Jumpstarting Your Car In 7 Simple Steps: A Complete Guide

If you’re in an emergency situation with a flat car battery, knowing how to jumpstart your vehicle could get you out of trouble! Our guide has outlined everything you need to know and what you need to do in order to jumpstart your car. To find out more, keep reading.



Jumpstarting Your Car: Explained

Jumpstarting your car is actually much easier than you may realise. While the task may seem overwhelming, our friendly guide is here to get you through it!

What Do I Need?

You don’t need a complicated list of tools to jumpstart your car, you only need:

●    Working jump leads

●    One vehicle with a flat battery

●    One vehicle with a working/fully-charged battery (not a hybrid)

It’s important to be as safe as possible when jump-starting a car. If your jump leads look a little tattered or broken, do not use them. Also, if they start getting hot or your car is smoking, stop using them.

Step By Step Guide

Here is our step by step guide to jump-starting your car!

Line Up Both Cars

Park your cars with batteries facing each other for easy reach and be sure to turn off your ignition (but keep your handbrake on). 

Connect The Red & Black Leads

A simple way to remember the ways you should connect your leads is positive to positive and negative to negative. Connect your red lead first, to the flat battery’s positive terminal.

Then, connect your black jump lead to the negative terminal. Ensure that the other end of your black lead goes to an earthing point of your car, well away from the battery and fuel.

Start The Car With The Charged Battery

Keep your engines off for a moment and then start the charged car’s engine.

Start Your Car

Turn on your car after the other engine has been running for a minute.

Leave The Cars To Run

Leave both cars running for about 10 minutes or so.

Turn Off Your Cars & Disconnect Leads

Carefully turn off both engines, and disconnect the leads in reverse order (black then red) and ensure that the leads do not touch each other.

Restart Your Car

Turn your keys in the ignition and your car should be up and running again! If your car still isn’t up and running, you may need to contact a professional.

Car Servicing & Repairs: Acorn Tyres

If your car isn’t starting or you suspect further problems, it’s best to call a professional service or take your car to an MOT garage for repairs. Here at Acorn Tyres, we specialise in a range of full car services to keep you safe on the roads.

For more information, feel free to contact us today to speak to our team!