There are many different schools of thought on the best way to go about jump starting your vehicle's dead battery. However, speaking from experience, some of them are dangerous and others are just plain wrong. Don't worry too much, there's no way to actually kill yourself by accidentally hooking up the cables incorrectly; the voltage is simply too low to do any permanent damage. But here's the correct way to do it just in case you wanted to save yourself the trouble and the little hairs on your hands. Make sure you have both jumper cables and a nice person that's willing to take the time to jump you. If you don't have cables, or know anyone that does, don't hesitate to call a Los Angeles tow services company or any other dead battery service. They all have battery jump technicians that can give you a battery boost. Plus, if your battery's not the issue, they're already there.
Before you start, make sure that both the vehicle doing the jumping and the dead vehicle are both turned off.
Attaching jumper cables to a live, running car's battery is a fool proof way of not being able to feel your hands for the next half hour.
1) Connect the red cable (positive) to the positive terminal on the dead battery.
2) Connect the other red cable to the battery that's going to jump start the car.
This will make sure that the energy being transferred between the two cars is both going to the right place and in the right direction. Connection of the positive terminal to the negative terminal will not charge the dead battery and may, in fact, give you a miniature fireworks display.
3) Connect the black cable (negative) to the negative terminal on the good battery.
This will ensure an even transfer of energy out of the live battery.
4) Connect the other end of the black cable to a clean, exposed metal surface underneath the hood. DO NOT CONNECT IT TO THE DEAD BATTERY'S NEGATIVE TERMINAL.
The surface you attach the cable to should be dirt-free and unpainted. Try finding a place on the engine's block, as that is ideal. If you do connect the cable to the negative terminal, it's possible that you'll get more than just the hair on your hands burnt off. And that miniature fireworks display I mentioned earlier could turn into the Disney World version. Please, just don't do it.
5) Start up the vehicle that's doing the jumping.
Once you've started it up, just sit there. Have a smoke. Play a game. It'll take about 3-5 before you're needed again.
6) If the dead battery starts its vehicle, remove the cables in the opposite order from which you put them on.
To take the guess work out of this, the order you want to take them off in is:
• Black cable connected to engine
• Black cable connected to good battery (car that doing the jumping)
• Red cable on the freshly jumped battery
• Red cable on the jumping cars battery
Now, I've taken them off in many different orders. Mainly because once your car is started up again, the guy that gave you a jump wants to get the hell out of there. However, this is the proper and safest way to do it.
7) Leave the newly jumped car running for at least the next 20-30 minutes.
This will give your battery time to recharge and you time to think up a better excuse of why you're late to dinner than "my car wouldn't start." Just remember, it doesn't make you a weenie if you don't feel comfortable doing this yourself. No one really expects you to commit this to memory until you've done it a billion times. There are many emergency roadside assistance services you can call that would be more than happy to help you out.
Jump starting a car can be a simple, self satisfying "man triumphing over machine" moment if you have the proper instruction and tools. Don't let your cars battery get the best of you again!
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