Jump starting a car is one of those essential things every car owner should know along with putting air in their tires, checking their oil, adding windshield washer fluid, etc (I think I have my next blog, haha). If you don’t know how to jump start a car, no worries. I didn’t know how to before I became a mechanic and I’ve seen people think they know how to and do it wrong (including men).
Most cars have batteries under the hood (some cars have batteries under the seat). A lot of newer cars have a cover over the battery to protect it, so that will need to be removed. There are two metal terminals or posts on the battery. If the battery is not under the hood, there will be two posts under the hood that are electrically wired to the battery.
Just like your remote control AA batteries which have a negative side and a positive side, the two posts on the battery are negative and positive. They don’t say negative or positive. The have a – symbol and a + symbol on the battery or on a cap that is covering the posts to denote which post is which.
Sometimes, car manufacturers color code the cable wires to the battery posts to help you differentiate the positive from the negative even more. Red cable is positive, black cable is negative. This was always hard for me to remember since most people think red as negative when it comes to school and tests. Our teachers in grade school used red pen to mark answers wrong.
The jumper cables which are color coded tell you exactly which end to connect to the post, so red to red and black to black. What’s most important is the sequence…
words by: @girlsautoclinic
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