How to Jump Your Car Battery

Open the hood of your vehicle. Find the battery and make sure the posts are clean of corrosion. This reduces the hazard of a battery burn occurring when you start the car. Open the hood of the vehicle that will be jumping your battery and locate its battery. Perform the same cleaning procedure.

Start the car with the good battery and let it warm up to idle. Once it has reached an idle, connect one side of the positive jumper cable to the positive post on the dead battery and the other side to the positive post on the good battery. Connect one end of the negative cable to the negative post of the good battery and the other end to an exposed piece of clean metal on the engine of the vehicle with the dead battery. This minimizes the chance of explosion from a spark.

Allow the battery to charge for a minute or so and then attempt to start the vehicle with the dead battery. If the vehicle starts right away, disconnect the jumper cables in reverse order -- that is, negative from the engine, negative from the good battery, positive from the good battery and finally positive from the formerly dead battery.

Let your car run for a few minutes to charge the battery, and then turn the vehicle off. Now attempt to restart it. If the vehicle starts up, go ahead and drive it for a while to make sure the battery is fully charged. If it fails to start, you will need to buy a new battery.

Maintain the battery at least as often as you change the oil in your car. Keep the posts clean of corrosion, and check the cables for corrosion as well. Use water to rinse off the corrosive acid powder and then wipe clean with a paper towel. Coat the exposed clamps, posts and exposed wire with a thin layer of Vaseline to prevent corrosion. Check the level of battery acid if the battery has fill holes that open. Top off the fluid in each well with distilled water.