Cadillac Repair: cadillac dead battery, clicking, jumper box, jumper cables

Question
Hi Tom,

I have a 2001 cadillac deville. My battery died yesterday, so I tried to have it jump started, with another vehicle, following the instructions in the cadillac owners manual.

well, after a few tries the car still would not start, while the cables were hooked up, my car's lights would work fine, etc, but it didn't seem to have enough power to start the vehicle. however, i did notice that when i turned the key in the ignition, the car would go click, click, click, click, very rapidly, and my radio and lights flashed simulatneously with the clicking. so i called the dealership and explained my situation to the service tech, and got a good scare when he said "you'd better not be trying to jump that car with another car, you'll do 4k in damage to the electronics!" I was very nervous after hearing this, and decided to do nothing further until i do some research, so here I am.

My question is 2 parted.

what do you think the click click click is, along with my radio comin on and off and on and off, and the interior lights are on and off on and off simulatneously, was this the "frying my car"???

also, is what he said necessarily true? I followed the exact instructions in the owners manual re: jumping from another vehicle, he said I needed to use a jumper box, then proceeded to tell me that maybe there was a loose connection somewehre causing the on off on off and clicking, instead of firing up.

HELP!!!

Answer
You can jumper your car in the manner stated in the owners manual. However it is best to leave the jumper cables on both cars for about 10 minutes until your battery gets a chance to get a charge put into it from the other vehicles battery.

OR you can purchase a cheap battery charger and put it on your battery for about an hour and this will charge your battery enough so that it will start.

Your clicking noise is the starter trying to engage but there is not enough battery voltage in your battery yet to enable the starter to charge.

Once you get your car started have the alternator and the battery tested.