The common eco-friendly feature that could be destroying your car’s engine
It is a common fuel-saving feature in a number of new cars, but is this technology shortening your vehicle's life?
THE introduction of stop-start technology in recent years has been relatively well-received across the motoring industry, with the majority of major manufacturers including it as standard in the production of many new vehicles.
However, experts have recently explained that the eco-friendly system may in fact be causing severe damage to the car's engine, drastically shortening its life.
The stop-start system cuts off a petrol or diesel engine when the vehicle is stationary, only starting it up against once the brake is released or the clutch engaged.
It is designed to reduce fuel consumption and minimise emissions by limiting the amount of time the engine is idling without the car in motion.
Without proper management, this continuous restarting can rapidly increase the rate at which an engine suffers wear.
“A normal car without automatic stop-start can be expected to go through up to 50,000 stop-start events during its lifetime,” Gerhard Arnold, who is responsible for bearing design at Federal Mogul,
“But with automatic stop-start being activated every time the car comes to a standstill, the figure rises dramatically, perhaps to as many as 500,000 stop start cycles over the engine’s life.”
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To briefly skim over the technical jargon, a key component of the engine sees elements of the crankshaft running in smooth metal bearings.
When the engine is in running, the two components are separated by thin-film of oil and do not touch.
However, when the engine is turned off, the crank sits down on the bearing, causing metal to metal contact.
It is this element of the engine that sees significantly increased wear as a result of the stop-start system.
Therefore, regular bearings used in early stop-start engines may therefore wear out long before they would do in an engine that does not use the system, putting current vehicles at risk.
In an attempt to combat this issue, manufacturers are developing a new, self-lubricating material for their bearings, as well as improving the quality of lubricating engine oils.
UK-based company Millers Oils have created a product that is designed to reduce fuel consumption and wear.
Currently, this is only available in their high-end racing oils, but as stop-start engines age, an increased demand could bring the technology into general consumption.