How dead can a battrey be when trying to push-start a car? (vehicle, manual transmission)
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OK folks, annoying situation here: starter on my car is dead, and the hood won't open either. So the car has been sitting around for a while because I just don't have the money to fix it. I figured I would push-start it periodically and drive it around to keep the battery charged up. Well, yesterday when I went to check on it the battery was pretty drained. It will still operate the locks, and it will still roll the windows up and down (though barely). But that's about it. Anyone's guess as to whether there would be enough juice to power the ignition system to get it started? I sure as hell don't want to have to pay $75 to have it towed 5 blocks to the repair shop.
Car in question is a 1995 Saab 900 in case it makes a difference.
Seems to me that the easiest thing to do would be to just try (and push it back if needed), but even easier: Get the hood unstuck, it's usually not as hard as it seems.
I have a beater truck that has been sitting around for a while. I threw the charger on the battery and left it for a day and it is still drawing current. Like in your case, on its own, it has enough power to illuminate the interior and power small items but not enough energy to engage the starter. My battery is gone but yours may not be.
With the hood being stuck why not roll start it, get it running, go get a battery and then find someone to open the hood?
Once the vehicle is started all electrical items will be powered by the alternator.
Push-starting a car that hasn't been run for a while takes time. However, you should be able to do it even if the battery is completely flat. In fact, you could even remove the battery entirely as long as you connect the battery cables to one another.
Push-starting a car that hasn't been run for a while takes time. However, you should be able to do it even if the battery is completely flat. In fact, you could even remove the battery entirely as long as you connect the battery cables to one another.
That depends on whether or not it's an EFI doesn't it?
The battery has to able to conduct electricity through it, but can be completely dead. Many cars including most Chrysler products will not idle after they start so you may have to keep your foot on the gas.
I would mess with the hood some more, they can be tricky but don't give up. Try to find a cheap reconditioned battery. Then locate the starter and try tapping it with a hammer. I had to do this on my 95 Dodge Ram for like a month til I got the money to fix it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it dont.
One other interesting thing on this topic, if you use ea modern charger (electronic with LED's) they often won't detect a totally dead battery even if the battery is still good. I say get an old time shauer with a meter on the front just in case.
Push-starting a car that hasn't been run for a while takes time. However, you should be able to do it even if the battery is completely flat. In fact, you could even remove the battery entirely as long as you connect the battery cables to one another.
that was true when we had generators instead of alternators. these days as long as the battery has enough energy to power a light bulb, you can push start the car, though with efi it might take a couple of tries. one more thing though, you need a car with a manual transmission to push start a car these days since it has been quite sometime since automatic transmissions have had a rear pump.
Push-starting a car that hasn't been run for a while takes time. However, you should be able to do it even if the battery is completely flat. In fact, you could even remove the battery entirely as long as you connect the battery cables to one another.
Not on a car such as the Saab Drover is asking about.
In addition to the ignition system, the battery must power a high pressure fuel pump as well as the fuel injection system for the car to start. That's a lot of amps draw, and the alternator will not produce power if there isn't a current from the battery for the exciter circuit. No battery ... no power from the alternator ... no fuel, no ignition ... no start.
However, where this car has enough power left to slowly run the electric windows, there should be enough voltage/amps left to get the alternator to come on line, which will then power the ignition and fuel systems.
I'd try towing this car at about 30 mph for what should be only a short distance ... perhaps a couple of blocks ... to get it running. If it's a manual trans, tow it up to the 30 mph, then put it into 2nd gear, drop the clutch, and get that motor spinning to bring the alternator on-line and the system voltage up to where the fuel pump will provide adequate pressure for the injectors to inject.
As an aside, connecting the battery cables to each other would be a dead short on the alternator output. If you had a running car with a generating system producing power, you'd have a dead short on the output ... even a generator using car, the pre-alternator cars, would burn up the generator very quickly with no power for anything else. The only car I can forsee that would continue running, if already started and you disconnected the battery cables and hooked them together would be a mechanical fuel pump diesel car, such as an MB, VW/Audi, or Peugeot ... with the old style cable or vacuum operated fuel shut-down. Of course, there could be adverse consequences for the electrical/electronics systems of the car.
Last edited by sunsprit; 08-28-2010 at 01:12 PM..
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