A dumb question is the one you dont ask

Okay....... I'll have a go. If it's sand, then when yoy let the clutch out, wont the wheels just drag in the sand like brakes?

While never have had to roll start my (or anyone else's diesel for that matter) I suspect that if the engine was warm/hot and you could get a roll up there is no reason it wouldn't start. Let it cool down and you'd have somewhere between Buckley's and bugger all chance of getting it going. I always carry a Super Crap battery pack - haven't used it on myself yet but used it on many other vehicles.
Great investment for about $50.
Cheers
Pete

no such thing as a dumb question.
only dumb answers

I can remember the days when they cranked em by hand ... and that was to get it started! You sure can start them by dropping the clutch however they will be a bit cantankerous when dead cold. Some of the higher tech stuff will need a power source to excite the electrics before the push begins.
Cheers

let my mate park my 3.0l Gu at the boat ramp the other day and he left the lights on! (what's that beeping noise you say!!!) and returned that evening to find a completely dead batt. Not even the alarm would chirp. I tried to roll start it going down the boat ramp and it wouldn't even fire. I suspect because the glow plugs were dead cold I wasn't going to get any joy. Defeats the purpose of getting a manual really!

Leroy

Paul,

If you can turn your diesel engine off with the key, it will have an electric solenoid on the stopper on the fuel pump (car, bus, tractor etc).

If your battery is dead flat, you won't be able to energize this solenoid and so you won't be able to start your engine by towing etc no matter how hard you try.

I have seen 2 guys try to tow start a diesel for 1/2 an hour once near our botanical gardens (I offered a jump start but they were "nah, we're right mate" sort of guys). I left them with it after they called RACQ as one was a member.

We have several farm Hilux's that can be hard to start on cold mornings. A trick we use is to push the vehicle backwards and when you get a roll up you turn on the key. This uses the last of the power to energize the stopper solenoid and charge the glows. When the glow light goes out, jump in, hit the clutch, select reverse and then dump the clutch as you hit the starter. Works every time but is harder if the battery is too flat to wind the engine over at all. We use reverse so that we can use the tray bars to push on. Good thing the Lux's are light. If you are going to try this in a forward gear, use 2nd gear and watch what you use to push with. Don't run over yourself!

I would not like your chances of tow starting etc a vehicle in cold weather if you only had enough power to hold the stopper solenoid and not charge the glows. That is not a problem up here in CQ as we don't get below 10 on too many occasions.

Regs,
Chris.

When I was having battery probs on my Ford Maverick TD/GQ ute I used to bump start it in reverse, backwards down my sloping driveway quite regularly. As long there's enough in the battery to hold the fuel solenoid in (very low current req'd), it was a bit rough with no glow plugs, but it started. Just had to hold it on high RPMs on idle until it got the engine warmed up. Mind you I live near the caost in Perth and it doesn't get below freezing.

Bilbo

Have been involved push starting two diesels successfully.

One was GQ with a flat battery (two actually - why I don't have a manual battery isolator!) from running a fridge, another a Toyota 40 series that was close to death in every respect. Both on cold engines. Neither was much of a problem. As said above you do generally need enough juice for the fuel solenoid (which I am more familiar with than I ever wanted to be after the kill switch the previous owner attached to mine failed and I didn't know it was there!!) but I don't believe it needs much juice. So yeah, not a problem most of the time.

Personally, I have a dual battery and jumper cables.

Paul, dunno about you mate, but I have learnt 3 things about my diesel if the battery is flat.
Thanks for asking the question for all of us.

Cheers