Official Proper Sequence for Jump Starting

In the past my sequence has been; positive terminal on the dead battery to positive terminal on the good battery. Then negative terminal on the good battery to a grounding point on the dead car. Is it possible/better to use the same sequence but connect to a grounding point on the live car instead of the negative battery terminal?

 

I always end my connection at good battery, that way if the bad battery explodes you have your back towards it

 

I do positive (dead), positive (good), negative (good), then grounded (metal) (dead). Let sit for a minute or two, attempt to start. Then disconnect in reverse.

Matt

 

Or you could try to master a "no look", behind the back connection to the dead battery.

 

That's what I've always done, but some cars have a remote positive terminal under the hood (battery is elsewhere in the car) but no remote negative terminal. Does that mean these cars can only receive a jump but not give one? I think I heard that they can give a jump, you just substitute a ground point for the missing negative battery terminal.

 

That's how I was taught.

 

Thanks, I think that's the answer I need. I needed a jump from a car recently that had only a remote positive battery terminal under the hood. I was kind of stumped because I hadn't seen that before but I guess I could have just used a ground point instead of the negative battery terminal.

 

A couple of tips. Always wear glasses when jumping or recharging batteries and never try to jump start a frozen battery.

 

You're half right, it makes no difference electrically. It makes a HUGE difference though, in that the arc that occurs when connecting the ground clamp is either on the top of a potentially gassing battery, or safely away from it, where the potential for explosion is NIL. If you think hydrogen is no biggie, Google "Hindenburg".

 

Yup, sounds just like a shotgun blast when the battery explodes too. I saw that happen when I worked pumping gas at a garage when I was a teen.

 

Not totally true. If the charge of the "good" battery is a bit low, there might not be adequate juice to start the other. The current required to start a car is quite large and the additional resistance from the negative terminal of the good battery to the chassis connection could make enough voltage drop to be significant.

 

I just match the colors. . . . I also tagged the red ends of my cables with a "plus" sign and the black ones with a "minus" sign just to be sure. . . .

 

Vehicle Controllers damaged by improper jumping of dead battery!
We have recieved and verified reports of controller (Vehicle modules = BCM-VCM-PCM-ECM-TCM etc.) failure that is caused by improper jumping of battery. When hooking up another vehicle or battery box to jump a dead battery, always turn the key off in both vehicles. If the key is in the ON position it can damage controllers when the cables are hooked up. This occurs mostly with Asian vehicles such as Nissan and Toyota, but not limited to these.

The proper way to hook up is this: “Turn both vehicles OFF and put keys of both vehicles in your pocket”
#1 Hook POSITIVE jumper cable clamp to positive terminal on dead battery then hook other end of jumper cable (positive) to positive terminal of good battery.
#2 Hook NEGATIVE jumper cable clamp to negative terminal of good battery, then hook other end of jumper cable (negative) to something on the engine of the dead battery vehicle , a bracket etc., making sure it is not in the way of anything that is turning or next to any other wires. An area that is solid to the block. Start the vehicle with the good battery and or turn on battery box/charger. Run for 5 minutes before trying to start vehicle with dead battery.

 

x2 Gearcruncher's post. The longer you run the donor vehicle at fast idle, more current will flow to the dead battery which will help in restarting the engine, add more charge to the battery and keep the engine running longer, if it's alternator is not working properly. Thaw out a frozen battery before attempting to jump start or recharge it because shorted plates or cell reversal can cause serious problems. Always test a dead battery after it has been recharged for latent performance (CCA) or capacity problems to avoid being stranded.

 

No. If the chassis ground connection was that bad it wouldn't be able to start itself either as the starter return current path is through the engine block.

The negative is common to the chassis ground. Electrically it is the same point.

I jump started a car once by touching the bumpers together for a negative connection. Then used a bumper jack and two lug wrenches to connect the positive posts by shoving the lug wrenches in each end of the jack.

 

I always forget and end up with sparks

 

Gearcrunchre’s right

 

Mostly true on a new vehicle. On an older vehicle corrosion on connections and the wire can make a difference.

 

I like that Jimmy !!!!
Got you out of a pinch I am sure

 

Yeah..... ^^