A dead battery has a way of striking at the worst moment, and knowing how to safely jump-start your car is a skill every Franklin driver can use. Done correctly, it gets you back on the road; done carelessly, it can damage your vehicle's electronics or cause injury, so a few basics are worth knowing.
First, you will need a good set of jumper cables and a running vehicle with a charged battery, or a portable jump pack. Position the vehicles close together without touching, and turn both off before you begin. The order of connection matters: connect the positive clamp to the positive terminal of the dead battery, then the other positive clamp to the good battery. Next, connect the negative clamp to the good battery, and the final negative clamp to a clean, unpainted metal surface on the dead vehicle rather than directly to the negative terminal, which reduces the risk of a spark near the battery.
Start the working vehicle, let it run a few minutes, then try to start the dead one. Once it starts, remove the cables in reverse order. It is important to then drive the vehicle for a while to let the battery recharge. Keep in mind that a battery that keeps dying points to a deeper issue, whether an old battery or a charging system problem.
At Quick Auto and Exhaust in Franklin, we can test your battery and charging system and replace a failing battery. If yours keeps going dead, stop by our Franklin shop and let us find out why.