How to Jump a Car Battery
Your vehicle’s battery helps you get from Point A to Point B in the Clarks Summit, Dickson City, and Dalton, Pennsylvania, areas. While these components are engineered to last a few years, like all good things, they do have an expiration date. When that time occurs, you may find your battery doesn’t work like it used to.
Luckily, with a quick jump, you should be able to get back on the road again—at least for a little bit—and Scranton DCJR (Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram) is here to help. In this guide, we’ll show how to jump a car battery, so your schedule stays on track.
What You’ll Need to Jump Start a Car Battery
Before you can jolt your vehicle’s battery back to life, you’ll need to gather a few things:
- A friend’s vehicle and
- Jumper cables or
- A battery jump-starter
If you’re using a friend’s (or another person’s) vehicle to jump-start your battery, ensure it is parked where you can easily attach the jumper cables from their battery to yours. Typically, this is front bumper to front bumper, but you must adjust if there is an engine in the vehicle's rear.
How to Jump-Start a Car
1. Locate Battery Terminals
Open your vehicle's hood and locate the two terminals on the battery. They’ll have positive (+) and negative (-) symbols, and the positive should be indicated with a red cap. If you cannot find them, refer to your owner’s manual.
If using another vehicle, find the battery terminals on their model as well.
2. Connect the Jumper Cables
The jumper cables, whether connected to a starter pack or not, will have one red and one black clamp at each end. Red clamps attach to the positive side of the battery while the black connects to the negative. However, connecting them in the correct sequence is vital. Here’s how:
- Attach the red clamp to the positive terminal of the dead battery.
- Connect the other red clamp to the positive terminal of the booster battery.
- Take the black clamp and attach it to the negative terminal of the booster battery
- Finally, connect the last black clamp to an unpainted metal part of the dead battery. This can be a bolt or bracket. Some batteries also have bolts marked with a negative symbol just for this purpose.
3. Jump Start the Car
After connecting the clamps, start the engine with the working battery (or your jump starter). Then, start the car with the dead battery. If it doesn’t turn over right away, wait a few minutes and try again while increasing the idle speed of the working vehicle.
4. Disconnect
With both vehicles idling, carefully remove the jumper cables. To do this, reverse the order of how they were attached—and keep the metal clamps from touching each other!
5. Drive the Car
With the cables removed and the hood closed, drive the boosted car battery for at least 20 minutes. This will allow the alternator to charge the jumped battery fully.
When you are done driving, park the vehicle in a safe space, in case it needs to be jumped again.
Have Your Battery Inspected at Scranton DCJR
There are several reasons you’d need to jump your vehicle’s battery. To ensure it can still hold a charge and can drive, schedule a professional inspection at our dealership’s service center. Our team can provide tune-ups and replacements as needed, so you can continue on your journey throughout Clarks Summit, Dickson City, and Dalton, PA.
Make your appointment today!