How to jump-start a car
Which cable goes where when you jump-start a car, in which order, and why the last clamp goes on bare metal.
- Wide 16:9
- Paper look
- AI images
Transcript
Your car won’t start, and the lights are weak. The battery is probably flat. With jumper cables and a second car, you can often get it running again.
Park the working car close to the one with the flat battery. Then turn both engines off.
Open both hoods and find the batteries. The plus terminal is usually marked in red. The minus terminal is marked in black.
Clamp one red end to the plus terminal of the flat battery. Then clamp the other red end to the plus terminal of the good battery.
Clamp one black end to the minus terminal of the good battery. Clamp the last black end to bare metal on the car that won’t start, away from the battery. This keeps sparks away from the battery.
Start the working car and let it run for a few minutes. Then try to start the other car.
When it runs, take the cables off in the reverse order. Then drive for about half an hour, so the battery can charge again.
If the car still won’t start after a few tries, the battery probably needs to be replaced.