Hoot Guide to jump starting your car
Most people who know Hoot think of our website as the best place to find cheap car insurance - and that's a reputation we're very proud of. However, there's a little more to the Hoot site than a collection of good car insurance quotes. We also post daily news, policy information for our customers, a bunch of fun stuff like games and competitions, and the Hoot Guides - one of which you're looking at right now. The guides are our way of passing on a vast mountain of motoring tips and info we've soaked-up over the past few years. Hoot customers are an inquisitive bunch and they certainly don't limit their questions to the field of motor insurance - so by helping them out we've become experts on everything from MOTs and car repairs to the new seatbelt laws. Motor maintenance enquiries are particularly common - we get almost as many questions on the subject as we do about car insurance itself. In recognition of that, we've decided to devote a special section of the guides to car maintenance and repair. Here you'll find topics like tyre wear, motorway breakdowns and the sound of an unhealthy engine, besides the subject of this guide: how to jump start a car. What you'll need
There's two things you'll need in order to jump start a flat battery: a set of jumper cables and a second, charged battery (generally installed in another car).
Jumper cables are simply a pair of heavy gauge wires with crocodile clips at either end. One is red, for connecting to the positive terminals of the two batteries; the other, negative cable is coloured black. Jumper cables are available in most garages and car accessory shops and if you haven't already got some, you probably should do. As for the second battery: unless you own two cars, you'll generally have to ask a local friend or neighbour if you can borrow theirs for a jump start. However, if you live out in the middle of nowhere (or you don't get on all that well with the neighbours) you might want to consider buying a spare 'booster' battery that you can store on a shelf in the garage until the day comes. Before you start
First of all - never attempt a jump start if you aren't quite sure of how to do it. There's a very real danger of one of the batteries exploding if you do some of the steps in the wrong order or hook jump leads up to the wrong places.
The potential explosion is due to highly flammable hydrogen gas, which is released by discharging car batteries. Incorrectly connected jump leads will cause sparks that could potentially ignite the gas, causing an almighty bang and serious injuries for anyone who happens to be close by. Secondly, and again before you so much as lift up the bonnet, you should be sure to check your owner's manual. Some cars need to be jump-started in non-standard ways (a few modern models, for instance, require you to use contact points on the car chassis rather than the battery itself) and others cannot be jumped at all. Barring any contrary instructions from the manual, however, and bearing in mind the risks involved, you should jump-start your car using the method described below. How to do it
Presuming you're using another car's battery (the 'donor') to jump start your own, you should first position the two vehicles side-by-side or facing one another, so that the two engine compartments are as close together as possible without actually touching.
Next, switch off both engines and all electrics - although you can safely leave the donor vehicle's hazard warning lights on if visibility is an issue. Now take the red jumper cable and connect one end of it to the positive terminal - which should be marked with a plus sign - on the donor battery. Then connect the other end to the positive terminal on the flat battery. Attach the black cable to a point on the chassis of your car where the current will be able to run to ground, like a bolt or bracket on the engine mount. Avoid painted surfaces when making the connection. Then connect the other end to the donor car's chassis. Take a step back and check to make sure that none of the jumper cables are laid over moving parts of either engine, paying particular attention to the drive belt. Then start up the donor car and leave it to idle for a couple of minutes - hopefully it's charging-up the flat battery. Now comes the moment of truth. Turn the ignition key in you car: if you've done the job right and the problem really was a flat battery, it should start now. If your car starts, leave it too to idle for a minute before removing the jumper cables from the two vehicles. It's important to take them off in right order, which is the reverse of the way they went on. If your car still isn't turning over, however, you need to try something else. Resist the temptation to keep turning the key, as this will probably damage the starter. Sadly, unless you're an old hand with a spanner it's probably best to call in a mechanic at this point. Lastly, and whatever the outcome, it's really important to thank the owner of the donor vehicle. It may take a few more jump starts before your battery is up to the job on its own, which means they could be seeing a lot of you over the next few days! Cheap car insurance from Hoot
If you're in the market for a cheap car insurance policy, you should really take a look at what Hoot has on offer.
All our policies come with a great standard of cover and a tiny price tag, thanks in part to the unique way we fund our advertising. Most motor insurance firms spend millions on TV commercials and radio sponsorship because they rely on them to attract new customers. However, Hoot has never needed this sort of promotion because our car insurance policies speak for themselves - or rather, our existing customers do. We do a phenomenal amount of business on the back of personal recommendations and word-of-mouth, which of course doesn't cost us a penny. And all the money we save on that expensive advertising gets ploughed straight back into keeping our car insurance rates amazingly low. To see what we mean about really cheap car insurance, just click below.
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