A car’s battery can die anytime and is a common issue, and as a driver, you can be sure that you must do it at least once in your driving lifetime. If you need to jump-start your car, you need to have some equipment and the proper technique not to damage your battery or the other car battery, depending on whether your car is a manual transmission or automatic.
It will also depend on whether you have a jump box, jump starter cables, or if you cannot access another car. There are several ways you can start a dead car battery: jump starter cables, use a tow truck, or ask for a battery service to replace the dead battery.
In this article, learn the correct way to jump-start your car, what are the equipments required, and how to use it.
- Equipment Needed to Jumpstart Your Car
- How to Restart Your Car Battery Using Jumper Cables
- What to Do When a Car Battery Does Not Jump-start With Jumper Cables
- Push Starting A Car
Equipment Needed to Jumpstart Your Car
To get your car battery working again, you will need:
- Jumper cables – Jumper cables are used to restart a dead car battery. They have clips on either end, and those clips are usually different colours- red and black. The red clip has a positive charge, while the black clip has a negative charge.
- A power source such as a jump box or another car with a working battery – A jump box is a battery that you can easily carry around in your car. It is connected to the car by the jumper cables to restart it. A jump box works similarly to having another car. It is better to have a jump box if your car battery goes off when there are no other cars nearby.
How to Restart Your Car Battery Using Jumper Cables
When you realize your car battery is dead, get your jumper cables and the jump box or if you are using another vehicle, let it drive towards your car facing the hood of your car. The jump cables should reach the two-car batteries comfortably.
Ensure that the jump box has enough battery power to restart your vehicle battery and the voltage system type is like the car. A 6V jump box cannot restart a 12V car battery as it does not have enough power.
If you are using two vehicles:
- The first thing to do is put the two cars on and then put them in park or neutral
- Turn off the car entirely and put the parking brake
- Open the car hoods and secure them
- Attach the jumper cables on the car
If you are using jumper cables with a jumper box, you will need to follow the steps below to jump-start your car correctly without damaging your car battery or the other car battery.
Attaching the Jumper Cables
To attach the cables to the two cars, the following is the order:
- Attach the red clip to the positive terminal on the battery of the car. The positive terminal will have a (+) sign.
- Then take the other side of the red clip to the positive terminal of the other car.
- Take the black clip to the negative terminal of the other car.
- Attach the other side of the black clip near the car battery of the dead car. Do not yet connect it to the negative terminal. Attach it to an unpainted metal area on the car near the hood.
To Jump-start the Car
- Once the three clips are hooked on the dead car battery and the other car, you start the other car and let it run for a short while.
- Check if the car being restarted has some battery activity; for example, an interior light has come on, or the radio can come on. If this happens, then the battery is getting charged.
- After some time, start the car with the dead battery, and if it comes on, you can unclip the jumper cables.
- Do not put off the cars, but unclip the black clip connected to the metal part of the ACR of the vehicle that was being jumped. Then remove the black clip from the negative terminal of the other car. After that, unclip the red one from the other car, then the red clip from the positive terminal car that was dead.
- Let the car battery that has been jump-started run for some time before putting it off.
When using a jump box, you will put the jump box power switch on and then follow the process above. Once the car has started, put the power switch off and then detach the clips in the order above.
What to Do When a Car Battery Does Not Jump-start With Jumper Cables
If the dead car battery cannot restart after trying to jump-start, you may need to check that the jumper cable connections are correctly done. If that still does not work, then the car battery will not jump-start, and you may need to replace it.
Push Starting A Car
Push starting a car with a dead battery involves using force. You may need to use this method if you do not have a jump box or another car. In this method, you will need more than one person to begin.
These are the steps that you will take:
- Get into the driver’s seat and start the car.
- Your friends at the back of the car will be ready to push.
- While the parking brake is still on, push the clutch in and go to second gear. First gear is not the best as the car may jerk too hard.
- Push the brake pedal and release the parking brake, and your friends should start pushing.
- When the car gains speed of about 5 MPH, release the clutch, and the engine will give a little kick as the battery tries to pick up. If the engine starts, keep revving and let the car run for some time.
- If it doesn’t, repeat the process and release the clutch when the car is at a higher speed.
