This blog has been written to give you an easy to follow, step by step process on how to safely jump start any vehicle.

Whatever the reason you have a flat battery, you need to know how to safely jump start your car. Car batteries have a lifespan of about 3-4 years on average. If you haven’t replaced your car battery in that length of time it could be worth considering getting a new battery for your car.

FIND A CAR WITH A GOOD BATTERY

Bring a car with a working battery close to the front of your car so the cables can easily reach both batteries, but remember not to let the cars touch each other. Once you’ve done this ensure both vehicles are in park and have their handbrakes on. Now you should remove the keys from both cars and open the bonnet to locate and connect the batteries.

CONNECTING THE CAR BATTERIES

Untangle your jump cables, making sure you have one red and one black clamp in each hand. From this point onward you don’t want any of the jumper cable clamps to touch each other.

Locate the positive side of the flat battery. This should have a positive (+) sign on it and probably a red cable connecting to it. Connect the red (positive) cable to the positive terminal of the flat battery. Place the black (negative) cable on a piece of plastic NOT METAL, or if it will reach you can leave it on the floor.

Locate the positive and negative sides of the good battery. Now connect the positive (red) cable to the positive terminal, followed by the negative (black) cable to the negative terminal of the good battery.

Once you’ve connected the jump cables to the good battery it’s time to connect the final clamp. DO NOT connect the final clamp to the negative terminal of the flat battery. Ideally you want to find a bare piece of metal that isn’t a moving part and isn’t connected to any electrical components to act as a grounding point.

Connecting the final clamp to the negative terminal of the flat battery can create a spark. Flat batteries can produce hydrogen gas, which is highly flammable and the last thing you want is for the battery to explode.

JUMP START THE ENGINE

Now all the cables are connected, you can turn on the engine of the car with the good battery. Leave the engine to idle for about two minutes. This should transfer enough charge to the flat battery allowing you to start the car. If not, you can gently rev the engine on the good car to about 2000 rpm. This will help speed up charging of the flat battery.

Once you’ve been able to start the engine on the car with the flat battery you can remove the jump cables in the order they were placed. Negative (black) ground on the bad battery, negative (black) then positive (red) on the good battery and finally the positive (red) on the flat battery.

Now you’ve successfully started your car, you should drive it for at least 30 minutes. This will allow the alternator to fully charge the battery, hopefully avoiding the same situation later on.