For most vehicles, you will need to take the key that came with the vehicle. You can usually also use a spare, provided it has been made properly. Some newer cars may not have a traditional key. You will need to find a button to start the car on these vehicles; this is usually labeled something like “engine start” and placed in a conspicuous location. [3] X Research source
If the car has an automatic gearbox, there will be only two pedals. In some automatic cars, a flat rubber pad is placed on the far left of the driver’s foot area; this is a “dead pedal” meant to be a place to rest your foot and is not a pedal. Automatic cars have a device called a neutral safety switch that prevents the starter from engaging unless the shift selector is in the “P” or “N” positions (“Park” or “Neutral”). This prevents the car from starting in gear.
If the car has a manual gearbox, the car will have three pedals; the one on the left is the clutch pedal. It is important to make sure the car is in neutral — meaning that none of the gears are engaged - before attempting to start the car. If the car is “in gear” or sending power from the engine through the transmission to the wheels when the engine starts, the car will lurch when starting up and then stall. Damage to transmissions can also occur in some vehicles if they are started in gear. You can verify that a manual transmission car is in neutral by lightly jiggling the shifter; if it moves freely, then the transmission is not in gear. If the shifter feels stiff, then the car is in gear. While depressing the clutch with your foot, move the gearstick out of gear before starting the car.
Release the key just after twisting to the ignition point. If you keep the key turned as far as it will go after the engine is running, you will hear a very ugly grinding sound that comes from the gears in the starter and the gears in the engine grinding together. This is of course very bad for the car. The first two notches are labeled ‘ACC’ for ‘accessories’ and the second labeled ‘ON’. The first position enables usage of the radio and other electrical accessories; the ‘ON’ position is the position that the key springs back to after pressing against the ignition.
If the key will not move past the first or second notch and the steering wheel will not move, the car has a steering lock engaged. A steering lock is a safety device designed to help make sure the car doesn’t start unattended. On these cars you may have to ‘jiggle’ or shake the steering wheel back and forth a little to allow the keys to turn. [5] X Research source If the car will not start, try pressing firmly on the brake pedal and/or clutch pedal while then turning the key. This is a feature with some newer cars intended to prevent them from taking off unpredictably when they are turned on. If the car still will not start, try turning the key in the other direction. Some older cars may not follow the same conventions as modern cars.
Once the engine is running, do not release the clutch suddenly with the engine in gear and no pressure on the accelerator; this will result in sudden vehicle movement and most likely stall the engine, causing it to suddenly stop running. You can prevent this from happening by ensuring that the car is not in gear before starting (using the gearshift-jiggling method above).
If the car was made before 1990, assume the car has a carburetor. A carburetor is a mechanical device that mixes air and fuel and feeds it into the engine. On these cars, “pump the gas” a few times by pressing the accelerator pedal before starting. Pumping the gas in the causes the carburetor to release a small amount of fuel into the engine. Each time you depress the gas pedal on a car equipped with a carburetor, more liquid gas will be squirted into the engine. Be careful when you are pumping the gas on a cold car. Adding too much gas before a start may “flood” the engine, filling it with too much fuel and too little air to ignite properly since liquid fuel does not easily burn. (See the tip on starting a flooded engine. ) If the engine has been flooded, press the gas pedal fully to the floor and crank the engine over. A fully depressed pedal will allow extra air into the engine to dry out the extra fuel. You may have to crank the engine longer than normal to get it to start. When it starts, release the gas.
