Enough Chit Chat, Let’s Learn a Life Skill

Anyway, on to today’s topic! Imagine it’s a freezing cold night, you haven’t started your car in three days because you've been binging The Walking Dead (for the second time). You go outside only to realize your car’s battery is lifeless. You have just enough juice to open the door and pop the hood, but turning the key yields no results….. Call AAA. Okay, let’s begin!

How to Jump Start a Dead Car Battery

1.) Grab the Following Items:
- Your dead car
- Another car with a charged battery
- Jumper Cables (below)

Step 2.) Bring the Cars Close

Park both vehicles close enough so that the cables can reach each car’s battery. This can be nose to nose or side by side. As long as the cables reach the batteries, it will work. Make sure the cars are not touching.

3.) Set Up the Cars

Make sure both vehicles are turned off, parked, and the hoods are up to expose the batteries. Grab your jumper cables and spread them out so no two clamps are touching each other.

4.) Connecting the Jumper Cables. The Order Matters

1. First, take one of the red cable clamps and attach it to the positive terminal (+) on the battery in the dead car.

2. Attach the other red clamp to the positive terminal (+) on the healthy battery.

3. Take the black clamp and attach it to the negative terminal (-) on the healthy battery.

4. Take the second black clamp (this will be the final clamp) and attach it to an exposed piece of unpainted metal, under the hood, on the dead car. Long bolts are a great option.

5.) Double Check Your Connections and Start the Healthy Car

Make sure the jumper cables aren’t tangled up with anything under the hood of the cars. Fully start the healthy car once all the connections are set and secure. Let the healthy car run for a couple of minutes.

6.) Start the Dead Battery Car

After a couple minutes, start the dead car. If it doesn’t start, wait a couple more minutes and try again. If it still does not start, a dead battery is likely not the problem.

7.) Remove the Jumper Cables

The order we remove the jumper cables is going to be reversed from how we put them on.

1. Disconnect the black clamp from the exposed piece of metal on the (once) dead car.

2. Disconnect the black clamp from the negative terminal on the healthy car.

3. Disconnect the red clamp from the positive terminal on the healthy car.

4. Disconnect the red clamp from the positive terminal from the “dead” car.

Another Option

About a year ago I was stuck at the gas station with a dead car battery. My jumper cables weren’t long enough for where I parked so I started asking folks around me if they could help. One kind guy had a portal battery system that could jump start a car without another vehicle. I had never used one before, but it started my truck right up. I included a picture and link to Amazon below. It’s a bit pricey but in a bind it’s probably worth it. No, I don’t have an Amazon affiliate link or sponsorship from this company, just thought the product was cool.

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