I am a newbie. Forgive my ignorance. I am in Australia. I bought a Mazda 3 2.5 auto recently. All went well. Very pleased with the car.
I haven't used the car for a couple of weeks because of other issues. When I started the car today everything worked fine BUT when the car stopped at the lights the I-stop system did not kick in. There is no battery warning of any type and I can't see any I-stop indicator in the dash. I took the car for a reasonable run to get the engine nice and warm. Central locking works fine. Car starts first time. Is there something I am missing? Should I run a charger on the battery? Can the I-stop system be reset to work again?

Loads of questions...I know. Forgive me. I am an old fart not used to all these new gadgets in cars.
Any help gratefully appreciated.

 

Question, have you read the section on i-stop in your owner's manual? There is a multitude of conditions that can inhibit i-stop operation.

If in doubt, utilize your new car warranty and book it in with Mazda.

 

Of course I have! I would be an idiot not to have done. I went to the dealership and spoke to the most unhelpful person on the planet. He basically told me that because I only did short trips and the car would go a week or so without being used that there could be a myriad of things preventing I-stop from working. This is something I already knew. Anyone with access to Google can find that out. I asked him to reset the system which, from a Youtube video I watched, involved disconnecting the negative battery terminal and charging sensor clip, reconnecting the clip then the cable and pushing the I-stop button in a certain sequence. A five minute procedure, at best. I checked on Google and this is the recommended way to reset the system. Now, because the car is under warranty I did not want to do it myself so I explained this to the service gentleman who told me, "Oh no, we might need to keep the car for a couple of days to assess the charging system and then reset it." Now that is absolute crap! I have checked with two other Mazda dealerships and they told me it takes no more than half an hour and could be done while I was waiting. The real reason was that the gentleman I spoke to was under the hammer and couldn't be bothered. I looked into the workshop at the time... three cars in a fifteen car bay and a few mechanics standing around and shooting the breeze. Using another dealership would mean a decent trip of at least an hour and then I would be on foot.

The reason I came here was to see if anyone else had/has the same problem and to see what they did about it or what their mechanic did about it. I note that the post has had a lot of views (because I-stop seems to be a problematic feature bothering loads of Mazda owners) but only your reply, which, forgive me, is not that helpful and somewhat patronising. Sorry to be blunt. I was hoping that being in this forum would be productive, where I would learn a few tips, etc. Now, of course, because I have been so terse, I will be booted. Oh well.

 

Dude, calm your farm. I've been working @ Mazda longer than i-stop has been around.

 

See this Youtube video: