Getting stuck on the road due to a car breakdown isn’t an uncommon experience. Motor vehicle breakdowns can be stressful as well as inconvenient. The need to jump start a car arises when the battery of the car gets discharged, and the car can no longer work on its own. You will need another car whose battery is in good condition.
A step-by-step guide to help you jump-start your car
Requirements
The first and foremost thing that you will require is another car with a battery. You will need to park the car right next to the other in such a way that the hood lines up with the hood.
Caution: Both cars should not be in contact with each other. Also, make sure to turn the ignition off in both cars.
Connections
Now what you require to do is to open the hood and locate the terminals of the batteries, which are negative and positive. In most cases, the positive is marked with a (+) sign and the negative with (-) or the positive terminal is connected with a red wire and the negative with black.
Now take the jumper cables and cautiously follow the process.
- Connect one end of the red cable (red clamp) to the positive terminal of the dead car battery.
- Connect the red cable’s other end to the positive terminal of the functional battery.
- Connect one end of the black cable (black clamp) to the negative terminal of the dead car battery.
- Now you need to go to the dead car battery and find a ground wire which is thus to be connected to the other end of the black cable.
Do not connect this end with the negative terminal of the working car. This can cause sparks and even result in a dangerous situation.
The next step after connecting the cables is to start the car with the working battery and let it run for a good few minutes. This will charge the dead battery.
Now you should try to run the engine of the car with the dead battery. The car should start in a few minutes.
Removing the connections
- Now carefully remove the connections, and the reverse of the connection process should be followed. Both cars should be running.
- From the car with the dead battery, remove the grounding cable and make sure it does not touch anything.
- From the positive terminal of the non-functional car battery, remove the red clamp.
- Repeat the process in the car that has the charged car battery.
- The positive terminal’s red clamp should be taken off and placed on the floor.
- The jumper cables can be rolled up and stored when all clamps have been released.
FAQs
What items do I need to jump-start a car?
You will need another car with working batteries and a set of jumper cables.
My car’s battery gets dead often. Can I jump-start it every time?
No, jump-starting is not a permanent solution to fix a car. If your car breaks down often, do get it checked by a car mechanic or technician. Maintenance of the car is important. Ignoring the car’s issues will only lead to more costly repairs in the future.
Are there any precautions to be followed?
Make sure the vehicles are not touching one another. Turning off the ignition is important. The connections should be made carefully and correctly.
My car’s battery doesn’t have any markings for the terminals. How do I identify them?
Instead of the markings, your positive terminal would be connected to a red cable and the negative terminal to the black one.
Why is the grounding cable used?
The cable is used to complete the connections between the cars.
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