Wow, that was a strange experience. I have a 2001 MT whose battery died the other night - no explanation, nothing left on as far as I could tell (lights, doors, etc.). It was a colder than usual evening, but not very cold (44 here in Santa Monica, CA) and I had been on a relatively long drive (220mi round trip) where I was using the CD player (which could be the culprit) the day before...but that aside, when I got in the car it wouldn't turn over or anything, so I thought, 'Hmm, dead battery. Why not push start this thing?'
So, I rolled it down the alley where I live and popped the clutch and the car purred to life, but the dash never lit up and it still showed the typical lights as if it was off (brake, battery, oil, etc.). I drove it about 1/2 mile, but when I shifted into 2nd gear it would just totally stall and make a terrible clunking noise (assist trying to work?). I got to another hill where I could coast down if I needed to start it again, killed it and called the road side assistance.
I thought I killed the electric motor or something - because it never started, the terrible clunking sound, etc - and I was planning to be towed to the dealer for repair (the worst). But the tow truck came, the guy jumped me, the car came to life, he followed me to the dealer who told me all they would do was run a battery check, and because everything seemed fine I just drove on and everything has been fine since.
Ever have this happen? Any explanations? It seems crazy that you could start the combustion engine without the electric engine (that one could run w/o the other), but I guess in the future I'll stick to jumping it and not pop the clutch.
So, I rolled it down the alley where I live and popped the clutch and the car purred to life, but the dash never lit up and it still showed the typical lights as if it was off (brake, battery, oil, etc.). I drove it about 1/2 mile, but when I shifted into 2nd gear it would just totally stall and make a terrible clunking noise (assist trying to work?). I got to another hill where I could coast down if I needed to start it again, killed it and called the road side assistance.
I thought I killed the electric motor or something - because it never started, the terrible clunking sound, etc - and I was planning to be towed to the dealer for repair (the worst). But the tow truck came, the guy jumped me, the car came to life, he followed me to the dealer who told me all they would do was run a battery check, and because everything seemed fine I just drove on and everything has been fine since.
Ever have this happen? Any explanations? It seems crazy that you could start the combustion engine without the electric engine (that one could run w/o the other), but I guess in the future I'll stick to jumping it and not pop the clutch.