Mechanic says shutting off one thing in your car can 'double life' of engine

A driving expert with decades of experience has revealed a simple hack that could double the life of your engine.

With around 50 years of work as a mechanic under his belt, Scotty Kilmer has learnt a thing or two about how cars operate and keen to pass on his wisdom, the veteran vehicle technician has shared a common feature that might impede a car’s performance.

In a video on his popular YouTube channel, Kilmer advised drivers to shut off the automatic start/stop setting on their vehicles, something many modern vehicles utilise.

Although these features have skyrocketed in popularity over recent years due to their ability to both lower emissions while enhancing fuel economy, Kilmer isn’t so sure, explaining the tech may only serve to wear out the engine quicker.

He stated: “[Turning it off] is a smart thing to do. Start/stop technology is the dumbest thing that’s come out in years. 97 per cent of the wear happens when you start the car so do you want to keep starting and stopping it? Not if you want your car to last longer.”

Thankfully, the stop/start feature can be deactivated easily using a toggle switch usually found on the dashboard, often marked by an A with a circular arrow around it. A small light usually indicates when the setting is disabled.

Traffic jam from the driver’s perspective (stock image)

The mechanic’s advice had social media users shocked, with many car owners flocking to the comments to thank him for his advice.

One commented: “I recently was driving a rental with this feature and after realising it wasn’t the car stalling at every red light I realised what was going on. I thought this was… worse for the engine than just idling.”

Another chimed in: “I test-drove a car once with that function and I found it annoying.”

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