It has happened to us all at some point in our lives. You get in your car to go off to work or head to date. You buckle up and start crank your car, only to find that it won’t start. You try again, but nothing happens. Your heart leaps into your throat. Your car is dead. Before you start to panic, all you need to do is jump start your car. While it may be an inconvenient task, it doesn’t have to be a difficult one.
If you own a car, then you should own a pair of jumper cables. It’s as simple as that. Depending on where you are, you will need to ask a neighbor or call a friend or family member to use their working car to jump off the dead battery in your vehicle. From there, it is a simple point of following these helpful tips from Allstate on how to jump-start your car.
1. Park the cars side by side – The vehicles need to be as close as possible. They do not need to touch, but you need the cables to reach from one car to the other. Then make sure that both cars are turned off.
2. Eye protection – This step may be ignored, but it is important. If you have protective eyewear, then put them on in case there are sparks. Sunglasses can come in clutch if you do not have any goggles on hand.
3. Connecting the positive cable to the dead battery – You will need to attach the positive jumper cable which is typically red to the positive terminal on the battery that is currently dead. An indicator on most positive battery terminals is a plus sign symbol whereas the negative terminal has a minus symbol.
4. Connect the other positive cable – After connecting the first positive jumper cable to the dead battery’s positive terminal, you need to connect the second positive jumper cable to the positive terminal on the working vehicle that is assisting to jump off your car.
5. Connect the negative cable to the working vehicle – Once you have connected the other positive jumper to the vehicle offering the jump, you will connect the negative jumper to the negative terminal on the working vehicle. The negative jumper cable is typically black.
6. Connect the other negative cable to the dead battery – You will then need to connect the other negative cable to the vehicle with the dead battery. Remember to look for the minus symbol to find the negative terminal to attach the negative jumper cable.
7. Check cables – Once you have connected all the cables, inspect each of them to ensure that they are attached to the correct terminal as well as making sure that they are not touching any moving engine parts.
8. Crank the working vehicle – After connecting and checking the jumper cables, the vehicle that is offering the jump will need to be turned on. Allow the engine to idle for several minutes. If the working vehicle is an older model, then you may also try revving the engine a couple of times to aid the charging process.
9. Start the vehicle with the dead battery – Once you’ve allowed the ‘booster’ vehicle to run for a few minutes, it is time to test the vehicle that is disabled. You will want to try to crank the car.
10. If the car starts/does not start – If the vehicle that was disabled starts up, then you need to allow it to run for at least 20 minutes. If it doesn’t start, turn the disabled vehicle into off mode, check the cable connections, and allow the working vehicle to run for a few more minutes, revving it. Try cranking the car with the dead battery one more time. If it still doesn’t work, then you may need to call a mechanic.
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11. Remove jumper cables – After running the vehicle that was once disabled for 20 minutes, you will need to remove the jumper cables. Carefully remove the cables, checking that none are touching metal. You should remove the cables in reverse order, starting with the negative cable that was on the previously disabled vehicle, then the negative cable on the vehicle offering the jump, then the positive cable on the ‘booster’ vehicle, and lastly, the positive cable on the previously dead vehicle.
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