Safety Warning
DIY auto repair can cause serious injury, fire, or vehicle damage. These guides are for informational purposes only. Always follow OEM torque specs, wear PPE, and consult a certified mechanic if you are unsure. You are solely responsible for your safety.
Vehicle Jump Starting
- Raise the hood on the disabled vehicle and inspect the battery.
- Inspect the battery cable terminal clamps for damage. Replace any battery cable that has a damaged or deformed terminal clamp.
- Inspect the battery tray and battery hold down hardware for damage. Replace any damaged parts.
- Slide the thermal guard off of the battery case, if equipped. Inspect the battery case for cracks or other damage that could result in electrolyte leaks. Also, check the battery terminal posts for looseness. Batteries with damaged cases or loose terminal posts must be replaced.
- Inspect the battery thermal guard for tears, cracks, deformation or other damage. Replace any battery thermal guard that has been damaged.
- Inspect the battery built-in test indicator sight glass (if equipped) for an indication of the battery condition. If the battery is discharged, charge as required. Refer to BATTERY DISCONNECT - DUAL 12 VOLT BATTERY SYSTEM .
- Raise hood on disabled vehicle and visually inspect engine compartment for:
- Generator drive belt condition and tension.
CAUTION:If the cause of starting problem on disabled vehicle is severe, damage to booster vehicle charging system can result.
- When using another vehicle as a booster source, park the booster vehicle within cable reach. Turn off all accessories, set the parking brake, place the automatic transmission in PARK or the manual transmission in NEUTRAL and turn the ignition OFF.
- On disabled vehicle, place gear selector in park or neutral and set park brake. Turn off all accessories.
- Connect jumper cables to booster battery. RED clamp to positive terminal (+). DO NOT allow clamps to touch, electrical arc will result. Review all warnings in this procedure.
- On the disabled vehicle, pull up and remove the protective cover over the remote positive (+) battery post.
- Connect the RED jumper cable clamp to positive (+) terminal.
- Connect BLACK clamp of the jumper cable to the negative terminal of the booster battery.
- Connect BLACK clamp of the jumper cable to the negative terminal of the discharged battery.
- Start the engine in the vehicle which has the booster battery, let the engine idle a few minutes, then start the engine in the vehicle with the discharged battery.CAUTION:
Do not crank starter motor on disabled vehicle for more than 15 seconds, starter will overheat and could fail.
- Allow battery in disabled vehicle to charge to at least 12.4 volts (75% charge) before attempting to start engine. If engine does not start within 15 seconds, stop cranking engine and allow starter to cool (15 min.), before cranking again.
Use the Manual With the Right Hardware
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When to See a Mechanic
Stop DIY work and contact a certified mechanic immediately if any of the following apply:
- • You smell fuel, burning insulation, or see smoke.
- • Brakes feel soft, pull hard to one side, or make grinding noises.
- • The engine overheats, stalls repeatedly, or misfires under load.
- • You are missing required tools, torque specs, or safe lifting equipment.
- • You are not confident in the next step or safety outcome.