Your car’s battery may lose its charge for many reasons. The battery may be old, or you may have left a dome light on overnight. But how do you ensure you aren’t stranded when your car battery dies? Keep a set of jumper cables in your car and know how to use them for a jump-start.

Your Guide to a Car Jump-Start

1. Get Ready

First, you need to call someone or flag down a passerby who’s car battery is charged. Park it facing yours with the hoods within a few feet of each other. You’ll know how close they need to be depending on how long your jumper cables are. They typically span from 12 to 25 feet long.

Turn both vehicles off and pop their hoods. Your car may have a button on its dashboard to release it. Or, the driver’s side door may have a button.

Next, reach under the center front of the hood to open the latch. There should be a rod along the left or right side of the hood, which you can pull up to prop it open.

Check your owner’s manual if you cannot locate the hood release or bar.

2. Connect & Start 

Proceed in order, to avoid shorting out the batteries.

First, grab your cables’ clamps by their rubber grips. Don’t touch their metal tips to one another. Place your red clamp on the positive battery post. This post has a “+.” Second, attach the other red clamp to the positive post on the other car.

Next, place the black cable clamp on the negative post of the charged battery, which has a black cover and a “-.” After it’s connected, place the other side of the cable on a metal surface like a bolt on the other car.

Have the other driver turn their engine on and idle for a few minutes, then start your engine. Let both vehicles run for a few minutes while they’re connected.

3. Finish Up

Leave your vehicles on as you remove the clamps. Again, don’t let the metal ends touch each other. Undo them in the opposite order of how you connected them. Start with the black clamp on your automobile, then the black clamp on the other vehicle. Remove your car’s red clamp, then the other red clamp.

Allow your vehicle to run for at least ten to fifteen minutes before turning it off so your battery can recharge. Most batteries last around five years; if yours is reaching this age or regularly dies, it’s time to get a new one.

 

When you find yourself stranded and need a jump-start, you can call the team at Tomah Wrecker & Repair, LLC in Tomah, WI. They offer 24-hour roadside assistance and towing service throughout the region. Learn more on their website and call (608) 372-2550 to request a tow truck.