1. Home
  2. General Toyota Forum
  3. Do I know how to jumpstart!!!

Do I know how to jumpstart!!!

My old method was to hook up all the cables to terminals except the last lead and then quickly strike the last terminal. If that resulted in BIG sparks then polarity is wrong - redo cables. This is outright horrible to a modern car with all the computers - I KNOW but never remember when needed. From the following link I see that things are even more complicated. Are they overdoing this?

joe

formatting link
Dead Car Starting Method # 1: Preferred method of starting the dead battery Try this method before you try Method #2. A guy named Doug from Canada sent in this tip. He's boosted cars a lot in winter and has found that it's critically important to shut off the boosting car?s engine during the moments of actual cranking of the car with the dead battery. This does however reduce available power to the dead car because the boosting car's alternator isn't running, Doug has had a number of "live" boosts make the boosting car's alternator diodes either fail outright or die very prematurely from the extreme current draw on the alternator while cranking the engine on the bad car. So the safest method is to have the good engine running a few minutes to charge the dead battery. Then shut off the good car's engine and disconnect the cables and start the bad car's engine. This method does not always work, so if Method #1 does not work for you, try Method #2. Personally, I've never had a problem with Method #2, but the risk is there. I still think the best thing for you to use if your car is near a source of AC current, is a home car battery charger/jumper. In the Method #1 above, I might add that if you keep trying to crank the bad car and it won't start, then stop this process before you drain the good car's battery. You don't want 2 dead car batteries on your hands. You may need to start the good car's engine and proceed with original method.

Dead Car Starting Method # 2: Gentlemen, Start Your Engines! Start the good car's engine, and make sure the headlights are off, to allow the maximum amount of power to get to the dead battery. Let the good car's engine run a minute or so before attempting to start the dead car. Sometimes you get lucky and the dead battery will jump start right away, sometimes it takes a few minutes. If you're lucky and have a voltmeter built into your dash on the dead car, turn the key to the accessory setting and read the voltage coming into your charging system. Ideally you want between 12 and 13.6 volts, but some cars can start at 10 volts. If your dead car's interior dome light comes on, it's a great sign that you've connected the cables right. Now shut all doors and dome lights and try to start the car. If it sounds like it's trying to crank but won't turn over completely, give it a few more minutes and rev the engine moderately on the good car. You may also need to play with the cable grips to get a better connection, and use that in dash voltmeter to its fullest if you have one. You'll get a spark as you move the cables around a bit. Let's assume your engine started ok, but if it did not start, see the troubleshooting section further down this page

Reply to
joe
Loading thread data ...

The cables and terminals are color coded and marked with a huge + and -. AND the cables on the car are pretty easy to determine which goes to some dark and dirty place, and which goes to ground if the colors and + and - marks are ambiguous.

I connect Red (+) to Red first -- not caring the order of target and source. Then connect Black (-) on the target car, then connect Black (-) on the source car last.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

"joe" wrote> My old method was to hook up all the cables to terminals except the

1) Connect jumper cable1 from Red (+) battery post of source car to Red (+) battery post of target car. 2) Connect jumper cable 2 from Black (--) battery post of source car to a metallic part (e.g alternator bracket, but not the alternator!) ) of target car. 3) Start engine of source car and keep at high idle (ca. 1500rpm).

4) Have second person start engine of target car. If car starts, let it run also at high idle for a few minutes before removing cables in reverse order.

5) Shut down engines and remove cables in reverse order
Reply to
Herb Ludwig

I would not shut down the engine of the car that had the dead battery when removing the cables or you may end up having to jump it again.

Reply to
Ray O

I do not think you know how to jumstart. Your old method is incorrect and very dangerous because big sparks could make the battery explode and blow several fuses. If there is a big disparity in voltage between the car providing the boost and the car being boosted, you may get sparks even if the cables are hooked up correctly. You must connect cables so positive to positive, negative to negative, and the only way to check for sure is to check the polarity of the terminals you're hooking up to. Positive terminals generally have red markings. You connect the last negative cable to a ground point in the engine compartment as far away from the battery as possible to reduce the likelihood that sparks will make any gases escaping from the battery explode.

Follow Jeff Strickland's or Herb Ludwig's advice (except for shutting down the target car's engine as Herb suggests).

Or, since you want to have 12 volt power with the engine shut off, invest in one of those battery jumper batteries.

Reply to
Ray O

"Ray O" wrote >

Ray: You and I, who have jump-started cars numerous times, may remove cables while the engine is running. But it is unsafe and irresponsible to let an unexperienced person, like my wife (or anyone, who has to ask how to jump-start) remove the cable from a running engine, particularly the bracket ground connection near the fan belt. I know personally of 2 people who got hurt that way. Best regards Herb

Reply to
Herb Ludwig

Why does the ground connection have to be anywhere near the fan belt? Is everyone missing the point?

The reason we don't connect the negative cable to the target battery is to avoid the possibility of sparks igniting the hydrogen gas which develops when lead-acid batteries are charged. The purpose of connecting the cable elsewhere is simply to keep any sparks away from the immediate vicinity of the battery. It doesn't need to be anywhere near the damn fan belt! The entire freakin' car is electrically bonded to the negative battery terminal (unless it is an old British +ve common system), so all you need is to find an unpainted piece of metal. Alternator brackets happen to be convenient, but there are other places too.

And the donor car doesn't need to be running. You aren't trying to charge the target battery, you just want to provide enough voltage to the system to operate the starter motor. No different than starting your own car. Once the target car is running its own alternator will charge the battery. (If it won't then the target car has bigger problems than just needing a jump.) Only if the target car was taking excessive cranks to start would I bother starting the source car.

Jumping a vehicle doesn't have to be some big ordeal. I jumped an old pickup the other day. It took about 3 minutes, including shuffling my car around to get the batteries reasonably close together. My car was not running. The pickup started after cranking for about 10 seconds. No problem.

Reply to
dionysus_2112

I thnik this is backwards, IIRC. I bevlieve you connect + to the bad car, then the good, then -to the good car, then the bad.

Reply to
Hachiroku

wrote in > Why does the ground connection have to be anywhere near the fan belt?

I used to work in the Service Dpt. of a large Ford dealership. We had over the years a couple of cases of expensive repairs on vehicles used in jump starting. Invariably,oldtimers, used to jump start there old F100 or F 150 pick-up trucks, had encounterd modern cars and were still using the old macho approach you describe. They learned the expensive way that modern electrical components like diodes and IC's (Integrated circuits) are extremely sensitive to voltage peaks created even while just connecting or disconnecting the jumper cables. It is recommended procedure to keep the donor engine running, because the higher alternator voltage (compared to the battery voltage) creates a protective environment for the donor vehicle. Modern cars have many components that are connected with the chassis via rubber/metal bushings and other insulating materials and finding a reliable ground is not as easy as it used to be. In fact, today's manufactures especially create a number of ground connections ( sometimes corroded) throughout the car, because the"entire freakin car" is no longer electrically bonded to the negative terminal as in the good old days. Besides, internal battery cells can be shorted and corroded battery terminals are not totally unknown. The alternator bracket as a ground connection for jump starting is mentioned in many operators manuals and seems the one favored by manufacturers.

Reply to
Hanna Lahy

Herb,

You have a good point, which is why I pay for AAA membership and keep our cars in good running condition. I don't think my wife even knows what the battery looks like, and it would probably take her 5 minutes to figure out how to open the hood.

Reply to
Ray O

Jumpstart your way Hachi and you won't jumpstart my Toyota...

Reply to
Jimbo

Aw, c'mon! I'm always looking for a Guinea Pig!

Hmm...good to bad(+), bad to good(-)?

Reply to
Hachiroku

Good to bad (+) then good (-) to bad ground other than the negative battery post.

Reply to
Ray O

Connecting the + should be before the -, but it can be connected in any order -- target or source. The negative is connected second, and there is debate as to the order of connecting the target and source. The goal is to keep any sparks that may occur during connection away from the batteries them selves. My inclination is that the dead battery probably has few if any fumes, therefore it makes sense to connect the dead battery's negative terminal last. And, it is wise to connect the cable to the block instead of the battery just to keep any sparks away from the battery.

I think I erred in my first post. I said that I connect the source negative last, but now that I'm saying it for a second time, I would connect the target negative last.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

I was thinkin' the same thing. Leave both cars running, and disconnect the cables being carefull to not allow the clamps to touch together until at least one cable is disconnected at BOTH ends.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Leaving the both cars running creates the risk of being injured by moving parts or having the cable clamps caught in a moving part. The risk of sparks is much lower when disconnecting because there is a lower difference in potential between the two cars.

Reply to
Ray O

I understand. The hazard I was speaking of is where the cable ends touch together while the other end of both cables is still connected to either battery. The cable ends turn into an arc welder at that point, causing pitting and awful burns to the clamps at the least, and damage to the car to which the other end of the cables is still connected. I like to disconnect one clamp and clamp it to the cable, then disconnect the other clamp on the same end. This allows me to move to the other car to disconnect without worry that I will have two ends that are charged coming into contact with one another. I sometimes find that I lose track of stuff that needs to be kept separated while doing another task, and the errant coming-together of this stuff can get ugly. By clamping one clamp to the cable, I only need to hold the other clamp and stay away from the body of the other car while disconnecting the cables from it. If I clamp the neg clamp to the cable, then I am left holding the positive clamp, and this eleminates nearly all of the avenues for error.

To be honest, while there is a very real risk of battery explosions because of the fumes being ignited by a spark, in my several decades of working on the edge of the auto industry, I've NEVER actually seen an exploded battery, or a car that had a battery in it that had exploded. I'm sure there are a few cars around that housed a battery that has exploded, but I've never seen one. I don't dispute that it happens, but I have to wonder if there are other parts to the equation that play into the explosions when they occur.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Clamping the cables together is a clever solution, as long as there is no possibility that the negative and posibive clamps touch.

I've seen the aftermath of exploded batteries several times. The possibility is not that remote.

Reply to
Ray O

| | "Ray O" wrote in message | news:5d08c$4480a81d$44a4a10d$ snipped-for-privacy@msgid.meganewsservers.com... | >

| | I understand. The hazard I was speaking of is where the cable ends touch | together while the other end of both cables is still connected to either | battery. The cable ends turn into an arc welder at that point, causing | pitting and awful burns to the clamps at the least, and damage to the car to | which the other end of the cables is still connected. I like to disconnect | one clamp and clamp it to the cable, then disconnect the other clamp on the | same end. This allows me to move to the other car to disconnect without | worry that I will have two ends that are charged coming into contact with | one another. I sometimes find that I lose track of stuff that needs to be | kept separated while doing another task, and the errant coming-together of | this stuff can get ugly. By clamping one clamp to the cable, I only need to | hold the other clamp and stay away from the body of the other car while | disconnecting the cables from it. If I clamp the neg clamp to the cable, | then I am left holding the positive clamp, and this eleminates nearly all of | the avenues for error. | | To be honest, while there is a very real risk of battery explosions because | of the fumes being ignited by a spark, in my several decades of working on | the edge of the auto industry, I've NEVER actually seen an exploded battery, | or a car that had a battery in it that had exploded. I'm sure there are a | few cars around that housed a battery that has exploded, but I've never seen | one. I don't dispute that it happens, but I have to wonder if there are | other parts to the equation that play into the explosions when they occur. | |

Let me tell you a little story here about hooking up jumpstarts wrong. When I retired from the Army in '73, I went into business for myself selling Snap-on-Tools, with a territory from the southern part of Orlando (FL) down to St. Cloud - Kissimmee - Walt Disney World. One morning I waltzed up to the small shop of a mechanic in Orlando and his place was closed. The following week, same thing. Third week he was open and when I walked in I noticed that his face was quite red and shiny. Naturally I asked if he had been ill and he told me: "Jim, I've in this business here now for 25 years, and when a customer pulled in with his Cadillac with a bad battery, I turned off the engine to see what I was facing. When I tried to restart the car, it wouldn't so I went to the back of the shop and got my 'crash cart.' I hooked up the same way I always had - pos good to pos bad, neg good to neg bad - and as soon as I touched the negative post the whole damned top of the battery lifted off and hit me in the face. Fortunately I had enough sense to run to the back of the shop to the faucet and liberally doused my eyes with water. But in the time it took me to go from the front door to the back of the shop, I lost 30% of my eyesight." I remember the incident well and have never forgotten how to properly jumpstart a car. S***t happens.

PcolaPhil

To Reply Remove --SPAMNOT-

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their Nation."

- George Washington.

|
Reply to
Jimbo

cables to terminals except the

(+) battery post of target car.

metallic part (e.g alternator bracket, but not the

run also at high idle for a few minutes before

removing the cables or you may end up having to

cables being carefull to not allow the clamps to

parts or having the cable clamps caught in a moving

a lower difference in potential between the two

together while the other end of both cables is still

point, causing pitting and awful burns to the clamps

still connected. I like to disconnect one clamp and

allows me to move to the other car to disconnect

with one another. I sometimes find that I lose track

errant coming-together of this stuff can get ugly. By

away from the body of the other car while

I am left holding the positive clamp, and this

possibility that the negative and posibive clamps touch.

of the fumes being ignited by a spark, in my several

an exploded battery, or a car that had a battery in

battery that has exploded, but I've never seen one. I

to the equation that play into the explosions when

is not that remote.

Wow, I had always just assumed the #1 serious mistake made with jumper cables was damage to the car from connecting them reversed ?

Thanks Dan

When I was a teenager I found out the hard way when I squatted right next to a new battery being charged on the floor of some shop and used it to test my cars clock All I remember after that was my back hitting something really hard that turned out to be a wall and a few cuts in my crotch. Talk about getting lucky. LOL

Reply to
Danny G.

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.