Ever have trouble starting the car.
Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 3:14 pm
Happily most modern cars don't seem to suffer the frequency of trouble that some of the older one's used to.
I can remember a time when such things as a boiling radiator, flat tyre or flat battery were fairly common, specially in the cars that had the six volt system like VWs.
My father had a little car called a Ford Prefect, and it had a six volt battery.
But if you ever had a flat battery or the starter motor failed to start the engine, this car had a cutting edge technology that was always available. The crank handle.
Just a piece of steel rod that fitted into a slot at the front of the engine , which enabled you to turn the engine over by winding a handle bent into the outer end of the rod.
Remember the days when you could crank up the old car to start it.There was a bit if an art to it. You had to let go at the right moment or when the engine fired, it could kick back and give you a nasty wallop.
Neither my VW beetle in the 60s or my fabulous Ford Cortina, back in the 70s had a crank, for starting difficulty , I had to use the old tried and true method of pushing the car then jumping the clutch.
Why don't they have now , such simple remedies as the crank handle ?
I'm not a mechanic, I'm guessing that for one thing modern engines have a compression too high to turn by hand. I'm sure there's a mechanic can put me right on that one.
I can remember a time when such things as a boiling radiator, flat tyre or flat battery were fairly common, specially in the cars that had the six volt system like VWs.
My father had a little car called a Ford Prefect, and it had a six volt battery.
But if you ever had a flat battery or the starter motor failed to start the engine, this car had a cutting edge technology that was always available. The crank handle.
Just a piece of steel rod that fitted into a slot at the front of the engine , which enabled you to turn the engine over by winding a handle bent into the outer end of the rod.
Remember the days when you could crank up the old car to start it.There was a bit if an art to it. You had to let go at the right moment or when the engine fired, it could kick back and give you a nasty wallop.
Neither my VW beetle in the 60s or my fabulous Ford Cortina, back in the 70s had a crank, for starting difficulty , I had to use the old tried and true method of pushing the car then jumping the clutch.
Why don't they have now , such simple remedies as the crank handle ?
I'm not a mechanic, I'm guessing that for one thing modern engines have a compression too high to turn by hand. I'm sure there's a mechanic can put me right on that one.