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How do I start a car after the battery is down?
How do I start my car after draining my battery? Last night, I accidentally forgot to turn off my vehicle’s interior light before I stepped out of the car. Now my battery is drained.
Phoebe Mah · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
Don’t worry, accidents happen, and we can all get a little scatter-brained sometimes. To start your car again after the
battery is down
, you will need to jumpstart your vehicle. To jumpstart your vehicle, you will need an assisting vehicle that is running. Before the jumpstart process begins, note that the problem vehicle and the assisting vehicle should never touch.
In addition, when the jumper cables are attached to the battery, the red and black ends of the cable should never touch.
How to connect the jumper cables:
- Step one: Begin with both vehicles turned off.
- Step two: Attach the positive end of the jumper cable to the positive terminal of the drained battery.
- Step three: Attach the other end of the positive jumper cable to the assisting vehicle.
- Step four: Clip the negative end of the jumper cable to the negative terminal on the assisting vehicle.
- Step five: Take the other end of the negative cable and clip that to the negative terminal of the drained battery.
- Step six: Turn on and start the assisting vehicle.
- Step seven: After the other vehicle has started, the car with the dead battery can also start.
- Step eight: Allow the vehicle with the drained battery to run for at least 20 minutes to recharge.
- Step nine: If the vehicle with the dead battery does not turn on, call for professional assistance. Good luck!
If your vehicle does not turn on and you do not have roadside assistance membership, consider getting one through
Jerry
. Along with traditional benefits, you get Uber-like tracking for the status of your service and the ability to contact your service provider directly for as low as $4.16 a month.View full answer
- Gregory R.
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Jerry partners with more than 50 insurance companies, but our content is independently researched, written, and fact-checked by our team of editors and agents. We aren’t paid for reviews or other content.
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