In winter, most motorists face flat battery issues in the cold and snowy mornings. Nothing happens when you turn on the ignition switch? It is very common in these months because the car demands extra from your batteries such as, fog lights, warning indicators and even headlights. It usually happens when people leave their headlights ON when parked. Lights suck the battery very swiftly and leave it flat.
It is not rocket science to jump start your car, you simply have to follow some basic rules. Here is a handy and quick guide to jump start your car with leads.
There are several ways to do it; however you have to select the one which is available at the time. Firstly, it is very important that you must prepare your car to face the winter season and buy some handy portable power packs for emergency use. You must buy jump start leads and a yellow triangle. Follow the steps below to start your car.
1. Ask for Help
Ask someone for help on the road to jump start your car. The battery of the other car will start your car engine. Ideally, the helping car should have similar or larger engine than yours.
2. Position the Car
Place the helping car’s bonnet close to your car’s bonnet to get closer engine bay distances. Open the bonnets of both cars. Move all the metal objects out of the way of both car batteries. If any of the batteries have any cover, remove it as well and carefully check jump cables for any damages because that can lead to serious damage or even electric shock.
3. Connect the Positive (+) Terminals First
Bring your red cable first and connect it to your battery’s Positive (+) terminal than the other end to the Positive (+) terminal of helping car’s battery. If you connect helping car first, you might face a spark because the other end can touch any metal part of the car.
4. Connect the Negative (-) Terminals
Bring your Black cable and connect it to your car’s any solid metal object like engine for Earth and the other end to the Negative (-) Terminal of helping car’s battery. This will complete the circuit and current will start flowing from charged battery to flat one. This cable is for earth purposes so you can connect it to any metal part on your car such as the engine bay.
5. Start the Engine
Start the engine of helping car first and wait about 4 to 5 minutes, depending on the battery condition of the other car, then start your car engine. Remove the cables in the reverse sequence. Remove the earth, black cable (-ve) first, then remove the Positive (+) or red cable.
6. Drive
It is always preferred that you should run or drive your car for at least 15 minutes to half an hour that will allow your car’s alternator to start recharging your battery so you can start the engine by its own next time.
