Top Tips And Tricks To Jump Start A Car

Often it may have happened with you that your car has stopped in between somewhere and you are not able to start it. Turning on the ignition may kick a certain clicks here and there but does not start the car. This may happen because the car battery may have died. Of course it is always not possible to have a mechanic somewhere nearby who can fix the solution. So, it is always advised to carry the jumper cables in your car every time when you are going out, especially for some long drives.

Now it is also important to know about how to jump start a car. There is a proper way along with some tricks and tips that can help in jump starting a car.

Select the correct jumper cables

It is important to select a jumper cable that is standard in size and is of good quality. Jumper cables are available in various sizes that may range in between 10 feet to about 20 feet. Different car owners have different reasons to get a jumper cable of varied sizes. Many may think that a small cable is much faster mode of starting the battery as it takes lesser time to transfer the energy. On the other hand, some may think that longer cables are great because they do not have to move the dead car much to get it started. But ideally, gauge six is held to be a much standardized size of jumper cables.

Safety: There are a number of safety tricks that you should surely maintain while going for jump start of your car. The very first thing to do is to keep the kids away from the connected cables. Secondly, make sure that you must have read the car manuals properly before so that you are aware of the slightest details of your car. Also make sure that while the current transfer is on, you should not touch any of the metal clasps. Make sure to only touch the places that are required to be touched and keep a safe distance from the cables and the connected areas.

How to jump start the car?

There are certain preparations that have to be done before you jump start the car battery.

• Stop a car and ask for help so that the car owner can allow you to transfer power from his or her car battery to your car battery.
• Bring both the car in a position where they face each other but at a distance of about 18 inches or so. Make sure that the cars do not touch each other.
• Make sure that the cars are turned off and take out the keys. Also start the parking brakes for both the cars. This will not allow the cars to move.
• Now take out the jumper cables, put them on the ground and open the hood of the cars.
• Now locate the battery for both the cars and identify the positive and the negative terminals of the battery. In case of the battery is dirty, clean it up using a brush or something to identify the terminals.

Attach the jumper cables now

To attach the cables, you need to be a bit careful. There are two cable clamps, among which the positive one is red in color and the negative one is of black color. Go to the car with the dead battery and connect the red colored clamp of the cable to the positive socket of the dead battery. Similarly, attach the other red colored clamp on the other end to the positive socket of the working battery.

Now the black colored clamp of the cable is attached to the negative side of the working battery. But do not connect the other black colored clamp to the negative side of the dead battery. In place of doing so, connect it to a metal nut that you will find over the dead battery car’s engine block.

Charging a dead car battery

Now the set up is done and the jump-start can be attempted.

After setting up the system, the car with the working battery has to be started. Keep the car running for a minute or so and wait.

Now after sometime, start the car with the dead battery. If the car does not start, that means the car battery is still dead. Again wait for some time and then try starting the car with the dead battery once again. Also in certain cases, if the working battery is revived, then the dead battery may start charging up fast.

Now as the car with the dead battery starts, the clamps can be disconnected and removed. Make sure that the disconnection has to be done starting from the black clamp connected with the negative point of the working battery. Also make sure that while removing the clamps, none should touch each other.

After removing the cable, take a small drive which will allow the battery to start up the charge. Also it will ensure that the car should not stop again for the next few hours till you reach home.

What if the jump start fails?

It may happen that after removing the cables, when you take a short drive, the battery may die out again and the car may stop. This may happen for a number of reasons among which one of the main reasons is of course the condition of the battery. It is said by experts that a car battery can remain in good condition for about 6 years. May be it is the time to replace your battery.

But if you are sure that the car battery is not in a bad condition then there can be some other reasons too that you should check up. Some other reasons can be:

• Starter connection of the cables,
• Ignition switch of the working car,
• Corrosion of the battery,
• Faulty alternator of fuses.

But if the problem is not known, then in place of doing guess work, it is better to have a check with some mechanic and get the problem solved.