Need ways to start a car with a dead battery.- 92 Civic Auto.

> Where do you get that rule of thumb? Time to recharge will depend a
> small amount on engine speed, and not at all on road speed, so "8
> miles" doesn't make any sense. Second, the amount of current (and
> therefore charge) drawn during a start varies widely from car to car
> and season to season. The charge rate of the alternator also varies
> from car to car. I'd be very surprised, however, if it took as much
> as 8 miles @30mph (or even 60mph) to replenish a single start.
>

I've heard it and read it in several places. I have no reason to doubt it.
The starter motor will drain the battery a lot faster than the alternator
can charge it. That much is obvious, as re-charging the battery fast would
destroy it. So common sense tells you that the car will have to be driven a
ways for the battery to recover from even a single attempt at starting the
car. I'm sure there are differences between cars, but supposedly, 8 miles
is the average distance driven before the battery recovers from attempting
to start the car once. -Dave

Two more words for you Sam,
BUS CARD

"Mark Hewitt" > wrote in message
...


> I have a 1 year old car complete with computers and electric fuel pumps
and
> managed to bump start it no problem, it wasn't even a steep hill either, I
> got a friend to push me, and once I was going about 5mph I lifted the
clutch
> and the engine started.

Having a manual transmission is a bit of a rarity nowadays. Of course, an
automatic tranny would wipe out the possibility of a push start for most
people. (IIRC, some of the older tranny designs allowed push starts, but
I doubt the newer ones do.)

If you have enough charge in the battery to activate the ignition system,
and
allow the fuel pump to operate and the ECM to control the key units, then
a simple push start can work.

But get the battery too low,and it isnt going to work.

> wrote in message
. com...
>
> Having a manual transmission is a bit of a rarity nowadays.

Maybe where you live. But not here.

In article >,
"Mark Hewitt" > wrote:

> > wrote in message
> . com...
> >
> > Having a manual transmission is a bit of a rarity nowadays.
>
> Maybe where you live. But not here.
>
>
>

And not for *THIS* driver...

Gimme a good old-fashion stick any day of the week. I don't much care
for being stranded by a tranny that decides it doesn't want to shift
when it's supposed to, or tries to "out-think" me. When I put it in
second, I want it in second until I decide to put it someplace else, and
to hell with whatever the widget that passes for "intelligence" in the
gearbox thinks is right.

--
Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist,
or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow"
somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my
ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd> for more info

On 2/14/06 11:08 AM, in article , "Mike
Romain" > wrote:

> E Meyer wrote:
>>
>> On 2/14/06 10:12 AM, in article , "Mike
>> Romain" > wrote:
>>
>>> Pooh Bear wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Mark Hewitt wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> get a manual and park it on a hill!
>>>>
>>>> That works ! ;-)
>>>>
>>>> Graham
>>>
>>> Not any more it doesn't!!!
>>>
>>> That 'used' to work before computers and electric fuel pumps, but I
>>> found out the hard way that push starting a modern vehicle with a dead
>>> battery is only good for exercise.
>>>
>>
>> It still works (I know from personal experience), but there is a catch. You
>> have to push it with a car at speeds high enough to get the alternator
>> turning fast enough to get the fuel pump and computer to power up. Then it
>> will start. The last time I tried it, it took about 1/4 mile pushing at
>> about 15 MPH with the clutch engaged in 2nd gear before the warning lights
>> came on and it would start by popping the clutch (obviously it has to be in
>> gear and spinning to build up the charge - to make it start, put the clutch
>> back in and let it out again while still being pushed. I don't think you
>> could do it by hand anymore. A long enough down hill run would probably
>> still work.
>
> One other 'catch'. The (most that I know of) alternators won't fire up
> and start charging without excite power or field power.
>
> Mike
>

True. There has to be at least some tiny bit of charge left in the battery
or you are SOL.

>>
>>> The fuel pump and computer need power or the engine won't start. The
>>> gent would be just as well off 'pull starting' on the alternator
>>> pulley...
>>>
>>> The booster packs you carry in the trunk appear to work well. Several
>>> Jeepers I know bring them on bush camping trips so they can run an
>>> electric cooler without worrying about starting later.
>>>
>>> Mike
>>> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
>>> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>>> Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
>>> Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2115147590
>>> (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)

Sam Nickaby wrote:
> I have been thinking of a good way to prevent stranding
> myself from a dead battery. It happened twice. Once at a
> beach from leaving my lights on. The other was at a college
> campus which the stereo and the dome light ran down the
> battery. Unlike the beach, the college campus have lots of
> helpful students with beat up cars that have jumper cables.
> Now, I have a new idea. Once my battery runs dry, I
> remove my alternator belt and wrap a rope around the
> alternator pulley. I then pull the rope so it'll turn 10
> revolutions per pull. I keep doing this for about 20 times.
>
> What is the possibility that this will supply enough charge
> to start the car. If not, can somebody think of a clever idea
> to start an automatic?

You idea has many holes in it. If you were SOMEHOW able to give enough
amps to turn the car over, the battery would die out if the car started
because the alternator can't charge the dead battery because the
alternator belt is off.

Does the 92 civic have a single belt? If so, all of your other
components won't turn either.

Pooh Bear wrote:

> As for the alternator, there's always some residual magnetism left.
>
> Graham

Not enough to cause a charge. If there WAS, then the regulator could
never bring the alternator down to near-zero output.

Alternator rotors are specifically designed out of "soft" magnetic
materials so that they *don't* retain residual magnetism. Go ahead- pull
the field wires off your alternator and put an ammeter in series with
the ouput and tell me how much current it produces.

Sam Nickaby wrote:
> I have been thinking of a good way to prevent stranding
> myself from a dead battery. It happened twice. Once at a
> beach from leaving my lights on. The other was at a college
> campus which the stereo and the dome light ran down the
> battery. Unlike the beach, the college campus have lots of
> helpful students with beat up cars that have jumper cables.
> Now, I have a new idea. Once my battery runs dry, I
> remove my alternator belt and wrap a rope around the
> alternator pulley. I then pull the rope so it'll turn 10
> revolutions per pull. I keep doing this for about 20 times.
>
> What is the possibility that this will supply enough charge
> to start the car. If not, can somebody think of a clever idea
> to start an automatic?

As far as a solution, if you're really running your battery dry so
often as to retrofit your car, how about a 2nd battery that takes a
charge, but until you flip a switch, will not energize anything?

SD Dave wrote:
> On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 10:50:49 GMT, "Sam Nickaby" > wrote:
>
> >I have been thinking of a good way to prevent stranding
> >myself from a dead battery. It happened twice. Once at a
> >beach from leaving my lights on. The other was at a college
> >campus which the stereo and the dome light ran down the
> >battery. Unlike the beach, the college campus have lots of
> >helpful students with beat up cars that have jumper cables.
> >Now, I have a new idea. Once my battery runs dry, I
> >remove my alternator belt and wrap a rope around the
> >alternator pulley. I then pull the rope so it'll turn 10
> >revolutions per pull. I keep doing this for about 20 times.
> >
> >What is the possibility that this will supply enough charge
> >to start the car. If not, can somebody think of a clever idea
> >to start an automatic?
>
> Buy one of these.
>
> http://www.baproducts.com/sm831.htm
>
> If it happens to work, let me know.

"Output voltage (Voc) is 16.5 VDC, output current (Isc) is 30-40 mA."

30-40 milliamps!!! He'd be better off pulling the alternator with a
rope!