It's probably working the way it is supposed to. Mine never shuts off the motor during our winters. In the summer when it is working, if I want it to keep working I need to pub a trickle charger on the battery every 10 days or so. I like it on account of the better fuel mileage when it is working, and I'm not so quick on the gas that I have to wait for the engine to turn back on. By the time my foot is on the gas pedal the engine is running.
Start/stop technology
Overall I don't like it. Still, if it's there, I want it to work right.
The thing that is puzzling me is, sometimes its active, and other times it is not.
In the manual, they give multiple reasons it might shut off and I get all of them. The one thing I don't understand is temperature too low. From what I have read, that means the engine has not reached the desired temperature.
The thing is, there are times when I know for certain the engine has had time to reach the desired temperature, yet the stop/start does not kick in. Other times, it kicks in only a few minutes.
Is there something wrong here?....or just something I am not aware of.
The thing that is puzzling me is, sometimes its active, and other times it is not.
In the manual, they give multiple reasons it might shut off and I get all of them. The one thing I don't understand is temperature too low. From what I have read, that means the engine has not reached the desired temperature.
The thing is, there are times when I know for certain the engine has had time to reach the desired temperature, yet the stop/start does not kick in. Other times, it kicks in only a few minutes.
Is there something wrong here?....or just something I am not aware of.
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
First thanks for your reply, I appreciate it. You brought up an interesting point.
In the summer when it is working, if I want it to keep working I need to pub a trickle charger on the battery every 10 days or so.
When I first test drove this car, the salesman wanted to show me this stop/start feature.....Well, it did not work. He fiddled with the information screen and said the reason was the battery was not at full charge due to it sitting on the lot and not being driven much. This sounded very plausible and may well have been the reason for it not to work.
My question here is, what did he see on the information screen? In the manual, this is not listed as a reason for the stop/start not to be engaged....well in the information screen anyways. All I ever get is temperature is too low, nothing about battery being too low.
I'm probably worrying about nothing. Its just a new car jitters....lol. I will say the manual is not very good....well in my opinion. Too much information about stuff you don't care about, and not enough about things you do care about. Just, for instance, they don't tell you the difference between 4WD and front-wheel drive tire rotation.
To be fair, these days manuals of all kinds are often written by people that are too familiar with the product, and just assume you know what they are talking about. lol, it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to open my hood.
Anyway, I want to emphasize, I'm am very happy with my new car.
In the summer when it is working, if I want it to keep working I need to pub a trickle charger on the battery every 10 days or so.
When I first test drove this car, the salesman wanted to show me this stop/start feature.....Well, it did not work. He fiddled with the information screen and said the reason was the battery was not at full charge due to it sitting on the lot and not being driven much. This sounded very plausible and may well have been the reason for it not to work.
My question here is, what did he see on the information screen? In the manual, this is not listed as a reason for the stop/start not to be engaged....well in the information screen anyways. All I ever get is temperature is too low, nothing about battery being too low.
I'm probably worrying about nothing. Its just a new car jitters....lol. I will say the manual is not very good....well in my opinion. Too much information about stuff you don't care about, and not enough about things you do care about. Just, for instance, they don't tell you the difference between 4WD and front-wheel drive tire rotation.
To be fair, these days manuals of all kinds are often written by people that are too familiar with the product, and just assume you know what they are talking about. lol, it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to open my hood.
Anyway, I want to emphasize, I'm am very happy with my new car.
engine auto stop/start
This is the first vehicle I have owned with this feature (2018 Ecosport SES). I thought I was not going to like it.
But I must admit that after having driven about 11,000 miles with it, I really like it. It did, however, take me a little while to
train myself on the nuances of when it would shut off (or not), often depending on the situation I'm in (stop/go traffic,
red lights, stop signs, etc). I learned that depending upon how much pressure I applied to the brakes, and for how long,
I could control the start/stop action.
I really enjoy it when I get to a red light and the engine stops, and I feel like I'm not emitting emissions and wasting gas.
Now when I drive a car without this feature and I stop at a red light, I want to turn the motor off! lol.
In regards to the start/stop not activating - I have noticed this also when it is cold outside, or when the battery starts to
run low. This is especially noticeable when I am using accessories like the heated seats/steering wheel, A/C, defroster, etc.
The one thing I'm nervous about is whether all this starting and stopping will cause a premature failure of the starter motor
or other engine parts (I remember reading that 90% of the wear to an engine occurs within the first minute of starting up?).
I'm hoping the engineers have designed the engine properly for this feature.
On a related note - and I'm thinking of starting a new thread on this - I just finished a long road trip, and I was surprised
(perplexed?) at how much my MPG would vary, seemingly dependent upon the outside temperature. In cold weather, I would
get 28 mpg; in warm weather 32 mpg. This was while driving on hwys (65-70 avg mph). And it seemed that driving at night,
and/or in the rain also adversely affected my mpg. I would expect a slight variation in mpg due to these factors, but was surprised
at how much my mpg varied throughout the trip...
Last comment - despite all the bad reviews that the EcoSport received from the press, I'm really happy with mine!
This is the first vehicle I have owned with this feature (2018 Ecosport SES). I thought I was not going to like it.
But I must admit that after having driven about 11,000 miles with it, I really like it. It did, however, take me a little while to
train myself on the nuances of when it would shut off (or not), often depending on the situation I'm in (stop/go traffic,
red lights, stop signs, etc). I learned that depending upon how much pressure I applied to the brakes, and for how long,
I could control the start/stop action.
I really enjoy it when I get to a red light and the engine stops, and I feel like I'm not emitting emissions and wasting gas.
Now when I drive a car without this feature and I stop at a red light, I want to turn the motor off! lol.
In regards to the start/stop not activating - I have noticed this also when it is cold outside, or when the battery starts to
run low. This is especially noticeable when I am using accessories like the heated seats/steering wheel, A/C, defroster, etc.
The one thing I'm nervous about is whether all this starting and stopping will cause a premature failure of the starter motor
or other engine parts (I remember reading that 90% of the wear to an engine occurs within the first minute of starting up?).
I'm hoping the engineers have designed the engine properly for this feature.
On a related note - and I'm thinking of starting a new thread on this - I just finished a long road trip, and I was surprised
(perplexed?) at how much my MPG would vary, seemingly dependent upon the outside temperature. In cold weather, I would
get 28 mpg; in warm weather 32 mpg. This was while driving on hwys (65-70 avg mph). And it seemed that driving at night,
and/or in the rain also adversely affected my mpg. I would expect a slight variation in mpg due to these factors, but was surprised
at how much my mpg varied throughout the trip...
Last comment - despite all the bad reviews that the EcoSport received from the press, I'm really happy with mine!
I've read up on that. From what I understand, they did beef up the starter and other mechanical parts. As far as engine ware, you are right, the first minute or two is hard on the engine. Buts that's only because the engine is cold and the oil has drained away from crucial parts. However, the start/stop only happens only when the engine is warm and the oil has not had time to drain away.This is the first vehicle I have owned with this feature (2018 Ecosport SES). I thought I was not going to like it.
But I must admit that after having driven about 11,000 miles with it, I really like it. It did, however, take me a little while to
train myself on the nuances of when it would shut off (or not), often depending on the situation I'm in (stop/go traffic,
red lights, stop signs, etc). I learned that depending upon how much pressure I applied to the brakes, and for how long,
I could control the start/stop action.
I really enjoy it when I get to a red light and the engine stops, and I feel like I'm not emitting emissions and wasting gas.
Now when I drive a car without this feature and I stop at a red light, I want to turn the motor off! lol.
In regards to the start/stop not activating - I have noticed this also when it is cold outside, or when the battery starts to
run low. This is especially noticeable when I am using accessories like the heated seats/steering wheel, A/C, defroster, etc.
The one thing I'm nervous about is whether all this starting and stopping will cause a premature failure of the starter motor
or other engine parts (I remember reading that 90% of the wear to an engine occurs within the first minute of starting up?).
I'm hoping the engineers have designed the engine properly for this feature.
On a related note - and I'm thinking of starting a new thread on this - I just finished a long road trip, and I was surprised
(perplexed?) at how much my MPG would vary, seemingly dependent upon the outside temperature. In cold weather, I would
get 28 mpg; in warm weather 32 mpg. This was while driving on hwys (65-70 avg mph). And it seemed that driving at night,
and/or in the rain also adversely affected my mpg. I would expect a slight variation in mpg due to these factors, but was surprised
at how much my mpg varied throughout the trip...
Last comment - despite all the bad reviews that the EcoSport received from the press, I'm really happy with mine!
Perhaps the most important part of this new technology is the battery.
They are specifically designed for many startups on any given drive. Normal batteries may be able to handle this for a while, but will quickly degrade and fail way before an AGM battery that is designed for this kind of thing. So beware, if you replace your battery, make sure you get the right kind.
Just a few comments on these subjects...... UR correct, the starter and battery are beefed up for the constant start/stop feature. As far as the start/stop feature goes, I don't use it. I guess if I lived in some big screwed-up liberal cities like NY-LA-SF-Chicago where you go from red light to red light most of the time, I might get used to it, but I don't think so! To the review about mpg in different conditions, I to, would expected slight variations but nothing like you noted. I also agree that the media beat up on the Ecosport unfairly, it's nowhere as bad as they stated. The auto magazine "so called experts" also stated that you could get a better subcompact SUV for the same amount of money. With the incentives and discounts Ford was giving on the Ecosport all other subcompacts SUV's were from $2,800 to over $4k for one comparable to my Ecosport "S" with 2.0L 4WD..... I paid a whopping $15,800 + tax and plates.I've read up on that. From what I understand, they did beef up the starter and other mechanical parts. As far as engine ware, you are right, the first minute or two is hard on the engine. Buts that's only because the engine is cold and the oil has drained away from crucial parts. However, the start/stop only happens only when the engine is warm and the oil has not had time to drain away.
Perhaps the most important part of this new technology is the battery.
They are specifically designed for many startups on any given drive. Normal batteries may be able to handle this for a while, but will quickly degrade and fail way before an AGM battery that is designed for this kind of thing. So beware, if you replace your battery, make sure you get the right kind.
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
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