[Grekab]

Whilst approaching the Dartford Toll tunnel using the outside (fast) lane I experienced long traffic delays which caused many stop/starts and after approx. 10 stops a red warning sign:- Alternator fault, low battery charge confronted me. I immediately switched off the stop/start system and all other electrical gadgets and continued on my journey of another 100 miles trouble free. I spoke to Audi about this who came to the same conclusion as myself which was:- DONT USE STOP/START WHEN IN A TRAFFIC JAM as it will drain the battery.Hope this message is helpful Gordon

 

[pekX2to]

Thanks so much for the tip. I now seldom use start/stop because there are so many intersections with traffic lights in Japan. I think the engine wear will be more expensive versus the cost of gasoline I save.

 

[Del]

Good tip

I would have thought the stop start would drain the battery and cause extra wear after excessive use.I really don't like the stop start and always turn it off, I just wish I could do it permanently.
Edited by: Del

 

[JayN]

In this respect the start/stop on the manual is more practical, in that I have to actively do something (gear in neutral + let go of the clutch) to engage it.
This way I only use it if I expect a stop to last a minute or more, typically well known slow lights and a train crossing on my way to work.

 

[Jules]

Same as me Jay - it does make you look ahead and anticipate the road more! My biggest frustration with it, is trying to figure out why it doesn't cut the engine sometimes - and I actually just turm the engine off "manually" sometimes!
I appreciate it's not for everyone, and everyone's driving style, but today I drove 200 miles to Manchester and back, including peak time driving, with an overall MPG figure of 60.1 - love that!

 

[JayN]

... My biggest frustration with it, is trying to figure out why it doesn't cut the engine sometimes - and I actually just turm the engine off "manually" sometimes!...

Hehe, know exactly what you mean! I have this traffic light nearby, which is quite slow to turn. It does lie on an incline, but not extremely so. Also, it comes just 100 m after another (much quicker) light, but I do reach a speed of 4 km/h between them, which I believe is a condition for start/stop to work. But still, it has not yet engaged in this crossing, after maybe 5 encounters, and I really don't understand why not. Engine is plenty warm and so on... It's a mystery to me...

 

[Jules]

There are a number of factors - Air Temp, Engine Temp, Cabin Temp (if air con on) etc isn't there...
I have two sets of lights on my 20 mile drive to work - 1st set is about 2 miles from home (engine stops about 60% of the time), and 2nd set is about 15 miles into the drive (engine stops about 80% of the time) - on a 40 minute drive, I can often have the engine off for over 5 minutes - which sounds trivial, but seems to make a difference.

 

[sherbs]

I would have thought that the stop/start system would only work if there was enough charge in the battery to allow the services selected within the car to function correctly, and if it detected a fault (or any of the other criteria required for it to work had not been met)then it would not function.

 

[andrewk59]

My understanding is that if the battery charge is low the Stop/Start system is automatically disabled until the battery charge level reaches the minimum level.

 

[daytona]

during the warm weather , I get my car out of the garage in the morning drove down my drive to the road approx 30 metre's and the stop start would kick in if i had to wait before driving out onto the road .

 

[SemiQ]

A short while ago there was some discussion about alternator error and software update that would fix the problem:http://www.q3ownersclub.co.uk/forum/software-update_topic326_post2327.html?KW=alternator

It might be worth of checking out..

 

[Grekab]

Thanks for that info, will see if I need this software update

 

[shabazmo]

As mentioned above, te stp start will only work if the conditions are right, such as:-The car interioris warm enoughThe car interior is cool enoughThe battery is charged enoughThe DPF is not regereratingThe engine is too coldetc, etc,if set conditionsare not met the system will not stop the engine or will restart the engine if already stopped. I have been using it for the last 18 monthsand think its great.