IDLE START STOP, Good or Bad? - Tip of the Week

#idlestop #idlesystems

Idle stop start systems - what's Bills opinion? Thankfully a viewer reached out to ask and we receive our answer.

(The segment originally aired on Motoring TV 2021 Episode #5)

[leoseries]

I got my first car with start stop this year. The first time drove through my local town I decided to turn it off because over the 10 mile journey it operated 27 times. There is no way I will be convinced that this is not bad for the engine.

[johndcunninghamjr]

I am an auto technician, I have replaced so many Honda, Hyundai and Mitsubishi starters at less than 100, 000 miles it's not funny. The only thing in common is they all have stop/ start. I have always used factory replacement parts, and have not found any special bearings nor any thing else that has not been on the same starters for the last thirty years. I also have rebuild some of the starters and found the latter statement to be true. Plus with the newer vehicles with electric power steering you can not turn the steering wheel when the motor shuts off. This is not good in some situations. The little bit of gas you save will not cover the cost of a starter replacement that can cost between $900.00 to $1500.00. The auto industry only puts this on cars to satisfy the EPA, because they know the statements I have just made are true. Peace ✌️ ☮️

[erniearruda]

I agree with Bill that the starter motors are more durable. But I find a it happened to me that, this system will reduce your battery life.I had to replace my main battery in my 2015 Jeep Cherokee two year’s ago.That battery only lasted 3 years, was not cheap replacement, $500 for the battery itself.when that auto stop/ start is activated, yes you save gas but the rest of the car is still running off your battery, havac, lights, steering, brakes and hundreds of computers in your car it will eat up a lot of your juice from the battery.

[Jerlemi]

the start/stop is fine but the disable button should stay disabled if you depress it. mine always defaults to "on" every time the car turns off. its very annoying.

[chicobear]

I'm sorry, but I'm going with Scotty Kilmer on this: Auto Stop/Start is bad. Let's wait a decade and see how many cars that use Auto Stop/Start are still on the road. The money you "save" at the pumps means you just will pay more to the dealer or mechanic.

[federicotorresbordils]

We have to see 4 years later those systems, who will pay?
After a trip 300 kms. you arrive to the city and the engine stops !!!! No sense.
The turbos will suffer lot even in city displacements, belts, starter, alternator, turbo, steering, cranksaft, engine oil quality, and ECU itself MUST be properly engineered and strongly reinforced.
Dont use it on cold weather conditions and never when the engine is still cold.
You will pay a lot of more than the saved fuel.
BimmerN53

[scottgalbreath]

Sadly on a lot of vehicle's the start/stop feature saves maybe 1-3% more fuel. Also, it can have negative side effects on the crankshaft bearings. The more frequently you stop and restart the engine the more things are going to wear out. Just my 02 cents on the subject matter.

My 2019 Escape 2.0L Turbo has the stop/start feature, its stays shut off. My 2020 CR-V with the 1.5L turbo (non-hybrid) also has it, I shut it off every time I get in. I will be buying a unit that disengages it.

[danedaniels]

The newer systems does not use your starter for stop start. Because of direct cylinder fuel injection (GDI), they use a compression start. However this is also bad for your engine. Each time your engine stops, it experiences heat soak which causes carbon build up. Many modern engines are turbo charged which spins an extreme high speed. The bearing is oil lubricated and cooled. Everytime your engine stops especially after being driven hard, the oil in the turbo charger bearing solidifies causing wear in the bearing and eventual failure. (Old school turbo charge guys let the engine run to cool the bearing.) imagine this happening 30 times a day or more. Every time your engine starts, it put a strain on your value train especially the timing belts and change. When these fail, you might get lucky and they only slip a notch and your engine will stop. If the slip more than that the pistons will crash into the values and destroy your engines. Turn off your auto stop start feature.

[dartskipper]

I had two Vauxhall Insignias (1.9 CDti) with the feature. It also had a delete button. On both cars the stop start system stopped working at around 70, 000 miles. I did not do a lot of city driving. I never bothered to get it fixed and the cars never failed an annual MOT inspection. I bought the second car when I retired from work, and the overall economy has hardly been affected, still recording better than 50 mpg overall, and 59 mpg on the motorway. The car has done over 140, 000 miles.

[ninemilliondollars]

Journal bearings in these type of engines often are treated with a coating that eliminates wear during the start step. And the use of a low viscosity oil increases the ability to keep a film of it between the bearings and the crankshaft during starting. However, all of this is so auto manufacturers can inprove their vehicle's mileage, even if only by 1 mpg helping them meet government Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards. I would use my stop-start system if I was provided a warranty of free replacement of the starter and flywheel to 300, 000 miles, regardless of the timeframe. Until then. sorry, not using it.

[TemperVoid]

I could maybe understand this future if you live in a city, where constant stopping means constant savings on fuel. However, these beefed up components, as you said, likely cost more as a result of them being beefed up so even if your starter lasts just as long as a car without idle start and stop, when you do you have to eventually replace it if it breaks, it’s going to cost way more, negating the fuel savings overall. Seems like a feature better fit for hybrid vehicles.

[pizzleboy]

I was under the impression that oil damage problems with repeatedly starting and stopping will affect the long term reliably of the engine.

[aspecreviews]

I have a 2002 Prius with 160K miles on it. It's probably auto-idle-stopped 250, 000+ times, and it still runs great.

[TL]

I own a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica, which also has the start stop feature. I was indifferent about the feature until the secondary battery died after 2 years. Even though the battery was under warranty, I remember asking the tech assuming it wasn’t under warranty what would the cost of a replacement battery be? His answer around $280! Seems as though the auto industry is stepping over dollars to save pennies.

[ryans]

I think it’s stupid you can beat up the starter but how about the engine it’s self the hardest thing on an engine is start up. Think about how many times you probably stop and go within the city traffic. That’s a lot of times that engine being started again and again and again. Lost of ware and really unless a traffic lights longer then 10 minutes which I haven’t seen a red light go that long you are really not wasting much gas at all. At idle the engine is at its lowest rpms not much fuel needed to run the engine you really are not wasting much at all. I’d rather burn little more gas then have my engine constantly being kick started on and off

[afarangi]

Honestly, I hate it...Let me make my own decision and disable that completely. I still disable it manually all the time.

[jonathantheyorkie]

I know someone who got a car with that. They had to change the starter motor every 3 months since the starter is working 150% to start the motor in a very short time. I can hear the starter motor working faster and harder than if it wasn't auto start stop.

[livefreevinnie]

I love my start/stop in my converted Ford Transit Van 350 Ecoboost. It’s good to know that the starters were beef up to compensate for the start/stop option. Nevertheless, starters aren’t too bad to replace.

[bdkhan]

Many times My car didn’t start properly but vibrate after I stop at signal when the ISS is on. I have to change my battery after one and half year. So do I need to permanently turn it off…do you guys have the same problem too ?

[sammyt]

But, since it's common knowledge that most of the engine wear happens at start up since the oil drains from the engine when stopped and the initial friction among the moving parts of the engine is higher at start up until they're coated with oil again, wouldn't the frequent start-stop exacerbate that problem and accelerate engine wear?