How to Jump-Start a Car

MINI of Annapolis is your premier source for quality used cars and thrilling go-kart handling in the Glen Burnie area. But we’re much more than that. Whether you are dealing with coastal salt air near the Chesapeake Bay or facing a sudden winter freeze along US-50, we strive to provide you with answers to your auto-related questions. The factory-trained team at MINI of Annapolis is here to deliver expert car service in Annapolis. If you ever need to know how to jump-start your car, read on or contact us, because we can help you learn the proper way to jump-start a car and get you back to your wanderlust in one of our new MINI models for sale.

What Is the Proper Way to Jump-Start a Car?

While you can call a jump-start car service if none of the below works, it’s always a good idea to try to jump-start a car battery yourself, as it’s not a difficult process. You will, however, need another person, a set of jumper cables, and an assisting donor vehicle equipped with a conventional 12-volt internal combustion engine (ICE) electrical system. Note: Never use a fully electric vehicle (BEV) or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) as the assisting donor vehicle, as jump-starting from an EV can overload and permanently damage its high-voltage DC-DC converter. If you don’t feel comfortable recruiting a stranger to help you and you’re in a Washington D.C. alone, you may wish to just call a jump-start car service. Otherwise, it’s easy to learn how to jump-start a car:

• Face the two vehicles hood-to-hood with the engine compartments facing each other. Regardless of whether a vehicle’s physical battery is housed under the windshield cowl or beneath the rear cargo floor, the jump-start connection points are always located under the hood in the engine compartment. After you’ve parked the vehicles, turn them off and set the parking brakes.
• Open the hood to gain access to the dedicated jump-start terminals in the engine compartment. Note: You will need to flip up a red plastic cover to expose the remote positive (+) terminal.
• Locate the remote positive (+) terminal and the dedicated chassis ground stud (-). Make sure they are clean and free of any corrosion or dirt. Never connect jumper cables directly to the 12-volt battery terminals, as this can destroy the Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS), fry sensitive electronic control units (ECUs), or ignite venting hydrogen gas.
• Take stock of your cables and separate the red ends from the black ends. You don’t want them to touch, ever, as they could spark. Next, connect the red clamp to the remote positive (+) terminal on the dead vehicle.
• Uncoiling the battery cable, hook the other red clamp to the positive terminal of the donor vehicle with the good battery.
• Connect the black clamp to the negative terminal of the donor vehicle’s battery.
• Connect the last black clamp to the designated body ground terminal (a dedicated, unpainted metal stud or hexagonal nut engineered specifically onto the wheel arch or strut tower) of the dead vehicle.
• Once everything is hooked up securely, start the engine of the assisting donor vehicle. Let it run for a bit, then attempt to start the engine of the vehicle with the discharged battery.
• Once the dead vehicle has been successfully jump-started, switch on high-draw electrical consumers (such as the rear window defroster and heater blower motor) on the restarted vehicle before removing the cables. This absorbs potential voltage spikes and protects sensitive vehicle electronics from power surges. Carefully disconnect the jumper cables in the exact reverse order that they were attached, and then switch off the electrical consumers.
• Be sure to keep the vehicle running, but keep in mind that idling for 10 minutes is insufficient to restore a depleted battery. Drive the restarted vehicle for at least 20 to 30 minutes at highway speeds so the alternator can continuously recharge the battery during sustained driving. (When a battery is critically discharged, the Digital Motor Electronics overrides fuel-saving Brake Energy Regeneration logic and engages continuous alternator charging.) It’s also highly recommended that you schedule a comprehensive battery inspection ASAP.

What Are Some Additional Car Battery Tips & Tricks?

There are plenty of reasons aside from a dead car battery why your vehicle may not be starting. Here are just a few worth noting:

• If you try to start the car but hear a rapid or repetitive clicking sound, the battery likely has sufficient voltage to engage the starter solenoid but lacks adequate Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) to turn the flywheel. This is the textbook indicator of a weak or discharged battery, not an internal starter motor failure.
• If the electrical systems of the car turn on, but the engine does not, then the issue could be several things, including the ignition switch or even something as simple as a fuse. It’s worth bringing your vehicle to a qualified service center near Baltimore for further diagnostics and investigation.
• Don’t forget to drive your vehicle for an extended period after it’s received a jump. Sustained highway driving allows the alternator to continuously recharge the battery after it has been completely drained. Note that some batteries still can hold a charge for some time after being jumped; usually, this is the case after a vehicle with a good or newer battery has been sitting idle. A remedy to prevent this is using an approved smart or battery trickle charger. Sometimes, though, an old and worn-out battery that requires replacing is the reason for a car needing a jump.

Ready to turn to MINI of Annapolis for more car care tips? Looking for more service and maintenance tips? MINI of Annapolis is here to share the BIG LOVE with our community. Wondering if it’s time to trade in that old vehicle for something that is retro, reinvented, and packed with clever functionality in a small package? Be sure to check out our entire selection of new MINI and quality used vehicles for sale in Annapolis.