Jump start fail.

Good morning (or afternoon for you east coasters)!

My girl fiend killed her corrola's battery last night, and my manly moment of jump starting her car with my 97 taco ended with "i'll just call AAA in the morning."

wtf? Bottom line, the jump was unsuccessful. I did it exactly as per the manual, and as I've always jumped other cars:
start on dead battery (+), connect to good battery (+), then connect good battery (-) to a ground on dead car....

so AAA pulls up this morning, and does the same EXCEPT they actually ended by connecting to the dead battery's (-) terminal- and not grounding- something i've been taught NOT to do.

in the words of Tim the Toolman Taylor. "EEhhhhrrruhhh?"

I let the cars sit, connected appropriately for a minute.... revved up taco just a tad.... and the corrola ignition resulted in CLIKCLIKCLIKCLIKCLIKCLIKCLICK (super rapid)..... waited another minute and retry. same deal.

 

I've always went battery to battery. Not sure what you want help on though.

 

connect it straight from terminals to terminals. no need to go to a ground on the vehicle, most likely why it did not work for you

 

Rodger that. Method revised. Thanks!

 

I do terminals to terminals to...A ground is only useful if you have a complete circuit...

 

I always go battery to battery, never ground. It never works when I ground it, but works like a charm when I don't.

 

I am confused... so did AAA get it started, or did they have no luck either. If they did then you probably just didn't have a good ground on the GF's car. There is no reason not to connect directly to the post on the battery. What you don't want is for a major spark to possibly ignite gases from the charging battery. That is why some people will suggest that you make the final connection away from the battery.

I always connect both terminals on the dead car first (the risk there is the danger of letting the other ends of the jumper cable set touch. Just be very cautious to ensure the other ends are not near each other). Then I connect the (+) on the running car followed by the (-) on the running car.

So yes, my method does produce a minor spark near a battery (on the running vehicle). But the risk is very small and it ensures you have a good ground connection.

 

Sounds like the GF battery was completely dead, because of this it can take more than "just a minute" to charge. When this is the case, it may take longer to jump, I've had to wait up to 5 min on occasions. I always use another ground (not battery) to be safe, but it's personal preference.

 

You probably had one or more connections with your jumper cables too loose.

I normally go terminal to terminal as well, because I find it hard to get a good connection away from the battery. The idea with connecting the last cable away from the battery is to prevent a spark and explosion if the battery is emitting explosive gas. It's a small risk. I definitely would not want to make a spark next to a recently charging battery, but most of the time with a dead car, it's been sitting, and I feel safe.

I have had the click, click, click response when jumping before, I just dug the jumper cable clamps in real hard on the terminals and it started right up. Both vehicles had lead cable clamps on them, and they both had dent in the terminals when we were done. Not pretty, but it worked. BTW, during this incident, a "Helpy Helperton" type appeared and told me I was doing it wrong connecting without the remote ground connection. LOL

 

What grounding point did you use on the Corolla? Hope it wasn't the center shaft on the strut tower?

 

+ on terminal and - on alternator has always worked for me perfectly.

 

I always use a neg ground point on the dead car's frame. Never had any trouble jumping a car that could be jumped.

http://www.wikihow.com/Jump-Your-Battery

 

Positive to positive and negative to ground jumping is recommended for safety. It is to reduce the possibility of igniting any residual hydrogen produced by the battery during charging. One of the most common starting problems is high resistance caused by corrosion between the battery's terminals and the cable clamp. Corrosion can also occur on the ground cable connections to the frame or engine also causing electrical problems. A healthy battery, charging system (to keep the battery charged), cabling, and starter are codependent to start an engine.