Economy mode and start stop mode help

[Grandad007]

Hello, I'm. New to the forum. My daughter has recently bought a c4 Picasso diesel 2017 from a dealer in Wales. She has had some issues with it, I don't know if any one can help me.

The start stop function doesn't seem to work, and within a week she had to have some charging belts changed, and then again a week later, she's a mother of 2 and doesn't do huge amounts of milage. She noticed the stop start function wasn't working before the job was completed and even now after the jobs are done it still doesn't work.

But she also says that everytime she gets into the car, she switches on the ignition and it always says Economy Mode Active, she drives on the motorway (so the car gets a decent run most days) daily and of course is worried that somthing may happen and the car just stop with no power, obviously if she has the kids in the car it's a huge worry. So I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas of what the problem could be or how to resolve it.

I've read on here about discharging the battery but not sure if that is something we should attempt?

Many thanks in advance for any help

[GiveMeABreak]

Hi

The battery may be nearing end of service life so may not be able to hold a full charge, which can be causing the economy mode to kick in more frequently. This can also be related to the Stop Start function. The Stop & Start system relies on many parameters being correct for it to operate. For example - correct battery voltage, whether the Air Conditioning is active, temperature, number of stop start cycles etc. etc.

So I think the issue may be the battery. After about 5 years a battery is near end of service life on a modern car with lots of electronics. If replacing the battery, you must make sure you get the correct type for a vehicle with Stop & Start, they are usually an AGM battery that is designed to meet the demands placed on it with this type of syste,

If you do get it replaced, you need to allow some time for the battery charge status unit to calibrate itself after the new battery has been installed. So Stop & Start may not kick in for a while.

I have a new Aircross with Stop & Start - and it is not working at present - because we are doing shorter miles and infrequently with lockdown - and with the climate control on all the time - so the criteria is not being met for the system to operate. In any case, I personally would probably be switching the Stop & Start off on mine anyway each journey as the alternators alone are not far off £900 to replace and the starters about £400 depending on system.

The economy mode being active all the time even on long journeys would indicate a poor battery - so you may want to get that tested and replaced.

[RichardW]

Same on our 2017 C4 Pic - hasn't worked for at least the last year. I am assuming that it thinks the battery is a bit duff, but given that it started easily when it had been stood a few days and it was below -10, it seems to be OK to me!! I'm not forking out over £100 for a new battery just so that I can save about 4p on diesel in the next 2 years!!

[Anna89]

I don't believe anything like you mentioned may happen. Now it's just a good idea to exchange the battery so you won't have to worry about anything. In my case I'd be grateful for Stop Start function for not working. I hate it and wish all cars had the choice to let you disable it, or even better, not have it installed in your vehicle. It's a cheap gimmick that brings more harm than actually saving fuel or the environment.

[Grandad007]

Wow thank you all so much for your advice I'll get my Daughter to get the battery checked and replaced if need be and see how we go from there

[GiveMeABreak]

Believe me, the Stop & Start systems are really so the manufacturers can claim better fuel economy - but in the real world it will probably cost you a lot more than you would ever reclaim on fuel savings in replacing the components that get extra wear. So don't worry about it.