Two-week honeymoon with Auto Start-Stop

[Squatch]

Interesting, thanks. The premium fuel requirement gives me pause, but it is something to consider.

It's really not a terrible expense per tank... until someone puts a 24 gallon gas tank in their two-door...

Even places in SoCal, it's a $0.30/gal difference(funny how that stays the same no matter the base price and isn't an incremental percentage, right?). So, 15 gal = $4.50/tank

SoCal now can be $4.95 for 87 and $5.25 for premium

15gal tank and you're at $74.25 v. $78.75 for ~6% increase. Gas prices will fluctuate that much any given Sunday, but that difference in RON hardly does or you can defeat any variance by going to a different gas station.

How about 93? I clicked on a Miami gasbuddy for Costco and it's $3.33 for 87 and $3.84 for 93. Why? Lower overall cost and larger spread to give the other extreme.

15gal:
87 - $49.95 (suspicious)
93 - $57.60
A 15.3% premium or $7.65 per tank at this extreme.

Thank goodness the two-door doesn't have a bigger tank, right?

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[Lcubed]

Yes, it stresses the battery unnecessarily, that's why Ford put an AGM battery in it.

 

[BigHoof]

I'm struggling with how ugly of a solution this is, if that's what it is. Really ASS in park should work like drive, restart when the brake is lifted (in addition to the other conditions). As long as the brake is pressed, there is a driver in the seat. So, you'd turn off the engine and then release the brake, which you probably already do anyways.

With my manual, I place the Bronco in neutral and put the parking brake on. As soon as I let off the clutch the engine shuts off. Happens every time I get out to open the garage door as long as the ASS conditions are met.

 

[BadlandsA51]

I know this feature draws a lot of ire, but I have a new Bronco and will leave it stock for the time being. I've left auto start-stop enabled and have been commuting to work every day, mostly in stop-and-go suburban driving (yeah I know...). At first, I was surprised at the engine suddenly restarting when I was holding the brake down. I realized this was due to the AC being on. That said, I don't believe it is optimally tuned for that scenario. There should be a basic predictive algorithm for how long the engine can remain off without impacting cabin climate or battery charge. I don't think having the engine shut off and turn back on again in less than a minute represents a good tradeoff. Perhaps there are relevant regulations that tie the hands of the Ford engineers? Pure speculation.

The second issue is when you park, the engine stops, you shift into park, and the engine restarts. I've found several B6G threads on the subject, and this one is a head-scratcher for me. I've perused the manual and the documented conditions for ASS to restart the engine don't include shifting into park. And, I haven't heard a plausible use case of why you would want that. But the threads go back over a year, and it functions the same way to this day. Why??

I'm not inclined to install the ASS eliminator. ASS is annoying but not the end of the world on a daily commuter. I do hate when you are stopping behind a car and that car is juuuuuuuust getting ready to inch along again.

Back in the day I had a 6-speed manual transmission with the 2nd gear skip-shift feature. That HAD to go, holy crap. But this is not that.

There are literally 80 to 100 conditions for auto start stop to function. Sitting on an incline? No ASS. Steering wheel turned too far? No ASS. Defrost on? No ASS. And the list goes on and on and on……. The most common thing that prevents ASS is battery condition, that’s the best thing about that pain in the butt system, it kinda lets you know your battery is getting questionable.

 

[Snakk Attakk]

There are literally 80 to 100 conditions for auto start stop to function.

The 2023 manual lists eight and only eight:

• The driver door is open.
• Your vehicle is at high altitude.
• The heated windshield is on.
• The engine is warming up.
• The outside temperature is too low or too high.
• The battery charge is low.
• The battery temperature is outside the optimal operating range.
• The engine is required to run to maintain interior climate and reduce fogging.

 

[BadlandsA51]

The 2023 manual lists eight and only eight:

• The driver door is open.
• Your vehicle is at high altitude.
• The heated windshield is on.
• The engine is warming up.
• The outside temperature is too low or too high.
• The battery charge is low.
• The battery temperature is outside the optimal operating range.
• The engine is required to run to maintain interior climate and reduce fogging.

That’s what the owner manual shows, but I have diagnosed several ASS customer concerns (they actually complained that it wasn’t working) , and if you pull it up on a scan tool there are many conditions that have to be met for it to work. It would be hard to list them all in the owner manual. There is alot more going on in the modules on modern vehicles than you would believe, ALOT more.

 

[brkdncr]

I’m ok with ASS stressing my starter and battery while its under warranty.

im a little concerned about it turning on when the engine isn’t up to operating temp. ~150 seems too cold.

 

[Snakk Attakk]

Today I came to a stop, ASS switched off the engine, and I ninja-shifted into park. The engine switched back on. So, I think the hypothesis that this has to do with momentarily being in reverse is disproven. Frankly this was expected, that would be an embarrasing engineering oversight.

Once scenario where ASS could be dangerous is on the interstate. I-77 is notorious for humming right along, then grinding to a halt, then taking off again. In many spots, the leftmost lane has no shoulder, and you do NOT want to be stalled there. Even a slightly elevated risk of that is a non-starter.

It just so happens I got caught up in that on Day 1 on the way home. There were two separate wrecks, and between that and the A/C ASS was just going nuts. I wasn't used to that at the time.

 

[AKcyn]

Do yourself a favor, get the Ford Performance Tune which is warrantied by Ford and includes auto start/stop setting permanence. If you turn it off, it stays off... Turn it on and it stays on.

I just had a performance tuner installed, where can I disable the Auto-stop-start? Would love to get rid of it FOREVER!

 

[perfectfinishautospa@gmai]

I just had a performance tuner installed, where can I disable the Auto-stop-start? Would love to get rid of it FOREVER!

If you shut it off it will stay off the next time you restart it. If it doesn’t then it wasn’t downloaded properly

 

[DVO50]

The Ford Perfomance tune remembers your last setting on ASS

 

[WeirdGuy]

ASS is a gimmick mandated by the government. I cannot stand it, and ASS eliminator was literally one of the first things I installed on my Bronco after I picked it up.

 

[AZ_Liberty]

There should be a basic predictive algorithm for how long the engine can remain off without impacting cabin climate or battery charge.

Zero seconds. Zero seconds is the right answer if I have the Air Conditioning on. Any interruption in my A/C is unacceptable.

Fortunately I ordered a stick, and I never have it idling in neutral except at the drive-up ATM or to drop off the mail, but in my wife's F-150 it is simply maddening to have the A/C turn off when it's 118 degrees out.

 

[AZ_Liberty]

•Stall the engine on an off-road obstacle? Just press in the clutch and it restarts.

•Stall the engine in the middle of an intersection because you got distracted while shifting gears by the homeless guy running into traffic? Just press the clutch and it restarts.

Restart after stall by hitting the clutch is not part of A/SS. All newer Fords do this whether A/SS is on or disabled. It's a separate function.

(and by newer Fords, I guess I mean Bronco and Mustang, because that's all that's left)

 

[indio22]

Do yourself a favor, get the Ford Performance Tune which is warrantied by Ford and includes auto start/stop setting permanence. If you turn it off, it stays off... Turn it on and it stays on.

Problem is I don't need the extra performance, don't want to pay extra for the higher octane gasoline, and am not inclined to pay to turn off a feature I should be able to turn off.

Ford allows us to turn off ASS, but only if we pay up. That does not sit well with me. Ford will have to pry the cash from my cold dead hand before I pay them for that privelage, lol.

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