Should you panic if you are caught in the middle of a dead battery (of your car)? No! Because there is always a way out of every calamity you face while driving your car. And if you got a flat battery, jump starting it might not seem easy, but you can definitely do it without another car. Are you wondering how to jump start a car without another car? Well, you will get all the step-by-step revelations in the article that follows!
But before we head on to the following sections to get a clear idea about what to do when you face a flat battery, let us know what it actually means to have a flat battery! Well, when your car engine doesn’t have enough charge left on it, it dies down instantly! And jumping a car without another car might seem impossible for many, but with the correct knowledge, it is possible to jump start it and take the vehicle to a nearby service station to get it charged easily!
Even if your car does not have a manual transmission, you can still jump start your car to carry on with your drive. So, let us not waste any more time here and head on to the next sections to know how to charge a car battery without another car and other relevant details about the same! Keep reading to learn more.
What Does Jump Starting a Car Do?
Many car owners do not know what does jump start a car mean, and they simply refer to it as pushing the car to restart a dead battery or thinking of charging the battery otherwise. But to be precise, jump starting a car battery refers to recharging a drained battery by using different methods until it becomes capable of running your car again!
Sometimes you may not have the luck to get another car’s battery to charge yours, which is when this article will come to your rescue as you will eventually get to know how to jump start a car without another car! But if you have another vehicle at your disposal, you can charge your car’s dead battery using the battery of another car.
So, let’s discuss how does jump starting a car work? For that, you will need another fully charged battery from the second car. You then have to connect two positive terminals and two negative terminals of the battery to each other. When the battery generates the same voltage, the electricity flow will be zero.
But since the batteries die down because of the increasing resistance between terminals, it will result in the flow of charge from the full battery to the dead one, which will eventually make it rerun your car!
Can a Car Battery Be Too Dead to Jump Start?
A general question by most car owners is can a car battery be so dead it won’t jump start? Well, it possibly isn’t! Firstly it is a chemical compound, and secondly, it will give you as many warning signs as you need before slipping into the “dead zone.”
And thus, you can be free of the fact that you may never actually have to face a dead car battery in its “too dead to remove” condition. However, it is not that a jump start will make amendments for a dead battery.
There are different ways to jump start a car, and any of them can work for taking your car to a certain distance. But to make it run longer and like before, you have to recharge your car’s battery as soon as possible.
Even though you may have faced a dead battery frequently and you wonder can you jump start a completely dead battery, you may still have favorable luck on your side. Because until the battery doesn’t respond when it is jump-started, it is not “too dead” and will eventually start your car.
It is only when the car battery fails to charge up even after a jump start, you can think it to be completely dead, and then you may have to either replace it or recharge it immediately.
How to Jump Start a Car Without Another Car (5 Best Ways)
Now, in this section, we will dive directly into knowing how to start a car with a dead battery without another car. We will discuss the 5 best ways to do it without having to take help from an automobile expert. The step-by-step procedures will be discussed in detail to help you understand the methods better. So, what are you waiting for? Keep reading to know more:
Use a Portable Jump Starter
In the process of knowing how to jump start a car without another car, the need for a jump starter is umpteen. And if you are carrying it in your car, it has to be portable; otherwise, you will face issues in adjusting it inside the car.
So what is a portable jump starter? Well, a portable battery jump starter is a device that contains the charge to boost up your car’s dead battery. You must know the step-by-step process to use it to the fullest. Here we go:
Step 1: Be Prepared
To jump start a car without another car, the application of a portable jump starter is incomparable! And by being prepared means, you need to do the right setup before using the jump starter on your car. So, you need to remove the terminal covers of the battery after locating it by opening the hood of the car. Then you have to identify the negative and positive leads of the best portable jump starter that you are going to use. Next, you must also identify the negative and positive posts of your car’s battery and then set the parking brake.
Step 2: Make Connections
To know how to charge a car battery without another car using a portable jump starter, you must know how to make proper connections, and this comprises the next step. It would be best if you put the battery’s negative lead (black) to either the engine block or any unpainted clean car frame and the positive lead (red) to the battery’s positive post to make the desired connections. You should also ensure that the leads of the jump starter are firmly connected. Now you can turn on the portable car battery charger to implement its power into the dead battery.
Step 3: Power on the Ignition Switch
Now, it’s time to switch on the power ignition by cranking the engine, and after it starts, you must remove the jump starter and let the car run for about 15-20 minutes. This will warm up the engine well, and you shall be able to use it for a while without having to fear a shutdown again! Remember you must remove the jump starter in reverse order as you connected it. And like this, you can jump start a dead car battery without another car using a portable jump starter.
Connect Two Batteries in Parallel
To know how to start a car with a dead battery without another car, you must know about the detailed processes that it involves. And one such process is connecting two batteries in parallel using bridging tools. In this method, a spare battery is used to boost up the dead battery by linking together. Now, we shall discuss the step-by-step procedure of the same:
Step 1: Be Prepared
For jumping a car without another car by connecting two batteries in parallel, you must be prepared well first. And for that, you must park your vehicle in an open and safer area, place the boost battery by the side of the dead battery and then start working towards the connection linking. You must know that a lead-acid battery is used for jumping a car battery without another car. And when turned upside down, it may spill acid into your hands or the vehicle that may be harmful extensively. So, you can use a spanner tool with a regular lead-acid battery to prevent any sort of harmful consequences.
Step 2: Link the Connections
Now you have to connect two batteries in parallel to jump start a car with a dead battery. It would help if you did that by attaching the spanner on the red terminals of both the batteries to bridge the gap. You can also use other tools than the spanner if you need or have them!
Step 3: Turn the Ignition
And now comes the end part of the process- turning on the ignition key to start the car. Your vehicle must start over after the ignition, and then you should keep it running for about 15-20 minutes so that the dead battery is charged instantaneously. And so, this was all about how to jump start a car without another car by connecting two batteries in parallel.
Use a Spare Battery (Tip the Battery Upside Down)
This method is much like the previous method but without the tools! Yes, a spare battery is also used in this method to jump a car battery without another car that you can comprehend by tipping the battery upside down. You just need a spare battery; it is good if you get your hands on a spill-free and maintenance-free battery! We will know more about how to jump start a car with a spare battery in the following step-by-step process:
Step 1: Create a Suitable Condition
There are different ways to jumpstart a car, but this might be the easiest one! The first step is easier to conduct; you just need to turn on the ignition switch in a way that it lies in an open position. After that, you must turn off the electronic accessories in your car, like the roof light, the radio, the headlights, etc., so that they do not get damaged during the process. And then, you should move on to the next step.
Step 2: Tip the Battery Upside Down
When you are getting to learn how to jump a car battery without another car, you must adapt to the most straightforward ways, and this step is one effortless step! You should place the boost battery over the dead battery in this step, and it should be done in a way that both the red terminals of the dead and spare battery are lined up correctly. The same formula is also applicable for the black terminals of the dead and spare battery.
Step 3: Switch on the Ignition
When you are done with the above step, you must switch on the ignition. After your car starts, you must remove the spare battery and let your car run for about 15-20 minutes to boost up the lost charge in the batteries. This is simply one of the easiest ways out of the 5 most effective and best ways to jump start a car without another car.
Try Out the Push Start Method
Have you ever tried to jump start your car by push starting it? It may be a common sight for most car owners as it is the easiest of all the methods to revive the dead battery of the car. We have often seen car drivers asking for a push on their vehicles in the middle of the road due to dead batteries. And the push method actually works wonders sometimes.
It is a suitable method if you are searching for ideas as to how to jumpstart a car without another car! The process is quite simple, and you don’t need any extra tools to carry out the procedure as well. All you need is a push, either in the backward direction or the forward direction of the car, and it will eventually help ignite the dead battery of the car.
Wondering how to jump start a car by yourself using the push start method? Well, let us discuss how it works! When you push the vehicle from behind (or front), it moves. And while it moves, the car’s transmission remains engaged to the engine that allows it to spin and eventually starts it.
This is evidently one of the easiest methods out of the 5 different ways to jumpstart a car without another car mentioned here, but only when you have people around you to help! Otherwise, it can be a disaster if your car stops in the middle of nowhere and there is nobody ready to push it. One thing that you must also keep in mind is that, while someone pushes the car, there must be an expert driver in control of the steering so that he or she can gain control of the car engine once it starts moving.
Call for Roadside Assistance
When you cannot think of how to jumpstart a dead battery without another car and have no clue about doing anything to revive it, you have only one option left- call for roadside assistance! Yes, sometimes we go blank when we face disasters on the road, and our brains cannot process the possibilities of getting out of these situations. And so, asking for help is something that we can rely on in such moments of despair.
Even if you do not have a portable jumper in your car or you do not know how to jump start a dead battery without another car, you can still get help if you call for roadside assistance. People can come over to give you the required ideas about how to deal with the situation. You can also ask for their help to implement the push start method in worse conditions. Or you can ask for any fellow driver’s jump starter to help you out with your dead battery.
Though it is quite apprehensive to ask for help in desperate situations, it must be your last resort! You must know how to jump start a car without another vehicle or without anyone else’s assistance so that it does not bother you any time and you can help yourself easily. It also works for people who are new to the world of driving (amateur drivers, to be precise) because they care less about having a spare battery in their cars or even about keeping a portable jumper at the same time.
No wonder calling for help will be their most coveted resort during a drive if they face a dead battery issue with their cars. Hopefully, the methods mentioned above on how to start a car with a dead battery without another car have managed to provide you with the required knowledge if you do not want to call for assistance at all!
How Long Does It Take to Jump Start a Car?
By now, you already know what are the possible ways through which you can jumpstart your car. However, you might have one essential query in your mind; how long does it take to jump start a car? Well, the time calculation depends on certain factors, which include the car battery type, the condition of the battery, and of course, how well skilled you are to jumpstart it!
If you have all the things perfect in their position, it might not take more than 5 minutes to jumpstart a dead battery of the car. Now, there might be another question that can hinder your mind- how long does it take to jump a completely dead car battery?
Supposedly, if the car battery is completely drained and doesn’t get started even after trying for more than 5 minutes, the only option left is to purchase a new one and install it! There are different ways to jumpstart a car, and all of them can take a maximum of 5-10 minutes and not more than that!
How to Know If Car Battery Needs to Be Replaced?
Your car’s battery does not go dead all of a sudden. It gives you signs before breaking down, and thus if you know what are the signs of a dead car battery beforehand, it is likely that you will be able to avert the consequences that come in. Check for the given signs:
- Dim Lights with Electrical Problems: If you are thinking about how to know if car battery is dead, you can consider dim lights and electrical issues in your car to be primary reasons because the electronic items in your vehicle are powered by the car battery.
- Bad Smell: A bad smell might be one of the dead car battery symptoms you should consider necessary. When the battery becomes damaged due to internal short circuits, it may lead to leaking of gas, which can create a rotten egg smell that you will find after opening the hood.
- Old Battery: Consider it to be one of the vital signs of a dead car battery if your battery has not been replaced for about 4-6 years. Driving habits, electronic demands, and climate conditions may drain the battery accordingly.
- Corroded Connectors: Are you still wondering how to know if car battery needs to be replaced? If you notice an ashy white substance in your battery’s metal parts, then it might be due to corroded connectors, which might be considered a sign of a dead battery.
- Engine Starts Slow: If your car engine takes a few more seconds to start over, you can consider it as a warning sign. So, to know how to check if car battery needs replacing, focus on the time taken by your car to start!
Can You Call 911 for a Jump Start?
If you are eventually asking can you call the cops for a jump start? The answer should be a NO! It is because they are deployed for emergency situation management if the motorists become stranded in risky areas.
And well, if you are actually out of battery in a stranded place where you fear the risk of life and your vehicle both, you may call 911 to call the cops to fix the problem. But this must be done only when you do not know how to jump start a car by yourself as there are more serious issues than this for the cops to take care of!
Most police officers are trained in helping stranded motorists, and they also have jumper cables along with them. So, if you ask- can you call 911 for a jump start in emergency? The answer is a YES!
How to Start a Car with a Dead Battery Without Another Car?
Now that you are on the conclusive part of the article, you have already known how to start a car with a dead battery without another car. There are 5 different methods mentioned in the article above through which you get a complete idea about bringing back your car’s dead battery into power without having to take help from another car.
But are you willing to implement all these methods at once upon facing a dead battery issue? No, right? And that is when you need to know the best out of the best method to conclude your task of jumping a car without another car. So, to make it easy for you, I have shortlisted a few amongst the list that I found to be worthy of experimenting if I face a dead battery in the midst of my driving impediment. And those are
- Using a Portable Jump Starter
- Trying Out the Push Start Method
These two methods, in my opinion, are pretty effective in restarting your car when you get a dead battery, amongst the given methods. A portable battery jump starter and a push go a long way! But then, it is your choice to count on the techniques you think are best when you face a dead battery issue with your car! Happy driving!
