My 2001 F150's battery has been giving me trouble this week, so it's getting replaced when I can get to town to do so. In the meantime, I've been carrying a portable power pack in case I need to give it a boost to get started away from home, and can use a battery charger around here if the battery goes flat.

The truck has a 5spd transmission, and my driveway is on a bit of an angle, so I wondered if it would do any harm to the truck if I were to try and roll it downhill and pop the clutch to start it. I have'nt done this, since it has'nt been an issue, really. I've done this with older trucks I've owned, but have heard that it's not recommended to do with newer vehicles. Is this true? It's just something I wondered about and figured I could find the answer here.


Thanks for any replies, and I promise I'll get to the battery in the next couple days. It's gonna rain, ya know...

 

Not the same application but my brother did this to his srt-4 before rolling down the hill, i could see the dangers in it on a truck this size but it may work, how much damage can be done trying it once, stupid question right?

 

I've never met a stick shift I was afraid to push start. I wouldn't recommend it for routine practice on anything, but in a pinch I can't see where it would hurt...

 

I've done it to fullsize trucks, cars, and motorcycles. I don't think you'll run into any sort of trouble doing so, as long as it's just a band-aid not a long term fix.

 

you have to have the key on, and enough voltage available to run the computer, fuel pump, injectors, etc, etc. If you have 12 volts but not enough amps to crank, it should work. If you have a dead cell and only 8-10 volts in the batttery, your asking for trouble.

 

The push start isn't going to hurt a thing. If the battery is dead, and that is the problem, but the alternator is charging, you will be fine. If the battery is dead and the alternator is not charging, you probably will not make it far for the reasons stated above, without electricity you have no spark or fuel injection.

 

Thanks for posting up, guys... problem solved, and I never did have to resort to giving it a push, although after reading the replies, I don't think I'd shy away from it.

Found time today to get to town, so I charged the battery and stopped off at O'Reilly's. They checked the battery and it had a dead cell, so I bought a new one, and traded off a battery from one of my tractors for the core exchange (I was a bit pressed for time, since it did'nt rain after all, and did'nt want to take a lotta time changing batteries in the parking lot). Swapped the new battery out this evening and truck fired right up.

Thanks again for the replies!