How do you push start a car with a manual transmission?


1. Get the car to the top of a stretch of clear downhill road, or get people who will push you there.

2. Fully depress the clutch and put the car in second gear (first gear if you’ll be rolling slowly; choose the gear that you would normally use at that speed, and faster is better).

3. Turn the ignition to on.

4. Leaving the clutch fully depressed, take your foot off the brake and start rolling down the hill (or get people to start pushing you).

5. Coast down the hill until you reach 5+ miles per hour (faster is better).

6. Release the clutch quickly while giving some gas; the engine should turn and start. You may need to feather the clutch/gas to keep the engine running at first.

7. If it doesn’t start the first time, depress the clutch and release it again.