine staving for oil as much as one would think, oil coats every surface and that coating stays there for some time.

While I absolutely HATE this start/stop I do believe there are a few misconceptions.

 

[actaeon277]

I'm not talking about a limited time. How about 4 hours in zero degree weather, while I sleep in the back, in the parking lot at work.