Sometimes resuscitating your car battery feels like a delicate medical procedure. Ok, everyone back up. I need a charged up vehicle, jumper cables, and some moral support, STAT! The vehicle was last seen charged this morning before work. The cause of battery death appears to be because the car door was left slightly ajar. Rookie mistake! How could I have done something so foolish! Now it’s time for me to find a good friend willing to donate some vehicle lifeblood (electricity if we’re being real about it) to me and my vehicle.
For those of you who have not had to jump your car before, let me walk you through the steps. Unfortunately, this is not my first time at the dead battery rodeo. As it turns out I’m not super great about closing my car doors. Jumping your car battery seems like a somewhat daunting task, but don’t you worry, it’s not that hard.Just like the AA batteries you use for your TV remote, the two posts on the battery in your car has a negative side and a positive side. They don’t say negative or positive, but they do have a – symbol and a + symbol on the battery or on a cap that is covering the posts to tell you which post is which.Sometimes, car manufacturers color code the cable wires to the battery posts to help you differentiate the positive from the negative even more. The red cable is positive, black cable is negative. This is important info to remember. I struggled with this as seeing red as positive goes against everything I ever learned in college. My thesis papers looked like a crime scene of red ink covering the pages. Red, to me anyway, has never looked like a good thing. I’m getting off topic, but the moral here is that you need to find a quick and easy way to remember that red is positive and black is negative. My way is Red is ready to go, which sounds vaguely positive. The next thing to know is that the jumper cables are color coded, telling you exactly which end to connect to the post, so red to red and black to black. What’s most important is the sequence. Below I have listed the steps to follow to jump your car back to life!
- Take out your jumper cables.
- It’s good to have your own in your car just in case, otherwise, you’re at the mercy of whoever happens to be around to literally beg to for help.
- Place both vehicles in Park or Neutral and shut off the ignition in both cars. (DO NOT HAVE YOUR CAR ON WHILE YOU TRY TO ATTACH THE JUMPER CABLES!! YOU WILL LITERALLY DIE.)
- Engage both parking brakes as well (having your car roll away would really just be the cherry on top of this situation).
- Attach one of the red clips to the positive terminal of your battery.
- It has “POS” or “+” on it, or it’s bigger than the negative terminal.
- Attach the other red clip to the positive terminal of the other car. (Follow the order carefully. It’s important)
- Attach one of the black clips to the negative terminal on the other battery.
- Attach the last black clip to an unpainted metal surface on your car that isn’t near the battery.
- Use one of the metal struts that hold the hood open.
- Start the working vehicle and let the engine run for a few minutes.
- Try to start your vehicle.
- If it won’t start, make sure that the cables are properly connected and have the good Samaritan run his or her engine for five minutes. Then try to start your car again. If it still won’t start, your battery may be beyond help.
Warranties include 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain and 5-year/60,000-mile basic. All warranties and roadside assistance are limited. See retailer for warranty details.