How to Properly Jump-start Your Vehicle to Ensure You Don’t Get Stuck

If you ever find yourself with a car that won’t start, it can be a stressful and potentially frightening situation. Fortunately, though, a simple jump-start is often all that is needed to get you back on the road. To ensure you safely and effectively jump-start your vehicle, we at your favorite location to find a used car for sale in Gurnee would like to offer these jump-starting tips.

Before You Begin

Before jump-starting your vehicle, it’s important that you ensure the donor vehicle is parked nose-to-nose with your vehicle with just enough space between the two for you to walk. Also, if you can, test the battery on the donor vehicle to ensure it has enough voltage to provide the surge needed to jump a dead battery. Finally, inspect your jumper cables to ensure the insulation on the wires is in good condition and that there is no rust on the clips.

The Correct Order

Rather than just connecting the jumper cables as you please, there is a correct order in which to complete this procedure. First, ensure that both vehicles are turned off and that the parking brakes are on. Then, connect the positive clip on one end of the cables to the positive terminal on the dead battery. Then, connect the other positive clip to the positive terminal on the good battery.

After that, attach the negative cable clip on the good battery end to the negative terminal on the good battery. Finally, attach the negative clip on the dead battery end to an unpainted piece of metal that’s within easy reach of the cable.

Start the Engines

After connecting the cables, you’ll want to start the engine of the car with the good battery and let it run for a few minutes to allow power to flow to the dead battery. After a few minutes have elapsed, try to start the engine of the car with the dead battery. Whether it starts or not, rev the engine on the donor vehicle to help power pass through more quickly. After the recipient vehicle starts and has been running for a few minutes, disconnect the cables and close the hoods.

If the vehicle doesn’t start, it may be indicative of a problem that will require a search for a used car for sale in Gurnee.