If you drive a car, you‘ll more than likely, experience a dead car battery at one time or another. The quickest way to fix the situation and get you on your way is by getting a jump start from a Good Samaritan willing to give you a hand.

1. Dead Battery? 12 Easy Steps to a
Safe Jumpstart

2. • If you drive a car, you‘ll more than likely, experience
a dead car battery at one time or another
• The quickest way to fix the situation and get you on
your way is by getting a jumpstart from a Good
Samaritan willing to give you a hand

3. • Hopefully, you’re one of those people who always
carries a pair of jumper cables in your car for such
an occasion.
• Before you begin, open your car’s hood and locate
the battery.
• Vehicles may have their battery on the left side of
the engine compartment, while others may be on
the right

4. • There are several steps to a safe and successful
jumpstart
• If you’re a novice, but follow the steps carefully
you’ll greatly reduce the chances of something
going wrong.

5. 12 Steps to a Successful Jump Start
• 1. Bring the car with the good battery as close to
the car with the dead battery without touching it
• 2. Turn off the ignition. Make sure your ignition is
off as well even with a dead battery.
• 3. Open the hood on both cars. Make sure both
batteries have the “same” voltage — 12 volts.

6. • 4. Be sure the headlights, wipers, radios, and all
accessories on both cars are turned off. They drain
power and may keep you from having the
amperage needed to get your car started and
might even suffer damage from sudden surges of
power.

7. • 5.Unwind the jumper cables. Connect a red clamp
“first” to the positive (+) post on the dead battery.
Then connect the other end with the red clamp to
the positive (+) post on the good battery. Warning:
As you connect the clamps, Do Not cross the cables
while they are attached to both posts of a car
batter
(Charging and discharging forms hydrogen gas which can be highly explosive under the right
conditions. The resulting sparks could cause the cell to explode).

8. • 6. Connect a black clamp to the negative (-) post of
the good battery.
• 7. This one is important. Connect the remaining
black clamp (for the car with the dead battery) to
a solid piece of unpainted, grounded metal on the
dead car. Do Not Connect this clamp to the
negative post of the dead battery. This
should only be done as a last resort.

9. • 8. Double check your connections again to make
sure all four clamps are secured to the right posts
prior to continuing.
• 9. Keep both cars in “Park” and the parking brake
on. Start the car with the good battery and give it
approximately five minutes of idle time before
starting the other car so it can charge its own
battery as well as the dead one. Be sure all cables
are clear of any of the engines’ moving parts.

10. • 10. As soon as you’ve given it enough time, try to
start your car. If it doesn’t start up right away, just
wait another five minutes for more charging, then
try again. Repeat the routine until your car starts.

11. • 11. Once your car is running, remove the jumper
cables from the batteries in the reverse order in
which you attached them. More specifically,
remove the clamp from the ground of the car with
the previously dead battery…black and red from
the good battery… and finally the red from the
formerly dead battery. Again, be careful to not
cross the cables so as to not cause a spark or
damage to either one of the car batteries.

12. • 12. Keep the recently disabled car’s engine running
a little above idle for at least twenty minutes to
charge the battery. Then, go on your way, if not get
to the nearest auto repair center for a fresh
replacement.

13. • Don’t put it off or you’ll just be repeating the same
scenario over and over again.
• Same can be said about your auto insurance.
• Don’t put off checking that you’re getting the best
possible rate.
• Why not get a free car insurance quote today?