More and more vehicles are being fitted with the so-called Start&Stop systems, a further development of those that have been in use for years, which aim to avoid CO2 emissions and save a greater amount of fuel by stopping the car at long stops and starting it automatically with little or no driver intervention.
- They are mainly fitted as standard in micro-hybrid vehicles, using two different methods:
The installation of an enhanced starter motor instead of a traditional starter motor - Alternate-start, which is a belt-start solution.
Enhanced start systems use the engine’s sensors and some additional components, such as the voltage stabiliser, which keeps the car’s comfort features (climate control, heating or infotainment system) active during the stop phase and can restart the engine if it senses a high energy demand. The engine sensors, on the other hand, monitor information on temperature, exhaust gas recycling and other information and, if necessary, request engine start-up.
This type of system is also equipped with a dedicated battery, which offers increased duty cycles and a so-called Spy Batt to check the battery charge. Similarly, the gearbox is also involved in the system and the transmission must communicate its position in order not to start with a gear engaged.
This is how it works. During the stop phase, the engine control unit checks that the requirements are met and if any of the requirements are not met, the Start&Stop is deactivated. The data collected includes charge status, battery status or function status, so that if there is enough power in the battery for the engine to shut down and restart automatically, it will start. In addition, although there are currently two generations of enhanced Start&Stop, in all cases the electrical architecture must be adapted to the system itself in order to maintain comfort.
The increased technology in many of the components of modern vehicles plays a key role in increasing the customer base of legal workshops as opposed to illegal ones. They will be familiar with some of the recommendations when operating such systems, such as when restarting the vehicle, where it is advisable to connect a diagnostic tool to check for any fault codes, as if any are stored in the sensors, the Start-Stop function may be deactivated. In addition, when replacing the battery, the battery recommended by the manufacturer must be used.
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