14 Jul How to Jump Start Your Car When You Have a Dead Battery
A dead car battery can ruin your whole day, especially if you don’t know how to use jumper cables (or you don’t have them!) Luckily, you can prepare for this problem before it happens and make sure you know how to jump start your car when you have a dead battery.
Make Sure You Have the Necessary Tools
Make sure you have jumper cables, also called booster cables, in your car. You should also keep a flashlight, headlamp, rag or towel, gloves, and a wrench in your car just in case you need them in order to safely attach the jumper cables.
Preparing Both Vehicles
In order to jump start a dead battery, you need jumper cables and a car with a live battery. Start by parking the car with the good battery close to the car with the bad battery. The hoods should be near enough to each other that the jumper cables can stretch between them, but not so close that you can’t access the batteries of both cars. Open both hoods and locate the batteries, removing the covers so the posts are exposed. Look for the positive and negative posts. You can determine this by finding the + or – sign on the posts. Sometimes the positive post is red. Use a rag or towel to remove dirt from the posts.
Connecting the Jumper Cables
Using jumper cables incorrectly can be dangerous. Make sure the red and black clamps don’t touch each other, and keep the cables apart while you’re setting up, especially once they are connected to a live battery. If the clamps touch while they are connected, it could cause sparks and short out one or both cars. Connect one of the red clamps to the positive post on the dead battery. Clamp the other end of that cable to the positive post on the live battery. Then clamp one of the black clamps to the negative post on the working battery. Clamp the other end of the cable to a bare metal surface on the engine of the dead car, preferably a bolt or screw.
Jump Starting the Battery
Start the engine on the working car and let it run idle for about five minutes. Then start the engine on the dead car and let it run idle for five minutes. If the dead car starts up without any problems, disconnect the black clamp from the dead car’s battery, and then disconnect the black clamp from the other car. Then remove the red clamp from the good car’s battery and then the other end from the dead car’s battery. Keep your car running for a while to recharge the battery, and then take it to an auto care center to have the voltage tested and see if you need to replace it.
Does your car need minor or major repairs in Tucson, AZ? Come see us at National Auto Collision Centers. To learn more or schedule an appointment, call us today or contact us online.