Hi guys, women and gents of the forum.

I'm here because yes there are loads of threads over the start stop system

But I'd like to know is it just bad (cos of the lack of working) or on par to other brands. (Are other brands stop/start systems more reliable?)

See a year ago, I had my battery replaced, the garage told me that they had to order in a battery capable to handle the stop/start sysem and it worked when I left and stopped in traffic...for a total of 3 times! Now it never engages at all despite a brand new battery.

So is it all a con or is the system really that bad?

Thanks.

Hi David. Yes start stop has been mentioned lots of times. There are many variables fir it to work. Ok so you had a new specific to start stop battery fitted a year ago and you say it worked only 3 times. But you then contradicted yourself with the age of the battery. I'll put that to you being a bit peed off about it.

So what kind of mileage do you do on a daily schedule? Are your journeys short or like 30 miles one way? If you do short journeys say to work and back then the battery really isn't getting a full enough charge to operate start stop.

The jury is out where aircon being on affects start stop. In my case it's 50/50. 

If you've got Forscan then maybe check the state of the battery. Yes your battery is only a year old but if its not being charged enough then it's actually behaving like a much older battery.

Try charging the battery and see what happens. 

If your journeys are short then you may aswell switch stop start off. That's what quite a lot do.

Did they replace the battery with the same specification as originally fitted?

Did they charge the battery to 100% before fitting?

Did they carry out a battery reset procedure after fitting?

I had a Mk3 1.6 TDCI for about 6 months and the stop start worked flawlessly in that time, after an initial charge and BMS reset.  Presumably the original battery and around 40k miles.

I have since owned a Mk6 Golf 2.0 TDI and the stop start also worked flawlessly on that for the 3 years I drove it, even during lockdowns!  Interesting thing with the Golf is that it just has a standard lead acid battery, not the EFB that it should have!

I don't know whether other people just keep high energy consumers on more frequently than I do.  (I only ever use AC in excess heat for example, never have a telephone plugged in, rarely use heated seats).  Or whether there's something else going on.  I generally did short journeys, much of which at town speeds, although rarely in heavy traffic, so that will make a difference.

Both the focus and Mondeo worked as expected,  with air con on, in cold weather, and even with a cold engine ( about 2 mins after start up. ) obviously didn't kick in/out  with heated screens on from what I remember. My current car doesn't work at all.😂😂😂😂

I'm not a stop/start fan, so I usually disable it. I do find though, that when I forget, it usually operates.

The same went for my previous 2018 Fiesta, the SEAT Leon I had before that, and also the first car I had with S/S, a LR  Freelander 2, over 12 years ago now.

However, in all cases it only worked for the first few stops, then gave up presumably to save the battery.

Also this presumes a good state of charge on the battery. My pattern of use is pretty irregular, so whenever I get any indication the battery SOC may be low, I give it a "top up" with a smart charger, so probably every couple of months or so.

 

 

18 hours ago, tazzman600 said:

Hi David. Yes start stop has been mentioned lots of times. There are many variables fir it to work. Ok so you had a new specific to start stop battery fitted a year ago and you say it worked only 3 times. But you then contradicted yourself with the age of the battery. I'll put that to you being a bit peed off about it.

So what kind of mileage do you do on a daily schedule? Are your journeys short or like 30 miles one way? If you do short journeys say to work and back then the battery really isn't getting a full enough charge to operate start stop.

The jury is out where aircon being on affects start stop. In my case it's 50/50. 

If you've got Forscan then maybe check the state of the battery. Yes your battery is only a year old but if its not being charged enough then it's actually behaving like a much older battery.

Try charging the battery and see what happens. 

If your journeys are short then you may aswell switch stop start off. That's what quite a lot do.

Thanks for your post, I used to do a regular 20 mile commute there and 20 miles back home, never worked.

How did I contradict myself? A 1 yr old battery is pretty new compared to cars having 10+ year old batteries and still working.

Most of my driving now is a short commute, may factor into it.

13 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

I had a Mk3 1.6 TDCI for about 6 months and the stop start worked flawlessly in that time, after an initial charge and BMS reset.  Presumably the original battery and around 40k miles.

I have since owned a Mk6 Golf 2.0 TDI and the stop start also worked flawlessly on that for the 3 years I drove it, even during lockdowns!  Interesting thing with the Golf is that it just has a standard lead acid battery, not the EFB that it should have!

I don't know whether other people just keep high energy consumers on more frequently than I do.  (I only ever use AC in excess heat for example, never have a telephone plugged in, rarely use heated seats).  Or whether there's something else going on.  I generally did short journeys, much of which at town speeds, although rarely in heavy traffic, so that will make a difference.

Now here is a contradiction, one guy says its the shorter drives, yet another saying it worked flawlessly. (I smoke so windows open, no need for AC unless its a very hot day so not used regulary.)

10 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I'm not a stop/start fan, so I usually disable it. I do find though, that when I forget, it usually operates.

The same went for my previous 2018 Fiesta, the SEAT Leon I had before that, and also the first car I had with S/S, a LR  Freelander 2, over 12 years ago now.

However, in all cases it only worked for the first few stops, then gave up presumably to save the battery.

Also this presumes a good state of charge on the battery. My pattern of use is pretty irregular, so whenever I get any indication the battery SOC may be low, I give it a "top up" with a smart charger, so probably every couple of months or so.

 

 

I have one of those 12v socket adaptors to allow more than one device to be used with an LED indicator showing battery life. Even with the new battery it was on its lowest read out when the engine was off (same as the old battery) so I just thought that these battery charge level things were a gimmick because it reads as max when the engine is on which what it said for my old battery yet I had to change the older one cos it once failed to have any charge to start the car.

 

15 hours ago, YOG said:

Did they replace the battery with the same specification as originally fitted?

Did they charge the battery to 100% before fitting?

Did they carry out a battery reset procedure after fitting?

I'm afraid I dont know, I was told that I couldnt have a standard battery because of the Start/Stop system and as they had none, one that could handle it had to be ordered in.

 

Thanks.

9 hours ago, CrazyInWeston said:

Now here is a contradiction, one guy says its the shorter drives, yet another saying it worked flawlessly. (I smoke so windows open, no need for AC unless its a very hot day so not used regulary.)

Giving up the cigs would save you much more money than the stop-start working.  

I did mainly short journeys BUT in very little traffic.  I could often cover a mile or two without coming to a complete stop more than twice.  If you're stopping every few hundred yards in town centre traffic, that's very different type of short journey.

The Mk3 charging is 'better' than the Mk4 charging due to slightly more lenient emissions regulations, so I disagree that 30 miles is necessary on these.  The majority of my journeys were probably just 1-5 miles each way.

Pre-covid I used to do a couple of longer trips each week (10-15 miles each way), and was concerned that losing those would affect the battery and the DPF.  But they didn't have any effect at all.  The cDPF did still regen around town, it just took longer to complete.  And the battery didn't seem to be affected at all.  It was only when it was left for months without any use that the battery eventually went flat.

Had a new battery during covid and the start stop worked fine for a short while, doesn't work anymore.

I have since recharged the battery up to near enough full even still no longer comes on. I guess the battery needs to be perfect health otherwise it doesn't work.

When we bought our 4-year-old Mk3 Titanium 1L Ecoboom estate the stop-start worked sporadically for a few weeks then stopped working altogether. It never worked again until 4 years later when the battery gave up and I replaced it, fully charging the new one and resetting the BMS. Stop-start then worked properly for around 3 years and was getting sporadic again by the time we sold it. This was in spite of the fact the car mostly did long (30-mile plus) out-of-town journeys on dual carriageway roads and A-roads.

So yes, the battery needs to be relatively new and in a good state of charge, which is hardly ever the case on the current range of cars it seems.

14 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Giving up the cigs would save you much more money than the stop-start working.  

I did mainly short journeys BUT in very little traffic.  I could often cover a mile or two without coming to a complete stop more than twice.  If you're stopping every few hundred yards in town centre traffic, that's very different type of short journey.

The Mk3 charging is 'better' than the Mk4 charging due to slightly more lenient emissions regulations, so I disagree that 30 miles is necessary on these.  The majority of my journeys were probably just 1-5 miles each way.

Pre-covid I used to do a couple of longer trips each week (10-15 miles each way), and was concerned that losing those would affect the battery and the DPF.  But they didn't have any effect at all.  The cDPF did still regen around town, it just took longer to complete.  And the battery didn't seem to be affected at all.  It was only when it was left for months without any use that the battery eventually went flat.

Thanks for your reply, my now regular commute is pretty much 3 miles each way, it is mostly without stopping more than 3 times as much of the route is on 1 road.

As for smoking, yes I know, regret starting to be honest, I only did because the job I had at the time allowed unlimited smoke breaks and so I used that as the excuse not to work and still get paid.  😆

14 hours ago, mburdett555 said:

Had a new battery during covid and the start stop worked fine for a short while, doesn't work anymore.

I have since recharged the battery up to near enough full even still no longer comes on. I guess the battery needs to be perfect health otherwise it doesn't work.

 

13 hours ago, mjt said:

When we bought our 4-year-old Mk3 Titanium 1L Ecoboom estate the stop-start worked sporadically for a few weeks then stopped working altogether. It never worked again until 4 years later when the battery gave up and I replaced it, fully charging the new one and resetting the BMS. Stop-start then worked properly for around 3 years and was getting sporadic again by the time we sold it. This was in spite of the fact the car mostly did long (30-mile plus) out-of-town journeys on dual carriageway roads and A-roads.

So yes, the battery needs to be relatively new and in a good state of charge, which is hardly ever the case on the current range of cars it seems.

Thank you both for replying. It seems the system is pretty much a con from Ford to get around some EU legislation over emissions and efficiency. But for some it worked more/longer than designed.

14 hours ago, CrazyInWeston said:

It seems the system is pretty much a con from Ford to get around some EU legislation over emissions and efficiency.

I wouldn't say the system is a "con" necessarily and certainly not exclusive to Ford as most, if not all, manufacturers use it these days on ICE cars.

It was certainly the case that the LR Freelander 2 I mentioned earlier was an early adopter of the system to get the EU emissions ratings down and LR prominently advertised the fact at the time. 

If the EU (and others) specify emissions limits measured by unrealistic test scenarios then manufacturers will come up with systems that give the desired result in those conditions.

I draw an analogy with exams. If you revise and prepare extensively to give yourself the best chance of correctly answering the questions and passing the exam, is that "cheating"?

I'm still not really sure why VW got so much stick over "cheat" technology by coming up with software that gave the desired result under test conditions that could not be replicated in real life: that seems to be the case with most of these measures. Perhaps because VW drew so much attention to themselves by boasting of "clean diesels". Anyway, it has enabled shark lawyers to cash in as an alternative to ambulance chasing!😀

There are literally hundreds of threads around the topic on this and virtually every make forum (except Tesla, perhaps) and we all have our own views. There are, though, some fairly balanced articles on the pros and cons to be found it you have a good search around the internet, just one here: 

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/stop-start-long-term-impact-your-car-s-engine

 

42 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

then manufacturers will come up with systems that give the desired result in those conditions.

Just ask VW 🤣

5 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I wouldn't say the system is a "con" necessarily and certainly not exclusive to Ford as most, if not all, manufacturers use it these days on ICE cars.

It was certainly the case that the LR Freelander 2 I mentioned earlier was an early adopter of the system to get the EU emissions ratings down and LR prominently advertised the fact at the time. 

If the EU (and others) specify emissions limits measured by unrealistic test scenarios then manufacturers will come up with systems that give the desired result in those conditions.

I draw an analogy with exams. If you revise and prepare extensively to give yourself the best chance of correctly answering the questions and passing the exam, is that "cheating"?

I'm still not really sure why VW got so much stick over "cheat" technology by coming up with software that gave the desired result under test conditions that could not be replicated in real life: that seems to be the case with most of these measures. Perhaps because VW drew so much attention to themselves by boasting of "clean diesels". Anyway, it has enabled shark lawyers to cash in as an alternative to ambulance chasing!😀

There are literally hundreds of threads around the topic on this and virtually every make forum (except Tesla, perhaps) and we all have our own views. There are, though, some fairly balanced articles on the pros and cons to be found it you have a good search around the internet, just one here: 

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/stop-start-long-term-impact-your-car-s-engine

 

An interesting article, thank you, and yes may be some wear and tear prevention in some techincal way like it only operating when the engine is at optimum temp, but it still doesnt address the fact with the MK3 system, more people complain of it not working when it should. Its akin to VWs emissions 'cheat'.. It will work under factory totally 100% battery but not in real life situations. VW got caught out and as of yet, Ford hasnt. Maybe the fact these types of ecoboost engines go BOOM more often than they should might be diverting the attention.

There are several videos on YT of why Fords EcoBoost engines are prone to failure, hence the nickname EcoBoom engines.

My current car Ive had the head gasket replaced cos I thought it went boom as it just drank coolant like crazy... Even after replacement... Turned out it was a £10 radiator cap cos the old one was faulty. Well at least I have a new head gasket on my 72k milage 12yr old vehicle now (After spending over £2000)

 

Despite all the problems I've had with my Ecoboom the stop/start system always works flawlessly.

I bet this is the first post ever, anywhere, with the term 'flawless' and 'Ecoboom' in the same sentence 😁

Very interesting article from Autocar. The wear n tear bit interested me more. I'm a MASSIVE fan of ZX1 additive. Been using it for decades and All my cars have had it. Basically I've no fear of a major oil leak coz I know I'll get to where I'm going. 

Now this is funny. Yesterday on my way to work a 23.40 (I start at midnight) the stop start didn't come on. On my way home at 09.00 (daylight) it came on every time I stopped. Work that one out batman. 

Is there a simple way to deactivate start/stop permanently?

2 hours ago, Bol said:

Is there a simple way to deactivate start/stop permanently?

No.

There is not any software settings that are known that can turn it off permanently. They is a little device that you can install that will disable it each time you start the car.

https://www.formod.eu/

Thank you.

Did the Dms reset after battery change. It seem that the first time didnt work although it seemed that it worked (the dash icons flashed).

Now start stop seems to be working.

I have no idea why. (And this is my own thread, so every right to reply here on the topic) But the start stop system on my car has suddenly started working.

I havent even changed the car battery recently either, in fact its the reason why I made this thread because I had a new one and it stopped working and I asked whats the point?/is a con?

For the longest time, I'd said yes a con but...

I honestly cannot tell you why its working now, and when it does I turn off the climate controls to conserve the battery during its stop/start shutdown and turn it back on when the engine is on.

Its very random that it works now and not when brand new.

Now me mentioning this could mean the law of the sod and suddenly it doesnt work anymore (again) so I need you guys to jinx a jinx and say something else lol!

I foolishly said in an earlier post that my MK3 stop/start worked flawlessly.....it doesn't now 😕

54 minutes ago, RayC333 said:

I foolishly said in an earlier post that my MK3 stop/start worked flawlessly.....it doesn't now 😕

Strangely, after my earlier posts, mine seems to have given up the ghost also. Interior/boot lights seem to be having an occasional holiday too! A quick top up charge (to over 13v) revives the lights, but not the S/S. As I normally disable it anyway, I'm not too bothered, but it's odd.

Looks like  there is a jinx on this thread!😀

 

3 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

 

Looks like  there is a jinx on this thread!😀

 

Bearing in mind what's previously happened to the Ecoboom engine wise, twice losing my keys, batteries failing, stop/start failure etc.....I think the jinx might be me 😟