Auto Start/Stop. How long car turned off to be beneficial
 

In the SH-AWD trim level we get auto start stop. At first, this feature is super annoying, however if you learn to not press the brake all the way down the car wont turn off which is nice. Also a button the shifter to disengage it (which puts an obnoxious orange light on the dash that looks like a check engine light but thats another story)

SO, my questions is, "How long does the car have to be turned off to be beneficial" I feel like at a quick light if the car turns off for only 5 seconds it probably wastes more gas turning itself back on. I doubt there is a specific number of seconds that is calculated but I am wondering ABOUT what it is, or if anyone has any better info on that.THANKS!

I read an government research document that suggests about 10 seconds:

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/uploads/p...is_greener.pdf

Awesome, thanks for the article! If anyone has any other info that would change it from 10 seconds please chime in, otherwise thats a great number to base my decision to let the car shut off or not!

You may want to check with the dealer regarding a software update since my TLX does not display an amber light when you turn off the auto/start stop. This is on a new TLX that just arrived from the factory...

To the recent reply, huh? When I turn off the auto start stop feature it puts a little orange A on the dashboard. There is no way yours is different? Then how do you know it is off??

Hey bro. Sent you a PM. Was wondering if you could give some details on your purchase. Thanks

I remember reading somewhere that idling for roughly one minute is equivalent of starting your car when it comes to fuel being consumed. I am not sure though if the TLX starter uses 1 mins worth of gas in idle.

For me I use the Idle stop if I know I am going to stop for more than 30 secs. Based on my experience with my routes of my commute I know when to use that feature so I waste as little gas I possibly can. My two cents :2cents:

It seems from the research that the time is actually 10 seconds rather than the minute in terms of fuel conservation.

I would add that for any drive-thru, unless there are almost 0 cars in line, it will always save fuel and admissions to haul your ass out of the car and walk in:). Also burns a few calories before consuming fast food.

A bit OT but after having the SH-AWD TLX, I find myself still reaching for the button to turn that Idle Stop off

Guys, here's a different work around to pressing that button all the time.

If you set the front windshield fan on and adjust the fan to your speed preference, it no longer engages the auto shut off. This is due to the electrical load put on the car, which is just enough to disable the auto shut off.

down side is you can't adjust the fan direction anymore (feet, body, body + feet etc)

I have the SH-awd and when the auto stop engages a green @ shows. Basically advising the engine did not stall it was a planned stop. If I over ride the auto stop a full time amber @ is displayed. If I stop and the engine decides it needs to keep running a message appears between the tach and speedo that Auto stop is temp. not available - again advising the system is OK it's just not shutting down due to vehicle needs (battery charge level or AC temp etc. I have had all the software updates for PCM and transmission done a week ago and no issues with any system.

I should have been more specific on where I read about fuel consumption on engine starts - it was a general measure on any average car that it is equivalent for a minute of idling. I wasnt sure where TLX ranks in this.

If you are saying that it is 10 seconds then that sounds like the TLX uses a lot of gas for starting the engine. :what:

Unless I know a light is particularly long, typically unless I witnessed a light turning red in front of me, I typically will not step on the brake hard enough to engage the system. The same in any situation where I think I may need to creep up a bit (turning right on red, etc)

Has Acura made any comments about how durable the starter is to handle all the start cycles? I had read a while back that cars with start/stop have beefier better crank bearings and I believe cylinder walls. I am still not a fan of all that wear and tear regardless of the improvements. Let's see an engine at 200K miles that lived through constant auto start/stop vs. one that did not.

The starter has a pre-determined 50,000-start life cycle. Then a message displays to have the dealer replace the starter, and the auto start/stop is turned off by the ECU until this happens.

This is according to the https://acurazine.com/forums/fifth-g...videos-915166/ I watched. The links to the videos no longer seem to work though.

10 starts a day is 3,650 starts a year. To reach 50,000 starts would take 13.6 years. Not bad, if the starter actually lasts as long as Acura predicts it will.

Where the engine is warmed up when auto stop/start engages, I would guess the wear would be minimal compared to an engine always running at idle. I could be wrong though. I think the direct injection helps this system by starting the engine quickly.

Looking at Parts manuals online it appears to be the same starter as the regular V6. The battery however is a AGM Battery.

The manual indicates various reasons the system will activate or not. No mention of hot starter on the list.
■ Auto idle stop does not activate when:
• The driver’s seat belt is not fastened.
• The engine coolant temperature is low or high.
• The transmission fluid temperature is low or high.
• The vehicle comes to a stop again before the vehicle speed reaches 5 km/h after
the engine starts.
• Stopped on a steep incline.
• A gear position other than (D or in Sport+.
• The engine is started with the hood open.
u Turn off the engine. Close the hood before you restart the engine to activate Auto Idle Stop.
• The battery charge is low.
• The internal temperature of the battery is 14°F (−10°C). or less.
• The climate control system is in use, and the outside temperature is below −4°F
(−20°C) or over 104°F (40°C).
• The climate control system temperature is set to the Hi or Lo.
• is ON (indicator on).
■ Auto idle stop may not activate when:
• The vehicle is stopped by braking suddenly.
• The steering wheel is operated.
• The fan speed is high.
• Altitude is high.
• The vehicle is repeatedly accelerated and decelerated at a low speed.
• Theclimatecontrolsystemisinuse,andthereisasignific antdifferencebetween
the set temperature and the actual interior temperature.
• Humidity in the interior is high.
■ The engine restarts even if the brake pedal is depressed or the automatic brake hold system is activated when:
• The Auto Idle Stop OFF button is pressed.
• When a steering wheel is operated.
• The gear position is in a position other than (D or in Sport+.
• The pressure on the brake pedal is reduced and the vehicle starts moving while
stopped on an incline.
• Thepressureonthebrakepedalisrepeatedlyappliedandre leasedslightlyduring
a stop.
• The battery charge becomes low.
• The accelerator pedal is depressed.
• The driver’s seat belt is unlatched.
• is ON (indicator on).
• The climate control system is in use, and the difference between the set
temperature and actual interior temperature becomes significant.
• The climate control system is being used to dehumidify the interior.

^^
Wow! What have we come to? Someone actually figures all this crap out and then someone has to program it? I know cars are getting too complex, but this is ridiculous. Only my opinion of course.

On my commute I can easily see 10 start/stops each way each day if not more. No I know Toyota has extensive expierence with this in their Hybrids as to engine wear, but I believe they use the hybrid electric motor to restart the engine.

The programming wouldn't actually be all that difficult. The testing is what would suck. The car's computer is able to tell when any of those conditions are 1 or 0. Conditional statements aren't that hard to deal with.

True. I guess when I saw that long list of things associated with just one little aspect of the car, my knee-jerk reaction was that we've gone overboard with the technological aspects of automobiles. Jeez, that was a long sentence:tongue:. Maybe it's because I'm an old fart and remember the days when cars were so much less complex.

Hope I'm wrong.