We bought a Fabia Colour Edition MPI Hatch early this year and we are very happy with the vehicle.

 

My only slight concern is that the START-STOP system doesn't seem to work as well as it did for the first few months.

 

When we stopped at traffic lights or in heavy traffic the engine cut out every time but in the last couple of months this has happened less and less.

 

Sometimes we can go a few days without it cutting out and then it decides to cut out for a couple of times – then no more cutting out for a few more days.

 

Although this is a minor issue I wondered if there could be a reason for the engine acting like this and if anyone had thoughts on the reason why.

 

If there any other threads about this could you please point me in their direction.

 

I don't wish to waste time and effort asking a Dealer to sort it out if there's a simple solution.

 

Any help appreciated.

It could be due to the colder weather. On the times it worked was the car warm? I noticed on ours it didn't do it until it had got the inside of the car warm.  Doesn't use the hot water from the engine because it starts to get warm air too quickly, so it must be using a big electric heating element which would explain the engine keeping running. In warmer weather it will do it even when the engine is cold.

It only kicks in when the battery is well charged, if I don't touch the car for a few days, then do a few short journeys it won't kick in. After a good run on the open road which acts to charge the battery then it always kicks in when coming to a halt. It has this characteristic in order to preserve battery power (lots of turning on/ off the ignition drains the battery).

Edited 4 November, 20169 yr by chieflordy

It could be due to the colder weather. On the times it worked was the car warm? I noticed on ours it didn't do it until it had got the inside of the car warm.  Doesn't use the hot water from the engine because it starts to get warm air too quickly, so it must be using a big electric heating element which would explain the engine keeping running. In warmer weather it will do it even when the engine is cold.

Colder weather, more use of lights/ heating all act to drain the battery more than in the summer, this will explain why you find the stop/start doesn't kick in as quickly in the winter months.

Thanks for the prompt replies

I made two almost identical journeys this morning into town and back again and the engine cut out twice at traffic lights on one journey but didn't at the same lights on the next journey.

No real difference in outside temperature, the car is used daily which should mean the battery is reasonably charged and despite me being in congested stop/start traffic for some of the journeys today it only cut out the two times.

It's no big deal but just a bit irritating.

http://www.driving.co.uk/car-clinic/car-clinic-will-my-cars-automatic-stop-start-system-drain-the-battery-of-power/

This article explains how the system works, particularly the middle paragraph. It will be the amount of charge in the battery that regulates when it kicks in. A way for you to prove yours is functioning normally would be give it a good run out on a clear road, 30 mins up a dual carriage way or such like, then see if stop/ start kicks in when you come to a halt.

I find with mine that when I only do driving around town for a while, it stops operating. Give it a good long motorway run though, and it's happy again. It'll be the state of charge in the battery. Anyone know if that can be added to the options on the MaxiDot? I'm sure I read somewhere that it could be.

I find with mine that when I only do driving around town for a while, it stops operating. Give it a good long motorway run though, and it's happy again. It'll be the state of charge in the battery. Anyone know if that can be added to the options on the MaxiDot? I'm sure I read somewhere that it could be.

I can't answer your question, but I was thinking about that the other day actually level of battery charge would be a useful option to be able to display

It would certainly be more useful an explanation as to why the stop/start isn't working than the cryptic 'Power consumption is high', which it displays on the status screen in the Bolero. Even if the radio is off, the lights are off, and the blower is off. And the only thing consuming power are the DRLs, dash clocks, and basic functions in the Bolero.

Keith, in your owners manual, or with the car's paperwork, there is a leaflet that tells you your stop start system won't always work the same even if the journey you do is identical everyday. On one occasion for example you may stop at a set of traffic lights and sytem will engage and shut the engine off. Yet the next time you come to those same lights the system won't engage. Some days it will work and some days it may not or may only work on some occasions. All perfectly normal and is one of the most asked questions about stop start systems. 

Edited 4 November, 20169 yr by Estate Man

Hi Keith, my MY16 Octavia had the exactly the same problem and the dealer tried to fob me off with the "short runs" excuse, persist with them though as it could possibly be a fault (mine was)

There is another posting on this forum (engine stop - start parameters) take a look at that. There are a lot of things that will inhibit the engine stop-start, but if your oil temperature is above 60 deg. coolant is around 80 deg. and you are not using the A/C (or the cabin temperature is up / down pretty near to comfort temperature) the engine SHOULD shut down when the car comes to a full stop. NB, allowing the car to roll forward more than 1-2 MPH or turning the steering wheel WILL cause an engine re-start - also, leaving any sort of load plugged into one of the permanently powered 12 volt sockets overnight can drag the battery voltage to the point where the system will prevent an engine shut-down until the battery is recharged, which may take quite a bit longer than you would think, as I believe that the system is "smart" in an attempt to reduce emissions and fuel consumption.

 

It is not entirely uncommon for the Alternator, battery charge regulator module or the battery itself to be faulty, my Octavia ended up with the alternator and (secondly) the battery being replaced under warranty - it turned out to be be the battery that was faulty.

 

Regarding the SOC (battery state of charge) meter, Skoda UK tell me that this is NOT now available on cars after a certain production date in model year 16 - even though it is still visible on the Maxi-Dot display showing " SOC 0%"  - I confess to being skeptical about this as I can see absolutely no point in removing this useful information - unless Skoda don't want owners to be able to see what is happening to the battery state (or, just possibly, it didn't work properly and so they decided to remove the function rather than fix it) It does appear to be particularly strange that they decided to disable this function when you are able to see just about everything else on the system.

Hope this helps.

Warrior193.      

It could be due to the colder weather. On the times it worked was the car warm? I noticed on ours it didn't do it until it had got the inside of the car warm.  Doesn't use the hot water from the engine because it starts to get warm air too quickly, so it must be using a big electric heating element which would explain the engine keeping running. In warmer weather it will do it even when the engine is cold.

I'd doubt if any Fabias being delivered into the UK market have auxiliary heating, it will just be that the cooling water is well controlled so that the heater gets warm water quickly after a cold start.  I've found that if I demand heat too quickly I end up slowing the coolant temperature display from reaching 90C - so trying to be economic, I tend to leave the cabin air fan off for a mile or so!

I forgot to mention something in my last post, which may be relevant - secondary batteries, even the AGM ones fitted to stop-start vehicles, lose capacity, as air temperatures drop - my problem only surfaced last winter and as I said before, it turned out to be a duff battery - pretty good for only a few months use, huh?. The system hasn't missed a beat since that battery was replaced. Here's hoping for a better life out of this one as these AGMs aren't exactly what you would call inexpensive.

Warrior193.   

most common thing to stop the stop start working is have the air on the screen only to demist it

 

that stops it working

Edited 4 November, 20169 yr by bluecar1

I forgot to mention something in my last post, which may be relevant - secondary batteries, even the AGM ones fitted to stop-start vehicles, lose capacity, as air temperatures drop - my problem only surfaced last winter and as I said before, it turned out to be a duff battery - pretty good for only a few months use, huh?. The system hasn't missed a beat since that battery was replaced. Here's hoping for a better life out of this one as these AGMs aren't exactly what you would call inexpensive.

Warrior193.   

 

I'm guessing a bit here, but the similar VW Polo only gets an ELB which is a "poor man's" stop-start battery! My Noddy S4 has an AGM although it does not have stop-start, that car is a Feb 2011 one and the capacity of its battery is still extremely close/over the quoted value - checked using a CTEK battery tester, since I bought that tester, I'm including recording my cars' battery capacity yearly, that might mean spotting the ELB dropping off before it catches me out.(until I forget where I store that tester!)

I'm guessing a bit here, but the similar VW Polo only gets an ELB which is a "poor man's" stop-start battery! My Noddy S4 has an AGM although it does not have stop-start, that car is a Feb 2011 one and the capacity of its battery is still extremely close/over the quoted value - checked using a CTEK battery tester, since I bought that tester, I'm including recording my cars' battery capacity yearly, that might mean spotting the ELB dropping off before it catches me out.(until I forget where I store that tester!)

Hi Rum4, do you actually mean an Enhanced Flooded Battery (EFB)?

Warrior193.

Hi Rum4, do you actually mean an Enhanced Flooded Battery (EFB)?

Warrior193.

 

Correct, a silly slip of the brain! (I seemed to have thought Enhanced Lead acid Battery - wrong!!)

 

I suppose for me, finding out that was what was fitted to the new Polo was a bit disappointing, but so far, so good!

I'm going to have to do a little research on these AGM batteries - I have seen a couple of articles, dating back a few years, suggesting that there's a bit of "The Emperors new clothes" (read CON) about them (very early loss of capacity, etc) Possibly, this was due to early production issues and is no longer the case, but I will have a bit of a read up on them.

Warrior193. 

I think that I looked into the "why use them" instead of standard battery, and found a spec that compared "starts tolerated" between normal flooded battery - EFB - AGM it is quite shocking and you can see how using a normal flooded battery just would not work for long in a Stop-Start situation.

The Fabia I have with keyless start and DSG took some time getting used to because if I keep the foot on the brake when I put the gear in P the engine usually stops and when I press the button to turn the car off it starts. It is solved by lifting the foot off the brake before pressing the start/stop button.

Why dont you guys just turn the start-stop function off at every new start?

(since you cannot do it permanently.)

Yes, I know its there for a reason. But that reason is just not good enough.

One of the articles I saw criticising these AGMs suggested that manufacturers should be fitting far superior lithium polymer batteries to stop-start vehicles. I'm thinking they don't because of the cost, although it surely must be logical that if this technology was more widely used, the unit production price will come down. The hazard aspect of this technology must be manageable - aren't these batteries used in full PI electrics and hybrids?

Warrior193. 

Yup- Lithium-Polymer batteries are used by companies like Tesla, and in the Prius. And they cost a fortune! There is also the capacity issue- there aren't enough places that make Li-Po batteries as it is (one of the reasons for the costs) and ramping up production is being done, but is still expensive. 

There is also the ultracapacitor starting to come through development - now that looks quite promising, although the vehicle will require a conventional lead-acid (or similar) battery for engine starting. I wonder if Mazdas I-Start system is a better way forward until improved technology is available. I'm guessing that there will be a lot unhappy owners out there unless the predicted life of 1.5 to 2 years for an AGM battery has been improved in generation 2 batteries - or are they up to gen.3 now? I bet there will be a lot of discussions about fair wear and tear on warranty claims.

Warrior193.  

Why dont you guys just turn the start-stop function off at every new start?

(since you cannot do it permanently.)

Yes, I know its there for a reason. But that reason is just not good enough.

Totally agree I would rather Skoda had spent the money on more worthwhile technology.