Jumpstarting a Car

17-Aug-2012 Gordon Atlantic Staff auto

Jumpstarting a Car

This is a driving skill that should be instilled from the start of drivers. You never know when or where your battery or a friend’s could die out. Having the tools, knowing the knowledge, and being prepared can get you out of a potentially disastrous situation. For the following steps, the live car will be the silver one and the dead car is red.

Step 1. Have the right equipment Don’t get caught up a creek without a paddle, or in this case, up an engine without jumper cable. I recommend getting long wires. My personal set is incredibly short and requires obnoxious maneuvering to get close enough to jump someone. Here's one type from amazon Bucket Boss 06009 Jumper Cable Bag.
Step 2. Pop the hoods (safely) Everyone should know how to open the hood of their car and how to prop it open. If the hood slips while you’re there it would just add painful and harmful injury to the insult of having a dead battery.
Step 3. Connect the cables With both cars off (the dead car shouldn’t be a problem) connect the red cable to the live car’s positive (red) terminal. Obviously don’t touch anything metal, keep to the plastic.
Step 4. Cables (cont.) Now take the other end of the red wire and hook it up to the dead car’s positive (red terminal). Now you should have one wire connecting both batteries.
Step 5. Cables (cont.) Connect the black cable to the negative terminal on the LIVE car’s battery.
Step 6. Cables (cont.) Connect the other end of the negative (black) cable to a screw or other METAL fixture on the dead car that is not the battery! This will ground the charge and make the circuit work without harming either car.
Step 7. Start the live car Turn on the engine and keep it running for about a minute, peridically giving it a little gas.
Step 8. Start the dead car Now you should be able to turn the key on the dead car and hear the sweet purr of the engine turning over. Leave both cars running for 3-5 minutes to keep the battery charging.
Step 9. Undo Undo the wires in the opposite order you connected them. The black cable on the screw or metal part, the other end on the live car, the red cable from the positive end of the dead car, and the final red positive cable from the live car. Now both cars can lower the hood and be on their way.