has anyone ever cranked a car with a weak battery

ericr

ericr

Well-known member
meaning the battery was so weak as to not spin the starter but had enough voltage to power the coil.
 
Many years ago. Recently I have practiced hand cranking my car just to learn the proper technique. It takes some skill not to overchoke and flood the engine and to have the controls just right. I suggest everyone do this before you need to. Use the proper hand grip so that in case the ignition is too advanced you don't break a wrist. The stock engines are easier to hand crank than engines with high compression heads and lightened flywheels. If you practice with a charged battery and you screw up and flood the engine you can use the electric starter.

If you have electronic ignition the battery may be too low in voltage to run the ignition. One reason why I removed the electronic ignition on my Model T.
 
Not in the Model A, but the Model T would just fire up sometimes without even hitting the starter, just turn the key and "BAM" she was running, guess the pistons and compression were just all in sync
 
I always pull up on the crank. Pushing down is inviting a Ford fracture. It can fire on the pull through one cylinder if the spark is retarded properly and the fuel mix is right.
 
Pushed started my A way too many times as a kid, battery wouldn’t turn the starter. I pushed the A and then would jump in push the clutch jam into second pop the clutch!
 
nkaminar said:
Many years ago. Recently I have practiced hand cranking my car just to learn the proper technique. It takes some skill not to overchoke and flood the engine and to have the controls just right. I suggest everyone do this before you need to. Use the proper hand grip so that in case the ignition is too advanced you don't break a wrist. The stock engines are easier to hand crank than engines with high compression heads and lightened flywheels. If you practice with a charged battery and you screw up and flood the engine you can use the electric starter.

If you have electronic ignition the battery may be too low in voltage to run the ignition. One reason why I removed the electronic ignition on my Model T.
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To save myself the pain and embarrassment (mainly the pain) of breaking my wrist, I set the timing with the lever one notch down. That means the plugs fire at just after TDC when the lever is all the way up. Then, there is no way it can kick back. The standard Model A engine is so "unfussy" about things like timing that it makes no difference at the high end of the rev range.
 
Hand starting ? Lay your right thumb along the right fore finger. Then grab the crank while the left lever is up and right lever down a couple clicks. You may want to pull it thru a couple times with the choke on with and key off. Turn on key, choke off and start.

I shattered my right wrist when I was 12 staring a Farmall A. I was staring it correctly until it refused to start so I got mad and just grabbed the crank with both hands and went to cranking. She belched and broke the hell out of both bones.in my right wrist. My friend and I set the wrist ourselves. We tied my hand to a full metal Jerry can and I tried to lift the can while he played with the wrist. The doctors were amazed we got it perfect, but, I still know when rain is coming. The doctors insisted it was just sprained until we and the x-rays convinced them otherwise.
It even made the local paper. The local bully though he could easily pick on me until a good smack with that cast convinced him otherwise.
 
I crank-started mine as a teenager many times when I couldn’t afford a good battery. It wasn’t that hard to do if everything was set correctly….spark retarded, hand throttle advanced a bit, and a wire to the choke plate lever on the carb. Usually one or two pulls up on the crank would do it. Full choke until the engine coughed, then the trick was to un-choke it quickly. The engine was worn and tired and fairly easy to hand crank over.
 
burner31 said:
Not in the Model A, but the Model T would just fire up sometimes without even hitting the starter, just turn the key and "BAM" she was running[...]
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Happened to me with the A once too. It was shut down and a few minutes later I turned on the ignition. Fired up because the piston stood at TDC and the cylinder was still filled with a fuel/air - mixture.


Since then I only turn on the ignition in neutral if the engine has ran before.
 
A Model T, with the trembler coil, will generate a spark with the engine at any position past top dead center. The Model A is different and will only generate spark when the points open. To get a free start on a Model A, set the piston just past top dead center and then move the ignition timing lever to generate a spark. Of course there has to be the right air/fuel mixture in the cylinder.

In the foot hills here, the locals will park their old pickups on hills as a matter of course just in case the battery is too weak to use the electric starter. Only works with manual transmissions unless you can get up to 35 mph and then only on older cars and trucks. I had a friend who had an old Mercedes 180 Diesel with about a million miles on it. He lived on a big hill and would run the car down the hill to start it. It would start at the bottom. He kept it running though his errands. He drove it across the US with containers of Diesel fuel in the trunk and never shut the engine down.
 
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I have hand crank started my car when the battery voltage was less than 2v, i have a diode cutout so the generator will add to the voltage hand cranking, I have a high charging rate because of a lot of nighttime driving (14 amps), hand cranking can make about 4 volts for me.
 
Twice- once when a bendix bolt broke at a gas station (although the battery was fine in this case), and another when the battery did not have enough juice to turn the engine over. That instance was from a dead cold start, and I did have a friend available to work the choke for me. A couple pulls with the ignition off and the choke closed to charge the cylinders, and then a couple pulls with the ignition on and the choke open and it kicked right over.
 
Many a time. Note the choke comes with a small hole at the bottom of the arm, to attach a wire, if wanted. String the wire under the radiator shell to allow you to 'choke' the carb while hand-cranking....
 
Check you battery cables for corrosion and clean the ends and the ground strap at the frame. How old is the battery??
Paul in CT
 
In my 31 coupe, Gav opened 1/2 turn, advance all the way up and throttle down two clicks. One pull with the ignition off and choke pulled. Ignition on choke in and usually one pull and "she runnin". Warm weather really helps.
Dan
 
I have a confession: I have done it in gas stations when I knew people were staring at me. I wasn't trying to be a show-off entirely, thought some people would find it amusing or historical, maybe tell a child in their car how this was cars used to be started.
 
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