Most car owners will be faced with a dead battery at some point. Fortunately, if there’s another functional car nearby, or if you have a manual transmission, you can jump start the car and be on the road again soon. Jump-starting a car is a breeze, but you should do it with caution. To safely jump start a car, follow these steps:
- Make sure both cars are turned off. Put automatic transmission cars in Park. Put manual transmission cars in Neutral. Set the parking brake firmly so the vehicle cannot move.
- Connect the first end of the RED positive lead to the positive terminal on the working battery. Do the same for the other end of the lead for the flat battery.
- Connect the BLACK negative lead to the negative terminal on the working battery, then attach the other BLACK negative cable to your car battery terminal.
- Check the leads are away from moving parts then after about a minute, try starting the car with the dead battery. If it doesn’t work, allow the working vehicle to charge the battery for an additional minute or two before attempting again. Switch off the engine if the leads get hot.
- After you have your car running, leave the engine on for a couple of minutes to charge the battery.
- Remove cables in reverse order. Make sure they don’t touch together or any metal surfaces. Keep the jumped car running for at least 30 minutes to give the battery sufficient time to recharge itself.
