- 1). If you are in a mall parking lot, enlist the aid of the security guard. If you are at a store, ask the manager to get an employee to help you. Whenever possible, this is safer than asking a total stranger.
- 2). Familiarize yourself with your jumper cables before you need them. Most are clearly marked with a positive (+) and a negative (-) on the cable ends. Typically, the positive cables are orange or red for positive (remember this means hot) and black for negative, but check just to make sure.
- 3). Keep a roll of paper towels in your trunk; you may need these to clean off the corrosion around the battery in order to read the positive and negative indicators. All batteries are marked with the indicators, so if you cannot find them it probably is covered in grime.
- 4). Park the other car nose to nose with yours and shut off the motor before connecting the cables. Attach the positive cable to the post that says positive on the dead battery. Connect the positive end of the second cable to the positive post on the good battery in the car you are using to jump your car.
- 5). Connect one of the cables that says negative to a post on the good battery. Connect the last remaining cable, the one that says negative to a non-painted, shiny part of the car with the dead battery. A good choice is a large nut on the engine block. Slight sparking may occur, but you should be safe as long as you do not touch any metal parts of the car or cables. Make sure all lights, your radio and other electronic gadgets are turned off before attempting to start your car.
- 6). Start the borrowed vehicle, and let it run for about 30 seconds and then get in your car and start it. It should turn on easily. Let both engines run for a minute or two to ensure full charging.
- 7). Break the circuit by removing the jumper cables in this order, negative from your car, negative from borrowed car, positive from borrowed car, and positive from your car.
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