Turn off or Idle? (Page 3): I've owned about thirty-nine cars over the years. I kept two of them for seventeen years, with 100,00 - 325,000 miles on some. I've never had to replace a...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've owned about thirty-nine cars over the years. I kept two of them for seventeen years, with 100,00 - 325,000 miles on some. I've never had to replace a starter. UPS trucks must use the starter hundreds of times a day.

A friend who rode a motorcycle would always shift down to save the brakes. It was no fun riding behind him. He said he was saving the brakes - at the expense of the clutch and the engine. Come to think of it, my Gold Wing had reverse. I'd pull a lever and press the starter button. That moved the thousand-pound bike backwards.

Finn Man Loc: wisconsin

I have the auto stop feature on my 2021 truck and I hate it. I have to disable it as soon as the truck starts. The people that love this feature will be singing a different tune when they find out how expensive the battery is. The hard part is remembering to shut it off...K.A.N.

Nigel7 Loc: Worcestershire. UK.

We do seem to have a number of Hoggers living in the past. Modern cars have Stop Start mainly for environmental reasons. To stop parents idling outside schools and causing pollution that damages their young children's lungs etc. And, of course, all other unnecessary idling. As soon as you release the brake the engine instantly starts. Any load on the battery is nominal and very short term. Modern starters, clutches etc. are so superior to those we remember from our early driving experience. We all need to do EVERYTHING possible to reduce pollution. Let's concentrate on that rather than saving a few pence (cents).

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

Finn Man wrote:

I have the auto stop feature on my 2021 truck and I hate it. I have to disable it as soon as the truck starts. The people that love this feature will be singing a different tune when they find out how expensive the battery is. The hard part is remembering to shut it off...K.A.N.

Same with my Highlander, prefer the default was off to begin with and use it when/if I wanted to ..as soon as I get in and start the engine, I turn it to OFF.

stanikon Loc: Deep in the Heart of Texas

I have a 2018 Ford F150 (King Ranch). It has this feature built in so the engine shuts down at stop signs/lights. There is a button on the dash that I can push to disable this feature for the entirety of that particular trip. It has to be disabled for each and every trip if you don't want it to shut down any more. When I take my foot off the brake it restarts instantly. I did some research into this which revealed that it doesn't totally shut down. It is comparable to a computer going to sleep - it is off but not completely. I don't know about the economics of it but I think in 5 years it has saved a lot of gas.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

jerryc41 wrote:

Someone posted on a local forum about wasting gas ... (show quote)

Our 2020 gasoline Subaru Forester AT when stopped at a light or in traffic turns the engine off and then back on when you release the brake and depress the throttle. That is the default setting. One can turn that off and the engine will continue idling while stopped like most vehicles of the past. We kind of find the engine off option annoying as the car lurches forward when it starts up again while in Drive.

halraiser

Hereford wrote:

One of the most detrimental things one can do to an engine in cold climates is to crank it up and let it idle to warm up. Fat chance cylinder walls will be oiled properly with cold heavy oil like that.

Not really true with modern oil, especially if you can run full synthetic. It is amazing, much better than the old oils.

However I'm sure it is true that turning of the engine at stop lights will save gas. My wife's Subaru even does that automatically.

marine73 Loc: Modesto California

I ran around town today and the stop/start did not activate at all. I had not disabled it for my trip around town and I did stop at several lights before my final stop before returning home..

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

marine73 wrote:

I ran around town today and the stop/start did not activate at all. I had not disabled it for my trip around town and I did stop at several lights before my final stop before returning home..

Same thing on my Toyota, if I don't depress the brake all the way, the feature does not stop the engine. I can sit at idle if I maintain just enough brake pressure to keep the car stopped.

bobups Loc: Bath pa

I worked at ups I changed starters as an everyday thing if they didn’t go bad at 9 months we were required to change it. As for breakdowns starting promblems we’re number1. Also at 1 time we even changed ignition switches before they used Bluetooth even the keys would wear out. Batteries changed at 2 year max.

One Rude Dawg Loc: Athol, ID

Nigel7 wrote:

We do seem to have a number of Hoggers living in t... (show quote)

Just because something is new doesn't mean it's any good. What's with all of the thousands of recalls on vehicles these days for just about any reason you can think of. Many more than they can ever fix working 24/7 . Can't remember as many recalls as now back in the " olden days ".

Ollieboy

There is no way I believe that this "engineering " decision does not cause premature failure of starters. The cost of a new starter costs much more than the savings in gas. The people I've talked to say they shut this feature off when possible. Jeep offers this option. The over reach of the green movement strikes again.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

My F 150 shuts itself off while idling and restarts when the brake pedal is released.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

One Rude Dawg wrote:

Just because something is new doesn't mean it's any good. What's with all of the thousands of recalls on vehicles these days for just about any reason you can think of. Many more than they can ever fix working 24/7 . Can't remember as many recalls as now back in the " olden days ".

In the olden days, recalls weren't required. If there was a problem, you paid to have it repaired. I think the current laws require a recall only for safety or emissions.

bobups Loc: Bath pa

There are safety and non safety such as peeling paint