What's the best gear to use to push start the engine?

So my starter motor went out today. It is the original starter. I can hear the starter spinning when I turn the key, except it isn't engaging the flywheel to turn the engine over. I tried tapping on the starter, except it didn't help.

Anyway, my driveway is on an incline so I have been push starting the car. I actually don't have to push it. I just let the car roll and let go of the clutch with the car in gear. It starts up right away! It actually runs really well, except for the starter being broken.

So what's the best gear to use to start the engine? I have gotten it to start using 1st gear, 2nd gear, and I even tried 4th gear once. From my experience 1st and 2nd gear work well. I got it to start in 4th, except it was really jerky and I wouldn't recommend it.

 

What ever works for you.

You also might want to check whether the teeth on the flywheel or starter are broken or worn.

 

First is generally the best idea. Higher gears won't make the engine rotate as much, which risks it not starting. You're SOL if you reach the bottom of the hill and the car still isn't running.

 

5th works best. But you have to shove the clutch in as soon as you see the tach jump. If you don't have a tach you can try to listen for it firing and shove the clutch in as soon you think it's kicked.

 

reverse works fine for me but not in the hill first is the best

 

This question can only be asked on Honda-Tech, hahah

This made my day

 

Not sure if trolling...

Using 1st is a good way to rip the hub out of the clutch disc. The higher the gear the easier it is to turn the engine over.

 

Damn I didn't know that. I push started mine a while back using 1st.

 

I've started my car dozens of times in first with no trouble. By my thinking, the gear is dependent on the speed your car reaches before you dump the clutch. If you're under 10 mph, 1st should be fine. Anything over that, 2nd or 3rd should be used.

The way I see it, when you dump the clutch the transmission is going to force the engine to turn over. A (relatively) high speed while in a low gear will spell bad news when you go to dump the clutch because the transmission has to force the engine to turn 2-3k rpm right off the bat. Not a good idea.

Now if you use 2nd or 3rd gear, you only force the engine to turn at 1-1.5k rpm which is a much easier load on the transmission. It's enough to get the transmission engine running and firing and if its dead, get the battery charging off the alternator.

 

I also thought starting higher gear would be better because a higher gear will turn the engine over less times. I agree with that in theory.

However, in practice I found 2nd gear to be the easiest because as soon as the engine starts up you can leave the car in gear and drive away. The one time I started the car in 4th gear it was a little tricky. The engine started, and then the car started "bucking" because the gear was too high and then it stalled right away. So then I pushed the clutch in, and let the car roll again. This time as soon the car started, I pushed the clutch in and it started. When it did start in 4th gear, it did start much more easily, however you have to be quick with the clutch or else the car will stall right away.

The positive side to the story is that I didn't need to replace the starter motor. I was able to replace the solenoid wire and everything works again. The other positive side is that I can now say I have push started my car several times. Before this week, I never thought I would have said that.