[Hegel]

hello hello,

I'm sure this isn't a terribly serious problem, but I have an average knowledge of cars and I can't quite figure this out.

Here's the scenario: I'm about to make a stop. I've coasted and used the break to charge the battery. I drive a manual transmission, so once the the charge indicator drops off, I shift into neutral and come to a stop. Here's the thing, once the auto-stop shuts the engine off, when I let go of the brake (if I'm on a street with no incline of course :wink: ), my Insight seems to give a bit of a shudder... the shudder is actually more noticealbe, rougher I guess you'd say, than when the engine comes back on when I shift into first gear. So yeah, um, in my quest to learn as much as I can about my Insight, anyone tell me what's going on here?

Thanks in advance,
H

 

[HafNHaf]

it might be restarting for a second. mine does that sometimes if i am not completely stopped. then it decides i am not about to get going again and auto-stops for good.

andy g.

 

[kapps]

Do you take your foot off the brake as your pushing the clutch in? What speeds does it happen? The only example of "shudder" I have noticed is in this scenario:
You are slowing down with the brake in 3rd gear then push the clutch in at say 25-28 mph , you can watch the tach drop to zero then bounce back up to idle until it gets to the 20-21 mph threshold and goes into auto stop. The shudder happens right as the engine rpm drops and comes back up. I'm not sure if this is what your experiencing because you say it happens when you take your foot off the brake.

If it happens when your stopped, I have the following question... Do you keep your foot on the clutch at the stoplight? To stay in auto stop, you either need to keep the brake on or clutch in. If your off the clutch and in neutral, taking your foot off the brake will cause the Insight to think you want to start moving again and turn the engine back on.

 

[Hegel]

To stay in auto stop, you either need to keep the brake on or clutch in. If your off the clutch and in neutral, taking your foot off the brake will cause the Insight to think you want to start moving again and turn the engine back on.

That must be it then. I grew up driving an old VW bug, so I just got used to shifting into neutral and coasting to a stop at traffic signals. Once stopped, if the ground was level, I would just take my foot of the brake and hang out until the light turned green.

It must be that after shifting into neutral and letting the clutch out, the Insight thinks I'm going to accelarate again once I take my foot of the brake. I tried this out today and indeed after shifting into neutral and letting the clutch out, I kept my foot on the brake all through the stop at the traffic signal, and no shudder.

Quite the quirky car we drive, but I couldn't love it more

 

[kapps]

Yeah, it happened to me a few times since I'm used to taking my foot off the clutch when sitting at a light (to reduce throw-out bearing wear). Unfortunately, I like taking my foot off the brake even more so I usually end up with the clutch in.

 

[Wayne M]

85% uphill

Seems GA is about 85% uphill (at least here where I'm traveling), if I get off the brake at auto-stop, it tends to start slowly rolling off down the hill.
Mine seems to get confused as to when I actually want it to auto-stop, it'll do it when I'm at an intersection with traffic coming after a quick stopsign / roll on --- poke /jab/stomp/panic/cuss got it going again kind of thing. :roll:

 

[Dougie]

I wonder if there might be a timer in there also, because I find that if I get the autostop into effect with the brake-clutch-neutral combination and then just keep the brake on (lightly) for a couple of seconds, then I can successfully coast with no brake with no attempted restart. The only time I get the shudder is when I'm not concentrating on the exact sequence...

 

[Hegel]

The only time I get the shudder is when I'm not concentrating on the exact sequence...

I'm glad you replied to this thread, Dougie. I've also been pressing the brake pedal very gently while in neutral in order to not confuse my car and go into auto-stop mode without any 'shudder'. Much like you, any shudder comes when I'm not concentrating on the sequence.

I've only had my Insight for a couple of weeks now and I still get a kick out of cruising into a parking spot with the car in auto-stop mode. I've gotten a few quizzical looks while out running errands. I'm guessing some people think I've stalled my car, but at the same time I'm pulling into the parking spot like everything's fine. :wink:

-H

p.s. Gas prices here in south Florida have made their way up to the $2.80 range. I'm loving my new Insight even more these past few days.

 

[Calpod]

FYI:

You will also feel the engine cut abruptly, (feels like a shudder) when you have the A/C on and you go into Autostop mode.

On a warm day, roll your windows down, come to a stop with the A/C on and you will hear it really good.

 

[Dougie]

When I come up towards a stop sign and the system is charging I watch the indicator, and when it drops down to zero then I press in the clutch. Most of the time the engine then goes immediately into idle stop as expected. Sometimes, though, maybe 25% of the time, the engine flares up to maybe 1500 RPM for a second or two before stopping.

What am I doing wrong? I thought that maybe I'm de-clutching too late and the engine thinks it's being stalled, and so it wants to recover before stopping. But it seems to happen even if I am pretty aggressive about pushing in the clutch just as soon as it stops charging. Ideas?

 

[c-fors]

Sometimes, though, maybe 25% of the time, the engine flares up to maybe 1500 RPM for a second or two before stopping.

I've experienced that too. Maybe rpm or mph a tick too high
at initial clutch disengagement?