What IS different about starters used in auto start/stop equipped engines?

[gregk24]

I hear topic come up in threads regarding start/stop technology. Some voice concerns over increased wear on the starter due to more frequent use, this is typically countered by others saying that these starters are specially built to handle such service. If so, what is different about the start/stop starters?

Our Jetta is equipped with one and the only difference I can tell (purely from the seat of my pants) is that it does start the car quickly. The "rotations" the starter has to make to turn the engine over happen very fast.

 

[Leo99]

Don't start-stop systems wear out your car's starter?

Some are almost unnoticeable, others make the car shudder each time they activate—but start-stop systems are here to stay. First rolled out in Europe and Asia, where crowded city driving requires cars to spend more time at a standstill, they switch off the engine when the car's not moving. When...

www.greencarreports.com

 

[Passport1]

The miniscule amount of gasoline this saves over the life of the vehicle will not cover the additional cost of the starter motors and batteries over the same period. In a world awash of oil this makes zero sense. Another reason to keep maintaining older cars.

 

[PimTac]

Some vehicles don’t use the starter.

MAZDA: Idling Stop Technology | Environmental Technology

Idling Stop Technology. At Mazda we are always working hard to develop environmental technologies which will contribute to an exciting and sustainable future for people, automobiles, and the Earth. [MAZDA Official Web Site]

www.mazda.com

 

[gregk24]

The miniscule amount of gasoline this saves over the life of the vehicle will not cover the additional cost of the starter motors and batteries over the same period. In a world awash of oil this makes zero sense. Another reason to keep maintaining older cars.

I am ok with having this features as VW allows you to turn it off. So we have the option to use it if we want, but when we don't (which is 90% or more of the time) we are riding around in a vehicle with a more robust starter that should last longer than a "traditional" starter.

 

[oldhp]

Some vehicles don’t use the starter.

MAZDA: Idling Stop Technology | Environmental Technology

Idling Stop Technology. At Mazda we are always working hard to develop environmental technologies which will contribute to an exciting and sustainable future for people, automobiles, and the Earth. [MAZDA Official Web Site]

www.mazda.com

Interesting how they rely on piston placement, inject fuel then spark and the rotation start by the piston firing down. Neat...........when it works. Can you turn the system off???

 

[CKN]

Recent new tech on BITOG. Translation-I'm scared and running the other way.....

 

[aquariuscsm]

I was beside an F150 one day at a red light. Light turns green and it kept turning over and over and wouldn't start back up.

 

[4WD]

I was beside an F150 one day at a red light. Light turns green and it kept turning over and over and wouldn't start back up.

That feature annoys me in the Jeep … and sometimes I forget the off button.
Today I’m driving the 5.3L and it idled so smooth at a stop I was hunting the button.
Engine was still running

 

[4WD]

I was beside an F150 one day at a red light. Light turns green and it kept turning over and over and wouldn't start back up.

 

[aquariuscsm]

That feature annoys me in the Jeep … and sometimes I forget the off button.
Today I’m driving the 5.3L and it idled so smooth at a stop I was hunting the button.
Engine was still running

Haha I've done that before too! My 300ZX idled so smooth and silent that one day while idling I turned the key and heard this horrible grinding sound! Yep,she was still running and I turned the key!

 

[RooflessVW]

The miniscule amount of gasoline this saves over the life of the vehicle will not cover the additional cost of the starter motors and batteries over the same period. In a world awash of oil this makes zero sense. Another reason to keep maintaining older cars.

The technology has been commonplace for a decade or more.

Where is this pile of parts you claim exists?

 

[PimTac]

What else drives you nuts? A push button for the ignition? Electric parking brake? Automatic high beams?

 

[RooflessVW]

I am ok with having this features as VW allows you to turn it off. So we have the option to use it if we want, but when we don't (which is 90% or more of the time) we are riding around in a vehicle with a more robust starter that should last longer than a "traditional" starter.

You should be able to code the button to remember how you set it. You could also code it as I have in our Atlas: to default off, but turn ON with the button press.

 

[gregk24]

You should be able to code the button to remember how you set it. You could also code it as I have in our Atlas: to default off, but turn ON with the button press.

That all sounds well and good but I don't have that skill set.

 

[spasm3]

What else drives you nuts? A push button for the ignition? Electric parking brake? Automatic high beams?

All three are annoying to me. Don't have automatic high beams though.

 

[JHZR2]

The miniscule amount of gasoline this saves over the life of the vehicle will not cover the additional cost of the starter motors and batteries over the same period. In a world awash of oil this makes zero sense. Another reason to keep maintaining older cars.

At one point I had read that it takes about 30s of idling to make up for the energy required to start.

Since then, I read a lower number. I think I read ~7s?

Youre right, the amount saved won’t be much, because cars tend to sip fuel at idle... That said, it always intrigues me how,fast the average MPGs drop on our van, because my wife drives it only in town, With a lot of stoplights and stop and go.

Putting a larger battery and a heavier duty/higher rated starter doesn’t seem like a giant stretch though...

 

[CKN]

What else drives you nuts? A push button for the ignition? Electric parking brake? Automatic high beams?

POST OF THE DAY!!!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[c502cid]

I love this technology. Of course my generation (60+, I'm using straight 30w because those newfangled multiweights are the devils brew) is scared of it, I've replaced enough $16.99 checker starters in my lifetime too, but this isn't the same thing at all.

 

[Passport1]

What else drives you nuts? A push button for the ignition? Electric parking brake? Automatic high beams?

Nothing about newer cars makes me nuts; maybe irritated and perplexed. An ignition switch and conventional key works fine and eliminates an expensive electronic fob. Electric e-brakes will eventually be e-broken. How about plastic intake manifolds which are going to get brittle and fail? One of my cars had to have the bumper removed to replace a halogen bulb. My ford has no gas cap but instead a very complex valve and filler housing. The list goes on but nothing and no one will slow down the advance of gratuitous technology.

I'm no Luddite but I do cleave to the notion that an application of Occam's Razor is the best approach to engineering cars.