Hi Guys: Its been 5 weeks since I bought my cool HCH and I still can't hide a smile on my face when I drive it ! I got 43 MPG on my first tank and am currently doing 44.6 MPG. Not as high as some people on the forum reported but my daily commute is barely 5 miles oneway. BTW, I must thank you guys for the useful information and driving tips. I live in Minnesota and its getting cold. I have noticed that the Auto stop takes a while to come on when the car has been sitting out in the cold for 8 hours or so. After driving for a while the auto stop feature starts working. Has anybody noticed this ? A CVT owner I met told me that the car need to warm up before the auto stop feature starts working (he read about it somewhere). Is that true ? I have also been driving with the ECON button on all the time. Is there a way to get the Autostop feature to work with the ECON button off ? When I slow down at right turns or speed bumps, I seem to have my feet on the clutch (depressed) as well as the brake. As a result, the Auto stop shuts the engine and starts again once I release the clutch and use the gas pedal. I have got used to it but was wondering in there is a better way to do this ? Thanks Shrini

Shrini,
In response to the first question, it is true. The engine must warm up before it will autostop. If you are using the a/c w the econ button off, i'm pretty shure it wont autostop, but if the a/c isnt on, it should work just like the econ. To my understanding the econ button just lets the a/c stop for autostop...i think. Not really sure about the last one, but i am sure someone will have a much better and thought out response for you.
Cheers,
Steven

P.S. welcome to the forum!

Hidden Views Photography

Stevo is right, there are a few reqirements to be met before AutoStop will activate, one is a warmed up engine.

Your ECONO button is essentially your AutoStop on-off switch and becomes active whenever your blower selector is not OFF.

By default your AC compressor always comes ON when you select DEFROST.
By default your ECONO button does nothing while on DEFROST. (AutoStop disabled)

You can change these defaults.
I've personally successfully changed the ECONO button default so the car will go into AutoStop while in DEFROST mode, but didn't have success with controlling the AC.
Here are some instructions, thanks to BUZZ70 (Mark):

The procedure to enable the ability to turn off the A/C when in defrost mode is:
1) Turn the vent control (top ****) to "face" (one to the right of
auto)
2) Turn the temperature **** all the way to cold (left)
3) Turn the fan control to "auto"
4) Hold the A/C and recirculate buttons down.
5) Insert the key into the ignition, turn to "Start" (or II)
6) Hold the buttons down for 7 seconds. The A/C light will blink,
then stop.
7) Release buttons.

To switch back to default, repeat the procedure above.

To allow "Econ" to be used, the procedure above is exactly the same, but you hold all 3 buttons in for step 4 until the Econ blinks.

These tips and more information appeared in the last greenhybrid newsletter.
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Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

Thanks for the tip! It would drive me batty that the engine wouldn't turn off at stoplights with the defrost on.

Lifespeed

Lifespeed

2003 Civic Hybrid 5 speed

I posted earlier:
Update:
I got the hack to work for holding the A/C and the ECON button together and following the rest of the instructions

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

The previous tips says nothing about holding the AC and econ buttons. What did you find this accomplished?

I did not find holding down all three buttons did anything, tho, so they could be wrong on this detail. I believe holding down the AC and recirc buttons enabled auto-stop while in Defrost mode. Previously, the engine would always run witht he defroster on at a stoplight. However, I am still unable to turn off the AC compressor when in defrost mode. An improvement, no doubt, but I would also like to have defrost without AC should I choose.

Lifespeed

2003 Civic Hybrid 5 speed

Thanks lifespeed.
Some people have tried holding the 3 buttons down as first described and achieved what you desire...to manually disengage the AC compressor while in Defrost mode.

It seems that some cars are different because I tried the 3 button procedure and nothing happened.
I tried it over & over without any luck.

However I was successful in AutoStop while in Defrost mode.

It occurred to me after I made the post here on the 23rd that I never tried holding down the A/C button and the ECON together.
Later that evening I tried holding those 2 buttons down and the light on my A/C button flashed 7 times. It worked on the first try. I can now manually disengage the A/C while in Defrost mode using the A/C button.

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

I had the same experience you describe. The car autostops with defrost on, but I can't turn the AC off in defrost. I'll try holding down the AC and econ buttons.

Here is a strange thing I have noticed lately: The car will not autostop in the morning on my way to work, even after the engine has warmed up. But in the afternoon when it is warmer outside, it will autostop. I realize the engine has to be warmed up for the autostop to work. Am I experiencing some bizarre effect of this logic, where cold (32F) winter weather is enough to make the brain think it is perpetually "too cold to autostop"? The temp gauge does indicate warmed up.

Lifespeed

Lifespeed

2003 Civic Hybrid 5 speed

Hmmm....
I noticed the other day that AutoStop activated even on 2 bars of heat.

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

Sometimes my autostop doesn't work even with 4 or 5 bars on the temp meter. This has happened with temps below 10F outside. However, it's not always true -- sometimes it does work to my pleasant surprise.

In general, I expect the autostop to work when the temperature is 30s or higher outside, and I just HOPE that it works when it's colder. (We've had around 0 degree weather in the mornings the past week, which is evident in my last tank's mpg average).