Jump-starting a car can be a stressful experience. Many people are afraid of the jumper cables and the electricity they generate. There’s nothing to worry about, however, if you know what you’re doing. Jump-starting a dead battery is safe. The important thing is to check your owner’s manual for specific instructions for your vehicle. Let’s talk about some general instructions below.
Find a Good Samaritan
First, you must find someone who is willing to help you. You need a working car battery to jump-start a dead battery. The person is going to allow you to draw energy from his or her car battery to get your battery to charge enough to fire up your vehicle.
Park the Car Strategically
Once you have found your good Samaritan, ask him or her to park the car in front of yours so that the engines are facing each other. Make sure to leave enough room between the engines so you have working space. Usually, 2 feet is a good distance.
Check the Batteries
With the parking brakes set in each vehicle, pop the hoods and look at the batteries. You want to make certain that either battery is not corroded. If either battery is corroded, you must clean off the corrosion before you can jump-start the dead battery.
Attach the Cables
Now, here’s where things get a little tricky and specific. Attach the battery cables in this order:
- Positive clamp to working positive battery terminal
- Positive clamp to dead positive battery terminal
- Negative clamp to working negative battery terminal
- Negative clamp to dead negative terminal OR a piece of metal
Check your owner’s manual to see if your manufacturer recommends connecting the final negative clamp to a piece of unpainted metal. If it does, there is likely a specific spot on the engine where the negative clamp is to be attached.
Start the Vehicles
Starting the vehicles is also to be done in a specific order. First, ask your good Samaritan to start his or her car. You want the engine with the working battery running first. Next, start your car to see if the working battery can provide enough of a jump to get your battery working. If it does, leave the engine running to charge the battery.
Detach the Cables
Finally, you want to detach the cables in reverse order. In other words, start with the end of the bulleted list above and work your way upward.
Now, drive to our shop so we can install a new battery in your car, truck, or SUV.
