Starting handle question
Discussion
I think know what a starting handle does, but i can't find much info about how they actually work, like a diagram or something.
Never having experienced one, i'd just like an answer to this question.
If the handle is used to spin the crankshaft, what stops the handle spinning around endlessly after the car has started?
Every video i've seen just shows the handle sat there after starting the car, but how if it's still connected to the crankshaft? I don't understand what disengages it from the crank?
Never having experienced one, i'd just like an answer to this question.
If the handle is used to spin the crankshaft, what stops the handle spinning around endlessly after the car has started?
Every video i've seen just shows the handle sat there after starting the car, but how if it's still connected to the crankshaft? I don't understand what disengages it from the crank?
Amused2death said:
The connection between starting handle and crankshaft has a one way taper so as the engine starts and rotates faster than the starting handle it's force out a fraction and disengages.
In theory. I nearly had my arm ripped off starting a Morris minor when the starting handle got stuck and decided it wanted to be an aeroplane. 
But yes, that’s how they work.
)Bagzie88 said:
Kindoff off topic but I once had a go at using the starting handle on tiger 131 , some of the Germans must have had strong arms.
Starting a 21 litre 700hp engine was impossible for me at 17 years old even with built in gearing to make it easier.
They had motorbike starters for the bigger stuffStarting a 21 litre 700hp engine was impossible for me at 17 years old even with built in gearing to make it easier.
Put back wheel of a bike onto a wheel that's spina shaft to start trucks ect
Allthough they were supposed to be rare
https://youtu.be/QWNhEhOUqt0
It was the only possible way to start my first car in cold weather. You soon learn to keep your thumb out of way, I promise you!
And if it backfires (as it often did), the handle then suddenly goes the other way and rattles your knuckles like you've never felt before.
When I first tried it, our road echoed to the sound of "Ooooo ya bastid!!" at 7 in the morning.
And if it backfires (as it often did), the handle then suddenly goes the other way and rattles your knuckles like you've never felt before.
When I first tried it, our road echoed to the sound of "Ooooo ya bastid!!" at 7 in the morning.
Detachable handles are for pussies - this is one of ours....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o-Lrlbzzso
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ck0IysZoZQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o-Lrlbzzso
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ck0IysZoZQ
I tried to start my Series-III Land-Rover Diesel using the starting handle when I had a flat battery on a cold morning. I cranked and cranked for ages getting only one cough from the engine. Exhausted, I sat in the driver’s seat for a rest and realised I had the engine stop pulled out. It would never have started, the cough was probably oil leaking past the valve stem oil seals igniting. Too tired to try again I called a friend for a tow start with their Land-Rover.
I used to have a flathead V8-powered 1938 Ford pickup that I often started with a crank. It was a lot easier when it was warmed up...
I also had a 1973 A50 van that had a crank - it would cold start very easily. It used to make me chuckle that a van made a year before the Lambo Countach came out with a crank handle.
Remember to keep your thumb on the same side as yoour fingers when cranking.
I also had a 1973 A50 van that had a crank - it would cold start very easily. It used to make me chuckle that a van made a year before the Lambo Countach came out with a crank handle.
Remember to keep your thumb on the same side as yoour fingers when cranking.
While the mass-production cars had fairly spindly but just about adequate starting handles, further up the pecking order they were pretty substantial and you certainly wouldn't want to argue with someone wielding one. Or drop it on your foot!
Some cars like pre-war Baby Austins had them permanently fitted in a "snout" at the front of the engine. Obviously they disengaged as described above when the engine fired but at least you didn't have to scrabble about in the car to find it.
There was a tremendous kerfuffle when the Morris Mini and Austin Se7en came out at the end of the fifties as they didn't have any provision for a handle so all sorts of weird arrangements came on the market to placate the old-school drivers who didn't trust the starter motor.
Some cars like pre-war Baby Austins had them permanently fitted in a "snout" at the front of the engine. Obviously they disengaged as described above when the engine fired but at least you didn't have to scrabble about in the car to find it.
There was a tremendous kerfuffle when the Morris Mini and Austin Se7en came out at the end of the fifties as they didn't have any provision for a handle so all sorts of weird arrangements came on the market to placate the old-school drivers who didn't trust the starter motor.
Bagzie88 said:
Kindoff off topic but I once had a go at using the starting handle on tiger 131 , some of the Germans must have had strong arms.
Starting a 21 litre 700hp engine was impossible for me at 17 years old even with built in gearing to make it easier.
That's impossibly cool, how did you end up doing that? Would love the chance to sniff around 131, or the Konig at Saumur.Starting a 21 litre 700hp engine was impossible for me at 17 years old even with built in gearing to make it easier.
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