The battery is one of the most important power sources in any vehicle. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to listen to

the radio or use the air conditioning, let alone start your car! And luckily, it is

almost as easy to bring back to life as it is to drain.

• leaving your keys in the ignition

• not closing the doors all the way

• leaving a light on for an extended period of time.

Before jumping to conclusions though, let’s make sure it is in fact the battery that’s the problem.

Common Ways to Kill a Battery:

Signs of a Dead Battery:

• Engine cranks slowly or not at all

• Lights won’t turn on

• Battery is 3-4

years old

• Smells like sulfur

• clicking noise

when you turn

the key

Signs of a

Different Problem:

• all electronic

components work

but car won’t start

• Engine turns over normally, but car

won’t start

• lights turn on and off

while car is on

Make sure you have

everything you need:

Jumper cables

Gloves

Safety glasses

car with a working battery

If it’s determined that your battery is dead, the easiest way to revive it is by jump-starting it.

Preparation Before you start, park both cars facing each other

with only a foot or two between their bumpers.

Turn off all electrical components, unplug any chargers and turn both cars off.

Now roll your sleeves up and let’s get started…

Figuring Out the Battery

You will notice the batteries have

both a positive and a negative

terminal

Locate the battery in each car and inspect both of them. If you see anything leaking call a tow truck and have it replaced.

Figuring Out the Cables

Jumper cables are usually marked with colors or stripes to help keep track of each side.

Matching and Attaching

Take one of the positive ends of the jumper cables and clamp it on to the

positive terminal on the dead battery.

Attach the other end of the positive cable to the positive terminal on the active battery.

Matching and Attaching

Take one of the negative ends of

the jumper cables and clamp it to

the negative terminal of the active battery.

*Now you need to start being careful as the cables are live and full of electricity!!

Look for protruding metal somewhere on the engine block of the disabled car. As long as it isn’t painted or oily, attach the

unused, negative clamp here.

Some people are tempted to attach this last cable to the negative terminal on the dead battery but that runs the risk

of acid coming off the battery and possibly even igniting.

Charging it Up

Turn on the engine of the good car and let it to run for a couple minutes.

You can also rev the engine if you want, but for no more than a minute.

This is what charges up the dead battery in the other car and is absolutely necessary.

Start Your Engines!Turn the key in the ignition of the dead car. Sometimes it takes a couple tries but if it gets to be the fourth or fifth

attempt, stop.

Let the dead battery charge a little bit longer before trying to start it again. You can also try taking off the last clamp and

then moving the other ones around slightly.

Worst case scenario, you will have to get your car towed and replace the battery.

Taking the Cables Off

Once you successfully recharge the battery and turn your car on, you can remove all the jumper cables, but take them off in the opposite order

that you put them on.

Don’t let the cables touch each other or the engine during this process.

Congratulations!You just successfully jump-started your car!

If you aren’t planning on driving, keep the jumped car running for at least a half hour so it

has time to recharge.

I know you’re proud of yourself, but just remember if you have to jump start your car more than three times a week it is

officially old and it’s time to replace it.

If you go through all of this successfully but your car fails to start up again your battery could be

completely dead or you have a dying alternator.

Either way, don’t hesitate to bring your car in to one of our mechanics as soon as possible!

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