1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
There were some US cars made with secondary rear hydraulic pumps, i.e., pumps driven off the output shaft, that could be push started by another car. You pushed the car up to 20-30 mph and then put it in gear...at that speed the hydraulic pump had enough pressure to lockup the plates/clutches and drive the torque converter and thus start the engine. Modern automatics only have front hydraulic pumps and once the engine is stopped have no hydraulic pressure available to operate the transmission which defaults to neutral.
You should be able to jumpstart the car (which I though always referred to a battery but waddoIknow) with either a separate battery or one still installed in another vehicle. Technically you're supposed to charge the dead battery before trying to start the dead car, but most people just hook up jumper cables and let her rip.
The issue here is a dead battery in cold weather is often/probably frozen, and if you use a good battery or operating car to start the frozen car engine, either the process of jumping the battery or recharging it from the now-operating engine/alternator has the potential to explode the battery.
Official recommendation is to remove the dead battery and charge it up overnight or until initial charging current drops by 50%, assuming you have thawed the dead battery and initial charging current is at least 10 amps...any less and you have probably got sulphated plates or a dead battery in which case replace the battery. Do not jump the battery in the car unless you want to risk popping it.
If you do decide to charge the battery in the car, hook up the dead battery connections first, i.e., + terminal on dead battery to + terminal on charging car. Then - terminal on dead battery to either - terminal on charging car or preferably a ground/frame member away from the charging battery...sometimes overkill but when/if you get a spark, it's not good to have it around a warm battery which may be kicking out hydrogen/oxygen gases.
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