RE:dealbreakers post from 1/25

Mike(NEOhio)

Well-known Member
Location
Newbury, Ohio
I spent a few days recently riding in an Audi TDI. The engine shuts off about three seconds after coming to a stop. Not sure if it restarts when the brake is released or the accelerator is pressed. But it got me to wondering: What happens if it fails in traffic and how often the starters get replaced? Another thought. So many cars are now equipped with remote start, how much gas is wasted warming them up?
 
"Autostop" that reminds me I read a joke one day(Readers Digest maybe). Man was looking at a new vehicle. On a test drive dealer was sure to point out that the machine automatically shuts down at stop signs. The man looks at salesman in the eye and says I had a '69...(something)... that did the same thing.

My last truck, JUST got me through a stop light one day. It died(without me noticing) when rolling, light just turned green when I hit it. Noticed it died when I didn't have power steering when making the corner. I managed to coast it to the side of the cross road. I fumbled with it for around 15 minutes till my brother (who happens to takes same route to work elsewhere) came along to give me a ride the rest of the way into where I work. (I dealt with the truck after shift, turned out to be bad cap, rotor....)

Sure does make you wonder the "what ifs"..
 
It seems as if Ford was experimenting with something like this 20 or so years ago using a 24 volt system. I'm not sure what ever became of it. Maybe somebody else remembers. Not sure if I'd want it.
 
So-called start-stop engine technology is yet another costly attempt to squeeze a bit more mileage out of automobiles due to meddling by the federales.

Not sure about Audi's design, but likely it does not have a conventional starter, but rather, a combination starter/assist motor, perhaps belted to the engine crankshaft by a serpentine belt.

Dean
 
Ha Ha! I can answer that one. In September I bought a 2016 subaru Outback. 2.5L motor. It's gotten great mileage, 25+ when the weather was warm & probably an average of 21-22mpg even through the winter. That is, until I took it in and had a remote start put on it. That was right after Christmas, and since I started warming it up before going to work every morning, and right before I leave work, my mileage has gone down to barely over 19.
At least gas is cheap now, so it doesn't take too big of a bite out of my wallet to let it idle awhile.
 
Don't know if it still is but part of the issue with this 'engine shut off' thing was that the catalytic converter used to cool off requiring it to re-heat before scrubbing pollutants. Don't know how they got around that. Of course maybe they played with the programming so it would pass only when being tested.
 
Anouther reason to go back to driving cars made in the 50's early 60's. Could depend on them.
 
My 15 Malibu is auto stop. It restarts when you let off the brake. I don't particularly care for it, but I can see where it might save some gas if you are stuck in a backup on the expressway. I've found in normal driving, if I come to an easy enough stop, it won't shut off. A GM mechanic I know just told me yesterday that he had training on this system and the starter they use is not the same as the starter for a vehicle without auto stop. I'll let you know in 10 years how it holds up.
 
When is the last time you ever heard of anyone having starter trouble on a newer vehicle? I have noticed every time a UPS driver gets out of their truck they shut it off, and they are diesels. That is totally different than what everyone did 40 years ago, it must not be a problem with premature failures, or they would't do it. Yesterday I notice the mail delivery person couldn't get close enough to reach a mailbox, so they shut the engine off before getting out of the little mail truck. When I was young we were hesitant to shut engines off because they might not start again!
 
Does the engine re-start to run the A/C or when more heat is needed to stay warm?

These vehicles are getting too smart for me!
 
Cory, when I bought my last new Ford and the guy was pointing out all the fancy new options available, I told him I didn't want it doing anything I didn't make it do or telling me anything I didn't ask it about. :) gm
 
My wife's 2015, F150 has auto-stop and a page in the owner's manual contains a long list of conditions which will defeat that feature. Cabin temperature regulation is one of them. There is also a button to push to shut the auto-stop system off.
 
You are right about UPS. That was something that the big wheels came up with to save fuel and keep someone from stealing the truck.The truck wont start if the sliding door to the rear is open and they only have 15 seconds to start the truck after the door closes or it won't start. Friend of mine drives for them. He says they go through starters like popcorn. Starters must be cheaper than fuel.
 
In 60 years of driving I never had to replace a starter on that
had a wound field, but in the last 3 months I replaced 2 with
permanent magnet fields. Not an endorsement of "progress".
Many new innovations are great, but I don't list starters
among them.

JMHO
 
As for remote starters and wasting gas:
It depends on what you consider wasting gas.
Is it wasting gas to warm it up before momma puts her toddlers in the car when it's below zero?
Or cooling it down before grandma gets in to go to her Dr's appointment?
How bout taking the family out for a ride to see the the pretty Christmas decorations in the neighborhood?
Young guys who lift their pickups way high and put oversized tires on them?
Or maybe going to the new McDonald's across town when the old one is just blocks away...
I'm not here to tell another they are wasting gas.
 
Auto stop, whatever it's called when engine stops at lights, stop sign when brakes are on is partially a EPA law, some European areas with high pollution don't want cars idling in center of city. London has the 'must have clean engine' zone and Hamburg was getting picky 5 years back, Mumbai past 2 years or so made 2 strokes and commercial vehicle that couldn't pass emissions test not allowed in main parts of city, bus's were sewer gas and LP gas instead of diesel, lots of the little and big commercial vehicle also converted to LP, CNG, sewer gas. The auto stop/start option on some vehicles let them run into profitable service areas- 'Clean' Cabs can get to the restricted areas. The Electric hybreds with a battery pack good for say 25 miles on battery only while engine stopped are another attempt to keep some areas air clean enough to breath a couple years without getting lung cancer or asthma. The Amish at least have biodegradable vehicle power unit emissions good for the compost heap. RN
 
I have decided that at this point in my life, I have no desire to ever own a brand new vehicle for as long as I am still on this earth. When the day arrives that I am stuck buying one of these cars loaded with all of that electronic junk, I will do my best to disable as much of it as I possibly can.
So far, there are still a few things that I never want to have on a car. Among them are leather seats and keyless ignition.

Picture this: You are caught in a sudden downpour. Or you are out on the lake drowning worms. Or otherwise you get unintentionally drenched. You have your little magic key fob in your pocket. It gets soaked. Ever look inside one of them? They have a battery, a circuit board, and a few micro switches. When they get wet, they tend not to work. Or perhaps your 2 year old grandson gets ahold of it and drops it in the toilet. Guess what??? Now, unless you have ready access to a spare, you can count on having to have the car (expensively) towed to a dealer. The replacement fob will cost you around $200 to $300 plus programming it into the car for another $50. Add to that the problem of getting into the car because by now that have probably eliminated the exterior door lock. Has anybody noticed that many new cars no longer have a door lock cylinder in the passenger side door? Or a lock cylinder in the trunk lid?
Ah, but it is Saturday night on a holiday weekend, and you are 600 miles from home!
I'm not saying that this WILL happen, but it COULD!!! That is when all of this overdone high tech will bite you and bite you HARD!! How long until one of those leather seat heaters goes haywire and burns out the interior of your car?? How long until that marginal battery will not start the car in the middle of nowhere because the lights stayed on too long and killed the battery? Or just doesn't have enough power to start the engine with the headlights on because that is the way some idiot engineer designed it.

This whole subject is a pet peeve of mine. Not because I don't like technology, but because I feel it is getting a bit too carried away. Some of this stuff is going to cause more problems than it solves.
 
all this new automatic stuff like parking itself and braking lets people spend more time talking and texting on their phones.dumb people on smart phone.
 
Just think guys, all this stuff, and I say stuff only because the other word I'd like to use would get me in trouble on here, is coming soon to a tractor near you. In fact some of it is already on new machines.

I've been pushing to go back to the old stuff for years. My FIL and I have had discussions on several occasions in regard to the fuel economy of new vehicles as opposed to the older ones. My thoughts on that is it's hard to find a brand new, full sized car/SUV that gets better than 20 MPH with the new technology. Back when my '55 Chevy 2DR. 210 series wagon was on the road, I routinely got 20 plus MPG out of it on the highway. Around town was often a little less, but with mechanical secondaries, and a lead foot, that's to be expected.

On the tractor side of things I've told the story before about a customer with an older crane, who's engine basically used a 1930'sw engine design that only used 30'40 GPD of fuel for more production than the newer one that was burning 130-140 GPD

It's not going to end until the average consumer says ENOUGH and stops buying the pieces of junk, or the MFGS say ENOUGH and tell the EPA, and whomever else to lay off or they shut down everything and completely stop production. Honestly I don't think it would take more than a threat to get things where they ought to be, because you know shutdown across the board would be catastrophic to the economy.

But that's just an opinion from someone who has seen firsthand, on more than on occasion, just how new technology can cost a customer big time, while ultimately saving them very little to nothing for the bother.
 
RN:

"The Amish at least have biodegradable vehicle power unit emissions good for the compost heap."

You just have to remember not to step in the exhaust! LOL


:>)
 

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