My Superb Elegance GreenLine II is now 8 months old and I have had it for 7 weeks.  In these 7 weeks the Stop-Start has never once worked.  I have just got the car back from the garage for this "fault" and it is now working, doesn't need the handbrake on though.  The garage said that they checked all the systems and it is working also that there was/is nothing wrong.  So if the system is supposed to reset to on at every new start what could have been the problem?

 

The switch also now works fine and I can stop start the engine using it. 

 

Could their test kit have switched it on or jolted it into life? 

Could there be a hidden switch to permanently switch it off?

If the wires to the switch were permanently "made" or "broken" dependent on the correct configuration, could the system be permanently off?  I know I am clutching at straws but I itch to know the answer.

 

Otherwise a magnificent piece of machinery, fitted with Kessy & Hill Hold Control.

On a slightly different tangent, if I may...

Is there any down-side to Stop/Start?

I have never had or driven a car with this system but a few people I know absolutely hate it. I couldn't quite make out why.

Why would they?

Regards

Mike.

Start-Stop System in a Diesel is a pain in the a**. loud-vibration/Quiet/vibration-loud

I have the stop/start in my new FC Superb on a 170 engine - getting used to it now, but still have the tendancy to dip the clucth when the negine is about to cut out. Nice feature, epecially in the rush hour traffice home.

Takes getting used to. First encountered it two years ago in a rental Passat Bluemotion 1.6  (rental agent never thought to mention it had 'stop-start')

 

Thought I had stalled at the first set of lights - by the third time, I finally realised what was going on.......

 

(my petrol Superb doesn't have 'stop-start', but most passengers think it does - because when you stop at a set of lights you can't hear the engine (even with the radio and air-con off)

Well, so far 4 replies but all off topic, none of them even remotely answers my question. Sorry people but there it is. 

Sorry, mate.

My fault.

I'm afraid I'm not qualified to answer your technical questions.

Regards

Mike.

Well, so far 4 replies but all off topic, none of them even remotely answers my question. Sorry people but there it is. 

 

It is a sometimes frustrating, but frequently amusing, reality that threads on Briskoda go off topic. This is often (especially) the case when the question asked has no obviously 'correct' answer.

 

Your second post conveys something of a rebuke, and I'm not sure that that is the best way to build community spirit on your first visit to the forum.

 

To address your original question

 

• Could their test kit have switched it on or jolted it into life? - Unlikely.  Logic systems are changed by a change of coding, not by the applying of a voltage.

 

• Could there be a hidden switch to permanently switch it off? - Again, unlikely. However, it may be able to be switched on and off in software, either via VCDS or possibly the Maxidot MFD?

 

• If the wires to the switch were permanently "made" or "broken" dependent on the correct configuration, could the system be permanently off?  Possibly..............

 

"I know I am clutching at straws but I itch to know the answer."  - In all honesty, the best person to answer your question is the tech who'fixed' it (even though he said there wasn't a problem.)

 

You've only had it 7 weeks - could it have anything to do with your actual practice when stopping? Just trying to rule out a PICNIC cause......

It could be coded off. Which faults do you get in your MaxiDOT? Du you get the "@" crossed with a line (where the gear indicator is) to tell you, it´s inactive? Does it give you any messages in the display regarding S/S?

KSR,

 

No rebuke intended, just exasperation.  I have no idea what a PICNIC clause is.  When I need to a stop I take my foot off the accelerator, start foot braking, changing down gears as/if necessary, finally clutch in select neutral at the same time as final halt, apply the hand brake, feet off the clutch and footbrake.

 

GaSelle,

 

Spot on I believe, thank you.  I have remarked to my wife several times about the odd sign where the gear indicator should be when the car has stopped.  I could see the circle and line across it, 2 to 8 o'clock I think it was, what the shape was underneath I did not know.  I looked through the manual and could not find anything about this.  When we collected the car from the garage I noticed a message saying about the Start Stop system but it was too quick for me to read it all or correctly. 

 

If it was coded off as seems likely now, how does this happen and can it be re-coded off if I get fed up with the Stop Start and wish it to be permanently off?

 

Again thanks GaSelle.

It could be that you were doing it wrong or the S/S was not active as it is not always on due to certaion conditions you should read up about it in the owners manual.

Sometimes when I stop it says to start manually after if I pull up in a lay by for example.

 

Mine works fine.

Pull up to a stop and knock it in to neutral and lift my foot off the clutch but keep the footbrake pressed and the engine cuts out.

Foot back on the clutch and it starts again.

 

Mine also has a button next to the gear lever to deactivate the S/S which you can prees when you start your journey and it stays off untill you switch off the ignition.

You do need to press it everytime you switch it on again.

 

You could also just keep your foot on the clutch pedal so the S/S dosnt cut in.

Ruffday,

Thanks for your reply. I do not believe that I was doing it wrong as it works absolutely fine now, post garage.

I had read the manual several times looking for a clue, switching the switch with no effect, with the scorching weather we have been having I thought it was that. In the end I gave up and took it to the garage.

KSR,

 

No rebuke intended, just exasperation.  I have no idea what a PICNIC clause is.  When I need to a stop I take my foot off the accelerator, start foot braking, changing down gears as/if necessary, finally clutch in select neutral at the same time as final halt, apply the hand brake, feet off the clutch and footbrake.

 

GaSelle,

 

Spot on I believe, thank you.  I have remarked to my wife several times about the odd sign where the gear indicator should be when the car has stopped.  I could see the circle and line across it, 2 to 8 o'clock I think it was, what the shape was underneath I did not know.  I looked through the manual and could not find anything about this.  When we collected the car from the garage I noticed a message saying about the Start Stop system but it was too quick for me to read it all or correctly. 

 

If it was coded off as seems likely now, how does this happen and can it be re-coded off if I get fed up with the Stop Start and wish it to be permanently off?

 

Again thanks GaSelle.

 

Sure, Skoda Fan, explanation taken - - sorry if I felt "sorry people, but there it is" sounded a wee bit like a rebuke - my bad.

 

On the subject of a PICNIC cause (not clause) - I was simply trying to rule out operator error, (sometimes referred to as Problem In Chair Not In Computer - or in this case, Car.

 

Sure, if the function can be switched off in software, then I'm sure it can be switched on again.

 

(Any VCDS warriors out there and able to comment? I have VCDS and a Ross-Tech cable, but no experience of stop-start menus.)

The system seems to be not working again. In the space where the gear selection is when the system should be working there is the uppercase "A" surrounded by a circle and a diagonal line across it from 2-8 o'clock and there is no stop start. Switching the system off using the switch by the gear stick, the switch lights up with OFF as it is supposed to and the surrounded "A" disappears. I hope someone can help.

I don't have stop-start, but, is it anything to do with your using the other ignition key. i.e. the stop-start is switched on/off depending on the key owner 'profile' that has been set up? (i.e. like the memory seats and mirrors).

 

Just a wild guess.

Got all excited Wombat, but I have just been out for a test using the spare and it doesn't seem to be that. 

Hi Skoda Fan, to answer some of the questions in your original post, the stop start does not check the handbrake position, and as the disabling switch is a software function and is reset with every switch on of the ignition it is unlikely that it could have been hard wired in any way.

Coming to your current problem, the S/S has a number of requirements to meet before it will work, the symbol you see means that the system is active but one of the parameters is not being met, these can include, seat belt unfastened, clutch depressed, low battery voltage, too large disparity between climate control setting and cabin temperature, lack of vacuum in brake booster and some others I can't remember right now, I think these are listed in the owners manual.

The most obvious one I can think of that you might have disturbed is the cabin temp, is it warm where you are at the moment? The stop start will be disabled if the climate control temperature is set to it's coldest position.

Doug.R

You are obviously a genius.

In the manual P124 it says, as one of the conditions for the automatic engine shut down (stop phase), The difference between the outdoor - and the set temperature in the interior is not too great. This statement in the manual is not the answer but awkwardly pointing to it. Also it says under conditions for an automatic restart (start phase), The max/min temperature is set. Just what do these two statements from the manual actually mean?

It turns out (As You Said) that if the cabin temperature is set to "Low" (it's coldest position) prior to start up, then the system is rendered inactive but you do not know until your first vehicle halt when the symbol appears. So if it has been very hot outside, as we have had it lately and you are driving along with the air conditioning on "Low", when you get to your destination and do not adjust the cabin temperature up prior to engine start, then the system is inactive. I tested this earlier today and it is so. My problem has been that the cabin temperature was set to "Low". I also found that I could stop/start/stop/start the engine using the cabin temperature switch! How bizarre.

All's well that ends well. Odd that so few people know in the basic layman's words this part of the system.

Thank you Doug. Words of wisdom for all the BRISKODA readers here.

KSR, a completely unknown PICNIC cause.

If you have disabled the seatbelt warnings , and dont wear the seat belt it wont work, until you put the belt on, i thought mine had stopped working after disabling the bongs

On a slightly different tangent, if I may...

Is there any down-side to Stop/Start?

I have never had or driven a car with this system but a few people I know absolutely hate it. I couldn't quite make out why.

Why would they?

Regards

Mike.

 

The first time i used a VAG start stop system was on a 2012 2.0 diesel Passat with a DSG autobox. I hated that - it felt far too shuddery/jerky when the system started up (i.e. pulling away from lights etc.). At that time - like many of the people you have heard from - I absolutely hated it.

 

Years later, I have no problem with it at all (though i did insist that it could be turned off or i wouldn't go near the car!). When the car re-starts - it's as smooth as can be expected from a diesel. All that said, my comparison with the Passat is not like for like: I have a smaller diesel (1.6) that probably doesn't jump as much when starting and I have a 6 speed manual, not an autobox, hooked up to it. I expect he VAG system has no doubt been refined over the last few years too.

 

If there is anything I don't like about it it is "initial information" when you get a car - all the salesman could tell me was "It has start/stop and you can turn it off with that button". First time I thought I met the conditions for start stop I got the "A" symbol with the strike-through telling me it was unavailable. When you have just traded a 10 year old BMW you are prone to thinking that every symbol, bong and light means another bloody problem and ££££. I thought - "Ahh great - 10 mins in a Superb and its buggered already!"

 

I "RTFM"d at the side of the road and then relaxed..... 

Old topic?

 

The stop/start works well on my Superb BUT I have been caught out a couple of times when it doesn't kill the engine for whatever reason. I didn't spot this and panicked when the usual relay "click" and distant sound of starter motor didn't happen when I dipped the clutch after traffic light had changed. The problem - the engine was still running - oops!   

Edited 7 May, 201610 yr by bigjohn