Comments on: How To Jump Start a Car

By: soma

soma — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:48:59 +0000

Very good description of steps,very clear and easy to follow.

By: Old o

Old o — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 02:53:08 +0000

Good Ground, Bad Block, Reds Together.

By: Evan J

Evan J — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 22:49:46 +0000

Thank you JRam – never bump start in a low gear unless you don’t mind if you twist off a drive shaft or watch the whole transmission fall out behind you. My ’71 Dodge stalls all the time when cold and I don’t want to keep the (manual) choke out, so usually it’s just a quick out and in with the clutch in 2nd or 3rd (or 4th if it stalls while I still have some speed). If you’re battery’s totally dead, you might have to spin the alternator for a while, so you’ll need to do it in a higher gear unless you have some strong friends pushing or a nice hill to help you out.

By: Jesse S

Jesse S — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:17:06 +0000

It’s a good Idea to mention that not all jumper cables are created equally. If you have a heavy-duty vehicle that draws heavy duty power on start-up, heavy gauge cables are needed. A jenky set of bargain basement cables can easily overheat if used in too demanding a situation. Same goes for the vehicle donating the electrons. Don’t expect someone’s Festiva to effectively jump your cement truck.

By: Brandt

Brandt — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 02:18:10 +0000

To Jules with the Taurus, the reason it didn’t jump off with the cable connected to metal under the hood is that you probably didn’t have a good connection. That connection must be to a solid, unpainted surface (bare metal). If you can find a bolt fastened to the body of the car, and it has gunk and paint on it, use the cable connection to scrape it off.

By: Al

Al — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 05:06:53 +0000

Well thank you AoM for great instructions. However I am still docked points because I did not consult the guide first and fried my set of cables, having my fiances car running when I started the process. I know how stupid I was, only wirking with Jump Boxes at work. A 20 dollar waste and life lesson learned. Thanks again!

By: JRam

JRam — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:51:12 +0000

Actually Dan, if you connect the negative end to the battery instead of the metal surface (electric ground) you can damage the car.

When you step on the gas pedal of the good car, the voltage in the battery terminals increases from 12V to 15V because the alternator kicks in. This could damage the car’s computer or burn a fuse, which you would later have to replace.

Also, when you jump start a manual transmision car, you do it on 2nd shift, not 1st. And you have to turn the key all the way and let go SLOWLY of the clutch. You can also do it going in reverse, but you need to be a very skilled driver.

By: Dan C

Dan C — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 22:31:59 +0000

The reason to do negative to metal is to keep the spark (from the final connection) away from the battery which could cause it to explode sending skin melting sulfuric acid in your face and eyes. most of the metal in your car is grounded so its the same as attaching the cable to the battery without the danger of blowing it up. Make sure the metal isnt painted, just try a couple different places until you get a good connection.

By: Jules Pillars

Jules Pillars — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:22:14 +0000

I recently (1-22-13) had to jump my car, I used the above mentioned positive to positive, negative to metal, my Taurus did not start, negative to negative, sat for another 6-10 minutes, started up.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 06:46:10 +0000

Yeah, I dunno whose idea it is to put the black clamp onto a metal surface under the hood and not the battery cause that does not work. I had to clamp it on the negative end of the dead battery or else Id be stuck there. I didn’t see any sparks fly. Spare yourself the time. just do it the regular way of going positive to positive and negative to negative.