Jump-starting your vehicle gives your car battery enough energy to let you drive to the nearest car repair shop. But if done incorrectly, it can lead to serious damage to your vehicle. Here are some things you need to keep in mind to jump-start your car correctly.
Things You’ll Need
To jump-start a car, you’ll need a pair of working jumper cables and another vehicle that can supply enough power from their battery. Avoid using hybrid or electric cars for this because they can damage your vehicle’s internal electronics. Do not attempt to jump-start a damaged or leaking car battery. Doing so can start a fire.
How To Jump-start Your Car
Once you have the necessary things for this operation, jump-starting your car will be easy. Here are some steps that you need to follow.
Step 1: Park the two vehicles close to each other and turn both of their engines off.
Step 2: Connect the red cables to the positive terminals of the batteries of the two cars.
Step 3: Connect one end of the black cable to the negative terminal of the good battery. Meanwhile, attach the other end of the black cable to an unpainted metal surface away from the disabled battery. You can attach it to the chassis if there’s no other metal nearby. Never connect the black cable to the dead battery’s negative terminal, as it can lead to an explosion.
Step 4: Keep both engines off for about three minutes before starting the working car’s engine for about a minute.
Step 5: After a minute has passed, turn on the car’s engine with the dead battery and leave both vehicles idle for about 10 minutes.
Step 6: Turn off both cars and carefully disconnect the leads in the reverse order they were connected. Make sure that the leads of the cables do not come in contact with each other as you remove them.
Step 7: Try turning the car’s ignition with the dead battery to see if it will start up properly.
Once you’ve successfully powered up your car, it’s best if you drive it for at least 15-30 minutes so it can let the alternator add power to the battery. If you’re still having trouble starting the car, contact a professional mechanic as soon as possible. Get in touch today with Graham Tire. We have four locations around Lincoln, NE.
