Nearly killed me!
Broken piston ring in the crankcase.
After riding the Honda I had a few spills on other bikes, couldn’t get used to the clutch on the handlebar…
Ring broke on a major traffic island, dropped into the crankcase, locked the back wheel up, just missed by a petrol tanker.
what is this stop/start function? I don’t think I have it.
AnnieS
What the stop/start does is if a car is held up say at traffic lights, or a the car is not moving for some time, the engine cuts out automatically to save fuel and exhaust fumes, As soon as your foot goes onto the accelerator pedal the engine starts up again. To be able to do this as it takes a bit more power to restart the car is fitted with what is called an AGM battery. A “normal” battery would not last long
AGM or Absorbent Glass Mat batteries are advanced maintenance-free lead-acid batteries. and cost a lot more
Also one needs a different battery charger something like this which I have
1 Like
The Stop/Start function might be good for the environment around standing traffic i.e. traffic lights and queues (although that’s debatable) But they certainly aren’t good for your expenses Annie. Constantly stopping and starting your vehicle puts an enormous strain on starter motor and battery as well as other components. Oil drains back into the sump once the engine is stopped and therefore when started there will be very little lubrication on essential parts. Even on a standard vehicle without stop/start, the greatest amount of wear comes as the engine is started and lubrication has to be pumped round.
The AGM batteries are more expensive and require special charging when allowed to discharge especially in cold weather.
So if you’ve got plenty of money and are willing to pay more to protect the planet stop/start is for you, but if you want to reduce the life of your engine and sit in the cold at traffic lights while the wipers/headlights and radio sap the life out of you battery, disable that useless expensive waste of space.
1 Like
That’s the way our Peugeot Partner Horizon is. I mostly remember to turn the function off each time.
I read the stop/start becomes automatically inoperative if the battery is a bit low or if too many functions are turned on and drawing current such as: lights, wipers, heater, heated seat etc.
1 Like
OGF
please get your facts right.Tthe start motor on a stop/start vehicle is not the normal one but uprated to cope with the AGM battery which is not the same as a normal one
[quote=“OldGreyFox, post:4, topic:107424”]
You haven’t read my posts properly have you realspeed…It’s alright, I accept your apology…
Quote…
Also, the starter motor is more complex than a standard one, so I might have to replace that also.
Most cars with Auto Stop Start will automatically disable it when battery is low. I’d rather not let the battery get low in the first place.
1 Like
Ok thanks. Lucky I don’t have one of those. My car is 9 years old perhaps that’s why. It sounds highly annoying.
1 Like
Isn’t it rather that some big car manufacturers are having problems because they did not sufficiently tool up for EVs, Bob? When did companies not compete with their rivals? At the risk of recycling some points made earlier, those firms that were flexible and jumped on the EV bandwagon early are the ones still doing well like Toyota and increasingly the Chinese companies.
However, it was too tempting for German manufacturers to keep milking their traditional cash cows instead of reorientating themselves. That’s, on the one hand , caused by the need to present attractive figures to their shareholders on a quarterly basis.
On the other hand, it’s due to a complacent, ideology-driven upper management with a know-it-all attitude who believe that they can read the market and know what people want. To their surprise, the affluent, younger Chinese buyers, who call the tune, have a different idea of what a good car is. They didn’t grow up with combustion engine cars and the myths surrounding them but with computers. No wonder that their idea of modern mobility is that of a rolling computer with full-scale entertainment facilities. European manufacturers are having trouble providing exactly these kinds of cars. IT, software programming, and batteries is not their field of competence.
The third reason for their current problems are high margins needed to meet the running costs which can be generated best by producing premium-range cars rather than bread-'n-butter models like the Beetle which was what made VW great. Asian manufacturers are trying to fill that gap.
Now VW says it would need the profit generated by one million - subsidized - cars that are currently unsold to become viable again. Failing that, it would have to close production sites.
The buck is passed to the state again. Hundreds of thousands of employees are taking to the streets and are facing some uncertainty about their jobs.
1 Like
Nor would I. I bought a voltmeter for the car cigar connection and haven’t seen a flat battery since.
People are hoping for a better technology than EV around the corner. EV’s are just a tick-box to satisfy political eco targets. They do not solve environmental problems. Just problems for communities in other parts of the world who nobody seems to care about.
The environmental fallout from lithium mining is clear and far-reaching. Massive quantities of fresh water, classified as a precious resource in these arid regions, are diverted for lithium mining operations, fueling the salt flats brine. This leaves local communities and wildlife parched. Sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide used in lithium extraction penetrate the soil and water, poisoning ecosystems and endangering species. Research from the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society shows that two flamingo species in Chile are threatened because of lithium mining.
Deforestation, habitat destruction and water pollution further exacerbate the ecological toll. The delicate balance of nature is disrupted, which leaves long-lasting damage that takes generations to heal. The carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions that come with the process of lithium mining, extraction and overall production are worse for the climate than the production of fossil fuel-powered vehicles. A study from The Wall Street Journal in 2019 revealed that 40% of the total climate impact caused by the production of lithium-ion batteries comes from the mining process itself.
Indigenous communities are under threat
The indigenous people of South America are negatively impacted by lithium mining, and the practice has driven hundreds off the land that they once called home. Mining giants in the region originally pledged to consult indigenous communities over lithium mining on their land to make sure it was environmentally sound. However, these corporations have refused to give indigenes a voice in how they are operated. Community leaders have rightfully demanded profits be channelled their way.
The indigenous community in the Chilean Atacama desert has two mining companies situated there. The head of the environmental unit of the Atacama Indigenous Council, Francis Mandoca, has said that the lithium mines are branded “sustainable” energy but they are not, as they ruin one zone to satisfy another. The community feels frustrated and concerned because the ponds they used to use have been contaminated with harmful chemicals and are now unusable.
Social struggles and human rights issues
The surge in lithium demand fuels social conflicts, echoing the grim historical pattern of Green Imperialism as detailed by Richard Grove, in which indigenous peoples are displaced from their ancestral lands and communities in the name of resource extraction, which according to GlobalData’s 2023 report has caused protests in Chile and Bolivia. The power dynamics are clear: mining companies, driven by economic interests, wield significant power and influence, while indigenous communities lack the resources and legal support to protect their rights. This perpetuates the exploitation and marginalisation of these communities.
1 Like
I’m aware of that, Annie. Still, cars contributing to CO2 emissions aren’t the better option, it seems. EVs are needed as a bridge technology.
A bridge too far for some. At the other end there’s the mountain of used batteries.
The development is dead slow anyway and nobody knows what to find at the other end of the bridge. Not doing anything until a feasible solution is found is no option either. There’s the second-life programme for used batteries. In addition, some start-up companies are working on other solutions.
This is exactly right, Annie. 
1 Like
According to a 2019 US EPA study, transportation was deemed to be only 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. That transportation includes sea freight, air, lorries supplying goods etc as well as domestic use cars. Changing to electric cars will be a drop in the ocean given there is a serious environmental cost. The huge environmental impact of wastage due to re-manufacture of vehicles doesn’t appear to matter.
Global Greenhouse Gas Overview | US EPA(34,of%20global%20greenhouse%20gas%20emissions.
1 Like