It’s super annoying when your car battery dies in the middle of the road or when you’re about to hit the road in the morning.
If you are reading this article, there is a high possibility your car’s battery is dead, and you are searching for ways to start your car with the dead battery. In this article, I will run you through some tips to go about ‘battery dead in car how to start’ solutions. Without wasting much of your time, let’s get started.
5 Tips to Jump Start a Car with Dead Battery
Alrighty, before we get into those five tips, make sure your car isn’t dealing with any of the problems listed below ’cause they could totally prevent your car from starting.
- Lack of fuel in the tank
- Faulty Key fob
- Ignition problem
Have you confirmed this? Great
Now that you’ve confirmed you don’t have any of the above issues, let’s begin. The 5 ways to address dead battery issues are
- Jump-start the car with another car,
- Jump Start with portable Jump starter
- Push start the car
- Bridge Two Batteries Together
- Get a new battery replacement,
Jump Start the Car with Another Car
The easiest means to resolve a dead battery issue is to look for a vehicle around you and a set of jumper cables to jump-start your car. You can talk to your neighbour, family, friends, or any Samaritan if stranded on the road to help with their car; but make sure the vehicle is able to start and run on its own.
Depending on where the flat battery is located in your car, drive the other car (Rescue car) close to your vehicle (opposite each other or side by side) so you can easily connect the two batteries with the jumper cable.
It’s time to jump your car now but before you get started. Please follow the below jump-start a car procedure.
Step-by-Step Guide to Jump Start a Car
- Switch off the ignition of both cars
- Both cars should be in Neutral or park gear position.
- Activate the emergency or hand brake.
- Get a safety glove
- Identify your car battery positive node and negative node. You can easily identify battery positive node with the Plus Sign and Red color.
- Identify the positive and negative terminal of the other car battery also.
- The Positive terminal of the dead battery should be connected only to the positive terminal of the other car battery using the red jumper cable.
- Connect the negative battery terminal of the dead battery to only the negative terminal of the other car battery using the black jumper cable.
- Once you’ve confirmed the jumper cables have been firmly connected, it’s time to crank the ignition of the rescue car and leave it to run for some minutes to allow the battery to charge.
- Do not hold the end of the cable when attached to the car battery as this could result in a fatal injury or death. Also, do not touch any metal terminal either.
- You should have enough charge in your dead battery now. While the rescue car is still running, try starting the dead battery to see if your engine comes on or not. If your car doesn’t start, leave the rescue car more time to charge your dead battery and try again.
- Once your car engine comes up, allow your battery a few minutes to charge before disconnecting the jumper cable in the reverse order they were connected.
Use a Portable Jump Starter to Start Your Car
The most convenient means to resolve ‘Battery Dead In Car How To Start’ issue is using a portable jump starter to jump a dead battery. Also called a jump box, this method is generally regarded as the safest method if you connect it in the right way and take all precautionary care as explained further below.
Jump boxes are portable batteries that come with attached jump cables. They have inbuilt software to prevent excess voltage from getting into your car battery thereby preventing damage to your car electrical system. Because of this, they are generally regarded as convenient and safer than jumper cable. You can easily get one at any auto part store or online store.
Procedure to use Portable Jump Starter
- Make sure the jump starter is fully charged before use. If not, plug it in to charge first.
- This cable connection is similar to using a jump start cable as earlier discussed. The red Clamp should be connected to the positive terminal of your battery and the black clamp to an unpainted and grounded metal on the vehicle frame.
- Make sure not to cross the negative and positive cables or touch each other (shorting) as this could damage your car battery as well as cause serious damage to your car electrical system
- Place the jump box in a stable location on the ground or on top of the engine cover so it doesn’t detach when you start the car.
- Turn the jump starter on as indicated
- Crank the ignition to start the engine.
- The engine start? Great
- If the engine starts, carefully disconnect the black clamp of the jump box first, followed by the red clamp, and carefully secure the cables to the jump box.
Push Starting a Car
Push starting a car is the oldest means to start a car with a dead battery issue. Also called bump starting a dead car, this method is mostly applicable to manual transmission, (not automatic transmission) and forces your car engine to come on instead of relying on the battery power to get your car running. To push start a car, you need a couple of friends, neighbours or roadside assistance to help push your car on a flat road or a slightly downhill sloppy surface.
Procedure to Push Start a Car
- Get your friends or neighbours to push your car from behind.
- Get into the driver seat, and put the ignition to ‘ON’ position
- Disengage the parking brake and shift the gear to second gear.
- Press down the clutch and allow your friend to push the car.
- At about 5 mph, release the clutch abruptly.
- Your car engine may buck slightly as it comes on
- If your engine comes on, good. But if not, repeat the process one more time
Bridge Two Batteries Together to Power Dead Car Battery
If you don’t have a portable jump box and you are unable to get another vehicle to jump a car, you can still power your car by bridging two batteries together using tools. I won’t recommend you adopt this method as it requires more precautions.
To get started, you need a spare battery to be bridged to your dead battery to boost its power to start your car.
Step-by-Step Guide to Bridge Two Batteries Together
- Turn off your car ignition first before commencing this process
- Place the spare battery on the car engine cover or any other stable position within the engine compartment closer to your dead battery.
- Safety precautions are to be taken. Make sure to wear safety gloves when bridging batteries.
- Get a tool (Spanner, a thick cable, preferably use jumper cables) to bridge the positive terminal of your dead battery and the spare battery together. Do the same for the negative terminal. Make sure the positive and negative bridges do not touch or cross each other.
- Once you’ve confirmed that the bridge has been done, crank your ignition to power your car. The car should start now. Safely disconnect the bridge wearing safety gloves and let the engine run for about 20 minutes.
- While your engine runs, your battery should get charged if your car Alternator is working efficiently.
Conclusion.
Learning to jump start a car could be of great help expecially in winter season when there is more demand on your car battery due to the increased need to heat up the car.
