How to Jumpstart Your Car Battery

I needed to jumpstart my vehicle's battery, so I thought I'd search the internet (and Associated Content) for a good how to guide. I found tons of advice pieces. So many that they even contradicted. Sadly, I didn't find one good one. But I learned how to best jump start my car battery, and I thought I'd pass on the knowledge.

First, you need to put the two vehicles together so that your jumper cables will reach from battery to battery.

Then, turn the good vehicle off. I've seen conflicting sources on this issue. Some articles said to leave the good car running, but the consensus is that these articles are wrong. If the good car is running when you jumpstart the bad car, there is a small chance of causing a power surge in the good vehicle, which can cause damage.

The battery will charge just as well with both cars off. Don't believe me? Try hooking both the jumper cables onto the good car and then touch the other two together. The spark will tell you that plenty of electricity is flowing. Be careful though. If one side of the jumpers is connected to the good car and the other side connects through your hands, you will complete the circuit and the electricity will go through you. You definitely don't want that to happen. Fortunately, we'll connect the jumper cables in a particular order. This will make it impossible for your hands to complete the circuit, so you won't have to worry about electricity running through you.

First, connect the positive jumper cable on the bad car. Second, connect the other positive jumper cable to the good vehicle. Third, connect the negative jumper cable to the good car.

Finally, you'll want to connect the negative jumper cable to some clean metal under the bad car's hood. This completes the circuit while grounding. Usually you can find a nut or a bolt on your engine block that will serve this purpose.

Once everything is connected, start the bad car. If it starts right away, great! Disconnect the negative jumper cable on the bad car, then the negative jumper on the good vehicle, then the positive jumper on the good vehicle, and finally the positive jumper on the bad car. To allow the bad car battery to charge, you should let it run for awhile. Perhaps 10-30 minutes.

If the bad car does not start, wait a bit with the two cars connected. Sometimes it takes longer for enough of the good car's energy to transfer to the bad battery. With older cars, this can take up to 30 minutes. Give it some time, and then try starting the bad car again.

Finally, if you can't find a good clean piece of metal for the negative jumper on the bad car, you can connect the jumper to the negative post on the battery. You should try to jump without using the negative post first, because there is a small chance of an explosion. But the chance is very small, so you can use the negative post if necessary.