Stop/start Technology

[Twang53]

Hi everyone.

I have a question concerning the stop/start feature. I'm new to this technology.

I recently bought a 2011 Yaris T Spirit. I absolutely love it. I'm thrilled to bits.

I find it's not working(stop/start) as it did when I bought it in November just gone.

My local Toyota dealer explained that it has to to with the temperature outside the car, whether I'm using a/c, blowers, lights etc. Evidently all these things combined would take too much out of the Battery.

I assume that the car is designed to work like this from time to time?.

My question basically is this:

Does the stop/start only work when the temperature is in double figures?

Even if everything inside is switched off I can't make it work.

The Eco button down by the hand brake is swithed off.

Am I right in thinking that when it glows orange, the stop/start won't work?

Any advice please.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Yaris club

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello Stephen - welome to Toyota Owners Club.

I've had stop start on both of my Auris (2009 and 2012 models) - which is basically the same system as the Yaris.

Operation is dependent on at least two things - ambient temperature and electrical load. The system is designed not to operate when the temperature is around 4 degrees C and below. In addition to the temperature, if the car is subject to a high electrical load (eg having the air con on, or the heater on full together with the heated rear window and audio system) the stop start may not operate. As regards the Eco switch, one can turn off the stop start, but when the ignition is next turned off and on, the stop start will reset to the default position of being on - but still subject to the temperature and electrical load parameters.

So in the winter months the stop start won't be operational as often as in the other seasons.

[Parts-King]

AND some people, without even realising, touch the clutch pedal whilst stationary, ready to dip the clutch and engage gear, this will also turn off the stop start, even if your foot is just resting on the pedal

Kingo

[Twang53]

Hi Mike.

Thanks for taking the trouble to give me your feedback. It's greatly appreciated.

I went to my local Toyota dealer this am. I explained the situation to one of the mechanics.

He told me that there are 13 criteria which have to be met before stop/start kicks in.

By far the most important appears to be having enough charge in the Battery. I told him that at present I'm not using the car every day,

and when I do the mileage is not very high. He was of the opinion that because of this, there wasn't sufficient charge to activate it.

However in the course of the day, I've been driving more than normal. Yesterday I did a 115 mile round trip.

I think that plus what I've done since I spoke to them has increaed the Battery charge. As I was waiting at traffic lights the stop/start began working again quite unexpectedly. there must therefore br some truth in what I was told.

Hope this helps anyone else with the same question. Cheers

[Adam C]

I have a 2010 Yaris TR 1.33 - which has the Stop/Start system - as a learner car and I must admit I love it.

I have noticed though that on odd days where the car doesn't get used much, the Stop/Start system won't kick in straight away - the car would need a bit of a drive to give the Battery a little charge.

With regards to use of the aircon etc, I find the Stop/Start on mine will kick in, but will fire up again within a few seconds (the ECO light flashes before it does so). Often when the system activates, I turn off the aircon & blower as doing this keeps it off for a lot longer, usually up to the point where you're able to move off again.

Mind this engine is really smooth & quiet so learner drivers don't often notice when it's kicked in . .

Oh, another thing I've noticed, if it isn't kicking in when you feel it should, try this - as you're driving along, hold the ECO OFF button down until it lights up, then press it again til the light goes off again, this can sometimes 'reset' the system.

[Chris6767]

I have a 2009 Yaris with stop start. The problem I have is a couple of times I've pulled up the stop mode has kicked in. If you do the couch within a certain time it starts ok but after a certain time it starts then cuts out and won't start again. It will fire then cut out. As though it's stuck in stop mode. Not sure what that is

[Riz101]

😊 hello

I have 2009 yaris eco model. I have had it for 2 years now. The start stop used to work great when I first purchased it. It stopped working when my Battery needed replacing,I replaced it and start stop started working again. 

Then Several months later my clutch needed replacing. When my car returned from the garage, start stop wasnt working. Since then I have took it to different mechanics and even the AA,  who recovered me once due to a sensor issue, all have said that this car either doesnt have it or you need to drive it long journeys. But I have done that and it still doesn't work.  Does anyone have any inkling to why this is??? 

[Catlover]

I bought, from a Hyundai main dealer, an almost 3 year old Hyundai i30 back in 2015 that had stop/start. The system almost never worked so I complained and they said that’s normal. Not happy with that, they took it back to slow charge the Battery for a whole day (had to be a slow charge apparently). Got it back and I worked, not for long though. As it got to colder autumn weather it started to not work, then work, then not work....... mostly not working. The Battery has to be in very top condition.  I gave up on it. I do think stopstart is only marketed so the overall exhaust emissions of a particular model are low enough for the vehicle to be in lower tax bands. With stopstart you likely to have extra wear on the starter motor anyway. So, if you in traffic and stationary for some time, you best just turn the engine off manually, I understand you are legally obliged to do so to reduce exhaust emissions - think of pedestrians inhaling the cars exhaust fumes.

[Mick F]

Only car we've had with S/S was our Fiat500, and I became an expert on the system.

One, the Battery needs to be good .......... and I mean good.  We bought our 500 at three years old with the original Battery, but it was shot.  New one cost us just short of £100 as it needs to be a special one to run SS properly.  AGM one if I remember correctly, and they ain't cheap.

Two, the Battery has to be fully charged.  I devised a method of connecting up the battery each and every time we came home and charged it via a smart charger on a long supply lead and a plug/socket arrangement on the battery top instead of croc clips.  Unless the battery is kept fully charged, the battery will degrade and S/S will never work again ........... that's what was wrong with the original battery.

Three, the cabin needs to be up to the temp that you've set.

Four, the engine needs to be up to temp.

Get all those right, and it will work faultlessly for the full three minutes.

I stress that this was with a Fiat500, but no doubt all S/S cars have similar requirements.

Mick.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Wonder if the garage that replaced the clutch disabled the system in some way either intentionally or unintentionally?

[Mick F]

Yes, that's possible.  There will be a switch on the clutch pedal so when it's fully depressed, the S/S should kick in.   The switch could be under the bonnet at the clutch end of it of course, so could easily be disturbed.

Mick.

[deepali]

On 1/6/2014 at 2:45 PM, Adam C said:

I have a 2010 Yaris TR 1.33 - which has the Stop/Start system - as a learner car and I must admit I love it.

I have noticed though that on odd days where the car doesn't get used much, the Stop/Start system won't kick in straight away - the car would need a bit of a drive to give the battery a little charge.

With regards to use of the aircon etc, I find the Stop/Start on mine will kick in, but will fire up again within a few seconds (the ECO light flashes before it does so). Often when the system activates, I turn off the aircon & blower as doing this keeps it off for a lot longer, usually up to the point where you're able to move off again.

Mind this engine is really smooth & quiet so learner drivers don't often notice when it's kicked in . .

Oh, another thing I've noticed, if it isn't kicking in when you feel it should, try this Omegal - as you're driving along, hold the ECO OFF button down until it lights up, then press it again til the light goes off again, this can sometimes 'reset' the system.

I also have 2010 Yaris TR 1.33 system.

[AndrueC]

My last car - a Honda Jazz - had S/S (Honda calls it idle stop) and I thought it worked quite well. It did require a little skill in avoiding stops when you were unlikely to be stationary longer than a couple of seconds (because supposedly that's how much fuel it saves) and when merging onto a roundabout. Having the engine cut out just when you press the accelerator is not good. It restarts very quickly but it's still a tenth or two of a second during which you've got nothing under your right foot.

There was a long list of reasons why I/S wouldn't work but throughout the three years I owned the car it always worked when it was supposed to. It would display an appropriate indicator on the dash telling you why it couldn't. Most common for me were 'not enough charge', 'engine too cold' and 'A/C compressor running'. The issue over the starter motor wear is a minor one. They are designed to take the load and they don't run for very long when restarting anyway.

My only real gripe was the silly (in my opinion) way it worked on their auto models. On manual the engine stopped when you moved the gear selector into neutral when stationary with the brake pedal pressed and then restarted when you pressed the clutch pedal. This meant you could come to a halt, apply the handbrake then take your feet off the pedals and relax.

On the auto the engine stopped when the car halted and the brake pedal was depressed. It would then restart as soon as you released the brake pedal even if you had moved the gear selector into neutral. Particularly silly was that the car would restart the engine if you moved the gear selector out of neutral. It seemed like they'd deliberately designed the system to force you to keep your foot on the brake when stationary. I can understand the need for a restart on releasing the pedal so that you can creep but if the car is in neutral it shouldn't be an issue.

[Mick F]

Quoted from the Fiat500 handbook .....................

The Start&Stop device automatically stops the engine each time the vehicle is stationary and starts it again when the driver is about to engage a gear. This improves the efficiency of the vehicle by reducing consumption, the emission of harm- ful gases and noise pollution. The system is activated each time the car is started.

Engine cut out mode

With manual transmission. With the vehicle stationary, the engine cuts out with the gearbox in neutral and the clutch pedal released.

With robotized transmission. The engine cuts out if the car stops with the brake pedal pressed.

This condition can be maintained even if the brake pedal is not pressed, if the gear lever is in position N.

Note:The engine can only be stopped automatically after a speed of about 10 Km/h is reached, to prevent the engine from being repeatedly stopped when driving at walking pace.

The engine being stopped is signalled by the warning light in the instrument panel.

Engine restarting mode

With normal transmission. Press the clutch pedal to allow the engine to be restarted.

With robotized transmission. If the gear lever is in position N, place it in any other gear, otherwise release the brake pedal or move the gear lever to (+), (–) or R .

[Mooly]

I long ago came to the conclusion that Stop/Start as implemented by Toyota was a flawed system. My Battery is original and coming up to 11 years old. The Stop/Start will go for a long time without operating and then suddenly work every time on a particular day and then perhaps hardly or not at all the next.

Curiously I find that manually stopping the engine and then restarting always seem to get it to work at least once or twice following doing that. Conversely even after say 2 hours driving and it still wont work on its own.

   

 

[scannerman]

I have had my Yaris for many years now and I teach driving in it. The only time stop start doesn't work is when the Battery charge is lowish ie headlights on plus wipers and AC on, all at the same time, but in general its operating when stopped and in neutral with clutch pedal up. funnily it's great at telling me when my Battery is at the end of its life as the S/S stops working completelyl, I used to ignore this at first only to be let down soon after and have to change the Battery but now I don't wait.