3

This relates to a car I was parked next to recently, that wouldn't start. I would have helped but didn't know how. The engine turned over on the starter (until the owner flattened the battery) but didn't fire. It had manual transmission. In old cars I've had, bump (push) starting would have been worth a shot, and we had the space to do it. But the car had a push-button starter, so the usual approach of turning the key to "running", selecting a high gear, and bringing the clutch up once moving would fail at the first step.

So how would you bump-start such a car - if it's even possible?

Chris H
  • 819
  • 3
  • 7
  • 14

1 Answers1

2

There's likely some variation between the setup in different vehicles, but here's how it's set up on my manual trans Mazda 3 -

The button will put the car into the 'ignition on' state if it is pressed while the clutch isn't down. There's no interlock with the brake or gear lever. As such you could do this before your helper starts pushing, or while in neutral once rolling (if there's minimal charge left in the battery, best to leave powering up until the last second), then push the clutch down, put it in gear and pop the clutch.

Phil G
  • 1,087
  • 6
  • 6