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Jump Start Question

23K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  Rose City GC SRT8  
#1 ·
I put my car away for winter storage and I never removed the battery. (stupid mistake, I know)... anyway. by the time I break it out in the spring, after what will have been about 4 months without starting it, I assume I will have a dead battery. The question I have is if this is the case, are there any special steps I should take when jumping the car? I have heard that some cars should not be jumped with another car.(computer issues??)
Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Page 361 on owners manual covers jumping your car and should be looked over before jumping because there's some warnings and cautions in there. It says you can use another car to jump your car. I personally like to put a charger on it and charge the car before starting or useing a tether to keep it from going down.
 
#6 ·
Buy a Battery Tender (that's a brand). Connect it and let it charge. It might take two days if the battery is dead. Once it's fully charged, the Battery Tender can be left on indefinitely since it has circuitry to maintain the battery without over-charging.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Like others have said above get a Battery Tender. If you don't, put a battery charger on the car until the battery is fully charged. Never jump start a car with a dead battery and let the alternator charge the battery with a zero charge. That puts a real strain on the alternator and electrical system and could cause the alternator to fail prematurely.

(Now if you have a dead battery in an emergency jump it and get home )
 
#9 ·
. . . Never jump start a car with a dead battery and let the alternator charge the battery with a zero charge. . .
True. It's always best when jump starting a car to let the 'jumper' connected for several minutes before attempting to start the 'dead' car. This way, a small charge accumulates in the dead battery minimizing potential alternator damage.
 
#10 ·
If your battery has been setting on complete discharge for months in the cold, you will probably need a new battery, it not right then not long after.

Lead acid batteries do not take well to being left dead especially in the cold and they can also freeze and burst causing a lot of damage.

If you can get to the car and remove the battery or put a Battery Tender on it now, that would be the best solution.
 
#11 ·
Battery tenders are great. I've got one car stored outside that i keep a solar battery tender hooked up and it regularly keeps the battery in a fully charged state. If i unhook it, the battery will die within weeks, i can hook it up to the solar charger and it takes about 5 days to charge it back up to usable levels. This was after letting a 2 year old battery sit in the car for 9 months without starting it, and it was dead as a door nail, hooked up the tender and 2 weeks later the car started fine.
 
#12 ·
I've got a Battery Tender on my Harley and it works great, if you park your car for any length of time without starting it up you really need one of these. The small one is not that expensive, I think I picked it up for around 30.00. It's a plug in and forget it device.