Can a vehicle with a diesel engine be push started? Has anyone ever tried doing it? I am interested in all types of vehicles but mainly 4 wheel drives with glow plugs.

I have had someone else tow me while starting a pick-up truck or a farm tractor with a Diesel engine. So, I know it can be done with those. I have a question though. Is this a vehicle with a dead battery, or one that has run out of fuel, and the fuel has been replented?

Diesels can be push started - do it in a high gear (3rd).

It would be a dead battery, Lemmy - you need to tow to a highish speed to get enough charge to open the fuel valve. For fuel, an older vehicle you might have to bleed the fuel pump but for newer ones you should just be able to start after re-fueling - no towing necessary.

How versatile am I?

Pretty versatile Copago! The one incident that I had with a truck, was that you had to start it in 3rd gear, at high speed. With a farm tractor you have to run it up to 5-8 MPH, and then pop the clutch. Most of the time in 1st gear. A friend of mine ran out of fuel one afternoon, just a scant few feet away from a pump. He owns a 2001 Dodge "dooley" truck. We had to push it up to the pump. After refueling it we couldn't get it to crank. Another guy came along with a can of B-12 Chemtool, shot a small dose of it through the air breather, and it fired up. Sometimes I have to use a can of ether, to get a cold diesel engine going on a farm tractor. It was basically the same principle. When an older diesel farm tractor runs out of fuel, the air has to be bled out of the fuel lines. My Dad who passed away a few years ago, was a diesel mechanic on locomotives, when he worked for the railroad. He knew how to bleed air out of the fuel lines. I don't. The last time I had to have it done, the mechanic smiled when he handed me a bill for $75. It is time-consuming. But he didn't seem to mind. Now, I keep a closer watch on fuel tanks. A costly lesson learned.

Before you start pushing the thing down hill in first - be sure you've given the glo plugs a few seconds to heat up. [ hard experience speaks ] Then start popping that clutch before your incline runs out! If it's cold outside, always make sure the night before that whatever you use to keep the glo plugs warm overnight is all set up. Other wise, you'll have to wait hours and hours for them to un -glop your fuel, so it can fire.

I never used ether on the Benz, but my husband sprayed it on the carburator of our 47' GMC pickup, when the weather was really cold in the morning. I know it worked well on the gasoline engine, but never tried it on the diesel.

Edited to add: we were able to start the thing in first on an incline; appparently it would've started faster and easier in third!

Wow, thanks very much for all the information people. I was refering to a flat battery but all the extra info is great to know. I live on top of a hill and was always curious to know if the car would start if I rolled it down with a flat battery. The engine isn`t large enough for the glow plugs to be a great concern and I can sometimes,like in summer, just start it without warming up the plugs. Thanks again all.

Sure, Roos - in summer the glow plugs are no big deal - but there's nothing like going out before dawn - your breath hits the air and shatters like ice crystals to start the car. The car that some genius forgot to 'plug in' the night before. You might as well go back to bed and try it again in about six hours. Nobody's going anywhere for a while...
Sheesh!

Not sure Copago. I can't find anything about aero-start on the web. Berryman manufactures different varieties of B12 Chemtool. One cleans carburetors, and another one cleans intake valves and injectors. I'm not sure which version the man sprayed into my friend's air breather. He produced it out of his toolbox, and he was driving a gasoline powered truck.

Not sure of this, 'Lemmyrules', but IME, I've I've only seen one flavor of 'B12', however, this version had toluene, benzine, and other asorted nasties, better to not be at all.

Could be. Just some web research that I was trying to find for Copago. I've never used B12 Chemtool, myself. I've always used a different brand of starting fluid manufactured by Johnson's.

I have changed the topic name back - please don't alter it once posts have been made.

Thank you.