Stop/Start

[The Random Dan]

Does anyone else have trouble with their stop/start not working?

I have a GTI+ and 75% of the time I stop the stop/start symbol comes up with a line through it and on the system status screen it says “vehicle must be running”

[MrTomOates]

My girlfriend has this same issue in her Polo Beats.
It has the symbol on the dashboard with a cross through it.

[RUM4MO]

If your car is fault free, it must be due to some of the "preconditions" not being met. Perhaps due to frequency of use, length of journeys or electrical loading due to power usage. Remember in hot weather, if you are using the AC to keep the cabin cool, the engine will keep running.

[SRGTD]

I run the air con in my car all year round and I usually switch off stop start at the beginning of every journey as I find it annoying.

I do use it if I know I’m going to be stopped in traffic for ‘longer’ periods - e.g. at traffic lights, temporary roadworks etc. Invariably, because my air con’s on (so high power useage) my car’s engine will start before I’m ready to move off and the stop start inactive symbol appears in the instrument display.

[monkeyhanger]

Does anyone else have trouble with their stop/start not working?

I have a GTI+ and 75% of the time I stop the stop/start symbol comes up with a line through it and on the system status screen it says “vehicle must be running”

If the engine is cold, or the GPF is quite full, or the battery condition is low or you've hot aircon on, stop-start won't be available. There are probably other situations that stop it kicking in. Once I fitted my dashcam, the stop start hardly ever kicked in as it drains the battery to a pre-determined cut-off battery voltage in parking monitoring mode.

[Simonz]

Most of the time it works on mine but I've noticed the odd occasion it deactivates for whatever mystery reason. Just shows it's not a perfect solution and more of a part time system, even though a lot of weight is put on it to reduce emissions. Presume it drops the official Co2 rating along with all the other tweaks.

[Steve_2019]

I find mine works 90% of the time. I do turn mine off. I find it a pain when it cuts the engine when your at roundabouts etc waiting to pull out. When I’m stuck in traffic jams I do turn it on and it does cutout after pressing the button straight away.

[Dazeredo]

Mine stop working for some time after the lockdown, the car was parked for 6 weeks and I only charged the battery during a couple of hours sometimes. When the engine is cold the car give me the same warning but works alright the rest of the time.
For entering the roundabouts I keep pressing the clutch for the engine keeps working.

[CarbonChaos]

I hate this function on newer cars and have deleted it all together thus no error messages

[Dazeredo]

Not my favorite function but in my comute it really save some fuel... The biggest problem is when the battery began to get old and the engine may fail to start (it happen to me in my mothers Smart Fourfor some times during the 120 day I waited for my Polo).

[wayne10244]

If your battery voltage is below a certain value then the stop & start will not work till the battery voltage is topped up for it to dart to work again

[Dazeredo]

The problem in the smart was the engine turn off when the car is stopped but don't be able to start when I press the clutch (the battery died 3 months later).

[RUM4MO]

Not good, a bit unfortunate that the battery failed in a way that allowed the Stop/Start to keep "operating" and so let you down.

Edit:- I would think that over 90% of people will find that the Stop/Start stops "operating" as the battery health drops off, and so get adequate warning if they understand what might be happening.

A complete internal failure like an open circuit/ short circuit occurring after a charged battery has switched the engine off would cause that unfortunate situation to happen though.

[Dazeredo]

Indeed. I warned my parents to change the battery but they didn't listen.
The result was the car don't start after they went to get some shopping and only started by pushing the car. The next stop was the smart auto shop to get a new battery.

[YehaviBourvine1]

Hi,

I would like to tackle this topic from another side, related to DSG: when you turn off the Stop/Start, doesn't the clutch wear when the car is standing still? Is it completely disengaged, or is it slightly engaged to give the appearance of automatic gearbox?

Thanks, __Yehavi: