What may cause the car battery issues?
If you can’t start your car in the morning or if you happen to face this situation in the middle of nowhere, there’s a high chance that it’s the car battery that’s causing you so much trouble. As it’s that important detail, which powers the starting motor and ensures that the spark plugs are provided with the electricity, so that they’re able to begin igniting the fuel. Basically, the battery (that unattractive black box in the hood of your vehicle) is the push point of the starting mechanism of any car. So, you vehicle won’t even think about moving if the battery is so low on charge that it can’t perform its main function anymore.
As auto repair specialists inform, there’re multiple reasons why the battery in your car may appear discharged/dead, making you so late or at least unable to drive your own vehicle to get to the destination unless you’re fortunate enough to be able to jump start the car battery (we’ll get to that later). The first reason originates from the most common mistake each driver commits at some point of his life. It’s leaving the lights on when the car has already stopped running. In fact, leaving the interior lights and the radio on may have the same effect. You battery might not run out of charge completely if you do so. It depends on the ‘age’ of the battery and the period of time, during which the lights were left on. Luckily, the manufacturers have already fixed this problem in most of the recent car models by making the vehicles automatically turn the headlights off when the driver closes its door and leaves the car or something like that. Another mistake that may lead to the same mistake is keeping the car’s conditioner on when you’re not driving. If you don’t take care of the car battery and it lacks proper maintenance, its terminals might get dirty and cause the starting issues.
However, there’re also deeper reasons to the dead battery issue. First of all, car batteries won’t last the car owners forever, even if they don’t drive their vehicles to much or don’t travel long distances on it. In fact, automotive specialist inform, that short and frequent drives decrease the battery’s lifespan drastically. And, it doesn’t even matter how many miles you’ve driven. The number of times you start the car matters the most. So, the average lifespan of a car battery is 5 years. If it starts acting out after that ‘age’ and charging it has turned into a quite frequent routine, it’s most likely that you have to change it.
Secondly, you have to remember that if the battery is affected by extreme weather conditions, it won’t serve you as long as it could too. Either you live in the area when it’s constantly humid and hot or you experience the change of seasons with high temperatures in summer and frosts in winter, there is a high chance that the battery won’t last you those promised 5 years.
Lastly, you have to keep in mind that there’s the system in your car that is responsible for keeping the battery constantly charged. It’s called the alternator or generator. If it’s broken down, you’ll get the undercharged or even overcharged battery problems until you find the auto repair shop and get it fixed.
The most effective solution to the dead battery and unstarting vehicle problem is to get your car battery jump started (if you’re away from your house) and charge it as soon as you can. If you can’t do it on your own, if you don’t have the jump starting cables or if you can’t stop any other vehicles to get the help, it’s better to call the car repair services. Visit HireRush.com to find those services and call the local professionals directly from the site. The mobile ones will come to the spot and fix your problem right away. And, if it can’t be repaired on spot, they’ll call the towing machine.
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But now we’re going to figure out how to charge the car battery safely through getting it jump-started in the emergency situation.
How to jump start a car
You can jump start your car using a special starter kit and connecting the battery to the working car’s battery to ‘borrow’ some charge from it (Ok, not directly from the battery, but through it).
1. Check that it’s definitely the battery that is causing your troubles. You may do that simply by turning on the headlights. If they seem to be dim or don’t light up at all, it means that the battery in your car is dead for sure and you need to fix this problem now. You may check the radio or inside lights too. But, if the car refuses to start, but you’ve managed to turn the headlights on and they’re quite bright, you’ll need to perform an additional check-up. Attempt to start the vehicle. . If you notice that the car is kind of cranking, but quite quickly, it means that it’s not the battery that needs to be taken care of. And, unfortunately, jump starting won’t help you.
However, if it’s cranking or turning over slowly or if you can’t hear any sound at all, you may go back to the dead battery diagnosis.
2. Open the hood of your car and the hood of the ‘donor’. Find the battery in your car. Most probably, it’s located close to the car’s front, either on its left or right side. If it is not there, check the place near the firewall and between the car’s engine and passenger’s section of the car. It’s rare that manufacturers place the car battery into the vehicle’s trunk.
Look at the battery’s terminals. The positive one is always marked with a plus sign (+). As usual, the red cable will be attached to it. Thus, the negative one is indicated with a minus sign (-). And, as a rule, the black cable is attached to it.
3. Carry out a brief battery inspection in both cars. Examine the batteries visually. See if any of them has cracks or other noticeable damage marks. Make sure that both batteries don’t leak. As if you notice any of those defects on any of the batteries, you shouldn’t proceed to jump starting the car. It’s much safer to call the towing services instead or get the battery replaced.
Don’t begin jump starting if the terminals on the disabled car are significantly dirty. Take the cables off the battery’s terminals first and clean them along with the terminals. Reconnect the cables once you’re done.
This entire inspection and preparation process might seem quite unnecessary and irritating. But, you shouldn’t skip this step in order to avoid greater damage, other car problems and even dangerous incidents.
4. Start the actual car jumping process. Keep in mind that you’ll be able to do that only if you have the jumping cables. That’s why I suggest that every car owner should purchase them beforehand and have them stored in the vehicle’s car all the time. It’s like always having a spare tire. If you found yourself without jumping cables, ask the person who agreed to help you if he has them in his car. If he doesn’t have them, say “Sorry for bothering you” and call the automotive services.
If you found the cables and the magic is about to happen, check if the cables have no damage first. They should have red and black clamps that correspond with the battery’s terminals. Make sure that they don’t touch each other once connected to the battery not to inflict the serious damage of both cars.
5. Park the two cars close enough to each other and set them on the parking breaks. Get the batteries of both cars connected to each other by attaching the red clams of the lifesaving cables to each of the positive terminals of the two cars. Attach one of the black clamps to the negative terminal of the working vehicle. Don’t do the same with the dead battery. Connect the second black clamp of the cable to the piece of unpainted ground metal in your car’s hood. It should be quite close to the battery.
6. Make sure that the hoods of both cars stay open and start the ‘donor’ vehicle. Make it run for a couple of minutes to get your battery charged. Stop the working car and disconnect everything.
7. If you try to start your car after the entire procedure is complete and it still refuses to make a single change, go back to the step 5 and check the cable’s connections. Repeat the step 6 once again. If your car is not starting whatsoever, it means that your battery is so out of order that it can’t be jump started. Call the towing services to get your car delivered to the repair shop and get the professionals deal with the problem.
Remember, that there could be other car issues that may cause the battery breakdowns. And, spending too much money on replacing the battery too often won’t help the situation. So, if you have to deal with the battery problems too often and if you’ve run out of all the solutions, go to the mechanics or auto repair shop to get the car diagnosed and fix the core of the problem
