“If anybody owns a car that stop and starts, stops and starts at the lights…”
There are few features more polarizing than auto stop/start. That’s why many car makers include a button to disable the tech.
A woman who drives a Cadillac says hers doesn’t have a way to disable auto stop/start. So she bought a $9 item on Amazon that promised to disable it for her.
In a recent video, creator Anna R. Smith (@annarsmith) shows the process of installing and testing the aftermarket item that is designed to end her auto stop/start woes for good.
But does it work?
“Easy fix, $9, from Amazon,” Smith says as she begins the process of installing the item in her white Cadillac.
“If anybody owns a car that starts and stops and starts and stops at the lights. And you don’t have, in my kind of car, the year that it is, I don’t have the auto stop button, that you can just push in the inside … I bought this, off of Amazon.” she says.
The item itself is a black plastic cable with two separate connectors on each side. “Should be super simple so let’s see if I can hook it up,” she says.
Behind the grill, Smith locates a similar looking wiring harness. “So it was tucked up underneath and fastened up in here. So I’m pretty sure that this is the piece that I have to get off if it looks like maybe I’ll unclip it right there,” she says.
She discerned rather quickly that the connectors inside the Cadillac were much too large for the part. Thankfully, another wiring harness beside it was a perfect fit.
Her victory was short-lived, however, as she was soon met with the joys of plastic components that are seemingly designed to break during service. After finally getting the clasp undone, Smith said that she couldn’t care less about the clasp breaking, as long as she’s able to disable her vehicle’s auto start/stop.
Connecting the other wiring harness +was a straightforward endeavor. As she illustrates, it’s hard to mix up which side plugs into where, as they’re designed to fit snugly into their corresponding male/female slots.
In order to ensure that the updated harness isn’t jangling around when she’s driving, Smith secures it to a metal bracket inside her Cadillac with zip ties. She recommends that anyone trying to do the same for their car should grab a flathead screwdriver to make the process of undoing the harness fasteners easier.
Then it was time for the moment of truth. Smith filmed herself driving down a busy road until she hit a red light. Upon coming to a stop, her Cadillac kept running. She was delighted.
The piece that Smith bought is still for sale on Amazon as of this writing. It is supposed to be compatible with the 2019-2023 Buick Enclave/Encore, Chevrolet Equinox/Malibu/Cruze, and 2019-2022 Cadillac XT4/XT5/XT6. Eighty-three percent of the 1,157 reviews gave it 5-stars.
Some said the piece caused additional issues. One said that it was easy to install but caused their 2018 Equinox’s air conditioning system to get stuck on high in defrost mode.
Another person said that the product worked well for a day before their vehicle’s check engine light came on. Someone else said their harness not only didn’t work, but it “caused hard shifting” and sent their vehicle into limp mode.
There are other aftermarket options to disable auto stop/start. The Autostop Eliminator product line specializes in tech dedicated to safely override this feature without interfering with other functions.
Smith told Motor1 that the auto stop-start disabler has worked flawlessly.
“Everything is working fine so far. I love that it was so easy to install. My part time job is delivering and the constant engine shutdown was irritating. Love the product,” Smith said.
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– The Motor1.com Team