GEN 2 Engine auto on/off annoyance

xil3 · Apr 11, 2017

I'm not sure if I'm the only one that's super bothered by this; but it's driving me crazy.

I can manually turn it off, but it only lasts for that engine cycle. So the next time I get back into the car and turn it on, the engine auto on/off is back on.

Just today, I was driving and had to stop at an intersection, which had a lot of traffic. Even when the light turned green cars were slowly advancing, but constantly stopping. The engine turned off and on around 5 times, only for 1-2 seconds at a time.

How the hell does this save fuel? And not only is it annoying, it kills the whole driving experience. I don't want to have to remember to push that stupid button every time I get into my truck. I want an option to turn it off permanently.

And yes, I've read about hacks to turn it off, but I don't really want to do those things. Ford has to give us an option, instead of forcing us to use something that we don't want. This is a very expensive vehicle, and I think we should have the power to control something like this.

darkneo · Apr 11, 2017

xil3 said:
I'm not sure if I'm the only one that's super bothered by this; but it's driving me crazy.

I can manually turn it off, but it only lasts for that engine cycle. So the next time I get back into the car and turn it on, the engine auto on/off is back on.

Just today, I was driving and had to stop at an intersection, which had a lot of traffic. Even when the light turned green cars were slowly advancing, but constantly stopping. The engine turned off and on around 5 times, only for 1-2 seconds at a time.

How the hell does this save fuel? And not only is it annoying, it kills the whole driving experience. I don't want to have to remember to push that stupid button every time I get into my truck. I want an option to turn it off permanently.

And yes, I've read about hacks to turn it off, but I don't really want to do those things. Ford has to give us an option, instead of forcing us to use something that we don't want. This is a very expensive vehicle, and I think we should have the power to control something like this.

The only way will be those hacks unfortunately...

Even some Porsche's have this feature, and act exactly the same: You can disable it but it will revert back to on after an engine on cycle.

xil3 · Apr 11, 2017

The Porsche's use the same system as Audis/VWs. I used to have a 2016 Audi S7, which had that "feature", but once I pressed the button to turn it off, it remembered that every time I turned the car on.

Unless all the new 2017s have changed that (in the VW Group), I'm pretty sure you can control it.

From what I'm seeing, Ford is one of the very few that are forcing customers to have that on every time the car starts.

I've had a long chat with the general manager at the dealership where I bought it, and he's looking into it further. I told them that they need to do an update to disable it, or else they need to put me into another car on their dime.

Maybe I'm the minority, but that feature really destroys a lot of the driving enjoyment. I almost have to change the way I drive in order to avoid it going off, or remember to push that stupid button.

ChevyChad · Apr 11, 2017

Jeeze, just push the button as soon as you start it up. Its become a habit for me. Way easier than altering driving methods.

How many buttons on your keyboard have you pushed so far just in this thread to complain about the issue?

xil3 · Apr 11, 2017

ChevyChad said:
Jeeze, just push the button as soon as you start it up. Its become a habit for me. Way easier than altering driving methods.

How many buttons on your keyboard have you pushed so far just in this thread to complain about the issue?

You're right, it's an easy solution in the grand scheme of things. I'm just annoyed that they didn't give us an option to disable it permanently.

I called Ford corporate, and a customer service rep there told me that they've been getting tons of calls regarding this. I'm not the only one that's annoyed.

ChevyChad · Apr 11, 2017

Wow, you are putting a lot of effort into this whole thing. I guess I just see life differently- if the solution is easier than complaining about the problem- most times I'll take the easy way and just do it. Less stressful to me, but to each their own.

xil3 · Apr 11, 2017

ChevyChad said:
Wow, you are putting a lot of effort into this whole thing. I guess I just see life differently- if the solution is easier than complaining about the problem- most times I'll take the easy way and just do it. Less stressful to me, but to each their own.

Yeah, I need to take a different approach to things. I'm just bummed out that I paid so much money and this has been annoying me almost every time I drive.

Guess I just need to make it a habit to turn it off whenever I get in the car.

foo.c · Apr 11, 2017

Use Forscan. It's a "hack" but easily undone.

OrangeCountyRaptor · Apr 11, 2017

There is a way to permanently disable the feature, but it does come with a few other annoyances. If you plug in a trailer light tester (some of them can be small/unobtrusive) the auto off feature will be disabled during every key cycle.

However, now the truck will think there is a trailer attached.

xxaarraa · Apr 11, 2017

xil3 said:
I've had a long chat with the general manager at the dealership where I bought it, and he's looking into it further. I told them that they need to do an update to disable it, or else they need to put me into another car on their dime.

I didn't know that the dealer should put me into another car if I didn't like a feature about a car I bought.

You hear this all day on the corvette forum too. People complain a LOT about the car going into V4 mode during cruising. There's even a gadget you can buy to disable AFM (active fuel management, aka displacement on demand).

Me, I like progress, even if its not always enjoyable at first. 10 years from now, start/stop and AFM will be the norm and no one will think anything of it. It's the way of the world, and the way of efficiency and progress.

GEN 2 Engine auto on/off annoyance

xil3

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darkneo

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xil3

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xil3

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