What to Do Before You Jump-Start Your Car

Before jump-starting, double check:

• Your battery. It’s a safety hazard to jump-start a battery that’s leaking, damaged, frozen or corroded. If you’re worried about your battery’s condition, don’t try to jump-start it — call a professional instead (like the service techs here at Chuck Hutton Toyota).
• For metal objects and open flames. Check to ensure there are no tools, phones, watches, jewelry or cigarettes nearby the battery. The goal is to keep sparks inside the engine, not outside. tead (like the service techs here at Chuck Hutton Toyota).
• Your key. Remove it from the ignition and put it in a safe spot.
• Your owner’s manual. Read over the section in the manual on how to jump-start the battery in your specific model.
• The battery voltage. Some cars use 12-volt batteries, others use six-volt batteries. Never jump-start a car by connecting it to a vehicle that uses a battery with higher voltage.

What to Do Next

When you're ready to jump-start your car, follow these tips:

1. Ask your friend, neighbor or family member to park their car — which we’ll call the donor car — next to yours. Put both cars in park or neutral, turn them off and put on both parking brakes. Make sure the cars aren’t touching each other.
2. Grab your jumper cables. These cables have two alligator clips on each end; the red clips are positive and the black ones are negative. Connect the clips to the cars in this order:
   1. RED to DEAD: Connect one of the red clips to the positive (+) terminal on your dead battery.
   2. RED to DONOR: Connect the other red clip to the positive (+) terminal on the donor vehicle’s battery.
   3. BLACK to DONOR: On the SAME CAR (donor vehicle), connect one of the black clips to the negative (-) terminal on the donor vehicle’s battery.
   4. BLACK to METAL: Now, back to the dead battery. Connect the other black clip to bare metal that is not next to the battery. This can be an unpainted metal bolt or bracket.
3. Start the donor car and let it run for one to two minutes.
4. Try to start the car with the dead battery.
   1. If the car turns on, keep it running for one to two minutes. This will allow the battery to recharge as power runs through the jumper cables.
   2. If it won’t turn on, you might just need to wait a little longer to let the battery charge up. If it still won’t start after multiple tries, your car might have a bigger issue that will need to be addressed by mechanics. Make a service appointment with us by clicking the button below.
5. Take off the cables in reverse order from how you put them on (without turning off your car, if it was able to start).
6. Drive your car for 30 minutes so the battery can continue to charge (and retain the charge for the next time you start up your vehicle).

If you find that your car frequently needs a jump, you might need a replacement battery. Schedule service using the link below, or if you’d prefer to replace it yourself, use our online form to order a battery through our dealership. If you choose to service with us, our technicians can perform the installation and properly dispose of your car’s old battery, saving you time and effort. We look forward to serving you soon!