If it has been forever since you’ve jump-started a car, truck, or SUV, it’s time for a refresher course. Once you’ve got the dead battery jumped and the engine running, drive straight to Hummel’s Automotive Diagnostics and Repair for a new battery. If you fail to replace the dying battery, you will likely have to jump-start your vehicle again the next time you try to start it.
Park the Cars Facing Each Other
Once you have enlisted help from a car with a working battery, park the vehicles about 18 inches apart to give you enough room to work between the engines. You want to park the vehicles so their engines are facing each other. This makes accessing the batteries in each vehicle much easier. Make sure that each vehicle is in park and that the parking brakes are set to avoid rolling.
Open the Hoods and Battery Covers
With the engines off, open the hoods, secure them, and then remove the battery covers if either vehicle has one. You need access to both batteries so you can hook up the battery charging cables. Locate the positive and negative posts on each battery. The positive post will have a red cable hooked up to it with a positive sign on the post, and the negative post will have a black cable and negative sign.
Connect the Positive Posts
Take the battery charging cable and unroll it. Stretch it between the two vehicles. Connect the positive cable (red) to the positive post on the car with the working battery. You will place the charging cable’s clamp over the post and connector. Next, connect the positive clamp of the charging cable to the positive post and connector on the dead battery.
Connect the Negative Posts
Do the same thing with the negative clamps. Place the negative clamp over the negative battery post and cable connector on the vehicle with the working battery. Next, connect the negative clamp over the negative post and cable connector on the dead battery. Positive first and then negative. Working battery first and then dead battery. Positive working to positive dead; negative working to negative dead.
Start the Vehicles
You are now ready to jump-start the dead battery. Start the car with the working battery first and allow it to run for a moment. Then, attempt to start the car with the dead battery. If the car with the dead battery starts, allow the vehicle to run for a moment before removing the cables.
Remove the Jump-Start Cables
Now, you are going to do the opposite that you did when you connected the battery cables. Remove the negative clamp from the jump-started battery and then the negative clamp from the working battery. Next, remove the positive clamp from the jump-started battery and then from the working battery. Do not turn off the engine of the jump-started battery. Rather, drive straight to our shop.
We are Hummel’s Automotive Diagnostics and Repair in St. George, UT, and we will replace your battery.
