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Stop Start System- Home Made


pork_pie
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My daily commute is a 34 mile round trip first consisting of about 3 miles of stop start driving going out of town followed by dual carriageways. The final 3 miles consists of windy roads then I am at work. The trip takes about 45 mins for a 17 mile leg.

My average fuel consumption averaged 58-61mpg then a couple of months ago I decided to switch my engine off when I think I am going to be at the lights for an extended period of time. This happens no more than 3-5 times per journey leg. When stationery I wait 10 seconds before turning the ignition off just to give the turbo some time to return to idle. I always maintain the rules of using engine braking, taking advantage of slopes to aid acceleration and anticipate traffic ahead yet average mpg ranges from 63 to 67mpg now.

Is this 10 seconds too short a time and will I cause long term damage to the turbo by impersonating a stop start system on my car?

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Hi pork pie.

10 seconds idling is ok if you were driving gently to begin with. Harder driving will need more idling time. You could coast up to the lights to use up some of this time in any case. Some people think its dangerous but i have yet to think of how that could be. Engine braking up to the lights means the injectors are off so there is a big saving to be made there for sure. If you were coasting from further up the road though, the net saving will be more. Depends on traffic i suppose!

You could block your grille up by at least half in the winter months. This will speed up your warm up times and your engine will run a little warmer, which will give you a small saving too. I currently have a 4" by 2" hole feeding my radiator and the fan still doesn't come on........honestly, i dont want to know how hard i'd have to drive it to make the fan come on!

My current mpg is 73mpg over two tanks. Boy am i glad i got this car!!

ollie

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It could put extra strain on the starter motor and battery keep cranking it over again & again :crybaby:

Hi Raeman. I used to turn off my last car at the lights for years without any ill effects. Batteries always lasted and i never replaced a starter. Touch wood! I'm a member over at cleanmpg.com and they stop-start many many times per journey and have no problem either.

I know, the life of the starter IS being shortened by using it more. Thats undeniable. The thing is, how much shorter. Under normal use, it could last decades. Regular starting might only shorten it by a few years. At the end of the day the starter will more than likely outlast the car.

ollie

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Why??? 10 seconds then turn off your engine i think its too soon. If you know you gonna be more that 2-3 mins maybe. I dont see the point. Every time you turn the key it uses a lot of Battery power to crank the engine.

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It could put extra strain on the starter motor and battery keep cranking it over again & again :crybaby:

Hi Raeman. I used to turn off my last car at the lights for years without any ill effects. Batteries always lasted and i never replaced a starter. Touch wood! I'm a member over at cleanmpg.com and they stop-start many many times per journey and have no problem either.

I know, the life of the starter IS being shortened by using it more. Thats undeniable. The thing is, how much shorter. Under normal use, it could last decades. Regular starting might only shorten it by a few years. At the end of the day the starter will more than likely outlast the car.

ollie

You may just have been lucky about never replacing the starter motor...Interesting because i own 2 japanese cars and 2 jap bikes and never had any starter motor problems (touch wood!!) on any of them despite one being used for short journies.

Once had a golf GTi and that went through 2 starter motors in 3yrs!! Then again the whole car caused me no end of grief!! :angry:

Maybe the jap manufacturers use better motors??

At the end of the day, if it's saving fuel then good luck doing what your doing!! :thumbsup:

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