Auto-Off

[cliffnerd5]

Fuel/emissions savings. Millions of cars sit around idling and burning fuel for no real reason. These systems are attempting to turn off the vehicle while idle to save at the scale of a country like the USA and incredible amount of fuel and therefore emissions. I won't attempt to present numbers but I know I have seen some systems can save up to 10% on particular daily commutes. My wife's is a ton of stop and go traffic so the car spends a good bit of that 40 minute drive turned off. It is really all about scale I think.

 

[Tellmeride]

I must wonder in a typical 1 hr drive in stop and go traffic, your engine stops and starts a few hundred times, what kind of excessive wear and tear would occur to the engine and associated parts? I rather spend the extra 10% on fuel which amounts to what, $4? than to face a repair bill down the road that will be in the hundreds if not thousands.

Thanks but no thanks!

 

[ucinn]

Exactly, extra wear and tear on the starter, but even more so on the engine itself. The worst time for an engine is at start up when their is no oil layer on the rotating masses, that is when wear happens. It's just another way the EPA is trying to cut down on emissions and I get it, but not at the extent of more repairs for the consumer. I wonder when eventually they will remove that button so you won't be able to turn it off, that will be next.

 

[Tellmeride]

I know right, it's all coming. We humans get into cars which all drive themselves, they already know where you are going, how to get there... no need to sweat the details, let AI live your life for you. We can all become zombies.

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[ucinn]

When it comes to durability and long life, all the bases relating to the starter gear itself should be covered, but the higher number of stop-start cycles lead to increased engine wear unless steps are taken to prevent it.
“A normal car without automatic stop-start can be expected to go through up to 50,000 stop-start events during its lifetime,” says Gerhard Arnold, who is responsible for bearing design at Federal Mogul.
“But with automatic stop-start being activated every time the car comes to a standstill, the figure rises dramatically, perhaps to as many as 500,000 stop-start cycles over the engine’s life.”
That’s a big jump and one that poses major challenges to the durability and life of the engine’s bearings.
A fundamental component of the engine and also one of the heaviest is the crankshaft. It’s supported as it spins by a number of precision ground journals along its length running in ‘plain’ main bearings (no ball bearings or rollers, just smooth metal). These are the main bearings and the effect is greater on the bearing at the back of the engine immediately adjacent to the starter motor.
When the engine is running, the crankshaft and main bearing surfaces don’t actually touch, but are separated by a super-thin film of oil, fed under pressure and pumped around the bearing surfaces by the action of the spinning crankshaft. This process is called ‘hydrodynamic lubrication’ but when the engine stops, the crank settles onto the bearing, the two metal surfaces coming into contact.

When the engine starts, there’s a point before the two surfaces become separated by the oil film called the ‘boundary condition’, where the crankshaft is spinning, but there’s metal-to-metal contact between the bearing surfaces.
This is when most wear takes place. Fitting stop-start means the boundary condition (and metal-to-metal contact) could exist perhaps 500,000 times in the life of the engine instead of 50,000.

 

[ernysan]

2 month with my Telluride and now I have the Habit to deactivate the Auto-off function before I start my commute Hopping the button A-off last forever

 

[Lou Panozzo]

I’m going to wedge a piece of plastic or paper in the gap to hold the switch down and disable it. I’ll let you know how that works for me.

 

[Lou Panozzo]

I’m going to wedge a piece of plastic or paper in the gap to hold the switch down and disable it. I’ll let you know how that works for me.
I fixed the problem. Wedged a piece of plastic, cut the top from a Philadelphia cream cheese container, folded in in half. Works great always off now..,,,,

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[MJ Johnson]

We almost had a disaster this past weekend. Had guest from out of town looking for a house. We were rushing from house to house as they were here for just 2 days. We pulled up to a house and parked in road in front of house. Lots of distractions going on. Hubby hit the button to open the back and it didn’t open. He opened the door and as he stepped out to see why, the front driver door still open, the car restarted and stared going forward. He ran jumped baked in and hit the break just short of crashing into a road sign. The car was off as he had his foot on break , didn’t realize it was still in drive. OMG panic mode hit us. If driver door is open it should automatically TURN OFF. Very dangerous situation. I hate that feature and now we will always shut it off immediately after starting car. Wish there was a choice to permanently leave it off. Lesson learned. Thank god he was quick enough.

 

[Tellmeride]

Yes, it is very easy in a situation like this to forget that the transmission is not in P, especially when the engine is off. I cannot begin to imagine if there are little kids in front of the car or if the reaction time was not that quick... I turn this off even before I put on my seatbelt.

 

[MJ Johnson]

Yes, it is very easy in a situation like this to forget that the transmission is not in P, especially when the engine is off. I cannot begin to imagine if there are little kids in front of the car or if the reaction time was not that quick... I turn this off even before I put on my seatbelt.

We said that same thing. Or if there was a car in front with someone standing in between would have been crushed. Horrible and made me sick to my stomach thinking what would have happened if he had been one more step further away. Very bad feature as far as safety goes. We were all in a panic state watching this happening. Thank goddess he is quick and agile. Imagine if he were older and not so lucky. Results could have been deadly.

 

[ucinn]

I did this at a drive up ATM once, luckily the car in front of me had moved on and no one was behind me so I could just back up. I start up then put on seatbelt, then hit the ISG button and the auto hold button.. daily routine.. feels weird now if I don't do it.

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[Tellmeride]

This should be a function that can be turned on should you choose to use it... not the other way around. It is a major lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

[MJ Johnson]

This should be a function that can be turned on should you choose to use it... not the other way around. It is a major lawsuit waiting to happen.

completely agree

 

[Tim-in-CA]

I agree as a safety measure if a vehicle is not in park and the driver's door is opened, the car should switch to park or at least engage the emergency brake. I believe that this is how the actor from the newer Star Trek movies died as he did not have his vehicle in park and was crushed … very sad.

 

[Lou Panozzo]

I agree as a safety measure if a vehicle is not in park and the driver's door is opened, the car should switch to park or at least engage the emergency brake. I believe that this is how the actor from the newer Star Trek movies died as he did not have his vehicle in park and was crushed … very sad.
Small piece of plastic turns it off Permanently

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[MJ Johnson]

Thank you, will have my husband take a look at these. He is pretty handy & spent his career as an automotive researcher for 34 years. He was taken a bit back by this

 

[alexdrums]

This is a common feature on most modern and luxury vehicles. You just have to get use to not getting on the accelerator immediately....

What if he disabled the Auto-Hold feature for the parking brake? Wouldn’t easing off the brake let the vehicle just inch forward? It sounds like these two features shouldn’t be used together.

 

[Karam.31]

Did this work OK @Lou Panozzo ? A metal piece that matched the button silver would be slick. Maybe not metal but silver plastic or something.

 

[ga1322]

Have something wedged in mine to hold it down too. I would never remember to shut it off every time and it’s the dumbest thing to put on a car