If there’s one car-related skill everyone should know, it’s how to jump-start a car. It’s straight forward and all you need is jumper cables (and a working car of course). You will inevitably need to do this yourself someday, whether it’s on your own vehicle, or someone else’s (your chance to be a Good Samaritan). So, read on…
- Park both cars bonnet to bonnet, roughly half a foot apart. Make sure both cars have the parking brake on and their engines switched off.
- Next, pop the hood. Before attaching anything it’s worth inspecting the battery in question. If the battery shows clear signs of corrosion then it may require replacing.
- If it appears fine superficially, the next step is to find the negative and positive terminals on both batteries. Positive = Red, while Black = Negative. Also, and this is important: DON’T let the metal ends touch each other throughout the process.
- Now, attach the positive jumper cable to the dead battery’s positive terminal, and the other end to the positive terminal of the live battery.
- The Negative end of the cable is then attached to the negative terminal of the live battery. Its opposite end should be attached to a metal (non-painted) part under the hood of the car with the dead battery (i.e. engine block bolts).
- Start the car with the live battery. Give it a few minutes running time, and then lightly rev the engine.
- Start up the car with the dead battery. If it turns, let it run for a few minutes. Failing that, let it rest while the other car continues to run for a minute. If it still doesn’t turn after that, turn off everything and check the connections again.
- If successful, disconnect the cables in the reverse order that you put them on (negative – dead car > negative – working car > positive – working car > positive – dead car).
- Pat yourself on the back.