You’ve had your entire Friday night planned with your friends for a week: leave work, go straight home, get ready for the night’s festivities. After pretty much sprinting from your job to your car, you turn the key in the ignition and… it won’t start. You try over and over and over again but all you hear is stuttering and the sound of your own voice shouting, “Please work!” You don’t want to miss out on an evening of fun and food with your friends. What do you do now?
It’s time to jumpstart your car! Here is how to get your car running from zero to 100 real quick.
STEP 1
Make sure you always have a good set of jumper cables in your car. You may not always get lucky and be able to find someone around that is willing to lend you theirs, so it’s important to have your own in case of an emergency. According to Meineke, jumper cables are “inexpensive and easy to store.”
STEP 2
You will need the help of a friend or kind stranger for this step. Put both of your vehicles in Park (Neutral for cars with an automatic transmission), and have the cars facing each other and the parking brakes secured. Before proceeding, make sure that the engines are off.
STEP 3
Open both hoods and identify where the batteries and battery terminals are. You should be able to distinguish the (+) or (-) signs to determine which is positive and which is negative.
STEP 4
Attach the red (+) clamp to the positive battery terminal of the dead car. Make sure the connection is solid.
STEP 5
Attach the red (+) clamp to the positive battery terminal of the working car. Again, secure the connection.
STEP 6
Attach the black (-) clamp to the working car’s negative battery terminal.
STEP 7
Instead of connecting the black (-) clamp to the dead car’s negative terminal, connect it to an unpainted metal surface on the car.
STEP 8
Turn on the functioning vehicle and wait a few minutes before attempting to start the dead car, then try to turn on the engine. Be patient, as it may take a few minutes for the charge to set in. If it’s necessary, rev the engine of the working car to aid in charging the battery.
STEP 9
After a successful jump, disconnect the jumper cables starting with the black (-) ones. You do not want the cables to touch each other or anything inside of the car. According to eHow, the dangers of them touching include sparking and explosions.
Now you know all the basics of how to jumpstart your car. If you’re ever in an unexpected rut with your car’s engine, you should now know what to do to get yourself out of it. And now you’re ready for that long-awaited night out with your friends!
