Does anyone Start Their Engine with the Crank

1941 - 1945, MB, GPW Technical questions and discussions, regarding anything related to the WWII jeep.
Scrumps
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Re: Does anyone Start Their Engine with the Crank

Post by Scrumps » Thu Oct 14, 2021 11:08 pm

Hi,

I had to start mine with the crank at the pub the other night or walk home!

A quick clean of the engine earth strap connections the following day sorted the dopey starter motor!

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Dec '42 Willys MB
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Vic ALLAN
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Re: Does anyone Start Their Engine with the Crank

Post by Vic ALLAN » Fri Oct 15, 2021 3:01 am

I was taught how to hand crank when on the farm . When I was strong enough to do it . Do not wrap thumb around the handle , pull up and over .
Do not try to crank by pushing down from the 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock .
Never had a problem even if the engine kicked back , just wakes one up a little to see how hard it kicks .
Cheers
Vic
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JeePa
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Re: Does anyone Start Their Engine with the Crank

Post by JeePa » Fri Oct 15, 2021 6:34 pm

Interesting history to alternative to hand crank starting of auto engines. In 1910, Byron Carter came to the aid of a woman whose Cadillac stalled on a bridge over the Detroit River. When he attempted to hand crank the engine, it backfired and threw the crank into his face fracturing his jaw which lead to infection and death by “blood poisoning” (sepsis). Byron was a good friend of a Henry Leland, who was head of Cadillac at the time and who was so distressed by the loss of his friend and the fact it was a Cadillac that he turned to Charles Kettering, a self taught electrical engineer, with a request to invent a safer alternative to staring auto engines. By 1912, Kettering had put the whole automobile electric system together ; starter, battery, ignition timing, battery recharging, voltage regulator and operational lighting.
Out of mishap, misfortune and misery, motivation and innovation lead to the automobile electrical system.
I learned most of this at the elbow of a senior diesel mechanic while employed in a Detroit Diesel facility during my high school years. But Hagerty Media article by Ronnie Schreiber 29 August 2019 summed it up pretty well.
No, I do not own a crank. My wife says that I am enough of one when things are not going well in the shop. :lol:
Highest Regards, JeePa
(BTW, Kettering invented the incubator, an apparatus very dear to me in the years I spent delivering babies.)

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Re: Does anyone Start Their Engine with the Crank

Post by YLG80 » Sat Oct 16, 2021 12:06 am

JeePa wrote:
Fri Oct 15, 2021 6:34 pm
Interesting history to alternative to hand crank starting of auto engines. In 1910, Byron Carter came to the aid of a woman whose Cadillac stalled on a bridge over the Detroit River. When he attempted to hand crank the engine, it backfired and threw the crank into his face fracturing his jaw which lead to infection and death by “blood poisoning” (sepsis). Byron was a good friend of a Henry Leland, who was head of Cadillac at the time and who was so distressed by the loss of his friend and the fact it was a Cadillac that he turned to Charles Kettering, a self taught electrical engineer, with a request to invent a safer alternative to staring auto engines. By 1912, Kettering had put the whole automobile electric system together ; starter, battery, ignition timing, battery recharging, voltage regulator and operational lighting.
Out of mishap, misfortune and misery, motivation and innovation lead to the automobile electrical system.
I learned most of this at the elbow of a senior diesel mechanic while employed in a Detroit Diesel facility during my high school years. But Hagerty Media article by Ronnie Schreiber 29 August 2019 summed it up pretty well.
No, I do not own a crank. My wife says that I am enough of one when things are not going well in the shop. :lol:
Highest Regards, JeePa
(BTW, Kettering invented the incubator, an apparatus very dear to me in the years I spent delivering babies.)
Nice piece of history. Thanks for sharing it.
Yves
Ford GPW 1943 - Louisville - DoD 12-7-43
serial 164794

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Re: Does anyone Start Their Engine with the Crank

Post by HankII » Sat Oct 16, 2021 4:42 am

JeePa » Fri Oct 15, 2021 7:34 pm

Interesting history to alternative to hand crank...
I'll second that - Nifty Story.

And another Pearl - Antigo, WI Iwo Jima Flag Raiser John Bradley's home town.

Sadly, Like Ira Hayes, He Won't Answer Anymore.
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