alexp999 Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 It's like anything auto, sometimes it's better to override it. If it's really cold and the heaters haven't started working yet, sometimes I'll turn the system off to warm up the engine quicker or if I know I'll be parking soon after. With the modern oils and engineering I really don't think there is anything to worry about People had the same worry when the 1.0 ecoboost came out that it's too small for its power output and won't last, yes aside from some coolant pipe issues the actual engine itself (which is also equipped with stop start) has been known to happily chug along well past 100k miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Heaton Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Boonp do you have a MK4, a vignale? I don't see any of these info messages on my st line x but maybe it's a view somewhere I haven't come across. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete14tc Posted November 14, 2019 Share Posted November 14, 2019 Have had my Mk4 Focus for about 6 weeks now (6 months old when bought) and have had 2 other Ecoboost 125’s over the past years and all the stop/start feature has worked well. My home to work journey was only about 4 miles with a couple of stops but the feature still worked winter and summer. Present car worked from day 1 but is dependant on equipment turned on, heated screens, seats etc. In. My opinion, I wouldn’t take no for an answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLB Posted November 14, 2019 Share Posted November 14, 2019 On 10/31/2019 at 5:54 PM, Guy Heaton said: Boonp do you have a MK4, a vignale? I don't see any of these info messages on my st line x but maybe it's a view somewhere I haven't come across. Guy, you will find it under 'Information Display' Settings > Information > Stop Start 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveG1975 Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 My focus is in today with the same problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Heaton Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 My SS rarely works now winter is here, apart from the last couple of days. I think this is because I had a 150 mile round trip motorway journey that's topped the battery up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Botus Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 2 hours ago, DaveG1975 said: My focus is in today with the same problem stop start not working is NOT a fault - its a major improvement - vastly reducing running costs and extending its longevity... the additional stress it puts on will eventually cause the engine to self destruct (valve train failure) meaning you get to buy a new car - which is the unwritten reason they fitted this silly feature - if you had a german premium built car you'd probably already be on the right page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexp999 Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 4 minutes ago, Botus said: stop start not working is NOT a fault - its a major improvement - vastly reducing running costs and extending its longevity... the additional stress it puts on will eventually cause the engine to self destruct (valve train failure) meaning you get to buy a new car - which is the unwritten reason they fitted this silly feature - if you had a german premium built car you'd probably already be on the right page Yeah you’ve said that already. This discussion is about why it’s not working. If you want to start your own thread about pros and cons then please feel free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 SS rarely works compared to the MK3 we had previously. I wonder wether its to do with the sync 3 screen operation being a drain on resources as when its turned off the SS works as it should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexp999 Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 More likely the gpf needing to keep the exhaust hot. Sync 2 was on the mk3 and wouldn’t drain anymore than sync 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAIDER32 Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 My start/stop hasn't worked once for at least 2 weeks, the colder weather and short trips is obviously why, Not that I'm bothered as my 10/15min trips are barely enough to get the heater going, I'd turn start/stop off anyway lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex.S Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 My start/stop is intermittent at best. 9 week old st-line X . I do mainly short journeys but it worked pretty much every time for first 8 weeks. If it’s cause the battery isn’t fully charged then surely the fault is in the charging system (I know very little about cars as you can tell!) or the battery just isn’t powerful enough or holding a charge properly. My friend has a 2016 mondeo vignale, had since new, never had any issues with start/stop. Seems mk4 focus need some kind of fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexp999 Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 Doesn’t sound like a fault, lots of short journeys will do that. As an oversimplified example, let’s say brand new car starts at 100% battery. You start car, it takes 2% from it, your short journey puts 1% back in. See how stop start will work for the first 20 or so journeys while it’s above 80%? Now I mention it’s oversimplified because the lower a battery has charge, the easier it is to charge so there comes a point that even if it’s a short journey, it could still be enough to maintain a status quo of enough power for the next start, it’s just never charged enough for the stop start to activate. At this time of year the electrical load is much higher and the cold causes the charge to drop faster when off. You should find it doesn’t take as long journeys to get it working again in summer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex.S Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 I just took it 25 mile on motorway, I hope that’s long enough to charge it as I seldom go any further. Short journeys are costing me £££! At best 32mpg ..on motorway there ..55mpg! 182 auto. 2300miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexp999 Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 It doesn’t make a meaningful difference to mpg. It’s more about emissions. It will help if you’re sat for a while waiting for lights to change but it’s going to make less than 1mpg difference at best. You’ve probably used more fuel charging it than it will save if it starts working again. The longer run will do more good just for getting the oil up to temp and probably save you on maintenance more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex.S Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 I guess it stopping the s/s from working is clever but I like the feature and thought Ford could do better. I realise it’s not just Fords that do this. mines a lease car so maintenance isn’t my problem but I’d rather not have issues obviously.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexp999 Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 It’s not an issue, it’s by design to ensure there is enough charge to start the car and run all the electrics without it dieing on you. If stop start was on all the time people would soon find they had dead batteries. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex.S Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 On 12/11/2019 at 10:06 PM, alexp999 said: It’s not an issue, it’s by design to ensure there is enough charge to start the car and run all the electrics without it dieing on you. If stop start was on all the time people would soon find they had dead batteries. 20 mile on the motorway 50-60 mph ...s/s works all next day , sometimes longer. I never doubted your logic, but thought a modern battery would charge quick enough from the engine for the s/s to work every time even on regular short journeys. If I was motorway commuting every day I’m sure it’d work more often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcaouolte Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 It has nothing to do with modern batteries, it is the modern charging system that causes the problem. To keep emissions down they try to charge the battery as little as possible, as the alternator puts a load on the engine which increases fuel consumption. The system is designed to charge the battery to only 80% of full capacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iantt Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 You will find the charging system charges on overrun more than a steady run up the motorway unless the battery is quite low on charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incontro Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 My stop start works consistently - even on short (10-15 min runs in town) journeys. So much so that I have resorted to using the button to cancel it manually - e.g. when at a roundabout, or when I know the traffic light timing is very short, or when the system has already stopped the engine on a short trip so many times and I feel it's necessary for the battery to charge. I'd be curious to know the 'breakeven point' - i.e. how many seconds/minutes the engine has to be off due to the start stop, to make up for the loss in additional fuel spent on the alternator charging the battery after a start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex.S Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Incontro said: My stop start works consistently - even on short (10-15 min runs in town) journeys. So much so that I have resorted to using the button to cancel it manually - e.g. when at a roundabout, or when I know the traffic light timing is very short, or when the system has already stopped the engine on a short trip so many times and I feel it's necessary for the battery to charge. I'd be curious to know the 'breakeven point' - i.e. how many seconds/minutes the engine has to be off due to the start stop, to make up for the loss in additional fuel spent on the alternator charging the battery after a start. Mr Duck my friend has a 2016 mondeo . Says the s/s works every time. Last 3 years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iantt Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 My Mondeo now works every time it should now that I've replaced my battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex.S Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 5 minutes ago, iantt said: My Mondeo now works every time it should now that I've replaced my battery. You only got 3 years out your battery due to s/s ? My battery is 9 weeks old. To be fair Alexp has explained. tho it does seem older mondeos s/s work more often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incontro Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 2 minutes ago, Alex.S said: You only got 3 years out your battery due to s/s ? I suspect my battery was also replaced around the 2-3 year mark, as the battery is a Varta brand one. Don't Ford batteries usually have the Ford logo on them? S/S batteries aren't too too expensive, 115 pounds is what I've seen for mine. Guess it depends whether you make up for the price of the battery in saved fuel or not during the lifetime of the battery haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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