DJA123

Not the reply I was hoping for. I'll still try this and see what happens. It fits so well with what happened to me, as well as many of the Honda owners... of which there are many. The solution that was a distant second was battery drain+reset/replace.

Thanks

DJA123

I tried the hood open/close procedure today and it did reactivate the dormant AIS function. Now, let's see if it continues.

It does appear that starting the engine with the hood open and closing without shutoff may be a cheat to disable the stop/start for an extended period. Assuming that happened when I had my car in for an alignment, it disabled the system until I reset it today. That was over a month of deactivation. YMMV.

hans471

It is very common for modern vehicles to have certain sequences that cause "other than normal" operations. This is usually intentional and is used for various diagnostic procedures or tests. Many of you know about the "secret" ways of getting into the touch pad thing by hitting a certain combination of buttons. Many electronic devices have this. Many of these are sort of "secret" as they are not in manuals. When we were developing training materials for upcoming vehicle roll outs we would work with the designing and testing engineers and they would mention these functions they had programed in for certain tasks or tests. A lot of this never gets published as it was just for development or testing purposes. I am not saying that this is the case for this AIS, just that its a common thing we would see on vehicles. Sometimes you accidentally run into these functions by chance.

DJA123

Yep, exactly. That was the reason for the mention of this possible "cheat" in my post.

The OP (and others) asked if there was a way to permanently disable the AIS. This thread then veered off into a side discussion about AIS stopping, seemingly without reason, for a few of us who didn't want that. A quick search returned many discussions in Honda owner groups about their AIS stopping, seemingly without reason. A pattern appeared that suggested recent service as a frequent precursor to the AIS stopping. I too had just had an alignment done on the car. It was then someone thought about the AIS override that occurs if you start the engine with the hood open, thinking the service tech unknowingly triggered this. The reset procedure in the manual was very often stated as the fix for those who wanted a fix.

A logical assumption follows that repeating what the service tech did would put the car into override indefinitely for those who wanted AIS disabled. It's gaming the system to get a result.

JB in AZ

My understanding is that all manufacturers selling their vehicles in the US that have Auto stop, must have it defaulted to ON by the EPA. It is not a requirement that they offer a way for the owner to turn the function off manually, but if they do, it must revert to the default setting at every engine start cycle.

DJA123

Makes sense. I assumed without anything to support it that the default to on was an EPA mandate and not a manufacturer choice.

DJA123

Just to follow up: It's been over two weeks since I reset the AIS system, and it's still functioning. This appears to confirm the assumption that the service tech started the engine with the hood open and that caused the deactivation.

jc411

For reference, I didn't take my car for service (I haven't had to, it's got less than 2k miles) and I haven't touched the hood.

DJA123

And this is with drive times of over 20 minutes or so? It takes mine at least that long before it starts engaging.

jc411

Yes, including highway driving for over 30 minutes.

Fishaay

Do you drive everyday? Noticed it reverted back to non working state after not touching it for 3-4 days.

DJA123

No, it's typically been sitting 2, 3, 4 days right now as we shuffle between cars for the limited drives we're taking. I can't remember the last time driving it two days in a row.

Other than taking a long time to begin working, which is probably because it has to reach presets for engine/transmission temps, and battery voltage, it seems to be reliable since reset.

Fishaay

Thanks. Perhaps my trips are relatively short.

tecwerks

No

JB in AZ

For those who would like to "permanently" disengage auto idle stop...This MAY work on our RDXs...
I read this on the 5th Gen CR-V forum. If I understand it properly, if one's engine has been started with the hood open, then the idle stop may be inactivated.
SO..., OPEN HOOD, START ENGINE, CLOSE HOOD
One of many conditions where the Auto Idle Stop will not work:
The engine is started with the hood open.

So To enable AIS again:
Turn off the engine. Close the hood before you restart the engine to activate
Auto Idle Stop.

Here is another posters experience:
About a week ago I noticed that the AIS wasn’t working on my CRV again and I was certain all conditions were met. So, I pulled into a parking lot, and did the following:

1. Turned the engine off.
2. Remaining in the driver's seat with my the seat belt fastened.
3. Pulled the hood latch release.
4. Started the engine.
5. Got the hood open message in the drivers information centre.
6. Turned the engine off, unbuckle the seat belt and exited the vehicle to close the hood.
7. Got back in the vehicle, started the vehicle as per normal and drove away.

At the next stop light, about a Km down the road, I stopped and the AIS worked, and continued from the point forward. The quick fix took about 30 seconds to do,

DJA123

Yep, this was actually my experience, and mentioned a few scrolls up in this same thread.

JB in AZ

Hmm...I must have spaced that out. I had quite an uncomfortable weekend. After doing some minor yard work, I came inside, stood up to turn on the ceiling fan, got lightheaded, and apparently passed out...landed on the floor... I'm not sure how I did it, but I scraped up my knee, and it looks like I broke two toes on my left foot at the same time. Enough about that, hopefully the people that don't like the auto idle stop will be able to use this to their benefit.

DJA123

Yes, and sorry to hear about your lost battle with gravity. Might want to talk to a doc.

Madd Dog

Holy crap.

Get better soon, and don’t go to a hospital.

JB in AZ

No kidding!
And thanks...I am still wondering what the hell happened. I got up out of my chair...felt a little bit light headed... as if I "had stood up too fast" Stood there a bit to make sure I was OK, then walked slowly about 10 feet across the room to the wall switch, felt weird again, put my hand on the corner of the wall to stabilize myself, (I thought!), and next thing I knew, I was on my back on the floor! Absolutely no idea how I broke my big toe and the one next to it, and I was wearing running shoes at the time.

I still shudder when I think about it, and every time I stand up.

I agree, Hospitals are the last resort...and not the kind of resort I want to go to.

samiam_68

If all that's broken is a toe, and it is not misaligned in some weird direction, you can just tape it to another toe for a few weeks and it will heal. If it's misaligned, you will need a doctor to look at it and possibly set it straight. You may also need to wear a special boot for a few weeks to protect it from further bumps.

JB in AZ

Thanks for all the good wishes.
DJA123: Yes, I can confirm it is hard to win a battle with gravity. I admit defeat.

Madd Dog: I have no intention of going to any hospital as long as I have anything to say about it.

samiam_68: It's not the first toe I have broken, and it (they?) are not misaligned...and I can almost walk on it normally.


Now back to RDX business.....
It is strange that Honda/Acura will program this so it will not engage when the hood has been opened while the engine is running...except if it is for technicians working on the engines. But one would think that it should revert to normal operation when the hood is closed.

DJA123

I can guess the hood open override is to prevent injury to someone working on an engine that may be under idle stop control...a scary scenario when you think about it. Other manufacturers have this same protection, but owners claim it resets with every start cycle. I don't know... with so many of us having our cars sit for days now, maybe the AIS system does eventually reset under more typical daily driving. This appears to fall under the concept of unintended consequences.

Something else that came up: While we know there is a small fuel savings by having the engine stop at idle, the real reason for stop/start may be something called off-cycle technology credits. These are credits auto manufacturers earn toward hitting efficiency targets. Having s/s systems -- without a permanent disable feature -- is one way to book credits; there are many other surprising familiar features that earn credits as well. If you are truly bored in stay at home mode, here is some very dry reading in the form of a white paper on off-cycle credits.

I think I'm saturated with the entirely unworthy topic of idle stop/start.

Farcus

This worked for me, thanks

jc411

My Auto Start started working again all on its own without me having to touch the hood.

DJA123

Yeah, been round and round with this.

It's very likely that irregular driving has more to do with flaky AIS functionality than the hood open trick suggested earlier. If the car sits for a few days, it can take a long continuous drive before it starts working again. I actually went several weeks of short drives without it working. Probably some combination of battery charge state and powertrain temps.

Did it begin working during a drive of 30 minutes or more? Has your driving been less than regular daily recently?

DrWoo

Interesting thread. My auto stop/start hasn’t worked in At least 6 months. I don’t recall exactly when it stopped (it may have been after an oil change in December, but I honestly don’t remember), but it was the start of winter so I didn’t think anything of it, and didn’t really miss it. But even with the nice weather recently, it hasn’t worked. I took the RDX to the dealer this morning for the fuel pump recall, and also had the engine air filter replaced, so the hood was definitely up during service. Auto stop/start was active again a block form the dealer after I picked the car up today, and it worked the entire trip home.

ssmcls03

I usually don't post but I read a lot of threads and a lot concerning auto idle stop which is absolutely awful. Anyways someone had posted this on one on the other TLX forums about selling a device that could be installed to automatically turn the idle stop off every time the car starts. I haven't seen any feedback from anyone who has installed one but it sounds promising! My wife complains about her RDX idle stop all the time! I've just been turning mine off in my TLX but this idlestopper thing seems legit. I may pull the trigger on 2 of them. Anyone else see this before? Here's the link i copied http://idlestopper.square.site

ssmcls03

Just got the idlestopper installed on my TLX and it is working flawlessly! So nice to be able to forget about the idle stop issue all together. Next up is my wife's RDX just waiting for my mechanic buddy to have some free time to install.

Funz51

Again, the unit costs like 5 dollars online from you know where (I have one and it tests good), although the install scares me. Maybe soon I will attempt, along with removing the skins on the doors to put in insulation.

ssmcls03

I have read the mod thread about the $5 unit you speak of and after price of the unit, wiring, case, shipping, programming, testing, time of putting all of that together I was more than happy to spend the $80 for the idlestopper. I don’t have the time or desire to figure out how to put one of those “$5 units” together. Some of us aren’t that gifted at engineering something like that. My mechanic said the idlestopper install went smoothly and it took him 20 min. I paid him $60. It would have most certainly taken me a heck of a lot longer which is why I went this route.

JB in AZ

SMH

dblwishbone

The Acura's idle stop is at least more flexible than the BMW one; you can avoid idle with careful practice of how you apply brake pressure. Even lightly changing your pressure on the pedal will restart the engine without releasing the brake (i.e. on a hill). The BMW system keyed off of the speedometer and always shut off at 0 mph, though their system did retain the idle stop on/off setting between drives.

OrangeLoon

We have a Jeep also, what module did you buy?

Mark-RDX

Well played...well played

ylsf

Interesting thing is that yesterday I changed the battery on my RDX. Today I noticed it was doing the Auto Idle thing but I don't remember it doing that since I first bought the vehicle and figured out how to disable it (Maybe because I drive in Sports + mode based on review of the details here). So I thought replacing the battery reset something but that is odd because nothing else got reset on the vehicle. Then I got to the part that talks about starting the engine with the hood open and that seems to reverse whatever setting you have. Bingo, I did start with the hood open after I replaced the battery.
I will have to try to reverse this later today but thanks for the thread with all of the details!

Stevewr450f

Yes. Search for idle stopper. Plug and play. I have 2022 rdx advance aspec. Had it for over a year. Works perfectly. It turns off idle stop as default but you can easily turn it back on. Great product

Acura2020rdx

Your experience and your helpful posts have been what I was searching for. I registered here today because I wanted to publicly thank you. I know this thread has been here for 4 years but you should feel proud that your input (as well as others here) is still needed and appreciated.

When I got my "new to me" 2020 RDX, the feature was not functioning. Nothing I found in settings mattered. After a couple months since owning it, I just had it serviced and now the feature is enabled. The tech never mentioned anything he did regarding this as it was in for installation of an aftermarket autostart kit.

I did not want to pay a monthly or annual subscription for AcuraLink to have autostart via app, and the dealer wanted around $1200 to install the Acura factory kit and remote replacements. I'm mad at myself for presuming it would be standard with the remotes for the tech package model.

Anyway, the mystery is solved, and I now know how to disable it if I don't feel like hassling with the button press at start-up, so thank you again for saving me lots of research time!

$100 for my 2020 RDX w/ Tech package. The workaround posted here is free but has the drawback of losing on-demand use while driving. You'd need to reset it to re-enable the feature.
Thanks for the tip for those who want to have the on-demand while not dealing with it at start-up. Some folks would opt for this even at a premium price. I didn't know they had these devices. This is my first vehicle with this feature. I will keep it in mind.

PDanil0590

Hi guys. I have a problem. I drove a couple of meters in the garage with the hood open. After that, there was a message "Auto Stop idle system problem. See your dealer." And a flashing orange lamp. How can I reset the system? I tried using the method described here. It didn't help.

John from PA

Idlestopper Eliminator has been around for a few years. See Idlestopper Eliminator