Pop starting..still relevant?

[HAPPY+RANGER+GUY]

I've tried to get my girls to try it but they are afraid of the unknown in the process. They both have some training driving the 5 speed but want nothing to do with the pop start sequence even though they've seen me do it a few times.

Do youngsters do this practice anymore??

Just got to wondering....LOL.

Suppose it's just as easy to call the tow truck or should I say call Dad. HeHe.

 

[straycat]

Push starting, is that what you mean? People still do that if the battery has got weak and they have a standard trans. Not the best thing for a clutch and tranny. You got to have a bit of strength to do that unless you are going down hill. Most girls can't do this process unless they are going downhill.

 

[HAPPY+RANGER+GUY]

Yeah...in my neighborhood it was pop starting because you 'pop' the clutch.

Hill makes it real easy yes, but it can be a pretty mild hill. Push or pull from another vehicle works well also.

My girls are tougher on a clutch than all get out!!!!

Try to keep them in momma's automatic minivan - LOL.

 

[Insanejughead]

I do it frequently, and I teach people about it every chance I get.


It's all just part of my scheme to convince the world that driving stick is one of the most useful things you could ever learn! Muahahahaha!


Btw, depending on the safety factor in certain neighborhoods, most anyone (I've found) is willing to help push start a vehicle for a stranger.

 

[RonD]

Add a BIG spring to the clutch pedal, that's how I broke my wife from riding my clutch,

Manual trans used to be the basic on cars/trucks, now automatics are and you pay extra for a manual trans.

"Pop" starts are going the way of the SAE wrenches and sockets

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have done it quite a bit with tractors and my dirt bike, never done it with a car/truck.

I can cheat with one of them and roll start it witout even having a battery in it.

 

[Mac]

Don't know about today but I drove for a whole week without a starter in my Dart. Made the mis-stake of going out on Friday night and parked on a flat street near the bar, thankfully I had a friend alone for a shove.
Dave

 

[martin]

I taught my kids how to do it when they first started to drive, the battery in the b2 was crap and it was easy to start, my exploder not so much. For some reason the older vehicles seem to be much easier to push start than the newer ones.

 

[Mark_88]

Well, with my Ranger I almost always park on a slight incline in case the battery dies...I've been doing this on my truck and previous versions (even did it on my automatic transmission in my 62 Ford Galaxie...can't remember if it actually started or I learned a lesson back then) since I learned how to drive...let me correct that...I never did really learn how to drive...I'm still a practicing driver...

But, yeah, and we used to call it bump starting...not like jump starting using cables...even though half the time I had to push the vehicle myself and then jump in when I got it rolling fast enough (don't try this at home or when you've been drinking...) but someone would push with another vehicle and you'd feel a "BUMP" when you popped the clutch...if they didn't back off sufficiently after getting you up to speed...

 

[swynx]

My dad refused to teach me unless I agreed to learn. Which was perfect cuz I wanted to learn it. About a month after I learned it I had to use it while I was up in the woods with a dead battery by myself. No tow truck no cell service.

What I did with my sister was put her in the seat of my old Toyota and push her down a longish hill. Told her to slowly release the clutch so she could get a feell for it. Like your girls my sister was scared of the unknown

 

[Andy D]

I could start my 58 bug by jacking up a rear wheel . putting it in 2nd, setting the choke and spinning the wheel over. Once a cylinder fired it would start. I have seen it done with a rope wrapped I also have roll started old cars with generators and no battery . All you need is a good hill. Batteries cost money back in the 50s. I started a bug once by turning it to coming up on TDC Put the cap back on .distributor And turn it until the points opened
I recently successfully pop started the Rat rolling back down the driveway in reverse. It left about 6 inches of rubber. But a well sorted car has no need of these capabilities. Maintenance and reliability-wise, points ignitions and carbataters sucked compared to the 25 yr old EFI in my 528es and the Rats is pretty much the same system only by Ford. All 3 cars start easily and and dont leak much. I carry cables in all the cars and I have a battery charger and a jump box. I also pay attention to certain sounds and vibrations. The clutch switch is jumped and I can launch the Rat in first with the clutch out just with the starter. I think that starter is doing jus' fine. My wife of 40 yrs got her license in a '66 Bug. More than once I'd push her in a bug and yell OK! when the speed was right. She got pretty good at it

 

[adsm08]

I used to pop start my truck all the time.

But then, that was back when I was a kid who barely knew how to pump gas and it would stall all the time when I went to shift.

 

[brokemechanic3000]

Most kids these days don't even know what a manual transmission is, I have seen news stories about car thefts being aborted because the criminals couldn't drive stick.

 

[adsm08]

Most kids these days don't even know what a manual transmission is, I have seen news stories about car thefts being aborted because the criminals couldn't drive stick.

HAHA, that sounds like what my grandpa says.

He has a 47 Chrysler New Yorker that he and one of his friends restored in the early 90s. Whenever he takes in out somewhere he tells Gram to just leave the keys in it. He figures anyone who might try to steal it won't even be able to find the starter.

Heck, my dad has been driving it since it's been running and when we took it to go get pictures when I got married we spent 10 minutes sitting and waiting for a jump start because dad was hitting the fuel door release, not the starter.

 

[wildbill23c]

The first time I'd really found out about it was during hunting season one year with a friend and his dad. His dad parked on a hill with the front of the truck facing down the hill, everytime we stopped he always parked on a hill that way, never understood why. Then I realized the 3rd time that he was letting the truck roll forward and letting out the clutch to start it rather than using the starter. So ever since then anytime I drive a vehicle with a manual transmission and I'm up in the hills by myself I always make sure I'm parked on a slight hill in case a starter fails or battery is weak.

This is a great thing to learn anyone who drive's a vehicle with a manual transmission should know how to do this. It saved my ass in town when the bolt fell out of a starter on my 99 Dodge Ram. I had a friend with me and we pushed it out of the parking space and got it going fast enough to get it started and drive it home without the starter.

Not sure that its really hard on the clutch or transmission at that slow of a speed its not really gonna damage anything, but its something to rely on if you have a starter or battery failure.

The bolt on the bottom of the starter on my B2 wouldn't tighten down, I didn't have time to mess with it, so I had to have a shop fix it. The guy wanted to charge me $100 to do it, but he said if I took the starter out he would do it for $25. So I took the starter out, had my grandfather pull start me with his truck and drove my b2 into town to the shop with the starter sitting on the passenger floorboard.

This goes along with anyone who wants to drive should learn to drive a manual transmission, any idiot can put a car in D and go, it takes skill to learn to properly operate the clutch and gearshift, what gears to use when, etc. Even the younger generation of truck driver's I see on the road are really bad about lugging the engines in the semi-trucks. Heaven forbid people had to put down their cell phone, pda, palm pilot, tablet, etc. and pay attention to what they're doing, this is one reason why manual transmissions aren't around much because it makes people actually have to drive their car and pay attention.