Step By Step How To Safely Jump Start Your Car

How To Safely Jump Start Your Car

1

Open each car's hood and locate the battery. On most cars, it will be near the front of the car on the right or left side, but on some cars the battery is located near the firewall between the engine and passenger compartment. In some cars the battery is located in the trunk. If unsure, check your car manual for location of the battery. Identify the positive and negative terminals.

·        The positive terminal will be marked with a plus sign (+) and will usually have a red cable attached on it.

·        The negative terminal will be marked with a minus sign (-) and will usually have a black cable attached to it.

2

Park the working car near, but not touching, the disabled car. Park the car in such a way that the distance between both car batteries is as small as possible. Turn off the engine, radio, lights, A/C, fans and all other electrical components. Make sure that all of these things are off in the disabled car, too. Don't let the cars touch at all.

·        If the cars are touching, jumping the battery can cause a dangerous electrical arc between the vehicles

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·        3

Put on safety gear (goggles and gloves) if you have it. Inspect batteries for cracks, leaks or other damage. If you find any of these things, do not jump start the car. Call a tow truck instead or replace the battery.

·        It may be necessary to remove the disabled automobile's battery cables from the battery terminals and clean both cables and terminals. Use a stiff wire brush to remove all corrosion. Reconnect the cables to the battery terminals and jump the car.

·        Remove any positive (+) red post protective covers if applicable.

4

Untangle and unwind your jumper cables. Like your battery, your jumper cables will probably have red and black cables and will have heavy-duty clamps to connect to the battery terminals. You must make sure that the red and black ends of your jumper cables never touch each other once they are connected to the batteries; permitting them to do so can result in serious arcing and/or damage to one or both cars.

5

Connect the jumper cables in the order described below:

·        Connect one red clamp to the positive (+) terminal of the dead battery.

·        Connect the other red clamp to the positive (+) terminal of the good battery.

·        Connect one black clamp to the negative (-) terminal of the good battery.

·        Connect the other black clamp to a piece of grounded metal on the dead car,preferably the bolt where the thick negative cable from the battery connects to the chassis. If this is not practical, look for shiny metal (not painted or oily) that is attached to the engine. Usually a nut, bolt or other protruding shiny metal will work. You may see a small spark when you connect to a good ground. As a last resort, you may connect to the negative (-) post of the dead battery, but this risks igniting hydrogen gas coming off the battery.

·        Make sure none of the cables are dangling into the engine compartment, where they could be exposed to moving parts.

6

Start the working car. Let it idle for a few minutes. Do not race the engine, but do rev the engine a little above idle for 30 to 60 seconds. You do this to charge the battery in the dead car, because the starter in the dead car will draw most of the required current (well in excess of 100 amps) from that battery, not through the cables. Common retail jumper cables are not built to pass the current required. Charging the dead battery is a must. If 30 seconds doesn't do it, try charging for the full 60 seconds by keeping the engine at a high idle. A good, clean connection between the battery cables and the battery terminals is essential.

7

Try to start the disabled vehicle. If it does not start, shut the engine off and disconnect the last connection temporarily while you slightly twist or wiggle each of the four clamps to help ensure a good electrical connection. Restart the working car again. Allow another five minutes for charging before attempting to start the disabled vehicle. If this does not work after a few tries, you may need to have the car towed or the battery replaced.

8

Remove the jumper cables once the car starts. Do this in the reverse of the order in which they were attached, and don't let any of the cables or clamps touch each other (or dangle into the engine compartment).

·        Disconnect the black clamp from grounded metal on the dead car.

·        Disconnect the black clamp from the negative (-) terminal of the good battery.

·        Disconnect the red clamp from the positive (+) terminal of the good battery.

·        Disconnect the red clamp from the positive (+) terminal of the dead battery.

·        Replace any positive (+) red post protective covers if applicable. These covers help prevent accidental short circuiting the battery.

9

Keep the recently-disabled car's engine running. Run the car above idle (slightly revved up with your foot on the gas) for five minutes and then on or above idle for 20 minutes before turning it off. This should give the battery enough charge to start the car again. If it does not, you probably have a dead battery or a dying alternator.

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