There are fewer more disheartening sounds than the tell-tale ‘click’ of an engine with a flat battery. Or a glance at the instrument panel to see a dimmed display or perhaps no lights at all.
If there is any noise coming from under the bonnet it’s possibly a tortuous, laboured sound of an engine that clearly isn’t going to start.
These all point towards a flat battery and, therefore, a car that’s not going anywhere. It’s a sinking feeling, but it doesn’t have to last long – if you know what you’re doing. There are worse things that can happen to a car than have a flat battery and most people can start one using jump leads.
These useful pieces of equipment take power from a good vehicle (or other source) and use it to power some life, via the struggling battery, into your stranded car. It’s well worth having a set of leads tucked away in the boot of your car.
Starting a car with jump leads
1. You will need a friend, family member or kind fellow motorist to help you out by loaning you the use of their car’s power. Ask them to pull up alongside your car, and open both vehicles’ bonnets.
2. Take your jump leads, making sure they are untangled and separate; a red lead and a black lead. Check they are in good order and without exposed cables. They have a large spring-loaded ‘croccodile’ clip at each end which attaches to the battery terminals of your stranded car and to that of the good car. It’s important that these are connected in a certain way to avoid damaging either vehicle or giving yourself a nasty shock.
3. Have a look at where both batteries are under each bonnet and make sure the cables are going to reach between them. That might involve moving the good car until it is positioned so that both batteries are close together. Remove any covers on the terminals but don’t disconnect any other wiring. Have a quick look to see that neither battery is damaged or leaking.
4. Before you connect anything, check that your surroundings are safe and try to work as far away from moving traffic as possible. Remove any loose clothing that could become entangled in either working engine and if you have long hair, tie it back.
5. With both cars switched off, attach one clip from the red lead to the positive terminal on the flat battery. The clip should also be coloured red or have a plus (+) symbol on it. Then take the other end and attach it to the positive terminal of the good battery.
6. Now attach one end of the black jump lead to the negative terminal (-) of the good battery and attach the other black lead’s clip to an earthing point such as bodywork or a metal part of the stranded car’s engine.
7. Make sure everyone is standing clear and start the good car, letting it settle to an idle. When you’re happy it’s ticking over nicely, try to start the dead engine. It should fire almost immediately but if it doesn’t, don’t panic. Let everything stay running for five minutes and try again. It should now start. If there is still nothing, you probably have a bigger problem than a flat battery.
8. Assuming everything is now running, remove the leads in the reverse order that you put them on: negative from the metal surface, negative from the good car, positive from the previously stranded car, positive from the good car.
Power pack
You can buy power packs which are portable storage units that you charge at home and which keep for months holding their power. They will have red and black cables just like the jump leads and connecting them up is similar: red (+) crocodile clip on the positive terminal of the flat battery and the black (-) clip on the negative terminal. That should provide the spark you need to get any car going.
Jump starting a car is a straightforward and fairly simple process but it’s important that everything is done methodically and in the right order. Following the procedure should have you up and running quickly.
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