If you own a car in today’s world, I’m sure you’ve had a dead battery or you’ve needed a jump start before.  Since most people, believe it or not don’t know how to jump start their car, it’s not as hard as it seems!  Be sure to print this little guide out and place it in your glove box just in case you ever run into any type of car troubles.  A quick jump start can solve a lot of battery problems!

Here’s the supplies you’ll need -

• Jumper cables (can be purchased at any auto store)
• Another car that can give you a boost

Step 1 – The first thing you’re going to want to do is make sure that both cars are facing each other hood to hood.  Try and get as close to each other as possible since most jumper cables don’t spread out that far.  Have one person guide you to the other car.  Once you get close, make sure all the cars are shut off and apply your parking brake just to be safe.  If you’re in a dangerous area or the side of the road, make sure your hazard lights are on.

Step 2 – The next step will be to grab the jumper cables.  You’re going to want to take one end and take it to the dead vehicle.  You’re going to want to apply the black cable to the negative side on the car battery.  You’re going to want to take the red side and apply it to the positive side.  The easiest way to remember this is by a little trick my mom taught me.  Remember that negro is black in Spanish, so negro = negative.  This is how I always remember it!

Step 3 – You’re going to want to repeat step 2 but apply this same technique to the running car.  Red to the positive side and black to the negative side.  Make sure that the cables aren’t lying on anything underneath the hood.   You’ll want to make the wires as free as possible.  When applying the jumper cables to the battery, make sure that you apply them to the medal brackets on the battery casing.  This will ensure that the energy gets to the battery properly.

Step 4 – Now it’s time to start your car.  Go to the car and start it up and let it idle.  Depending on the battery on the dead car, it may take a while.  If the battery is dead because lights were left on, it should start up fairly quick.  If it’s an older battery, it may take a while. 

Step 5 – After a few minutes, go to the dead car and see if it starts up.  If it starts up, we’re on the right path.   If it doesn’t start up, you’ll want to call a tow truck because you may do more damage than good.  If the car does start up, make sure you sit there for a few minutes and make sure everything runs properly.  Sometimes, cars will start up and with just shut off 2 minutes later for no apparent reason.

Step 6 – Once you know the dead car is running, proceed to take off the jumper cables.  Make sure you don’t let the ends touch each other because this will cause a pretty big spark.  Once all the cables are off the cars, shut the hoods and put the cables away.

Jump starting a car isn’t that hard, it just requires a few minutes and 99% of the time, this will cause a dead battery problem.   As I mentioned above, if it takes more than 10 minutes to start, call a tow truck instead of risking your starter.