How To Jump Start A Car

If you find yourself with a dead battery on the side of the road or in a car park, then your next step is to jump-start your car.

If you are lucky enough to get someones attention to help you jump-start your car with theirs, you must make sure that the voltage on their battery is at least as much as yours before you do anything. Nothing else about the other car matters as long as your hook up the cables properly;

You will need:

• Jumper cables
• Another car with at least the same amount of voltage as your car’s battery

1. Park both cars carefully, put the handbrake on and turn off the ignition

2. Take out your jumper cables

3. Attach one of the red clips to the positive terminal of your battery

You can identify the positive terminal on your battery by looking for a ‘POS’ or ‘+’ symbol on the battery.

If you can’t find either of these, then just look for the bigger terminal.

4. Attach the other red clip to the positive terminal of the other cars battery

5. Attach one of the black clips to the negative terminal on the other cars battery

6. Attach the remaining black clip to a metal surface on your car

Make sure that the metal surface is unpainted and away from the battery.

7. Startup the working car and let the engine run for around five minutes

8. Now try and start your car

If your car doesn’t start, then make sure that the cables are connected properly and have the other car run their engine for another five/ ten minutes. Try to start your car again.

If your car still won’t start then your battery needs more than just a jump start.

My Car won’t Start after a Jump Start… What do I do?

If your car fails to start after a few attempts from a jump start, then, unfortunately, you will need to get your battery looked at by a professional and it might need to be replaced.

At MyCarNeedsA.com, we look at trusted mechanics near you and find the cheapest deal for you to choose from.

All you need to do is provide us with a few details, and we do the rest!

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