Sam Nickaby wrote:
> I have been thinking of a good way to prevent stranding
> myself from a dead battery. It happened twice. Once at a
> beach from leaving my lights on. The other was at a college
> campus which the stereo and the dome light ran down the
> battery. Unlike the beach, the college campus have lots of
> helpful students with beat up cars that have jumper cables.
> Now, I have a new idea. Once my battery runs dry, I
> remove my alternator belt and wrap a rope around the
> alternator pulley. I then pull the rope so it'll turn 10
> revolutions per pull. I keep doing this for about 20 times.
>
> What is the possibility that this will supply enough charge
> to start the car. If not, can somebody think of a clever idea
> to start an automatic?
>
> Thanks

I don't think that a) you will spin the engine fast enough to start it
or b) that if the battery is dead you will be able to generate enough
juice while doing as you suggest to power up the engine electronics,
fuel pump, etc. You *certainly* won't with the alternator belt removed.

If this is of real concern to you, I would get one of those "booster
packs" and keep it in the trunk; alternately, get one of those gizmos
that straps to the battery that will cut the power to the vehicle when
the battery is significantly (but not fully) discharged - the idea is
that there should be enough juice left for one good crank after you
reset the thing.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel