The start/stop feature has been a long-standing complaint among many drivers – and a mechanic has now claimed it could also be damaging to a car’s engine in the long run
Drivers are being told to hit a secret button on their dashboard to prevent engine wear.
Prominent mechanic and YouTube star Scotty Kilmer has been telling all petrol and diesel vehicle owners to look for a hidden button on their dashboards. He explained a potential issue with the stop-start mechanism.
In a video, Scotty revealed: “You see this little button here that says ‘A-off’. Well, guess what, make it a habit to push the ‘A-off’. Now it won’t turn the engine off when you come to a stop. It will continue to work like a normal car and won’t keep turning itself off, starting itself up.
“Most of the wear on your engine occurs when you start the car. The oil’s in the bottom of the engine, the oil pump has to spin, pump the oil to the top of the engine to start lubricating. Every time you shut the car off the oil goes back down, it’s got to be pumped back up again.”
He questions the logic behind the frequent stopping and starting, arguing that it actually speeds up the wear on the engine, starter and battery. Echoing his concerns, a motorist expressed agreement: “Totally agree. The gas savings vs parts wear is like risking dollars to save pennies. The feature is also SUPER ANNOYING; dangerous even, due to the delayed restart.
“I constantly worry about stepping on gas too quick during the restart. Luckily my current cars Acura MDX Advance and RSX Type S don’t have it and my next car won’t have it either.”
One motorist vented their frustration, saying: “I absolutely hate these start/stop stupid systems. It was a poor idea that wears components out faster,” while another added fuel to the fire: “Had a 2017 Dodge Durango with this feature. Had to replace the starter which cost over $1k because the engine mount had to be removed to get the job done.”
They were shocked when the mechanic revealed the extent of the wear and tear, reports Birmingham Live. They said: “The mechanic checked how many starts the old starter had on it. It had logged 36,000 starts! We were floored!
“Even if I had started my car 10 times a day for a year it would have only totalled 3650 starts in a single year, but because it stops the engine at every stoplight, stop sign, and even when you pull in to park, it had racked up that many starts at the 87K mile mark.”