Hi everyone, 

I’m going to give a bit of back story so I’m sorry if it’s a long read, but I want to hear if this has happened to anyone else.

on Tuesday, my car didn’t start before work and I had to get someone to jump me. After work it started up fine everytine I drove it. Leading to this was no lights on the dash board to say the battery was going and no lights after. I went to Halfords for a free battery life check and they said it needed replacing. 
 

Today (Friday) I got the battery replaced at Arnold Clark where I bought the car into January. Since I’d had the car I had noticed that my stop start hadn’t worked, and after some research I found out that it was because my battery was on its way out. 
 

since I had the battery replaced this after noon I noticed the start stop still didn’t work, so just accepted that it might just not work on my car. 
 

on my way into my night shift this evening I was driving to the petrol station to fill my car up, and I went to change gear and my gear wouldn’t come all the way up. I instantly thought my clutch had gone and maybe something had been knocked when they were fitting my battery at AC. 
pulled over with my hazards on and went to call my mum as she doesn’t live far from where I was and could use the moral support. So I went into neutral and put the handbrake on, and that’s when I head the engine start up sound, even though I hadn’t turned my car off. Lo and behold I finally see the stop start light come on in the centre of my dashboard to see that stop start was active. 
 

so I drive off to test it’s definitely not my clutch and everyone works completely fine again! When I got to work after filling my car up I drove around the car park and tested out the stop start and have worked out when it will activate. I’m not going to have it on since it’s traumatised before I’ve even willingly used it. 
 

but my question is, has anyone else had anything like this happen? My clutch isn’t the issue because it’s been completely fine since I originally pulled over. 

7 hours ago, Danieb said:

but my question is, has anyone else had anything like this happen?

I don't understand that. Start/stop is usually such a reliable system 🤣

https://www.fordownersclub.com/search/?q=start %26 stop&quick=1

 

8 hours ago, Danieb said:

I went to change gear and my gear wouldn’t come all the way up.

The gearstick wouldn't go in?  Or the clutch wouldn't come up?

I'm struggling to see how either of those could be linked to stop start.

 

SS won't restart a manual engine unless it sees the clutch is pressed down.  Once the engine restarts, it definitely shouldn't show stop start being active, as it isn't active after it's restarted.

 

Something strange has happened here, possibly as a result of the battery change, but I'm not convinced it has anything to do with stop start.

Stop/start and battery issues are probably the most common queries on here.

You don't get a warning light to say that the battery is failing, btw, the red light that may show up (hopefully not) with a battery symbol means that the battery is not being charged and there is a fault with the charging system.

From your other posts it looks as if you are doing mostly very short journeys. This may be insufficient to keep the battery charged. If you can't do longer trips you may need to consider charging the battery from time to time using a battery charger.

Let's try and simplify a long story. You had a new battery fitted. The dealer should (but may not have) reset the battery monitoring system (BMS) to tell the car it had a new battery, otherwise it will take some time for the car to learn for itself.

Not quite sure what happened at the filling station, and I know memories are not clear once you get into a bit of a panic. The S/S only operates when you come to a halt and put the car in neutral. The car will restart when you press the clutch. Also, after the engine has been off for a while, it will restart the car while in neutral, to save the battery, unless the ignition has been turned off.

I'm not sure what you mean by the clutch issue when you say:

10 hours ago, Danieb said:

and I went to change gear and my gear wouldn’t come all the way up. 

Did you mean the clutch pedal? It sounds as if the clutch has been fine, so you may just have not pressed the pedal fully so a gear wouldn't engage, or caught the pedal somehow.

Many of us don't like start/stop and turn it off as a matter of course when starting the car.

Incidentally, you may not have got a handbook with the car? You can download one here:

https://www.ford.co.uk/support/vehicle/fiesta-2012/2017/owner-manuals

but the section on start/stop is below:

Unique Driving Characteristics - Auto-Start-Stop

AUTO-START-STOP



Note:   For vehicles with auto-start-stop, the battery requirement is different. It must be replaced by one of exactly the same specification as the original.

The system reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by shutting down the engine when your vehicle is idling, for example at traffic lights. The engine will automatically restart when you press the clutch pedal or when required by a vehicle system, for example to recharge the battery.

To obtain maximum benefit from the system, move the transmission lever to neutral and release the clutch pedal during any stop of longer than three seconds.

Using Auto-Start-Stop

WARNING:  The system may require the engine to automatically restart when the Auto-Start-Stop indicator illuminates green or amber. Failure to take care could result in personal injury or death.    WARNING:  Always switch the ignition off and fully apply the parking brake before carrying out any maintenance or leaving your vehicle. Failure to follow this instruction could result in personal injury or death if the engine restarts.    WARNING:  Always switch the ignition off before leaving your vehicle. Failure to do so could result in personal injury or death if the engine automatically restarts.

 

  The indicator appears in the information display.

Note:   The system only operates when the engine is warm and the outside temperature is within the operating temperature limits of the system.

Note:   If you stall the engine, and then press the clutch pedal within a short period of time, the system will automatically restart the engine.

Note:   The auto-start-stop indicator will illuminate green when the engine shuts down.   See   Warning Lamps and Indicators - ST. 

Note:   When the auto-start-stop indicator flashes amber, shift into neutral or press the clutch pedal.

Note:   If the system detects a malfunction, it will switch off. Have your vehicle checked by an authorized dealer.

Note:   When you switch the system off, the switch will illuminate.

Note:   The system automatically turns on every time you switch the ignition on. To switch the system off, press the switch in the instrument panel. The system will only be switched off for the current ignition cycle. To turn it on, press the switch again. For item location:   See   At a Glance. 

To Stop the Engine

1. Stop your vehicle.

1. Shift into neutral.

1. Release the clutch pedal.

1. Release the accelerator pedal.

The system may not shut down the engine under certain conditions, for example:

• To maintain the interior climate.
• Low battery voltage.
• The outside temperature is too low or too high.
• The driver door has been opened.
• Low engine operating temperature.
• Low brake system vacuum.
• If a road speed of 5 km/h (3 mph) has not been exceeded.
• The driver safety belt has not been fastened.

To Re-Start the Engine

Note:   The transmission must be in neutral.

Press the clutch pedal.

The system may automatically restart the engine under certain conditions, for example:

• Low battery voltage.
• To maintain the interior climate.

 

Just to clarify, I meant when changing gear, the clutch pedal would not come up completely, and it felt stiff. Then the second attempt at changing gear, the clutch pedal went limp. 
 

when I pulled over, I went into neutral and put my handbrake on and that’s when I noticed the stop start kick in. The car drive fine after that. 

17 minutes ago, Danieb said:

when changing gear, the clutch pedal would not come up completely, and it felt stiff. Then the second attempt at changing gear, the clutch pedal went limp. 
 

when I pulled over, I went into neutral and put my handbrake on and that’s when I noticed the stop start kick in. The car drive fine after that. 

Two separate and unrelated things going on here.

The clutch pedal concern, could be due to a few things. The clutch master cylinder, the clutch slave cylinder or even the clutch pressure plate. The sticking clutch pedal is something that gets mentioned on the forum from time to time. The cause is not always the same, but the master cylinder is usually the first thing to change as it is the easiest.

Stop/Start  is a very flawed system with many problems. The first thing that you have to realise is that it is designed to work when the car thinks it should and not when you think it should.

There are approximately 112 conditions that have to be "just right" before the system will work. Most people like to blame the battery every time the system fails to work when they think it should (see my caution above), and while messing about with the battery and the BMS can fool the system in to sometimes working it usually never lasts long. Personally I always have it turned off on my car.

Ahh okay. 
 

Just a bit concerning because I’ve not had any issues with the clutch at all until I got the battery changed yesterday. 
 

it’s driven fine since the issue yesterday.

Now we know we're talking clutch, I see from other posts that the car has only done about 27k and was purchased in January from a large and (supposedly) reputable dealer group, so still within the 6 months provided by Consumer Rights.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/advice/how-does-the-consumer-rights-act-protect-you-when-you-buy-a-car