Stop and Restart Effects on Modern Vehicle Starting System Components

Technical Report · Wed Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1184379· OSTI ID:1184379

Windover, Paul R. ^[1]; Owens, Russell J. ^[1]; Levinson, Terry M. ^[1]; Laughlin, Michael ^[1]; Gaines, Linda ^[1]

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1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Many drivers of personal and commercial vehicles believe that turning the vehicle off and on frequently instead of idling will cause premature wear of the starter system (starter motor and starter battery). As a result, they are concerned that the replacement cost of the starter motor and/or battery due to increased manual engine cycling would be more than the cumulative cost of the fuel saved by not idling unnecessarily. A number of variables play a role in addressing this complex concern, including the number of starting cycles per day, the time between starting cycles, the intended design life of the starting system, the amount of fuel used to restart an engine, and the cumulative cost of the saved fuel. Qualitative and quantitative information from a variety of sources was used to develop a life-cycle economic model to evaluate the cost and quantify the realistic factors that are related to the permissible frequency of starter motor cycles for the average vehicle to economically minimize engine idle time. Annual cost savings can be calculated depending on shutdown duration and the number of shutdown cycles per day. Analysis shows that cost savings are realized by eliminating idling exceeding one minute by shutting down the engine and restarting it. For a typical motorist, the damage to starting system components resulting from additional daily start cycles will be negligible. Overall, it was found that starter life is mostly dependent on the total number of start cycles, while battery life is more dependent on ensuring a full charge between start events.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1184379
• Report Number(s): ANL--15/04; 115925
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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