Imagine you’re out on a solo hike. When you get back to your vehicle, you realize you left the lights on and your battery is dead. You crank the key just in case, but the starter can’t even turn your engine over. Well, if you have a vehicle with a manual transmission, you can roll start it. And if you’re stuck without a hill to roll start, you may even be able to jack it up and spin a wheel to start the engine.

How to roll start a dead car

If your battery is dead, your safest option is to get a jump start from another vehicle. But if you’re truly stranded, roll starting a manual transmission car is an option. To make a long story short, you’re going to get your car rolling, put it in gear, pop the clutch, and use your momentum to force the engine to spin over. This spins the engine the same way your starter motor would if your battery weren’t dead. If your key’s ignition is set to “on,” and your battery has even six volts of charge left, it should be able to fire your spark plugs and start the engine. Once your car’s running, your alternator can recharge your battery.

How do you do this? Turn your key to “on.” Shift the car into first gear, then release your handbrake and press your clutch pedal. Have your friend(s) push your car down a hill. Get up to 10 mph and shout for anyone pushing to let go. Then release your clutch pedal, forcing the engine to spin. The car may buck a couple of times, then the engine should start.

Note that without your engine running, your steering wheel will take extra work to turn, and your brakes will be weak. You can see how to roll start/push start/bump start a car in the video below:

How to start a stranded or stuck car

Let’s say your car not only has a flat battery, but it’s stuck in a muddy parking lot. Or maybe you have no friends to push it and there isn’t a hill in sight. You may have one more option: Jack up your car and manually spin the wheel.

Just like a push start or roll start, your goal is to turn over the engine by spinning the wheels. But this time, you’re doing it while your car is stuck in place. I first encountered this method when Australian surfer, outdoorsman, and mechanic Finn Landre demonstrated it with his swoon-worthy vintage Volvo. Landre calls it, “a bush mechanic trick that’s so good, it might actually save your life.”

“Find your driving wheel and jack up the car. The second step: put your car in a high gear—I’m going to use third. Turn your ignition on. Now your third step is wrapping the wheel with the rope. I’m using surfboard straps, but you can use any kind of rope that you want. The fourth step: make sure that you chock at least one of the wheels. With all that done, you’re ready to get your strap and give it an almighty pull.”

— @Finn.Noosa via TikTok

You can see Landre demonstrate in the video below, then read on to find out whether this will work for your car.

Finn Landre’s method for pull-starting a dead Volvo

First and foremost, this only works because Landre’s gorgeous vintage Volvo 240 has what’s called an “open differential.” That essentially means one rear wheel can spin at full speed without the opposite wheel spinning at all. An open differential isn’t great if you’re stuck off-road. But if he had what’s called a “limited-slip differential,” then when he spun one wheel, the other one would have spun.

You can still jack up a car and spin start it with a limited-slip or locking differential. But you’ll need to jack up both drive wheels. Also, double check 4WD isn’t engaged or you’ll spin the front wheels. With a FWD car, just jack up a front wheel. Place the car in a high gear. Double-check the key’s “on.” Then yank your rope like you’re pull-starting a huge lawnmower.

Landre’s lucky he had a flat ratchet strap holding his surfboard in place. The flat shape is perfect for wrapping around his tire. I’ve seen other enthusiasts demonstrate the same technique with rope. I’ve even read about survivalists deflating a rear tire so the rope doesn’t slip off. But obviously, you’ll need a compressor on board to re-inflate it. Finally, I suppose you could remove the tire from your spare rim to make a pulley if you needed a lot more rope. But with a small-displacement gasoline engine, you should be able to start it with just a couple of winds of rope.

Land Rover enthusiast Geoff of the “Seriously Series” YouTube channel demonstrated a third technique. Geoff is also Australian and obviously a complete stud. Instead of wrapping a rope around his rear tire, he jacked up his Land Rover, grabbed the tire with his bare hands, and spun it until his engine fired. (Seriously, what’s with the Australian survivalists?) Again, he has an open differential, so he only had to jack up one tire. See Geoff showing off in this final video:

When spinning a rear wheel will not start your dead car

Landre’s TikTok video earned a 18,700 likes. Fair enough, it’s an impressive trick. Unfortunately, it won’t work for most driver’s in the U.S. And no, it’s not because engines spin in the opposite direction north of the equator.

A bump start, push start, roll start, or fancy spin start with a rope will only work with a manual transmission car. Why? An automatic car that isn’t running won’t spin the engine when you spin the wheels. That’s because you need to fire up the engine and create hydraulic pressure to engage the transmission.

In a place like the United States, where the vast majority of vehicles have automatic transmissions, you rarely see folks roll start their cars. In fact, I doubt many U.S. drivers even know it’s an option. If you are off-roading with an automatic transmission vehicle, it’s doubly important you have a jump pack or a friend with some jumper cables. If you’re camping for a long time, it’s wise to disconnect your battery just to be safe.