{"id":9,"date":"2026-10-07T00:08:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/how-to-jump-start-a-car-safely\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T00:08:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T00:08:04","slug":"how-to-jump-start-a-car-safely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/how-to-jump-start-a-car-safely\/","title":{"rendered":"How to jump start a car safely"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A flat battery is one of the most common reasons a car will not start, especially in cold weather or after the lights were left on. With a set of jumper cables and a second car, you can often get going again in a few minutes. Always check your car&#8217;s handbook first: some cars, including many hybrids and electric vehicles, have special jump points or must not be used to jump another car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What you need<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A set of jumper cables in good condition, with no exposed wire.<\/li>\n\n<li>A second vehicle with a battery of the same voltage (usually 12 volts).<\/li>\n\n<li>Gloves and eye protection if you have them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Connect the cables in this order<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Park the cars close but not touching, and switch both engines off.<\/li>\n\n<li>Red clamp to the <strong>positive (+)<\/strong> terminal of the flat battery.<\/li>\n\n<li>Other red clamp to the <strong>positive (+)<\/strong> terminal of the good battery.<\/li>\n\n<li>Black clamp to the <strong>negative (&#8722;)<\/strong> terminal of the good battery.<\/li>\n\n<li>Last black clamp to an unpainted metal point on the engine block of the car with the flat battery, away from the battery itself.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Start the cars<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Start the working car and let it run for a few minutes. Then try the car with the flat battery. If it starts, remove the cables in the reverse order and keep the engine running for at least 20 to 30 minutes, ideally on a drive, so the battery can recharge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When to stop and call for help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The battery is cracked, leaking, swollen or smells of rotten eggs.<\/li>\n\n<li>The car still will not start after two or three attempts.<\/li>\n\n<li>You are on a busy road or the battery is hard to reach safely.<\/li>\n\n<li>The car keeps going flat: the battery or charging system may need testing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A roadside jump start uses a booster pack, so no second car is needed, and the driver can check whether the battery is charging before you drive away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What you need, the right order to connect jumper cables, and when to stop and call for a jump start instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":18,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35,"href":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions\/35"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/block.ltheme.com\/lt-towline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}