I remember right after WW II my dad had a 1939 Chevrolet. The battery died and it didn’t have enough power to crank the engine. Fortunately, the Chevrolet had an emergency hand crank. Dad could start the engine with the hand crank. Batteries were in short supply and there wasn’t a battery to be had in our town even though our town had a big battery plant. My dad called his brother who lived 200 miles away. His brother was able to buy a new battery and had it shipped up. Ironically, the battery was made in our town. I was really worried when my dad traded the 1939 Chevrolet for a 1947 Dodge. The Dodge had no provision for hand cranking the engine. I didn’t know how you would start the engine in an emergency if the battery was down.
Go to an independent mechanic and get a second opinion. There is only so much AAA can do without having the car in a shop.
Ed B.
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Push start, or better yet, have it parked facing downhill. (One reason to like manual transmissions.) An ignition system can work just fine when a battery is too weak to turn a starter motor.
I suspect Triedaq already knew that.
@shanonia. I was in 3rd grade when my dad traded the 1939 Chevrolet for the 1947 Dodge and my knowledge about cars was even less than my present knowledge. I also wondered back then how the Dodge could be started when the engine was cold because there was no manual choke.
I think that the 1939 Chevrolet had less than a 6:1 compression ratio. With today’s high compression engines, turning over an engine with a hand crank would be impossible.
I think J.C. Whitney had a rope starter kit that could be installed in the VW Beetle for emergency starting.
It’s interesting that over 80 years ago there were procedures for starting a car with a low battery whereas with today’s cars with automatic transmission you can’t even push start the cars.
I expect you’re right, that he learned that along the way sometime after the 1947 Dodge.
@shanonia. I know my dad knew the Chevrolet could be push started. The times he hand cranked the engine, there was nobody around to help.
I could crank start a Farmall F-12. It didn’t have electric start. I thought that electric starters on tractors were for wimps.
Even today, I really don’t see the need for an electric starter on a walk behind lawnmower. I rolled my 28 year old mower out of the shed this week. It still had gas in the tank from last fall.
I topped off the oil, pulled the starter cord three times and I was off and running.
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Rope start for a 40 HP VW bug, okay, I can see that.
Had an Evinrude 115 that included a rope under the cowl. At the first outing of the season I did not recharge the battery, it had enough juice left to provide two or three revolutions. Then we tried the rope, no way could we get it started.
Bought trickle charger. Thank you AAA SAID my battery was fine
Ok. Just bad timing… I guess easier for me to believe all is ok … in denial is my head these days
Starter went out on my 90 horse outboard, Stood on the back of the boat and falling backwards while pulling managed to start it, hear you on how hard it is!
I will have to wait on my mechanic for now. MA still in lock down. Received trickle charger but not sure if it works but car still starts so therefore it Must help
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Still starting so charger must have been some help.
Thanks. My mechanic is great but shut down right now. Damn virus is awful