Much has been said and written about car batteries and how to jump start a car
that has a dead one. The thing is, a lot of this info is whether incomplete or wrong.
The Right Way To Jump Start A Dead Car Battery
Sooner or later you will find your self in a
car with a dead
battery. So please read on.
Here I will give you the right and up to dated way to
jump-start a
car safely. Of course this is if you are stranded away from home. When you are at home the best thing to do is use a charger, not a booster or cables.
First of all I don't suggest
jumping cables to the motorist, second the best options are to use a booster or just call (an expert movable service) or take the car to an expert shop. If the
battery is older than 3 years or so, it could be bad.
If you must use jumper cables then here I will show the right way to do it.
Read the whole narrative since the info is all over the same.
First some information about batteries.
I repair many vehicles with bad batteries. The reasons the
battery went bad can be many, so after
jumping a car you should seek expert help. Here I will tell you what can make a
battery go bad, what to do to forestall it and things to do in an urgency situation.
Why a
battery goes bad:
o Bad alternator.
o Bad or loose serpentine belt or off or missing serpentine belt due to someone else bad component.
o immoderate heat or cold.
o Age.
o Defective Part from factory. (Rare).
o Leaving the
car sitting too long or driving the
car in short trips not
allowing the
battery to recharge.
o Too much drain, like the
battery is too small for the demand. Or maybe
there are add-ons like monster stereo systems etc.
o Parasitic drain. Or just leaving the lights or something on.
o Dirty connector/terminals.
o Vibration. When there's no hold down.
o Using the wrong fluid to replenish it, like tap water instead of distilled water.
o Bad computer. The voltage regulator is there in some cars.
o corporeal damage.
Car accident, being dropped.
Taking care of your
battery.
The best way to forestall
battery failures is by doing regular maintenance on the vehicle. When regular maintenance is done the
battery should be one of
the main items checked. They should clean terminals, top off the fluid if possible using only distilled water, do some tests on it, and of course test the charging ideas etc.
Even the best batteries will meet their maker sooner or later. They can "die¬hard" or die soft but they all die. The mean life of most batteries is about 3 years, believe it or not. Some top of the line batteries can last a bit longer. I have noticed a decline on the life of batteries lately. So if your
battery is about that age, have it checked or just convert it to have peace of mind specially if you're manufacture a long trip.
What to do if your
battery is dead.
In an urgency when a
battery is dead, the first thing that comes to mind regularly is to "
jump" the
car. Well I don't suggest this. First of all this is a potentially dangerous action. (Doing this can cause an explosion and injure you or indubitably kill you (pieces of plastic going off at very high speed can cut your throat), blind you, or deafen you). The best thing will be to call person to come and check the
car or take it to a shop (there's a chance the alternator could be bad, so replacing or boosting the
battery may not solve your problem). If you happen to have cables in your
car then you have to find someone else
car to boost you. This is dangerous too, because in doing so you can damage very costly parts in both your and the assistant vehicle. There's a convert of connecting the cables wrong if you're not well-known with the process, if this happens you can disable any of the two cars complicated for good and incur in more costly repairs. The best way to do this if you choose to boost the
car is with a movable booster. Some have a switch that will forestall you from causing sparks. Also some models have a gismo that will polarize the ideas automatically. So it will be impossible to connect it the wrong way. Some can be related right at the lighter port, but this takes more time because you have to let the booster charge the bad
battery for a while, if you try to start the
car right away you could blow the inline fuse or burn the cable.
Also after you get your
car running, if you disconnect the assistant
car and leave the
car running to recharge your low
battery this will cause serious damage to the alternator. The alternator is not designed to charge batteries that are too low or at zero volts but to keep them charged. The right way to do this is when using a movable booster to leave it related to the
car so the alternator will charge both moderately and not stress it self. The alternator has the potential to sense the
battery state of charge and also the ideas voltage demand. It will charge accordingly. If the
battery is very low it will charge continuously, hence straining it self and overheating. After 30 minutes or so you can then disconnect the booster and keep driving the
car for some more time to charge the
battery fully. Better yet just drive the
car to the nearest service place or call a movable service when you get home. If you're driving at night or your car has day driving lights this will take a miniature longer. Of course after having any qoute with a low
battery and getting the
car running, the entertaining thing to do is get your beloved tech to check you ideas completely to have peace of mind.
Another thing that you need to know is this, sometimes you have a
battery installed and it fails soon after (one or two days) why? Well there are distinct reasons, the
battery could be defective (very rare), or there's an intermittent qoute with the charging ideas or a gismo that is putting a small drain after you turn the
car off. New cars have many computers and they use a small estimate of power after the
car is turned off, but it is a very small estimate and it should not drain the
battery in less than 3 months approximately. If it does is because one of the computers could be staying awake too long or has an intermittent short. If this happens to you, don't get upset thinking they sold you a bad
battery, or that the mechanic is incompetent. The carr has to be diagnosed again to see what happened.
The right way to
jump-start a
car.
This is the way I suggest to accomplish a
battery jump with cables. This takes a miniature longer than what most publications recommend, but is the safe way to do it. I am a expert mechanic with 28 years of experience.
Before you even think about getting your
jumping cables out you should:
First of all it will not hurt to read your owners manual, there you can find lots of info pertaining the procedure. Like where the
battery is "hidden" etc.
Make sure both cars are close adequate for cables to reach with out cars touching.
Inspect the
battery for signs of damage. A broken
battery case is not a good sign. Do not
jump if case is cracked or you see fluid leaking.
Set the urgency brake on both cars and turn off both ignitions and any other accessories other than the flasher as mentioned.
Keep at least one of the vehicles flashers on and any other security gismo like flares etc displayed.
Battery terminals should be free of dirt and or corrosion. Use at least water and a wire brush to clean them.
Make sure both cars are of the same voltage and polarity. Some cars are grounded at the safe bet instead of the negative although rare. Most cars in the road have 12 volts batteries. With the advent of hybrid vehicles I will strongly suggest you just calling an expert. Hybrid cars have very high voltage batteries. 12 volts batteries won't harm you even if you touch both terminals but hybrid use much higher voltage. Also avoid connecting the cables backwards; very bad things can happen if you do.
Wear at least eye security that includes a face protector. Gloves will be nice too. Do not allow
battery fluid to touch you, your clothes or the paint job.
In very cold weather make sure the electrolyte is not frozen. (Use a flashlight etc to inspect, not a lighter).
Be very right not to touch any entertaining part of the engine like belts, fans, etc while performing the course whether with the cables or your clothes or jewelry etc.
Now the cable part, (see illustration at the end of article) before you connect any of the terminals make sure they are not touching each other to avoid any sparks. Batteries give off very explosive gasses that can kill you if they ignite. Also if the cables get hot be aware that they could be too thin or the engine could be dragging for some reason. The starter could also be bad (grounding it self). Also may be you have cranked the
car too long. Check to make sure the clamps are attached properly. Let tem cool off a bit.
If anyone like dome lights come on after the cables are connected, the cables are related correctly.
The first final to be related as recommended is the safe bet one in the donor's
car then at the disabled
car (both at the
battery if possible).
Then you connect the negative cable at the
battery final of the donor's
car and make sure you can entrance the engine at the disabled
car to connect the cable there.
When the cars ultimately starts, keep at least the headlamps on to aid in holding any voltage spikes from damaging the delicate circuits in the many modules on today's cars.
(+) Is the safe bet final (usually red). (-) Is the negative final (usually black). This cable goes to the
car chassis and the engine block from the
battery.
Disconnecting sequence is the reversal of the connecting sequence
Smoking is not recommended any time you are working near cars.
More about this.
Never hook up batteries in a series circuit way, you will get twice the voltage and blow many things together with computers.
This will indubitably damage your electrical ideas to say the least.
Some cars with antitheft systems will originate it whenever the
battery is low or disconnected. Again read the owners by hand for info on this and how to reset them.
Every maker use distinct systems.
When
jumping a
car you have to first charge the
battery with the "donor"
car for at least 5 minutes or more if possible, then try, with the cables disconnected to start the
car. If the
car doesn't crank or cranks moderately then recharge some more with donor
car, then with cables related try to crank the disabled
car.
When choosing a set of jumper cables make sure you get a good potential set. The thicker the cable the better. Saving money here will prove a very bad choice. Cheap cables can overheat and in many cases burn or just don't work when you use them (cheap building colse to the clamps). Also don't get the shortest or the longest. The middle will be best.
Never crank a car more than the recommended lapse in the owner's by hand (usually no more than 10 seconds) to avoid damaging the starter. If the
car cranks for very long periods with out beginning then you could have more serious problems than just electrical ones. Always wait some time before trying again to avoid damaging your starter or damaging the donor's
battery.
If when you connect the last cable at the disabled
car you see a lot of sparks make sure there isn't anyone on, or the cables are related properly (polarity), otherwise some sparks are normal since the disabled
car's
battery is probably very low or just dead.
There are some top-of the line cables that feature a foolproof gismo against connecting them wrong.
Every time the
battery goes too low it gets weak. distinct from deep cycle batteries on boats or Rv's,
car batteries are not designed for this and will after a few discharges just quit altogether
Batteries used to be Better known as "accumulators" and you can guess why don't you? Yes they store electricity and the alternator's job is to keep it charged not to charge it from 0 volt, that is the job of a charger.
A
battery won't get damaged if kept in the concrete floor instead of on top of a piece of wood. The way batteries are constructed today prevents this.
You don't need to go and spend big bucks for a
battery at the dealer, not to mention towing costs. Any
battery that meets the specification of your car will do well if maintained properly. The trick here is to get the right
battery, meaning the right capacity. Never use one that has less than what is required. A miniature bigger is better.
Some batteries have a miniature window that has a green or black indicator to tell you if the
battery is good. Well this indicator is not very precise for this, since it only measures the state of charge of only one of the
battery's 6 cells. someone else cell could be bad and you could get a "green" indicator even tough the
battery has only about 10 volts, which is not adequate to properly start a
car. Some of the devices on your
car might still work tough. The
car will crank very slowly.
If by any chance acid gets in your eyes, do all you can to get it out pronto. The more it stays there the bigger the chance for cornea damage.
If you reason a bad association on the jumper cables, do not wiggle the connector while connected. Disconnect one on the disabled
car first then wiggle the reason ones then reconnect the rest. Remember you want to avoid manufacture sparks.
After using the jumper cables wash them with water if possible and store them in the bag they came in. This will avoid damage to your trunk from the acid that gets stuck to the terminals.
Always work on a well-ventilated area.
The alternator. The heart of the system.
If your alternator is bad, it was the cause of the dead
battery in the first place; so
jumping the
battery won't get you too far. As a matter of fact you probably won't be able to drive even a mile more. You could end up at a neighborhood where you don't know anyone that will be too wiling to help you.
If the
battery or alternator or charging light was on before the
battery died, then it is still on after you
jump the
car then the charging ideas could have a problem. It will be a good idea to touch a professional.
An alternator could be malfunctioning even if you don't see a red light in your dash telling you so.
If you are knowledgeable and want to test your charging ideas with a voltmeter, reconsider this, some carmakers have systems that will not charge when the
battery is found to be full. This is done to forestall overcharging and also to increase miles per gallon (The drag on the engine is less) This also helps the durability of the alternator.
Alternators are not designed to "charge" batteries (specially newer cars, they are regularly weak in this area). Their job is to keep a fully charged
battery that way.
When a
battery goes down for any reason, the alternator has to work overtime to bring it back to normal. The use of day driving lights is one of the reasons many alternators fail prematurely, the alternator works harder than in a regular system. But they do offer a good security measure. Also accessories not installed at the installation like monster stereos will also put an ultimate ask on a stock ideas not designed for such loads. There are some high amp alternators available for these cases. Also the use of multiple batteries helps. Consult an expert in this field for assistance.
Never disconnect a running
car battery final to "test" the charging system. This was done long ago before cars started using computers. But today doing this can and will damage very costly components. Also it can originate sparks that could cause an explosion. Believe me, many population still use this recipe to test the alternator, yes even population that "think" they know, like some airplane mechanics.
Starting a
car with the cables related and letting it run could damage systems in whether
car. Things like computers etc. I have fixed many vehicles with bad alternators and computers due to this. That is why I suggest charging the bad
battery by letting the good
car charge the bad one for at least 10 minutes. Then you can disconnect the cables and start the
car with out damaging anything. There's a ideas that running two cars with the cables related can damage the alternators. I will up date this narrative with some facts about this.
Push starting; it may not get you too far either.
Another way to get a
car running is by push beginning it. This is not recommended either. First, damage to the drive train is possible, (Expensive) especially if done often. Second, as I mentioned before, if the
car doesn't run because the
battery is dead, the alternator will work too hard to charge the
battery when you get it started. If the qoute is the alternator, the
car won't run too far at all because the
battery is not getting any charge so it will be depleted very soon. Push start should be done only in ultimate urgency situations. As I said, be entertaining and call an expert.
I hope the information here was of help to you. As Always no one is perfect. If you think there's a mistake or want to add something to this article, by all means touch me directly.
Considering the low cost of replacing the
battery with a new one and after reading this information I am pretty sure you will resolve not to risk performing a
jump instead of replacing the
battery. Unless of course, you are a expert and/or already know what I wrote here.
Today's cars are very complicated machines; it is Better to leave things to the experts when it comes to dealing with them. You will indubitably save more money (or even your own life) that way by avoiding high-priced mistakes.
Cmt of Miami works on all brands and models of vehicles. We specialize on
battery installation and alternators. When you use our services you can rest assured that you will get the right
battery and expert service right at your doorsteps for a fair price.
The Right Way To Jump Start A Dead Car Battery
