How To Disable Auto Start-Stop Ford Escape? (Easy Steps)

The auto start-stop feature on your Ford Escape was initially designed to significantly reduce fuel consumption and the emission of exhaust. However, realistically it brought more harm than good.

Now the problem most drivers face is when having to press the start-stop button every time they start their car. Hence, how to disable the auto start-stop on Ford Escape?

If you’re not satisfied with the temporary method of using the given start-stop button to disable the feature, then you might look into getting an eliminator chip for your Ford SUV.

Connect the module to the diagnostic connector underneath the dashboard and you should be good to go.

The task itself is very simple as seen from this short summary. However, careful maintenance is essential. So keep reading through to understand the concept behind this in detail. 

Can You Disable Auto Start-Stop Ford Escape?

Practically speaking, it’s never inevitable to turn off a feature on your car.

If you don’t go well with a specific feature you could always disable it from the manual display or call the help of a mechanic.

It’s pretty much like your home computer where most of the things can be disabled permanently and simply, whereas some others might be a bit difficult to do so but never impossible.

Hence, we know Ford has been in the competition for decades and they wouldn’t play their cards wrong. A company such old doesn’t make bold moves without thinking through.

This meant that there was always a built-in button to disable the start-stop feature on your Ford Escape all along. The button illuminates as soon as you turn on your vehicle.

You simply need to press it once to turn it off. Now the problem is, you have to press the button every single time you start your car as the feature resets to default when you turn off the SUV.

This, however, is a temporary fix. For a permanent fix, you might need to get an eliminator chip or module which costs around $100 to get rid of the problem once and for all.

Why Should You Disable Auto Start-Stop Ford Escape?

The auto start-stop engines had made enormous contributions to the modern world of technology and also came in with significant contributions in reducing greenhouse gasses.

But technology isn’t always perfect, in fact, it does come with its fair share of flaws. Hence, without driving it any further, let’s jump onto the reasons why you should disable auto start-stop on your Ford.

Bizarre Engine Noises When Restarting

Usually, when the engine restarted and you took your foot off the brakes, a loud sputtering sound would follow it. The sound is considered so annoying that it even wakes up a sleeping driver.

Even though with the release of the new Ford Escape models, the noises had been reduced significantly by streamlining the shut-off into a much smoother manner, the point was still worth mentioning.

Idling Of The Main Engine

These systems do require idling of the main engine, these enable more wear of the engine. Another point to note would be, that every single time to start your car you cause the most wear to the engine.

No matter how optimized the engines are, they always perform the best at a certain level of temperature and fuel threshold.

Hence starting it all over again would eventually increase the amount of wear on the engine.

More Stress On The Battery

Every time the engine shuts off and starts again, the battery has to undergo a lot of work. Since you’re likely to start the car and allow your battery to charge.

But with the constant interruption of the charging process, the battery isn’t able to charge the way it’s supposed to be. The battery is designed to charge while the car is running, right?

Even if it does charge, the process isn’t as efficient and causes faster degradation of the battery, needing to replace it frequently.

The Starter Remains Under Strain

Starting your engine again and again, especially when driving through the traffic, The starter of your Ford Escape is likely to be under an insane amount of stress.

The starter usually lasts a few years with general usage but with constant starting and stopping of the engine, the starter wouldn’t last long. 

Hence, you would be required to replace the starter with a new one more frequently than expected. 

Thus, using the start-stop feature to save fuel cost doesn’t show any benefit as the costs of frequently replacing the battery and the starter itself further outweigh the money saved. 

How To Disable Auto Start-Stop Ford Escape?

Disabling the auto start-stop feature on your Ford Escape isn’t a difficult job by itself. In fact, it could be done by just pressing the built-in button on the manual keypad.

However, that would only fix the problem temporarily as the feature resets to default when you turn off the engine keys. 

Hence, we’ve come up with a permanent solution for you. Let’s look into the steps below:

Step 1: Make Sure To Disconnect All Connections

There’s no point in working in a place where your surroundings aren’t safe for you. For someone who’s doing this for the first time, here’s a quick reminder!

Turn the engine keys on at first and check whether the auto start-stop feature on your Ford is functioning correctly. Afterward, turn the engine off and disconnect the battery terminals.

Step 2: Get A Start-Stop Eliminator And Locate The Diagnostic Connector

Now a start-stop eliminator that costs around a hundred bucks is the only solution to permanently bring closure to this problem. 

It terminates the default resetting issue of the feature so once turned off it won’t turn on by itself unless you press the button to turn it on.

Hence, slide into the driver-side dashboard and take off the cover. Once uncovered, you would be able to spot the diagnostic connector of the vehicle with ease.

Step 3: Connect The Eliminator Extension And You’re Good To Go

Connect the diagnostic connector to the eliminator plug. Then take the extension cable of the eliminator module and route it underneath the dash harness using a couple of zip ties.

There you have it, the installation should be complete by now. Hence, you can close the dashboard and connect the batteries. Then start your Ford 

Escape SUV to test whether the feature is disabled or not.

Conclusion

New technologies are inspired by innovation but it isn’t necessary to consider that innovation as beneficial. After all, the modern world revolves around numerous trials and errors.

That being said, it’s not wrong to say that some Ford drivers had even benefitted from the contribution of the auto start-stop engines. 

Many drivers living in the developed regions of America have reported lower fuel consumption as well.

But people who mostly go through driveways with a lot of traffic, are probably good without this feature, as the continuous start and stop of the engine may bring more drawbacks than benefits.

Hopefully, you’ve understood the disabling process properly if you’ve skimmed through this piece of writing thoroughly. It’s been great to accompany you with your queries.

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