Push start fail?

So...I left my fog lights on today and killed the battery. My truck has had a little trouble starting when it's cold out. Anyways, I tried to push start it by rolling it down the hill, popping the clutch, etc., with no luck, but after several attempts and ending up at the bottom of the hill in my neighborhood I gave up on trying to start it. I tried it in first and second gear. Is it possible to push start these trucks? (2nd gen, 4cyl, 5spd) Isn't that one of the main reasons to have a standard? Or do I have bigger problems?

 

ignition on? 2nd or 3rd gear works best.

 

Maybe batt so dead no fuel pump action. How long did it sit for?

 

Yea, ignition on. Though, the cab lights weren't dim, they were completely off. Connections to the battery were good. Wouldn't have thought about 3rd. I've done it in a Samuri before and it was so simple. Does the switch depressed by the clutch have anything to do with it? Only sat for ~8hrs.

 

same thing happened to me one night, i popped the clutch in reverse and turned on fine.

 

I'm surprised it worked on yours.
It is normally impossible to push start a modern EFI engine.
The fuel pump has to run and feed fuel to the rail.
The ECU has to boot up and operate the ignition....

That is not going to happen in a couple of seconds like it used to with mechanical ignitions and fuel pumps... it doesn't take much left in the battery to initiate a usable spark in one of those.

If the cab lights aren't even coming on, there's not enough to boot up the ECU and operate the ignition or fuel pump.

 

Also, now that you've completely dumped that battery, it will fail much sooner than normal... if it even recovers from this instance.
Deep cycling a normal battery can kill as much as 20% of the battery's capacity.
If that battery is more than a year or two old, save yourself the headache of coming out one morning to a dead battery and just replace it today.

 

Interesting, I've never had the need to push start a Tacoma, but I've push started many EFI bikes and never had an issue.

 

Dirtbikes or street?

The Kawasaki Vulcan is a double zinger... the clutch is designed to slip if the wheel is spinning faster than the engine so a moron rider doesn't lock up his rear wheel by downshifting too soon, and add that to the ECU and fuel pump.

The Vulcan ECU is very voltage-sensitive. It'll give you a warning that the battery is going... you'll start it, it'll run for a few seconds, then die, and when you check, your clock and trip odometer are reset.
It might go for another week before the battery won't start, or it might be two more trips.

 

Used to be able to push start both my '98 Civic and my '02 F-150, both 5 speeds and EFI. Are these not modern enough?

 

With the battery so dead that it wouldn't light the cab lights like the OP indicated?


And the '02 is 10 years old now

 

The 2nd gen Taco is almost 9. Don't remember if I had lights or not

 

You had to have enough to run the fuel pump and boot the ECU.

 

I'd suggest you edit your original post as it is clearly not "normally impossible" to push start and EFI engine

 

Thanks guys, I can always count on TW! That makes sense about needing a little bit of power. Looks like I'll be buying a new battery, or at least having it tested. Maybe now I'll be motivated to wire my fog lights through the ecu so that they go off with the headlights...

 

Jumper cables are cheap dude.

 

If you're looking for an easy "fog lights any time" that'll allow the fogs to run without the headlights, just connect the switched lead to the relay to the ACC buss instead of the BAT buss.

At least then, the fogs will shut off with the ignition.

If you want them available with high or low beam, then tie it to the taillights.

 

does clutch-start button have anything to do with this?

 

Nope. Not necessary to do anything with the button. I've bomb started mine a few times just for "bowel movements and laughter", and it works fine if there is at least minimal battery power.

As said, the bomb start attempts did not work because the battery was stone dead and did not even power the ECM and fuel pump, or the field winding in the alternator for it to start producing any power.

 

lol "bomb starts"? "bowel movements and laughter"? im gunna borrow those if thats ok