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by
Taylor
How to Jumpstart a Dead Battery
Though lately Mother Nature seems confused, eventually we will have to
deal with cold weather. Many of us will also have to deal with batteries
that will not start. So what to do?
Step 1: Get yourself a pair of jumper cables. I would suggest spending
no less than $30 (cheaper ones are for emergency uses only and are unreliable)
and make sure they are a minimum of eight feet long, for easier use. Why,
you might ask? Simple: if you have to jump your battery more than two
times (without the reasons like leaving the lights on or something to
drain the battery) you should just get a new battery.
Step 2: Find a friendly person who will let you use their car and their
battery. Holding up your cables on the road will let people know you are
looking for a jump, if friends are not available.
Step 3: I would suggest having the cars face nose-to-nose so that the
process will be easier and batteries will be facing each other. If this
is not possible, the batteries should be as close to each other as you
can get them.
Step 4: Turn off cars.
Step 5: Unless easily identified, take a dry rag, wipe down around the
terminals to identify the positive and negative stamp on both batteries;
then you are ready to use the cables. Take one cable and connect the cable
to the positive (usually the larger) terminal of both batteries.
Step 6: Take the other cable and attach to the negative terminal of the
dead battery. Take the other end of the same cable and ground it, which
means putting it to any part of the "good battery" car's engine
(a real piece of metal) to ground it.
Step 7: Turn on the car with the good battery.
Step 8: Then turn on the car with the dead battery. If it does not start,
try the following: Try jiggling the cables connections to make sure you
have a solid connection. Wait a few minutes, as a really dead battery
takes a few minutes to re-charge. If after a few minutes you still do
not get the engine to start, then you probably need a new battery. If
you hear nothing, (no clicking of the starter), and the radio, wipers
and headlights work, there might be a problem with your starter.
Or if the car does start, remember to take the cables off in reverse,
negative, negative then positive, positive. Leave the car running for
at least 20 minutes. This is how long it takes to re-energize a battery.
Store your jumper cables in a dry place. If they get wet during the "jump,"
wipe them off and put back in your trunk. Hopefully you will be the friendly
person with a good battery and not need a jump this winter.