How to Jump Start a Battery

Your car’s battery is one of the first things that will stop working, as it will genuinely only last three or four years. Sometimes, you can get five or so years out of a battery but expect to need a new one within three or four years of ownership. Your INFINITI comes with a 24-month battery warranty, so if the battery dies within the first two years of ownership, your battery and the labor for the change are free of charge. From then on, up to 84 months, you will receive a discounted rate if you need a new battery. You will be able to tell that your battery likely needs to be changed when your car takes longer to turn over. Many people will confuse this with a starter, but it’s more often than not the battery. 

How To Know Your Battery’s Dead

If your battery is dead, you will hear the distinct clicking sound that all batteries make when there isn’t enough left to crank the car over. When this happens, you’re going to need to jump-start it. But, if you have never jump-started a car before, how exactly do you do that? It’s pretty simple. If you choose not to try to jump-start your INFINITI, you can always call Roadside Assistance and get a free jump. 

Be Careful Around Car Batteries

It should be noted that a car battery can cause harm if you aren’t careful. However, you shouldn’t be afraid to jump-start your car. The key things to remember are that red is positive, which means there is live electricity going to it, and black is negative and is your ground. Always disconnect your negative (black) cable first and then the positive (red) cable. When you attach them, make sure to do positive first and then negative last. 

Get The Live Battery Car In Good Position

Once you have positioned the car that will give you a jump, make sure to put the positive (red) clamp securely onto the positive terminal of the dead battery, then put the other positive clamp onto the positive terminal of the booster car’s battery. Now, place the negative (black) clamp onto the negative terminal of the booster battery, then go back to the car with the dead battery and attach the negative clamp to a metal part of the engine or engine bay that is not painted. That is a very important step. Make sure it is bare metal. 

Now Disconnect The Cables Properly

Once you have placed the correct clamps onto the proper terminals, get into the booster car and start it up, then start the vehicle with the dead battery. Sometimes, it can be beneficial to wait a minute before you start the car with the dead battery. Once your vehicle is running, disconnect everything in the opposite order from last to first this time. Meaning, black clamp from the jumped car, then the black clamp from the booster car, then red from the jumped car, and red from the booster car. 

How To Use A Portable Jump Starter

If you don’t have a car you are jumping from but instead have a battery jump box, simply attach the red positive clamp first and then the black negative clamp. Once the vehicle has been started successfully, just take them off in reverse order. 

Drive Around To Charge Your Battery

Your vehicle should be good to go now. Just be careful not to shut it off until you get to a place to purchase a new battery. Sometimes, if you have driven the car for 20 minutes or more, the battery will have enough charge in it to turn the car on again if you turn it off. However, that is not always the case. 

INFINITI Roadside Assistance

In the case of an emergency like this, you can also contact INFINITI Roadside Assistance at 800-662-6200. Also, the service department at Dick Smith INFINITI of Columbia will be more than happy to change your vehicle’s battery for you. 

At Dick Smith INFINITI of Columbia, we value our customers and offer some of the best prices and services. With more than 100 new and used vehicles to choose from, our outstanding sales team and finance department will work hard to make sure you drive away happy. Our fantastic service department will take care of your new-to-you vehicle as if it were their own.