Get A Jump On It: A Beginner’s Guide to Boosting Your Vehicle Services
We’ve all been there in the winter – the harsh weather does a number on your battery, making it need that extra little nudge to start. But this issue can happen year round. Don’t let a dead battery get you down, get a jump on it and drive on!
Let’s talk terminology! The dead car refers to, you guessed it, the one that needs the jump. When you hear ‘donor car’ that’s referencing the car that will be doing the jumping. Booster cables are the crucial component that transfer the juice from one vehicle to another. Last but definitely not least, the post is the point on the battery that the cable clamps will connect to.
Just a little safety sidenote before we get started: Prior to starting the battery revival process, always ensure that both vehicles are in park and the donor vehicle is also shut off. More importantly, never let the clamp heads touch each other at any point during this process.
Positively Positive
Does your set of booster cables have you seeing red? In this case that’s a ‘positive’ quality. Always connect the red clamps of your cables to the positive post on the battery of both the dead and donor car.
Negative Notions
You may notice thus far we have negated to tell you about the second member of the dynamic duo we call clamps. Well wait no more, introducing the black clamp. Completing the pair, this piece is always connected to the negative battery post of the donor car and bare metal on the dead vehicle.
Stepping Stones
Now that you’re well versed in vehicle vocabulary, let’s get to the good stuff. Here is the play by play of how to jump start your car:
- Connect red to dead +
- Connect red to donor +
- Connect black to donor –
- Connect black to dead, bare metal
- Start donor vehicle
- Start dead vehicle
- Disconnect in reverse (steps 4,3,2,1)
Here at Jiffy Lube we are big on preventive maintenance – before you get stranded curb side, drive into your local Jiffy and have your battery put to the test.