How to Jump-Start a Car

At Sutton Ford, we’re proud to be your chosen destination for all of your servicing needs in the Matteson area. We’ll help keep your vehicle in top shape for years to come while providing you with the necessary tips to keep your vehicle performing well at home. Are you having trouble and your car won’t jump-start? Our guide below discusses the property way to jump-start a car, but we’re also standing by to assist you in any way we can. Learn more below and eliminate your anxiety, and don’t hesitate to utilize our service specials for additional savings. 

What is The Proper Way to Jump-Start a Car?

You can contact a jump-start car service if the following doesn’t work, but it’s good to try and jump-start the car battery yourself since it’s not hard to do. You will need another person and vehicle to accomplish this and a set of jumper cables. With everything ready to go, follow these steps and learn how to jump-start a car:

1. Face the two vehicles with the batteries facing each other, which means they’ll be facing hood-to-hood. With the vehicles parked, turn them off and set the parking brakes.
2. Gain access to the batteries. You may have to remove a plastic hood to expose the battery terminals.
3. Look for the positive and negative battery terminals. They should be clean and free of any corrosion or dirt.
4. Take stock of your cables and separate the red ends from the black ends. They should never touch because they could spark. Then, connect the red clamp to the positive post on the dead battery.
5. Uncoil the battery cable and hook the other red clamp to the positive terminal of the battery with the charge.
6. Connect the black clamp to the negative post on the good battery. 
7. Connect the last black clamp to a grounded, unpainted metal surface on the vehicle’s frame.
8. After you have everything hooked up securely, start the engine of the car with the good battery. You can try and start the engine immediately, but it’s best to let the car with the good battery run for a bit before trying to start the engine of the other vehicle. 
9. Once the dead vehicle has been successfully jump-started, carefully remove the jumper cables in the reverse order that they were placed on while keeping the other vehicle running.
10. Be sure to keep the engine running on the restarted vehicle for at least 10 minutes to ensure that the weak battery doesn’t die again right away. Check your vehicle’s owner’s manual for additional info on recommended times. It’s also good to get your battery tested and/or replaced ASAP.

Additional Car Battery Tips & Tricks

There could be several reasons, aside from a dead car battery, that your vehicle won’t start. Below are just a few: 

• If only hear a clicking sound when you try and start it, the starter might not be functioning. 
• If the electrical systems turn on, but the engine doesn’t, there could be several things wrong, like the ignition switch, starter, or even something as simple as a fuse. It’s worth bringing your vehicle to our certified service center for further diagnostics and investigation.

Get Additional Trusted Service Tips at Sutton Ford!

Want to know more about servicing and maintaining your vehicle? We can help with our service and parts tips that help you keep your car performing at its best for years to come. If you have questions, need assistance, or simply need to schedule your next routine service appointment, give us a call! You can also use our online service scheduler to book your service appointment at home.