Art of Manliness - Latest Comments in How To Jump Start a Car

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Gordo — Mon, 19 May 2014 14:04:27 -0000

The negative to metal part really is a pain. I've jump-started a bunch of cars in my youth and always connected the cables to the battery. This morning, trying to be responsible because I was dealing with more upmarket cars, I connected to metal, then other metal, and then more metal. Nothing worked. So we called a truck. And they just connected it to the battery and it worked, and now guess who looks like the unmanly idiot?

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Bryan — Mon, 19 May 2014 14:02:16 -0000

Thanks for explaining this. I've been witness to 2 battery explosions in my life. One was because a guy tried to jump a full sized pickup from a small 80's volkswagon. The 2nd time I saw it happen was starting up a normal car. The battery exploded on ignition under totally normal circumstances. I'm terrified of having to mess with the battery myself... wish me luck.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Cynthia — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 22:05:20 -0000

Thanks! Having forgotten the connection order since my unreliable car days, your website helped me, my two daughters and their two friends (all 16) jump start the friends' old car with our truck. My daughters connected the leads and later asked why they don't teach this in driver's ed.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

arunan — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 22:47:25 -0000

My Acura MDXs manual asked me to use the special grounding clamp right in the front center of the hood in front of the engine for the negative end. Always consult your manual in case you aren't sure. in my case I couldn't find any unpainted metallic parts exposed :)..

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

dan — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 17:52:39 -0000

Only holds true if both vehicles are negative ground. If one is positive ground all the connections must be made at the battery.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Shreyas B — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 20:48:19 -0000

Thanks for this article! My fiancee's battery just died after a few days of leaving it in the chilly Midwest weather we're having. I got the car up and running, and all is well!

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Phil — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 04:52:50 -0000

Returned from vacation to a dead battery. This tutorial was a lifesaver. Worked perfectly!

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Nick — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 19:36:07 -0000

Sorry nick, but just as a point of clarification, connecting the ground to the metal surface does not complete the circuit with the actual ground that the car is sitting on. Connecting the black (ground) cable to the engine block is recommended in the article because the engine block is directly grounded to the battery through a grounding strap, effectively completing the electric circuit. The car is not grounded to the earth through the tires. The tires are made of rubber, and they are filled with air, making them GREAT insulators, not conductors. It takes about 20,000V just to fire a spark plug across a 1/8" gap of air, so imagine the voltage necessary to jump the 3-4 inch air gap alone, then add in the resistance of the tires. Sorry for the rant, I just thought it might be useful to know why you actually connect the cable to a certain point. Also, as long as the surface the ground cable you are connecting to is unpainted BARE metal, it will work. You can see most aftermarket sound systems that are housed in the trunk are grounded to the trunk floor, which is nothing more than sheet metal, albeit a spot with the paint sanded away. Cheers.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Matt — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 23:55:36 -0000

My dad and I had to jump-start our family's minivan using a set of borrowed jumper cables. I hooked up my end, red to positive, black to negative. Without double checking my dad's side, he tried starting the minivan. All of a sudden the insulation on the cables started smoking and melting all over the cars. Turns out my dad is an idiot and flipped the black and red on the dead minivan. He effectively wired two car batteries in series with no resistance!!!

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Matt — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 23:51:28 -0000

I had to park my stick-shift '98 Ford Escort for about a month on any hill I could find so that I could bump start it. It was always awkward explaining it to any passengers I offered rides to. Turns out that the cable on my negative terminal was corroded about 80% of the way through the cable. Enough to run the car but not enough to start the car off the battery.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Christina — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 17:06:07 -0000

Thank you! I just jumped started my car on my own using my mother's car, I'd never done this before. Positive to positive, negative on the good battery and negative to ground on my stalled car. Worked like a charm. :)

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Luke — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 10:05:35 -0000

Use 2nd gear if roll starting a car!!!
Cannot stress this enough, 1st gear will spin the engine too fast if you get the car up to a decent speed. Use 1st only if you have limited space and are push starting it.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Jer — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 17:13:01 -0000

It's been said already by JRam and Evan, but it bears repeating. If you're popping the clutch to start your car, do it in 2nd gear, and just barely feather the gas a little. I've seen guys crack gears popping too aggressively in 1st.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

nick — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:02:58 -0000

just so everyone is 100% clear...#5 when you clamp it to an unpainted piece of metal...it has to be a part connected to your frame(thus your tires)...aluminum or sheet metal will not work. the black is your ground and passing the connection through to the tires grounds your car.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

soma — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:48:59 -0000

Very good description of steps,very clear and easy to follow.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Old o — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 02:53:08 -0000

Good Ground, Bad Block, Reds Together.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Evan J — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 22:49:46 -0000

Thank you JRam - never bump start in a low gear unless you don't mind if you twist off a drive shaft or watch the whole transmission fall out behind you. My '71 Dodge stalls all the time when cold and I don't want to keep the (manual) choke out, so usually it's just a quick out and in with the clutch in 2nd or 3rd (or 4th if it stalls while I still have some speed). If you're battery's totally dead, you might have to spin the alternator for a while, so you'll need to do it in a higher gear unless you have some strong friends pushing or a nice hill to help you out.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Jesse S — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:17:06 -0000

It's a good Idea to mention that not all jumper cables are created equally. If you have a heavy-duty vehicle that draws heavy duty power on start-up, heavy gauge cables are needed. A jenky set of bargain basement cables can easily overheat if used in too demanding a situation. Same goes for the vehicle donating the electrons. Don't expect someone's Festiva to effectively jump your cement truck.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Brandt — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 02:18:10 -0000

To Jules with the Taurus, the reason it didn't jump off with the cable connected to metal under the hood is that you probably didn't have a good connection. That connection must be to a solid, unpainted surface (bare metal). If you can find a bolt fastened to the body of the car, and it has gunk and paint on it, use the cable connection to scrape it off.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Al — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 05:06:53 -0000

Well thank you AoM for great instructions. However I am still docked points because I did not consult the guide first and fried my set of cables, having my fiances car running when I started the process. I know how stupid I was, only wirking with Jump Boxes at work. A 20 dollar waste and life lesson learned. Thanks again!

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

JRam — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:51:12 -0000

Actually Dan, if you connect the negative end to the battery instead of the metal surface (electric ground) you can damage the car.

When you step on the gas pedal of the good car, the voltage in the battery terminals increases from 12V to 15V because the alternator kicks in. This could damage the car's computer or burn a fuse, which you would later have to replace.

Also, when you jump start a manual transmision car, you do it on 2nd shift, not 1st. And you have to turn the key all the way and let go SLOWLY of the clutch. You can also do it going in reverse, but you need to be a very skilled driver.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Dan C — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 22:31:59 -0000

The reason to do negative to metal is to keep the spark (from the final connection) away from the battery which could cause it to explode sending skin melting sulfuric acid in your face and eyes. most of the metal in your car is grounded so its the same as attaching the cable to the battery without the danger of blowing it up. Make sure the metal isnt painted, just try a couple different places until you get a good connection.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Jules Pillars — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:22:14 -0000

I recently (1-22-13) had to jump my car, I used the above mentioned positive to positive, negative to metal, my Taurus did not start, negative to negative, sat for another 6-10 minutes, started up.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Chris — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 06:46:10 -0000

Yeah, I dunno whose idea it is to put the black clamp onto a metal surface under the hood and not the battery cause that does not work. I had to clamp it on the negative end of the dead battery or else Id be stuck there. I didn't see any sparks fly. Spare yourself the time. just do it the regular way of going positive to positive and negative to negative.

Re: How To Jump Start a Car

Kamron — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:02:23 -0000

I drove my car for weeks with a useless starter, all I did was park it on a clear slope (its manual).