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Start/stop......it's now driving me nuts!

31K views 24 replies 18 participants last post by  terryfarrell.46 
#1 ·
I am an advocate of the start stop technology - in principle it's a good thing and on many occasions as per a previous post, it's great.

...but sometimes it's a right royal pain the backside. For example, when slowly coming to a halt, but just before you stop you need to drive off - happens plenty of times around town. However the engine switches off and immedt has to restart, either because I have pushed on the throttle or because the front radar has detected the car in front has drove off.

On one journey of 4 miles, the car did this 27 times - and yes, I counted them! In all cases, the car did not actually come to a complete halt. That's 27 times in my opinion where I used more fuel and caused more wear and tear on the car.

I honestly do not believe I have a fault. I think this is Skoda logic here. So I have reported it. Dealers says it's normal, but nonetheless will investigate the fault logs and if needs be, log with Skoda directly.

So, if you've also had enough of this, let Skoda know - don't just press the disable button and accept what Skoda have created! Surely, this can be fixed via a software update.

Rant over :)
 
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#2 ·
Start engine, put in gear, turn off start stop. Both me and the Mrs do this naturally every time we drive the car.

It's utter rubbish and in some circumstances, dangerous.

If I'm in a long queue of traffic I'll turn it back on. That is the one and only time we use it.
 
#3 ·
I am unsure if this is true and as much as I like ranting at Skoda I have been led to believe that the start/stop function defaults to being on at startup as part of an EU directive or other Legal reason. I also find it frustrating but if this is true it's probably be a bit harsh to blame Skoda.

Would be interesting to know if it's true.
 
#4 ·
27 times in 4 miles means the car stopped on average every 237 metres. Maybe it was telling you that it was quicker to walk.

Impressive that the battery could cope with that. Not sure mine would and still have a high enough voltage to allow the start/stop to continue.
 
#6 ·
MrTrilby said:
27 times in 4 miles means the car stopped on average every 237 metres. Maybe it was telling you that it was quicker to walk.

Impressive that the battery could cope with that. Not sure mine would and still have a high enough voltage to allow the start/stop to continue.
"Impressive that the battery could cope with that." mine didn't and was replaced under warranty as well as one of the management modules. Others are having the same issue.
 
#7 ·
I was more meaning that I'm sure my car would have decided the battery voltage was too low for stop/start way before it managed 27 stops.
 
#8 ·
You have options with regard start stop. You can read the road, if you see the traffic is stopped when approaching and about to move away, ease off or equally pull up more quickly and allow the car to stop and then restart. That is my approach. You have to drive to the system, very much like you do with the DSG box. You can hit the button and disable the system each time you start or you can use VCDS/OBDeleven or the like to permanently disable it. I can appreciate in slow moving stop start traffic it is annoying but then just disable the system for that run.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the replies everyone. Sorry but I made a typo, it was 17 times, not 27! Fat fingers on mobile and all! But maybe my car battery is running low - it's never had a problem starting, but often kills the ignition within a couple of minutes when I've parked up and lights are on (with message saying ignition turned off to save battery) - it happened the other before I took my seatbelt off!

I have completed an advanced driving course and do not believe the problem is with my driving. Again, my dealer has confirmed the engine stopping (and often before the vehicle has come to a halt), is normal behaviour. For what it's worth, I spend 90% of my time on ECO mode - next week I'll stay in normal mode to see if this makes any kind of difference.

I know it's easy to switch it off - there's a button on my dashboard! But if we just accept the way something is, rather than challenging or reporting it, how can we expect Skoda to change or make improvements? I'm not moaning at Skoda - I love my car and found both the Fabia and Fabia estate to also be really good cars, I'm simply pointing out something that I think needs investigating.
 
#10 ·
Many points here.
It IS, as far as I am aware an EU 'Nanny State' directive that S/S is 'auto on'.
I agree with comments. that it is a pain in the @rse and DOES stop the engine before the car comes to a halt.
Also that in some circs it CAN be dangerous.
All cars with S/S have special batteries and starter gear to cope with the extra strain on the system. The batteries cost well over £100 to replace.
Because of this I will NEVER keep a car out of warranty as I have NO faith in the longevity of the system and I'm dam' sure I ain't going to cough up my hard earned pension repairing something that is unnecessary, unproven (It certainly doesn't save me any petrol!) just because the idiots in the 'Fourth Reich' think it's a good idea, which, IMHO, it is NOT!!
 
#11 ·
i just had mine disabled!! found the guy in Slovenia (im from Croatia) but its so easy to do if you have VAGS cable or OBDeleven. I did that and TJA, TSR, locking when engine running, rear DLR and some more for 200eur in 2h time... im realy happy :) oh yeah...seat belt and boot opening/closing warning tones
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCygtwCf2hCfIlBDFhBn4WDw?pbjreload=10

he told me he can do remotely by sending some cable to you by post...

hope he can deal with your problem also...cheers
 
#12 ·
I've had start/stop on my last two cars which had manual gearboxes, the start/stop only worked when you took the car out of gear and applied either the foot brake or handbrake, which is typically when you know you're going to be stuck at the lights for some time. Happy days that works great.

It is starting to drive me mad in the Kodiak though and I've decided it must be because the logic is the same as the manual gearbox cars. Couldn't the logic be changed for the DSG version so that start/stop only works when you apply the handbrake.
 
#13 ·
Colin Lambert said:
It IS, as far as I am aware an EU 'Nanny State' directive that S/S is 'auto on'.
I've got a novel idea! Let's leave the EU :D
 
#15 ·
Now the Chamber roof is leaking the tossers can't 'play' until Monday & Mrs May is due in Brussels on Tuesday.
The other point is that all the politicians fannying about trying to come up with some fresh plan, seem to have forgotten that 27 other countries have to UNANIMOUSLY agree to our new plan. FAT CHANCE!
So I am betting we crash on the 12th!
 
#16 ·
kodiaq_chris said:
I've had start/stop on my last two cars which had manual gearboxes, the start/stop only worked when you took the car out of gear and applied either the foot brake or handbrake, which is typically when you know you're going to be stuck at the lights for some time. Happy days that works great.

It is starting to drive me mad in the Kodiak though and I've decided it must be because the logic is the same as the manual gearbox cars. Couldn't the logic be changed for the DSG version so that start/stop only works when you apply the handbrake.
You'll probably get used to it. My last car was my first with this feature and it really took me a while until I was comfortable with it. I barely ever notice it now.

Note that you can disable it with the press of a button on the dash (although it doesn't "stick" the next time you start the car).

JR
 
#18 ·
Hi

I have the MY 20 Kodiaq - and tried using Carista to disable the Stop Start - in the same way I disabled it on my MY 19 Karoq... but the functionality is not available through Carista for MY20.

Anyone figured out away to disable on MY20 cars (other than button)

THANKS
 
#19 ·
I'm definitely in the 'turn it off' camp, every time I start the engine. I've had this system on several cars in the last decade (Seat, Toyota and Ford) but find the current Skoda implementation of it to be the worst......shuts down far too easily, and usually just as you are slowly rolling and about to pull away again. I find it particularly dangerous as you approach roundabouts, so I tend to turn off almost always now.
 
#20 ·
Slight thread hijack here, sorry. :roll:
I know little about OBD 11 and the like, so can a cheap £20 unit from Amazon/E bay really turn off the stop/start etc, or does it take a more expensive unit to achieve this ?
The couple I've just looked at say they are to read codes but make no mention of being able to alter parameters.
 
#23 ·
Any recommendations regards these cheap OBDII units off amazon?
 
#24 ·
Can't help I'm afraid, but if no help here, try asking the question on the Yeti forum. plenty of old hands there.https://www.yetiownersclub.co.uk/forum/
 
#25 ·
I am an advocate of the start stop technology - in principle it's a good thing and on many occasions as per a previous post, it's great.

...but sometimes it's a right royal pain the backside. For example, when slowly coming to a halt, but just before you stop you need to drive off - happens plenty of times around town. However the engine switches off and immedt has to restart, either because I have pushed on the throttle or because the front radar has detected the car in front has drove off.

On one journey of 4 miles, the car did this 27 times - and yes, I counted them! In all cases, the car did not actually come to a complete halt. That's 27 times in my opinion where I used more fuel and caused more wear and tear on the car.

I honestly do not believe I have a fault. I think this is Skoda logic here. So I have reported it. Dealers says it's normal, but nonetheless will investigate the fault logs and if needs be, log with Skoda directly.

So, if you've also had enough of this, let Skoda know - don't just press the disable button and accept what Skoda have created! Surely, this can be fixed via a software update.

Rant over :)
This is a very simple solution that works for most VAG cars.

The BCM software module (battery control module) has a small sensor connection going to the negative terminal of the battery. Simply unplug the sensor and tuck it out of the way.

This also has the advantage of disabling the idiotic 80% battery charge limit that the BCM enforces. It may cost you 0.0000001% extra fuel to keep the battery fully charged, but in the Winter, who cares.
So it's a win win result. Just remember to reconnect the sensor before going for an annual vehicle inspection. This does not ilegally effect your emmissions.
 
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