jailminner

Hi All,

I have a 2014 C350 4Matic - love it but with an issue I have been noticing.

Its Winter here in Toronto, and its been VERY cold.

It seems to me after my last visit to the dealership after Service A, my Eco Start/stop function does not kick in ie. it does not go "green" in the instrument cluster and the car doesnt go into that eco mode at redlights/stops.

I am wondering if anyone else has this problem (could not find a related thread) or if anyone has seen/had this problem.

I am thinking of calling the dealer soon - probably before my next visit for when the replace one of the sensors on the back bumper (that is malfunctioning).

Thanks for your advice guys!

capt_paul

In the owner's manual, under the eco start stop section, there is a list of what must be valid for the system to work....such as inside temperature, outside temperature, engine operating temperature, etc.....

It wont always come on....mine will be green eco status about 60 percent of the time

cfmistry

Eco mode will not activate until the engine is up to a set temperature. I'm assuming it's very cold where you are, and your drives are mainly short and don't allow the engine to heat up?

bosie

On my 2011 C250 there is a small battery in the boot near the spare tyre.This battery failed (check with a multimeter after the car has been switched off overnite) and the Eco really did not want to go green.

jailminner

Hi guys,

thanks for the replies. what bugs me is even after 2 hours of highway driving, when all levels are normal, cabin temperature has been reached, the Eco mode still doesnt go green. its probably been a good two months since ive noticed this.

Something to talk to the dealer about I'm thinking.

linearchris

Hi guys,

My stop/start mode has been working intermittently since I bought the car, and more recently it hasn't really worked at all. I noticed that the eco light would go green for a split second then stay on orange, which was annoying.

So I start digging around - checked the voltage on the aux battery (13V) which seemed OK.

What I did notice however was that the nuts that hold the clamps to the battery weren't done up tightly, i could turn them with my fingers - not loose, but not tight.

So out comes the socket set, I tightened up both nuts - which involved quite a few rotations. Then take the car for a spin - and voila! Green almost instantly.

There were no washers on the bolts, so I reckon that eventually they work themselves loose (or they weren't done up sufficiently at the factory). The battery still charges as it makes a connection but it seems as though the system sees it as a failure if there's even a slight intermittent voltage drop, which would happen with loose screws.

I'd trawled the net looking for info on this and I hadn't seen anyone else report it - i hope this helps others out there!

Thanks

Chris

MB Marko

Does anyone even like that feature just wondering I had the CLA 250 for a day and I could not stand it, I usually turned it off.is there such a major benefit to it?

thesaintusa

Other than saving gas and decreasing pollution there are no other benefits.

FWIW inmy wife's car it rarely kicks in during the winter (driving in the city) in Edmonton. In the summer it is always 'working'.

I don't care too much for it, and am glad that my C63 does not have it.

genesisknight

I've noticed the same thing down in Calgary...winter time it almost never kicks in unless I head south. During the summer, everytime I hit a light it shuts down unless I remember to turn it off.
If you don't put your foot all the way in on the brake, it won't actually shut down the engine...it's like there's three stages
1) stop
2) shut down the engine
3) activate "hold"

LogicalApex

You don't need to activate the HOLD function, but you do need to have the brake fully depressed.

Also, it won't activate if the outside temperature is below 10 degree F or something in that range. It also won't activate if the outside temperature is too hot as well I think that was above 100 degrees F. I can't find the link to the document where Mercedes went into this in great detail, but deep winters it will stay off.

wellwisher1

I HATE THIS GODDAMN FEATURE!!!! ECO mode pisses me off to a point I want to rip it right out of my car. I went to the dealership for service A and asked them if there is any way to program it off by default because every single time I have to push the 'eco' button to turn it off!!! THEY SAID NO!!! BMW does it, I don't know why wouldn't Mercedes!!


I feel like it is some money making scheme because I wonder how hard is it on the fuel injector when the car stops and starts all the time. Probably saves 10$ worth of gas every month from what I have experienced and in the long run it probably would cost a lot more for repairs because of the constant starts and stops.


I am from Alberta and it gets really cold here, it is actually a very good thing that your eco mode is not working lol

LogicalApex

You seem quite angry about it... Honestly, what does it do that makes you so angry? It is instant on my car. I've never had it slow to respond so I don't even think about it.

About the only thing that is partially depressing about it is the temporary loss of AC when the engine shuts off in the summer, but other than that it isn't even noticeable really.

I'd imagine it doesn't even activate in your deep Alberta Winters. In the deep winters here in Philadelphia it doesn't turn on at all...

It doesn't cause any extra wear to the fuel injector as the fuel is already injected before it shuts off. The extra work is on the Starter Motor, but that was designed to handle it... This isn't a new technology.

wellwisher1

More than worrying about saving gas or any other million good reasons about it, it makes me angry that if I forget to push the Eco button when I start the car, it turns the car off and then it starts again as I accelerate at a red light or any kind of a halt. I get an average of about 360km on 3/4 of a tank. I usually fill my car (91 shell always) when it hits half but I don't let it drop below quarter of a tank. I am happy with the mileage it is giving me(sport and comfort modes depending on my mood) so why not make me happier by turning that eco mode off permanently! I baby it a lot. 35000km in 10 months since I drove it out of the showroom, I just love driving it, but this ECO mode drives me nuts! And you'd be surprised, I have driven it every single day since the day of purchase and that Eco mode kicks in even in the winter.


Design capability to handle the technology or not, its just another addition to wear and tear. YES, it works perfectly but I just don't want it. I just cannot handle my engine turning on and off while driving. I want my car running at all times when I have my key in the ignition and not when the key is not.


I am angry because they cannot program it off!! How hard is it to program something that niche?? And ofcourse, there is no way my car will be handled for anything except body work outside of the dealership, so that rules out getting it programmed elsewhere.


If I am driving and it shuts off, I don't know, I just don't like that all shut off feeling while I am in the driver's seat. I want the "running engine" feel when I am driving .

Raul Crudele

You can easily disable the ECO function, by simply unplugging the auxiliary battery. Be sure to insulate positive terminal!

LILBENZ230

This post is going on 6 years old.. that said, there are many better ways to disable this that won't disable other things (like the HOLD function).

Raul Crudele

Thank for your reply! I just got my car, and was wondering what is the temperature range, for ECO to work. Since the manual simply says "the outside temperature and the atmospheric air pressure is within the range that is suitable for the system" but does not specify the range, I arrived to this thread by googling "temperature range": I just changed the auxiliary battery, as per your reply, I realize why the HOLD function did not work previously. Regards!

Gazwould

It's a W204 thread and you can disable in three ways without losing brake HOLD .


Remove the auxiliary battery's 7.5A fuse .


Remove the auxiliary battery positive terminal lead.


Remove the auxiliary battery .


Best method is the latter saving 5Kg in weight .

LILBENZ230

Our W204 HOLD function did not work without the auxiliary battery, neither does the W212 which is mechanically similar.

Gazwould

I understand E Class is different .

Well my facelift 204 had brake HOLD functioning with the 7.5A fuse removed and with the aux battery completely removed .

NZ-Merc

I had the stop start function on my A18 just a PIA with intermittent woking, ended up after a visit to the dealers for a check over replacing my smart charger with a Ctek 5 amp unit and that fixed it the problem is the aux battery has to be pumped fully up otherwise the car sees below optimal aux battery voltage and won’t work.

13V is too low for the aux battery.

Ctek is the answer to intermittent stop start issues.

Gazwould

CTEK is quite the car forum Internet general default answer phenomenon .

They haven't even got a screen !

I look harder .

midcityeng

For anyone annoyed with disabling the start / stop feature each time, you can pick up one of our OBD programmers that retains "last mode" for this feature, you can take a look at our vehicle coverages HERE. Pick one up today!

Gazwould