Believe what you want but there has to be something behind all this stuff. As they said “buried within the 1500 pages of the regulations”.
“to encourage the automakers to think frugally, the regulations allow for something called “off-cycle technology credits,” essentially a reward for incorporating gadgets for which the government testers can’t measure any discernible benefit in their laboratory testing but think will be of benefit to fuel economy anyway. There’s a raft of such doo-dads — stop-start, various aerodynamic aids and even high-efficiency headlights are included — that garner automakers credits regardless of their benefit.”
He also mentioned Low octane fuel can cause this problem.
Bull. Your Escape runs fine on regular gas.
Your dealer’s full of it. Who’s telling you that, the service adviser? Talk to a real mechanic, not a salesman who doesn’t like developing leads.
Next time this happens, put the shifter in sport mode (S, one back from D). If the engine doesn’t start, then the car has something wrong with it and it needs to be fixed.
If start/stop mode is functioning correctly, your air conditioner should slowly spin down until it’s blowing almost nothing. If it keeps running at full blast when the engine turns off at a light, it’s not functioning correctly.
As to the start/stop system’s value, it has nearly none to you. But Ford gets credit from the EPA for installing it, and so they do.
It sounds to me like the start/stop system has negative value to you, i.e. it’s worse than worthless. In any case, with enough complaining, it should be possible to permanently defeat or disable the system. It should be noted that law enforcement versions of Ford SUVs do not have this system, and also take a physical key rather than “push to start” so the parts and programming are certainly available to eliminate this “feature”.
For now, you need to complain, and keep on complaining, and get the problem documented.
The article isn’t very convincing. First , he lists the documented fuel economy improvements. Then he says there aren’t any discernible improvements. The guy simply sounds like an old curmudgeon complaining about a slew of newfangled car stuff. Plus, the article is 4 years old.
Shift into sport mode. Start/stop is disabled if you do that, or you hit the disabling switch, in front of the shifter next to the airbag indicator.
Some car makers make it possible to permanently defeat the system without having to do anything when you start driving, but they get less credit from EPA for doing so, so that’s not overly common.
Really, if you’re looking to blame someone for this annoyance, blame the EPA which has spent so much time bending over backwards for fossil fuels that it’s come to view minuscule fuel savings as the end-goal worthy of passing regulations on rather than just biting the bullet and insisting that we divorce ourselves from them as quickly as possible.
I did find that moving the shift lever to “S” sports mode as one reply suggested in a previous communication did work. I appreciate that info. We learn great things on this site. I had been in Auto’s that had that feature before I bought my Escape but had never experienced the Drive with it. I just noticed it and kept my mouth shut. Did not think I would like that feature installed on my Car so now I know and how to turn it off as well. You guys are a wealth of information and it is greatly appreciated. As for me, the system is going to be turned off, mainly because I don’t like it or it takes away from the driving experience. Some owners may like it and to each …enjoy!
@George_SAN_Jose1
In response to your question. To clarify… Yes the engine stalls completely (and no, when it stalls,) it does not restart with the accelerator pedal as it should. There is (no) response until I start it (Engine) by using the foot brake and pressing the start button. (The same as you would start it first time as in like leaving home). I have 420 miles on the vehicle at this time and 4 times the engine has stalled completely. I am going to drive it maybe a 1000 miles then take it back to the Dealer to have a look at it and see if there is something else wrong. To me, it just gives me the feeling it is idling too low to keep the RPMs up sufficient to prevent the Engine stall. But it is impossible to tell that because the engine is designed to Stall but should also restart Engine motion with the accelerator after the designed stall.
Thanks for your question and input.
Entirely your choice and I don’t blame you at all. But I’d encourage you to get the problem fixed nonetheless, while the vehicle is still under warranty. It could be a problem that will manifest in other ways down the road, such as stalling even when auto-start is turned off.
Roy this problem has happened in less than 500 miles apparently so I would not give it that much time . If it does not stall in the next 250 to 300 miles then it points to a Start/Stop problem .
Thanks sharowfax
Yes I intend to get it back to the Dealer. But I just needed the miles to maybe prove or disprove the “low octane, Needs to be broken in” and how I drive it, point of view, so I will have tried what was recommended and would have given a fair chance to the service to fix it. A thousand miles of driving should prove or disprove all the above theories wouldn’t you think?
I don’t think such theories should be entertained at all. My response to all three of those theories would be “that’s stupid. You can’t seriously believe that, now fix the car.”
“Tell the rube something so that he goes away” games don’t sit well with me, especially when they’re legally obligated to fix the problem.
yep- don’t wait a thousand miles. Take it back and tell them to fix it. As @shadowfax said, this problem could begin to manifest itself in other ways and cause a breakdown or worse, an accident. I would leave this at Ford until they find and fix the problem. and, I would not leave without a loaner car at this point. They are jerking you around, plain and simple.
Actually in my experience, you can get up to 20,000 miles on a car before it really breaks in and loosens up completely and runs as good as it will ever. Does it have a tach? Just sounds like the base idle is set too low but that’s all done by computer now. They just need to get it on the diagnostic computer and take a look, but yeah, if you can eliminate the start stop function, that will help isolate the issue.
The dealer can easily compare the warm idle rpm to what the spec says it should be. That’s where I’d start. The idle rpm has to be adjusted according to coolant temperature to prevent stalls, and also actions that put a load on the engine, such as shifting from N to D, turning the steering wheel, turning on the headlights, etc. Problems with the idle rpm control function, however that function is done, that is a pretty common problem reported here. My solution on my Corolla when it developed idle control problems was to just disable the part that adjusted the rpm vs coolant temperature. Works well in a mild climate like San Jose, just have to push on the accel pedal a little at stop signs until the engine warms up. The parts that adjusts for the headlights and the steering wheel are still working.
You may have discovered the issue, makes sense. I will ask the Dealer to take a look at that and see if it might need adjustment. It don’t seem to make much difference as I remember as to where it was warm or cool when it done the concern. But everything now days runs off Computer input so it is very possible it could lead us in that direction. I will know more later. I always appreciate all you guys input, know we have a lot of talent out there in Vehicles and these forums allow all of us to share experiences we have either had or to allow us relate the knowledge many possess. I have used up the first tank of gas the Dealer put in the Car and am about 1/4 down on a new tank of fuel and it has not happened again (yet). Still early in next tank of gas. Maybe it was some kind of fluke or something, don’t know. But will try to keep everyone posted who may be interested in the final outcome.
Idea: Every time this happens make a note of the ambient & coolant temperature, headlights on/off, AC on/off, transmission gear selector, brakes applied or not, turning steering wheel or not. That info may help your shop figure it out.
If you are referring to the idle speed it hasn’t been adjustable on vehicles for the last 25 years. The idle speed for a start/stop vehicle should be zero RPMs.
The service department might deal with a dozen complaints each day of engines shutting off and drivers unnecessarily fussing with controls to respond to the situation, this may be why they routinely dismiss complaints.
If you are sincere about the problem you will need to leave the vehicle at the shop long enough for them to experience the malfunction.
