Does turning off engine at red lights save gasoline?

With a modern engine the break even point for leaving the engine running vs. shutting it off and restarting is less than 20 seconds,.

Yes, it saves fuel. That’s why some hybrid vehicles shut off their engines while at rest. I don’t think it’s dangerous. I believe this is common practice in parts of Europe where fuel is expensive.

It doesn’t save a lot of gas, but every little bit helps.

Those hybrids also have special starters that are more robust than normal starters, so they can stand up to the extra use.

It saves an amount too small to measure, but IMHO it truely is not worth the added wear on the starting system. McP correctly pointed out that hybrids do this, but their starters are designed to survive routine cyling to a greater extent than yours is.

But unless you live in an urban area, where slow starting from a light can earn you a crowbar on the skull, it isn’t dangerous. Much of the difference in the responses you’ll get is truely philosophical. Some feel that every drop saved is important, some do not. I’m in the latter group.

Yes it does, depending on how long.
Unless you have a golf cart or hybrid that was designed for it, it isn’t worth it to shut down unless for it’s for extended waits .
Yes it may be dangerous in some situations as you can imagine.
So bottom line, like in most discussions, there are different sides when you look at ALL the factors involved including length of time and technology in your vehicle.

The extra wear and tear on the starter and iginiton switch will eat up any savings you might have from shutting off the engine at a red light.

Like others, I shut the engine off when waiting for one of those long freight trains to pass.

You may cause an accident by annoying drivers behind you who expect you to get moving as soon as the light changes.

While I won’t turn the motor off at every stop light, some are ridiculously long. When I visit my son in Wilmington, NC I notice how long some of the lights take to turn. If I lived in Wilmington NC I likely would kill the motor on some known long lights.

This seems to be the case here, a 1 min. 20 sec. light seems like a long time. My car restarts very quickly and I won’t hold up the traffic behind me so in this case I go along with the OP and kill the motor.

It definately saves thimble full of gas, but it adds up if done by lots of cars. I haven’t replaced a starter in a long time so I’d risk the wear and tear on the starter to save some gas.

Today I turned my car off at the drive up bank window, so it is something I’ll probably be doing more often in the future.

Why a moped? Why not a bicycle?

Does it save gas? Yes.

Is the reduction in gas consumption significant? No.

The few pennies that you are likely to save each week will never add up to the cost of just one new starter and the labor to install it.

Save gas? Yes a small amount. My guess is that if you already have one or when you get a car with an oil change computer feature, the savings will be offset by more frequent oil changes as well as other things mentioned. Engine starts are part of what the program considers. Cold starts count for more than hot starts.

Yea, you might save a gallon a year, but you would need to replace the starter about every year also. UNLESS you had one of those SUPER starters that someone said that the hybrids have.

Oh come on…
I’m against this whole shut down at the red light thing, but to say that it will cause the OP to have to replace the starter every year is silly. He’s talking about two extra start cycles per day. I don’t think that’s going to make that much difference in starter life.

I believe the point was that while you may save a little fuel, it will likely cost you more in the long run. The difference is not enough to worry about either way.

The OP is talking about one or two extra starts per day.

Two cycles fine…but let OP continue shutting off his car on a more regular basis…and regardless, I wouldn’t buy one used if I knew the previous driver felt that way and did it.
Just another excuse for the guy/gal behind you to blow his/her horn.

So, Tardis, he’s talking about four start cycles vs. two start cycles per day. Could one then conclude that the starter life would be reduced by 1/2? Of, if he stops for supper every day, 1/3?

I’ll stand by my belief that the gas saved isn’t worth the extra wear on the starter.

Seems like a silly thing to do to potentially save .25 a day if you’re lucky. Plus the wear and tear on the starter, plus the extra wear on the engine–a lot of engine wear occurs at startup. Plus the annoyance to other people, plus the radio, wipers, heat, etc. shutting off with the engine.

Plus if you’re really into being “green”, you’re likely polluting the environment far more with the start/stop than you would be just letting it run—the engine management computer is running in “open” mode for a little while after startup, and not controlling the emissions nearly as well.

For the person that mentioned a pizza gig: I too once had a job like this several lifetimes ago. One night when my starter was going out I left my car idling for a total of over 12 hours… didn’t use more than a quarter tank extra as I recall, and this was a carbureted small V8. Gas was under a buck a gallon then though…

I agree that he shouldn’t be doing this, and that he won’t be saving any money. I disagree that the starter will now fail yearly. Maybe he will only get ten years out of it where he would have got twenty, but he won’t be replacing it every year or two either.

Does turning off engine at red lights save gasoline?
The OP asks about RED LIGHTS plural, and I was talking about other red lights, as well as the one mentioned. You know that if you pull the mirrors in you can save fuel too. Or keep the gas tank near empty, less weight= more mileage.

You may be saving a little gas, but not much. But, I disagree with the comments on the wear on starters. My co. runs delivery vehicles (both cars & pickups) that start & stop much more than a normal car would, & very seldom ever have a starter go out.
Your best bet for saving gas is pratice what I call seamless driving. Adjust your speed so you hit the lights green. So many race from one stoplight to the next; a big waste of fuel. Accelerate gently and drive smarter. You’ll be surprised how fewer stops you’ll have to make, and how many cars that were sitting at the last light, will be sitting at the next red light idling while your hitting it green. You can wave at them as you drive by!