What Do You Need To Jump Start A Car?

How Do I Jump Start A Car?

1.) Position the two cars

You’ll need to park the car with a flat battery and the car with a charged battery nose-to-nose. You should ensure enough space is left between each car to open both bonnets and connect the jump leads.

2.) Make sure you’re safe

Before you jump start your car you should remove any loose clothing that could get tangled in the engine, remove any metal jewelry and put on your protective glasses.

3.) Attach the red jump lead

With both ignitions turned off and the parking brakes engaged on both cars, you should attach the red lead to the donor car's positive (+) terminal and the other end to the flat battery’s positive (+) terminal.

4.) Attach the black jump lead

Once the red jump lead is attached, you should attach the black jump lead to the negative (-) terminal on the donor car. The other side of the jump lead should be attached to an unpainted metal surface, well away from the fuel system and the battery on the car with a flat battery as an earthing point.

5.) Start the donor vehicle

After all jump leads are attached to the correct places, you should start the engine of the donor vehicle and allow it to run for 3-5 minutes. The donor vehicle should remain in park or neutral, with the handbrake locked.

6.) Start the car with a flat battery

After the donor vehicle has been running for 3-5 minutes, you should start the car with the flat battery.

7.) Allow both cars to run

Leave both cars in idle and allow them to run for 10 minutes with the jump leads still attached.

8.) Turn off both cars and disconnect the cables

After both cars have been left to run for 10 minutes, you should turn off both cars. Only once both cars are turned off should you begin removing the cables - this should be done in reverse order to how they were applied. It’s important that the cables don’t touch each other when they’re being removed.

9.) Run the car with a flat battery

Once all jump leads have been safely removed you should turn on the car with a newly charged battery and leave it running for 15-20 minutes. After this, you should drive the car for 20-30 minutes on a route where you’re unlikely to stop and start regularly to recharge your car’s battery further.