Although vehicle battery durability, and reliability has gotten much better, you may still find yourself in the position of needing a jump start at some point in your life. If you’ve ever been stranded with a dead car battery and without a way to jump it or without knowing how, you know how frustrating it can be. So regardless of battery improvements, you should learn the proper way to jump start a vehicle either for yourself or another driver you may be helping. Follow these simple instructions to learn the proper way to jump start a vehicle.
- Turn both vehicles off first and pop the hoods of both vehicles. Find the batteries in both vehicles and identify the positive and negative terminals on each.
- Connect one of the red positive jumper cable clamps to the dead battery’s red positive post.
- Connect the other red positive jumper cable clamp to the live battery’s red positive post.
- Connect the black negative jumper cable clamp from the same end as the already connected red clamp to the black negative post of the live battery.
- Connect the other black negative cable clamp to a clean, unpainted metal surface under the hood of the vehicle with the dead battery. It’s very important that you do not connect the negative clamp to the negative post of the dead battery because a spark could ignite resulting in a battery explosion.
- Start the vehicle with the live battery and allow it to run for five minutes with the jumper cables connected. This will allow some time for the dead battery to charge up. After five minutes, attempt to start the vehicle with the dead battery. If the vehicle won’t start, you may have to reposition the clamp that’s attached to the unpainted metal surface for better contact. You may also try racing the engine of the vehicle with the live battery to deliver more amperage.
- Once the engine of the dead battery vehicle has started, disconnect the jumper cables in the reverse order they were connected.
- Drive the vehicle with the previously dead battery round for a time before turning the vehicle off to allow the battery to charge.
Although jump starting a battery is a task that some people fear, once you try it once for yourself you will see that it is very simple and intuitive. You should always carry jumper cables in your vehicle so that you can jump your own car or help someone else with jumping theirs if the need arises. When your vehicle is running smoothly again, it might be a good idea to take it to a service center to determine if there is anything wrong with your battery that caused it to lose its charge. The service experts at Peruzzi Mitsubishi can take a look at your vehicle under the hood and diagnose and fix any problems, including battery issues. Make an appointment with our Levittown and Trenton area service center today and make sure your vehicle stays running in working condition. Give us a call today at 855-210-2919 or visit our Mitsubishi service and parts facility at 49 Spencer Avenue in Fairless Hills, PA.
