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Don’t Be Afraid to Jump-Start Your Car’s Battery if It Is Dead

Automobile Diagnostics understands that it can be frightening to jump-start a dead car battery because you feel as if you’re playing with electricity. If you follow the instructions listed below, or the instructions found in your owner’s manual, you should not run into any problems jumping the car battery in your automobile if it has lost its charge.

Find Someone to Help

Sometimes, the most difficult thing is finding someone who is willing to help you. You need another car with a working battery in order to jump-start a dead battery. Once you have found a good Samaritan, have he or she parked his or her car so that the engine is facing your car’s engine. Leave plenty of working space between the two cars. About 18 inches will suffice.

Locate the Batteries

Before you pop the hoods to locate the batteries, set the parking brakes in each vehicle so neither of the vehicles rolls. Once this is done, find the battery in each car and remove any battery covers. Set the covers aside and inspect the battery terminals and cable connectors. If you see corrosion, clean the corrosion first. You can’t jump the battery with corrosion on the terminals.

Connect the Cables

With the battery cables connected to the terminals, it is now time to connect the jumper cables to each car battery. This is the place where you want to check your owner’s manual for specific instructions for your automobile. Generally, the positive clamps are placed on the positive terminals first. Next, the negative clamps are placed on the negative terminals. Your car may also have a space on the unpainted metal to which you should attach the negative clamp.

Start the Engines

With the cables in place, ask your good Samaritan to start his or her car first. Once the engine is running and idling, attempt to start your car. If the car fires up, that’s great! Leave the engine running so the battery recharges. If the car does not fire up, you’ve got another problem.

Disconnect the Cables

Either way, you must disconnect the jumper cables once you’ve completed starting the engines. Remove the cables in the opposite direction of which you attach them. In other words, remove the negative cables first and then the positive cables.

Finally, head to Automobile Diagnostics in Columbus, IN, so we can test your car’s battery. It’s possible that it won’t hold a charge for long because it needs to be replaced.

Photo by Whieway from Getty Images Signature via Canva Pro
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