When your car, truck, or SUV won’t start, chances are you’ll need to jump-start the car battery. How yoy go about jumpstarting your car will vary depending on if you have a gas vs. diesel engine, but it can typically be done fairly simply with a gas engine. It’s important to know how to do this safely and so our service department has prepared this guide to walk you through the process. If you’ve been following your vehicle’s regular maintenance schedule, then this procedure shouldn’t take long.
How to Properly Jump Start a Car
It’s very important for Mount Vernon and New Rochelle area drivers to know the proper way to jump-start a car. There are two ways to do this properly:
Identify where the batteries are in both vehicles and then park the vehicles with noses almost touching. Turn both ignition switches to the off position.
Open the hoods and remove the plastic covers to the battery terminals, taking care not to break them.
Identify the positive and negative terminals (Black cable attachment with a “-” symbol = negative. Red cable attachment with a “+” symbol = positive). Make sure all the battery terminals are clean and free of corrosion.
Connect the red clamp on the jumper cables to the positive post on the dead battery.
Connect the other red clamp to the positive terminal of the battery with charge.
Attach the black clamp to the negative post on the good battery.
For the final clamp, attach the second black clamp to an unpainted metal surface on the car’s frame.
Make sure all clamps are attached securely, then start the engine of the vehicle with the good battery first. Wait several minutes to allow the dead battery to re-charge. Then, start the vehicle with the dead battery.
Once you’ve started your vehicle, let it run for several minutes while disconnecting the jumper cables. The disconnect procedure is the EXACT opposite of the connect procedure.
Possible Causes if Your Car Won’t Jump Start
You may find yourself in a situation where jump-starting your vehicle won’t start the engine, which means there are more complicated problems to deal with:
Faulty starter– if you hear a clicking sound and the engine won’t turn over but the lights, etc turn on, the starter could be malfunctioning.
A blown ignition switch, starter, or fuse – when you turn the key, there’s no reaction at all — engine won’t turn over, no lights, etc. This means the problem lurks inside the electrical system somewhere.
In a case like this, you’ll want to schedule a service appointment near Westchester immediately and our team will diagnose the problem. Your battery may need to be replaced, so check our list of current service specials to see if there is a coupon for battery replacement. There are many benefits to choosing OEM parts, including making sure it’s the correct part for your make and model.
Rely on Victory Mitsubishi for Expert Battery Service
