How to Jump-Start a Car

When it comes to learning how to jump start a car, there’s a proper way to jump start a car without doing any damage to your battery. If your vehicle is having a difficult time starting, then you will most likely need to jump-start the car battery. At Hendrick Cadillac Monroe in Monroe, we can walk you through how to jump start a car and what to do if your car won’t jump start. Follow our guide below, then visit our service center near Charlotte for additional service and parts tips.

How to Properly Jump Start a Car

Even though you can get jump-start car service near Pineville with us, we recommend learning the proper way to jump-start a car in case you are away from the Monroe area. These are the steps to jump-start a car battery: 

1. Park the vehicle with the good battery facing the vehicle with the dead battery; both vehicles should be off. 
2. Open both hoods then locate the batteries. Double check for a plastic hood that might be covering the battery terminals.
3. Locate the positive and negative terminals; check to see if there is any corrosion or debris. 
4. Attach the red clamp to the positive post on the dead battery.
5. Uncoil the battery cable, then hook the other red clamp to the positive terminal on the battery that is charged.
6. Attach the black clamp to the negative post on the charged battery. 
7. The last clamp will need to be connected to an unpainted metal surface on the dead car’s frame.
8. Once everything is securely hooked up, start the engine with the good and charged battery first, then turn on the vehicle with the dead battery. 
9. Once you’ve jumped the dead battery, carefully remove the jumper cables in the reverse order you placed them on. Shut off the vehicle with the good battery. 
10. Do not turn off the engine! Keep the engine running on the recently jumped vehicle for at least 10 minutes. Our service team recommends checking your owner’s manual for a specific time frame. 

Visit Hendrick Cadillac Monroe for Service!

Now that you know how to properly jump-start a car, you’ll know exactly what to do when your car won’t jump-start alone! Contact us at Hendrick Cadillac Monroe if you have additional questions about our jump start car service or when it’s time to jump-start a car battery.