I had my 1st experience with doing a push start today. I was going to post a thread with some questions, but I'll just piggyback on this one.
I turned the key the wrong way this morning, leaving the lights on, and when I came out after work, the battery had died. I was afraid I would have to call the Suzuki dealer to come rescue me, because I wasn't sure exactly how to jump start it. (I'm still not sure how to jump start it; I'm not even sure where the terminals are.)
I first tried push starting it by putting it in 1st gear with the clutch in, getting up as much speed as I could, then letting out the clutch. All I did was skid to a stop, with no sound at all from the engine.
Then I tried starting in neutral, getting up as much speed as I could, and popping it into 1st without using the clutch (although I may have used the clutch out of habit; I don't remember). This worked. I was actually rather surprised, because I've never push started anything in my life.
So, now I have a few questions....
Did I just get lucky that it started on my 2nd attempt? If I ever have to do this again, should I use the same technique, or one of the techniques mentioned in the previous posts?
How long does it take to recharge the battery? My ride home is about 10 minutes, and I let it run a few minutes longer after I got home, so it probably ran about 15 minutes. I haven't tried restarting it yet, but I'm just wondering if that is sufficient time for it to recharge.
I've tried in the past to check the solution level of the battery, but I can't see anything. The battery is inside a chrome box, with a cutout exposing some white plastic with two red lines. I ought to be able to see the solution level somewhere between those two lines, but it seems like the plastic is too opaque, because I can't see anything. Does anyone else have this problem?