How To Jump Start A Car With A Spare Battery? (7 Easy Steps)

Your car battery can become dead anytime, and you can be left stranded in the middle of the road. However, when your old battery dies, you can charge it with a spare battery. So, how to jump start a car with a spare battery?

Knowing how to jump start a car with a spare battery is an essential skill for any driver. Well, it is very easy to jump start a car, and for this, you will only need a few pieces of equipment. A working spare battery, jumper cables, and some safety gloves are all you need.

Whether you are a new driver or an old one knowing about jump starting a car with a spare battery will always come in handy. So, keep on reading this guide to learn more.

Why Do You Need To Jump Start A Car With A Spare Battery?

The battery is an essential component of any car. It is responsible for running all the electronic systems in your car effectively. So, your car cannot get the required power to start when it dies.

There are two reasons you might need to jump start your dead battery with a spare one. So knowing about these reasons will help us to have an idea of when to jump start the battery.

Dead Battery

The first and most common reason for which you may need to jump start your car is a dead battery. Dead batteries are a common thing in almost all vehicles. When your car sits ideally for a long time or the battery ages, it can lose charge and die.

Problematic Starter

Another common reason for which you will need to jump start your car is a faulty alternator. When the alternator is damaged, you will have a hard time starting the car, and in this situation, you will need to jump start the vehicle.

How To Jump Start A Car With A Spare Battery?

Jump starting a car with a spare battery isn’t much of a difficult task, but following proper steps is essential as you will be working with high voltages. Hence, down below, we will give a step-by-step guide on how to jump start any car.

Step 1: Gather All the Tools

The first step is gathering all the tools needed to jump start your car. You will need a spare battery, Jumper cables, a wire brush, safety glass, and protective gloves.

Step 2: Inspect the Battery

Now you will need to open the hood of your dead car and check the battery for any rust or corrosion. If there is any rust or corrosion, clean the terminals properly to ensure a safe jump start.

Step 3: Check the Spare Battery

You should also check the spare battery to ensure it works fine. Take a multimeter and check the voltage of the spare battery; the reading should be closer to 12V for a properly functioning battery.

Step 4: Connect the Positive Terminal of the Jumper Wire

You should place the spare battery close to your car’s battery but maintain a safe distance between them. Now take a jumper wire and find the car battery’s positive terminal; usually, the positive terminal is either red or marked with a “+” sign.

Connect the positive connection of the spare battery and the dead battery’s positive terminal by clamping one end of the jumper wires, typically red in color.

Step 5: Connect the Negative Terminal to Complete the Connection

After connecting the positive terminal, you will also need to connect the negative terminal. Take one end of the black jumper cable and connect it to the dead battery’s negative terminal (typically black in color or has a “–” sign). Connect the other end of the jumper cable to the negative terminal of the spare battery.

Step 6: Start the Car

Enter your car, turn on the ignition, and leave the car on for around 30 minutes, which will properly charge the dead battery.

Step 7: Turn Off the Car

After running the car for 30 minutes, turn off your car’s ignition and open the cables in reverse order to prevent any sparking, which can damage the battery.

Expert Tips on How to Jump Start A Car With Spare Battery

When Jump starting your car using a spare battery, follow these tips below to ensure your car’s and yourself’s proper safety. Not following proper steps can not only damage the batteries but can also damage other components of your car.

• Check the battery properly for corrosion; if you find any, clean it before jump-starting it.
• Always use a perfectly working battery to jump start the car.
• Wear protective gloves and safety glasses while handling the battery and jumper cables.
• Ensure both batteries have the same voltage when you use another battery to jump start your car.
• If your battery is over 3–4 years old, replace it rather than jump-start it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here we will talk about all the FAQs related to our discussion of jump starting a car with a spare battery. Answers to these questions will further clear all your confusion.

Why Does My Battery Repeatedly Die?

If your car battery repeatedly dies even after jumpstarting your car, this means that the battery is damaged beyond repair. Using this battery can further damage other components of your car. Usually, car batteries must be replaced after 3–4 years.

Does Jumpstarting A Car With Another Battery Damage The Other Battery?

Your battery and alternator will experience a little stress due to this operation. The majority of the time, this method is risk-free. Nevertheless, the jump-start won’t bother a normal battery, and your battery will recharge while you travel.

Can I Jump Start All Cars?

Most modern cars can be jump-started, but it’s risky, and errors may be expensive. To protect the vehicle from overheating in the case of hybrid vehicles, you must use a suitable extra battery.

Can I Jump Start A Completely Dead Battery?

Yes, you can completely jump-start a dead battery using a fully charged spare battery. However, you need to ensure that the battery terminals are free of corrosion or rust and are in perfect working order, and can be charged.

Conclusion

A dead battery can cause your car to be left stranded in the middle of the road. So, knowing how to jump start a car with a spare battery can be really helpful. While jump starting your car, make sure to maintain property safety precautions.

Also, ensure the spare batteries are fully charged and in perfect working order, properly recharging your dead car battery. If you find out that the battery keeps dying even after the jump starts, you should consider replacing the battery.

Always use the same type of battery to recharge the dead battery, as it will ensure the proper safety of both batteries and the car.