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Step 1
Read your owner's manual, as it will describe any peculiarities involved in jump-starting your vehicle.
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Step 2
Pull a car with a charged battery next to the car with the dead battery, situating the two batteries as close together as you can without allowing the two cars to touch.
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Step 3
Turn off both engines, pull out the keys, put both cars in park, engage the emergency brakes and open the hoods.
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Step 4
Attach a red-handled/positive jumper cable clamp to the positive terminal (the one with the plus sign) of the charged battery.
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Step 5
Connect the other red-handled clamp to the positive terminal of the dead battery.
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Step 6
Attach the neighboring black/negative cable to the car with the dead battery. Clamp it somewhere where the current can ground out, such as a bolt or bracket on the engine. You can also attach it to any metal, unpainted part of the vehicle's frame.
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Step 7
Ground the other black/negative cable on the charging car, as described in the previous step. Be careful, as a small spark may be produced.
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Step 8
Attempt to start the car that has the dead battery.
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Step 9
Re-adjust the red/positive clamp on the dead car if there is no response; try re-clamping it to the terminal or turning it for a better connection. Keep trying to start the dead car.
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Step 10
Once the dead car is running, remove the clamps one at a time in reverse order.
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Step 11
Allow the jump-started car to run for half an hour in order to charge the battery. It will charge whether driving or idling.
Comments
willmoe84 said
on 8/23/2009 Has anyone really looked at this? The video is different from the written instructions and the written instructions did not work for me. It took almost 90 minutes for me to finally say screw it and connect black to black and red to red on both cars. Thank God security came by at the end because we were not in a very safe place after dark. Someone should consider revising the written instructions to be correct.
bsn-mbamanstl said
on 8/9/2009 Good video and info.
rls1024 said
on 5/18/2009 "Step 3 - Turn off both engines, pull out the keys, put both cars in park, engage the emergency brakes and open the hoods."~~~Why would you need to jump start a car if the engine were running? Wouldn't the car that needs to be jump already be in "park"?Open the hood - you can't be serious...~~~"Step 8 - Attempt to start the car that has the dead battery."The charging vehicle has to be running or you would more than likely drain the good battery as well. ~~~I certainly hope the author of this "How To" has AAA raod service!
linkart said
on 4/6/2009 Excellent article and video on jump-starting a car. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow! 5*
traffikon2009 said
on 1/16/2009 Does pumping the gas pedal improve the amperage to the car being jumped?
Dave