You just revived a 6 year old thread about a different vehicle than yours, You can start in any gear you want to but 1 , 2, 3, 4 is the best order.
Caddyman is rightâŠYou want to use a higher gearâŠnot a lower gear.
1 Like
My dadâs 1939 Chevrolet avoided the push-start problem when the battery was dead. The car had an emergency hand crank as standard equipment. If the battery was low, a twist of the crank and he had it running. When he traded the car for a 1947 Dodge, I was really concerned about how the car could be started if the battery was dead. There was no hand crank. There wasnât even a hand choke to pull out to start a cold engine. As a kid, this all seemed like a step backward.
Some years later, I remember seeing an emergency start kit for a VW Beetle. It had a rope and an adapter for the engine pulley that allowed the VW to be started by pulling the rope. Most of todayâs cars canât even be push started.Maybe we were better off in the old days.
1 Like
OK here we go again after 6 years. Donât try to push start an automatic. Way back about 1965 we were on vacation on the outskirts of DC with our 61 Merc. At the motel the bendix stuck and the starter wouldnât work. It was pitch black out and 3 or 4 characters staying there said we should push it to get it started, so they proceeded to push it with their car down the highway. Of course it didnât work and they jumped the bumper breaking out about three of the individual tail lights. Got a tow truck shortly after that and he hoisted it up and freed the starter and worked fine until we got home again. We stopped at a Merc dealer on the way home to buy some tail lights and I put them on. I donât remember the cost but they were not cheap. So first rule is donât push an automatic and second rule is donât listen to some characters in dirty T shirts, just call a truck. All of these experiences helped to shape why I act the way I do sometimes.
1 Like
I heard rumors in the 60s if you got up to 35mph you could push start an auto tranny, just a rumor though, and I am sure it is different in todayâs cars. Never tried it. Never had a problem clutch starting a manual trans, Thinking I always popped the clutch in first, maybe 5mph.
1954 Ford automatic could be push started at about 35 to 40 mph it was one of about 5 or 6 automaticâs I have owned.
Back in the days of early automatics some had a front oil pump AND a rear oil pump. Thatâs why you could push start them. The rear pump provided oil to operate the hydraulics and provide lubrication. Itâs also why you could tow them with the drive wheels on the ground without causing damage. The drive wheels drove the rear pump.
I would think turning ignition On and placing any auto-trans gear selector in 2 or 1 and then pushing the car at maybe 20 mph or so ought to turn the motor over and start the car. Obviously the lower gears work for engine-braking, so why should this method fail?
Without oil pressure from the oil pump to operate the hydraulics no amount of pushing will turn the engine. Thatâs why the older cars with a rear pump COULD be push started.
2 Likes
I used to push start my manual trans VW Rabbit, on that car easiest to do in 3rd gear. No popping of the clutch required. Ray has mentioned that push starting electronic fuel injected cars isnât good practice, even manuals, something to do with the cat as I recall. The push starting may confuse the computer (thatâs expecting a crank start) and result in a poor fuel/air mixture at first.
Pushing may not work on modern era cars with a depleted battery. Itâs been my experience that when the voltage drops into the 10 volt range a lot of the electronics wonât function.
General Motors eliminated the rear pump on its Hydramatic transmission beginning with the 1959 models. This affected Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Cadillac. No push starts goes back a long way!
1 Like