Eli5: When a car stops randomly or won’t start up, why does pushing the car get it started?
In: 4
When a car is turned on and you’re driving, the engine is spinning, and the spinning engine corresponds to the wheels spinning because the engine is connected to the axles via the driveshaft.
When you first turn on the car, a small electric motor called the starter is used to get the engine spinning. The engine is too heavy to just start spinning on its own, so when you turn the key the starter gets the engine spinning, and once it has started to spin, it’ll keep spinning under its own power.
In a car with a manual transmission, you can push start the car by putting the car in neutral and pushing it. Once the car is going fast enough, you step on the clutch and turn the key. The reason this works is because when you step on the clutch, it connects the driveshaft to the engine. Since the wheels are turning, the driveshaft is spinning, and if the driveshaft is spinning fast enough, it’ll provide enough force to get the engine spinning – basically replicating what the starter does.
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