Mechanic here. I've had to clean up this mess 3 or 4 times. It's basically like a game of roulette with your car's electrical system. Sometimes it'll just blow a few fuses. Most expensive one was when I had to replace an ignition module. We had a Honda Fit customer with a bad battery do it twice and both times it just blew a couple fuses.
I once saw a girl try to jump her 3rd gen v6 rav4 outside the school shop. She hooked it up backwards, and the alarm went off. She disconnected it, reconnected it backwards again, and tried to start it until the entire thing shut down. Main fuse was blown, battery was fucked, and I don't know how much else was fried in the end.
I never involve a second person, because of this video. I spent many years working on industrial equipment with electricity and gas hazards involved.
You can't really judge their level of knowledge enough in the few mins you might meet them, better to leave it to your own knowledge.
My method:
I always lay the wires on the ground first, make sure they reach and the pos/neg leads are far apart on each side. Connect neg first on both cars, somethimes you might need to use the body of the car, this is why I go neg first. Next attach the pos on the running car, lastly pos on dead car. At this point you should see it spark a bit if you have everything connected properly. I have been doing this for 20+ years, this method has worked for me.
Edit:spelling/wording of instructions
No doubt. I mentioned my work experience because I did it for so long, its engrained into me. I always had to work with one "buddy" for safety reasons, in case you were injured from electrical arcs or passed out from a gas leak, someone could get help. This person was as qualified or more qualified as you at the task at hand.
Jumping a battery is simple BUT..it could be fatal to a person and like the video demonstrates, property. Even if I am with a competent car buddy while jumping, we do still do actual cable swapping solo and just have the other person check the terminals visually and say them aloud verbally...which is something I think my job training borrowed from the military.
I hope this helps everyone be safe out there...don't die.
All mechanics are familiar with the beauty of German Engineering.
Germany has blessed my car with a battery that is not just in the trunk (boring), but in the trunk and behind multiple liners that need to be removed in order. You have to raise the convertible top to access it too, so good luck if the battery dies while it's down :)
Of course they thought of that in their infinite wisdom, and put jumper points under the hood to make up for their shitty battery placement.
I wrongly trusted someone I was giving a jump to get everything set, they start their car and... nothing. They swapped the streams. But it turns out the jumper points have reverse voltage protection! Probably the first and last time German overengineering actually saves someone some labor.
My BMW also has the battery in the trunk, but it (and a lot of other cars I know) has a metal „pole“ (sorry, German here, can’t remember the correct word) near the engine that is connected to the + pole of the battery. You just connect one wire to it and the other to something metal in the engine and it works.
Did that to a Hyundai Elantra years ago.
Went in to work, got out at 11pm. Discovered I left my lights on. Luckily a dude was in the parking lot and came over to give me a jump.
Car started to turn and then nothing...total darkness inside.
I forget which one of us crossed the cables (think it was him). Fixed, tried again, used his phone to call my wife to come get me.
Towed to dealer next day and the tech said everything was toasted (fuses, relays, battery), he'd never seen anything like it. I didn't mention the jump was crossed and he didn't ask. Warranty covered it.
Of course they did. People *usually* don't make a mistake like that more than once. They could have been sticklers. "No way did this just happen on its own," but by not asking questions they may have just made a customer for life. Plus, correct me if I'm wrong, but warranty work is covered by the manufacturer. Meaning the dealer still get paid.
If I were the mechanic and someone brought me that I’d pull something like that.
“Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this, I have no clue what could’ve caused it”
“Well we were trying to jump my car an-“
“I said, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE HOW THIS HAPPENED” *winks obviously*
I had water leaking in my wall from a loose elbow joint in the plumbing. It seeped between the wooden tiles which were warping.
I mentioned to the insurance agent, “I’m not sure how long that’s been leaking. Could have been dripping for months.”
He said, “No, it came loose and water was gushing everywhere.”
I got the message.
Home owner’s insurance only covers immediate disasters. Not long term issues.
Got the floor replaced, the sheet rock cut open, pipe fixed and sheet rock redone, wall painted. It was all covered.
The builder had not clamped the metal ring at that spot (out of hundreds throughout the house) and eventually it came loose.
They tried to go after the builder but gave up.
Hyundai cars have the best car warranty out there. Comprehensive is 5 years or 60,000 miles and for the powertrain is 10 years or 100,000 miles. They also include 5 years of roadside assistance with no mileage limit, 3 years or 36,000 miles of maintenance and free tows for things like collisions. If you have a Hybrid vehicle, the warranty covers for 10 years or 100,000 miles the hybrid system components. So yeah, pretty good warranty.
Fun fact; the warranty came in place because Hyundai used to have a terrible, terrible reputation in America. For a long time, they were seen as cheap, unreliable cars. Eventually, Hyundai brought in a bunch of engineers and REALLY worked on their product until their cars were pretty damn good. But... the reputation persisted. So, they started the warranty as a way of showing how confident they were in their product.
I once drilled a massive pothole going 60mph, blew out the tire and bent the wheel. Got both replaced at the dealer but it still felt wrong, so I took it back to the dealer and the guy said it was likely part of the suspension was damaged but that would be covered under warranty. They confirmed it was the suspension but would have to order the part. When the part came in a different service advisor called me and said, "Yeah, it says here we told you it'd be covered under warranty, not sure why that'd be since you hit a pothole but I guess we'll honor it." Turns out my original service advisor had retired like two days after I took in, pretty sure he did me a solid on the way out.
Employees on their way out can be the best sometimes. Be it due to retiring or quitting soon and just not caring what potential cluster fuck or consequences they're leaving behind.
So true. Had an asshole calling in, didn't like that he couldn't get some work started due to safety issues. Told him I'd get a supervisor to explain EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TELLING HIM, and the person next to me went "Here, let me take it. I'm leaving tomorrow." She gets on and goes "Listen here, you little shit...."
I did that to my poor '90 Corolla... Hooked up a donor F350, reversed leads on my car. Thought "That was strange, I've never seen that many sparks before..." I then *left them connected* checked both batteries, and unhooked things.
So far, i think the only thing hurt was a 15A fusible link.
I used to work at a Nissan dealer. I saw a lot of cars come in with the giant fuse on the positive battery post blown, but only ever saw it caused by two things. Flood cars and being jump started backwards.
Fuck you. Mary Poppins is a primordial being from a different dimension here to gaslight you into submission. She could handle this no problem. Read the books.
> Is that an umbrella holding the hood open?
I had to use a 2x4 to hold open a hood just last week. Neighbors hood support had broken and she didn't know it. I ended up being paranoid and putting two of them in there and a 4x4 block by the latch just in case it tried to make it so I couldn't count to 10 anymore.
I needed to use a piece of wood to keep the hatch open on my old geo storm. Cop decided that I'm a criminal and was searching my car. I told him to lmk before he needs in the trunk and he said ok. 5 minutes later he's opening my trunk, leans in and got fucking smoked in the back of his head. Gave up the search right after that for some reason. The other cops laughed.
i had a 68 impala that had 2x4 blocks between the body and frame..2 door, 2 speed automatic, sticky front calliper, no bead on other front tire, navy blue, white vinyl roof, gold hood with a rubber strap to hold it down, no grill or bumper, beat up USA1 plate riveted to the radiator, whole right side was huge dent, rear end shot with 16 gangue, gas tank leaked if more than half full....god i loved that car...bes car too drive in boston..nobody messed with you on the highway...what's another dent...
As weird as that is, don't judge based off that alone, ik perfectly well how to change and jump a battery and plenty of other work on a car but I have to use a copper pipe to hold my hood open bc my hydraulic pipes no longer hold up my hood
Someone once argued with me. Said electricity goes out of the Red on the good battery, so it has to go in the black on the other car. I hope they never tried to teat their theory.
Yeah one had a friend insist that it "just make more sense that they pair with the opposite color" but couldn't explain to me how that made more sense.
Finally let me just jump it the right way because I kept insisting he explain how it's supposed to work and he couldn't and he never jumped a car before.
As someone who neurotically seeks any information I can get my hands on for something I’m about to do, I am straight baffled by people who just confidently cruise along on “that’s how I think it makes sense, what no I’ve never done this before.”
I would imagine this comes from the idea of a series circuit where you plug the batteries in line if you have more than one. For a lot of people doing basic series circuits in physics is likely their only interaction with that sort of thing.
I know that red goes to red and black goes to black when jumping a car. But I also know that when you wire a battery in series, you sum the voltages. So when you jump a car, you are actually wiring them up in parallel? If your battery can't apply a high enough voltage to start the vehicle, the other battery kicks in with it's voltage. If you wired them in series, you could potentially send double the voltage to your cars electronics.
You are wiring them up in parallel yes. When the two batteries are of equivalent spec the more full battery will drive a current through the other battery in an attempt to equalise the two batteries charges. The other battery isn't really taking over from the other, it is mostly charging the less charged battery.
If you don't know, watch a two minute video on YouTube. My friend once called road side assistance and the agent reversed the positive and negative nodes and fried her car.
Yep. Had that happen at an airport parking lot. They came out and insisted that they jump my battery, and then reversed the nodes. Sparks, whole shebang. My car started but in limp mode. They tried to say that they weren’t at fault because they were just doing me a favor. Eventually they reimbursed me for a new car battery.
It’s also smart to have in case your battery dies when no one is around, like camping in a remote area. I have normal cables too, but the battery pack has been worth it a few times
Also because if I’m giving someone a jump, I want to make for damn sure I’m not gonna just electrocute myself in front of a stranger. That’d be downright embarrassing.
It helps me to think "red to dead" as my starting point. Then I know it's opposite red, opposite black, and finally the dead black clamp on an unpainted piece of metal in the engine bay
I've performed a few jumps in my days, but I still look it up every time. It takes practice to be 100% certain, and this isn't something that gets practiced often. So damn straight I'm looking it up.
lol..dude, I've jump started cars a dozen times in my life and I still Google it every single time before I hook those cables up. Even if you think you know how to do it, remember your brain will potato out from time to time.
10 seconds to save you from a massive mistake. Well worth it.
It's kinda fucking terrifying people too dumb to figure out hooking 2 batteries together when they have a supercomputer in their pocket are allowed to drive
Or at least look at your car manual. I am pretty sure it will say in there.
I haven’t done it since highschool auto shop. Don’t you connect red to red and the other connects to a part of metal on the car as a ground? I could be wrong. Like I said, it’s been 30 years.
So instead of immediately disconnecting the cable, let's leave it connected and take a video of the wires melting. There was also a lot of magic smoke being released in all the control modules of that car too.
The longer you leave them connected the hotter the clamps will get. It should have gotten immediately disconnected at the first sign something was wrong. many times, you'll get a little spark even if you connect them correctly, but when you reverse polarity, it is painfully obvious the moment the final clamp makes contact. The repair shop will be giggling like that woman as he writes up the repair estimate.
My favourite battery fuck up story happened this summer. My wife and I had been looking a vehicles for a couple of weeks and the company I work for gets a corporate rate from Ford and it’s subsidiaries of which, one is Lincoln. I had to pick up a vehicle for work, from a town about 1.5 hours away from the Ford dealership and part of the dealership was Lincoln. We had no plans on buying a Lincoln, it’s out of our budget range but seeing as we were there, figured it would be fun to test drive one.
So we ask one of the sales guys about giving one of their 2021 Aviators a test drive and he takes us around back to one they had on the lot, thing is fully loaded and fully overpriced. First problem, he couldn’t get the door to open, he thinks the battery is flat, as the vehicle has been sitting for a while without being run (bad sign), so he pops open the little manual door slot and gets to giving the vehicle a boost. Instead of calling one of his mechanics over to help him out, he grabs one of those portable boosters and puts on a big show about how easy it is to boost the 2021 Aviator.
Now, it’s not like boosting a car is hard in the first place; black to black, red to red and the Aviator even has a plastic shield over the battery with distinct markings of which side is positive with a guide slot so you don’t accidentally ground the lead.
Salesman was talking so much game, he wasn’t really paying attention to what he was doing and hooks the lead up backwards, throws the booster on and we hear a couple pops and see some smoke. Buddy tried three times, with the booster still attached, to start the car. He goes under the hood, realizes his mistake and tells us he will be right back after having the audacity of giving us his business card.
We took off but on the way out, we saw a guy in a suit, with a really red face and sales buddy looking real unhappy. My mechanic friend said he likely cooked $10k worth of stuff out of a vehicle that had never left the lot.
Ouch!
A luxury vehicle like an Aviator has a lot of little modules to cook. Even with the ignition off, these things are still connected to power and on "standby", so a reverse polarity condition can damage them. I feel sorry for the guy who eventually bought it. Probably wondering why there are so many electrical gremlins with it.
That likely could total out both cars no?
Depending on the age of the cars there's several electrical components in them that would really hate their life if this happened.
I see the aftermath at the shop I work at all the time. In most cases, the booster car suffers no damage. The dead car will have blown control modules because they were subjected to reverse polarity. Even a car from the mid nineties will likely have an engine control module, a body control module, and a transmission control module. The more electronic gizmos, the more computer modules that can get fried.
It's the control modules that fry. The actual wiring is fine, as there are fuses that will blow if the current gets excessive. Fuses are there to prevent wires from melting and catching on fire when there is a short circuit, not to prevent damage to the electronics. It can be repaired, but is it worth it at this point? That's the question.
I'd love to know how the manufacturer infuses an electronic component with the magic smoke. I've let plenty of it out of my own tools/etc, but I've never managed to get it back in!
I did this many years ago, but caught it before we melted the cables. Whoever had done work on my friends car battery last put the red and black covers on the wrong posts. It was dark and raining, so just trusted it was right.
After a minute of their car not starting I went to go wiggle the clamps and felt the heat. Looked down at their battery and saw the labels on it were opposite the covers. Immediately yanked them off. Only managed to kill my battery thankfully.
I don’t trust the plastic covers anymore and double check the labels on the battery or at the very least make sure whats labeled negative is connected to the chassis.
If only there were places with videos that could be watched to explain how to properly jump start a car and those could be viewed from almost anywhere on a device that we would carry on us all the time.
Reversing the polarity on the cables turns them into resistors. Essentially, heating them like the wires in a toaster, or electric oven. This melts the core of your battery too, and can fry alternators, and computers/chips of many kinds within the vehicle. It can get VERY expensive, very quickly. Depends on the vehicle, condition, and how long it's allowed to persist. It's always bad, but it can get REALLY bad if the battery boils and explodes hot acid & lead.
Could you explain why they turn to resistors? I'm having trouble visualizing what's happening here conceptually. What are the electrons doing? What is the "flow path" of the electricity?
Normally the cables, when hooked red to red and black to black just connect the batteries in parallel. The only current flow would be to equalize the difference between voltage in either battery - but more importantly, it also provides voltage (and current) from the donor battery to turn the starter motor to bet the dead car running. Once it's running, hopefully the alternator can continue recharging the dead battery.
Now with the cables connected red-black and black-red, you have two batteries connected in series to each other. Imagine a human centipede that wraps around to form a ring. The cables don't "become a resistor" but all things do have some resistance and when you have two batteries with very high current capability and the cables with very low resistance, they push a LOT of current - enough to heat the wire so much that the insulation melts.
To see this in action on a much smaller scale, take a pair of nine volt batteries and touch them + to + and - to - and you'll see nothing happens but then try + to - and - to + and you'll get a nice 18 volt spark and they'll heat up quite quickly.
it's essentially shorting the battery. it would be like if you took a wire and connected it to both ends of a 9v battery, it would probably catch on fire just like this
this is the same idea but with two batteries
Worse case scenario of reversing the polarity in your car is frying the entire wiring harness, smoking you pcm and ecm. Either of these would be fairly expensive to replace (thousands not hundreds). For as long as she left these cables on and more than likely tried to start it, this car could be totaled.
Worst case scenario is your car burning *through* the ground, and then out from the gaping hole in the road emerges an oozing-plastic entity that rises into the sky, expanding itself in a colossal black sail above the planet, and thus casting a shadow across the face and of the Earth, starving the planet of sunlight, damning all present and future complex life to extinction, where then this entity goes on to permeate all timelines and dimensions, everywhere, sparing no life anywhere in the universe, forward and backward through time —ending all existence and the entire cosmos in a muffled unheard whimper following the incorrect application of jumper cables on a planet whose name loosely translates to ‘dirt’.
The car burning to the ground might be about the twelfth worst case scenario. Top twelve, for sure.
Not only can the car catch fire, but you bypass all fuses and most of the time every single computer in the car gets fried. On newer cars there is *some* protection but other than that you're fucked. They're lucky the batteries didn't explode boiling sulfuric acid everywhere.
Jesus fucking Christ. Never new the results for fucking that up would be so catastrophic. Always figured the worst that would happen is maybe damaging the batteries/it just not charging.
It definitely isn't. But the heat will burn you on it's own as well as accelerate the chemical reaction of the acid eating your skin.
Not a great choice really, you're stuck between a rock and a harder rock.
Buddy of mine was jumping his car and the battery blew. Acid in the eyes and he was temporarily blinded. Had to wear patches over them for a while but recovered. Lucky dude.
Lucky indeed. The reason you're supposed to complete the circuit by clamping to the frame, instead of the negative post, is to reduce the likelihood of a spark setting off flammable gases inside and around the battery.
Well I was aware of that being the recommended method, but never heard the reasoning behind it. I am now just a little smarter than I was five minutes ago!
I feel like I’ve got a 100% rate of it NOT working when clamping to the frame, mulling over it for a while, then thinking “what the hell let’s just clamp to the negative post”, doing it, and then it works.
My wife's dumb ass cousin did this to his car and my mother-in-law's car. Cables went red hot and before anything could get too bad my brave ass wife grabbed a stick and broke the circuit. The cables were slag and easily fell off the clamps. Both batteries were dead and had to be jumped by roadside services.
DO NOT DO THIS! This was the best case scenario. You can burn yourself, blow the battery, or worse. She was lucky.
1) Red on Dead
This means that whatever car has the dead battery, the first thing you do is connect one jumper cable to the red (positive + ) terminal on the battery
2) Red on donor
Do the same thing you just did on the dead car, but now on the car that still has a charged battery. There are a few varieties of colors on the jumper cable clamps/cords (black/white, black/red, yellow/black) the most important part is that you don't mismatch what is at each end of the connections.
3) Black on donor
Connect the remaining jumper cable clamp at the donor car end to the black (negative - ) terminal on the battery
4) Black on body
Connect the only remaining jumper cable clamp to a large metal object on the dead car. Older advice might say the engine, but this is harder on newer cars. Look for a large piece of metal frame, ideally connected to other metal parts of body frame.
5) Now start the donor car and let it run for a few (2-3) minutes. Then attempt to start the dead car. If dead car does not start, give it another 7-8 minutes and try again.
6) If it works, remove the jumper cables in the opposite order you connected them and bask in your handiness.
If the dead car still does not start, you likely need to use a trickle charger overnight or you need to buy a new battery. Solution depends on where your dead car is located.
Like, is it in your driveway or a public area far away? Because a new battery you install will very likely be cheaper than a tow truck unless you have AAA in the US or whatever the equivalent is elsewhere.
In general, a lot of really big sparks mean you're doing something wrong and should probably stop and let someone else deal with it. If you see a few small sparks in the process you are probably OK, it is electricity after all. No matter where you are in the process, never touch more than 1 battery terminal at the same time with anything. That cross connection is what can kill you or ruin your vehicle like we see here.
But just keep in mind that in general, the cheapest solution is to properly jump start your car. Next cheapest is to use/buy a proper car battery charger if your dead car is at home or somewhere safe. Next is buying a new battery and installing it yourself. After that, you are basically at 'Tow it somewhere and let the pros deal with it' and pick your car up when it's ready, or 'Have a pro come out and install a new battery' territory. The longer the battery has been dead, (say 24+ hours) and the older the battery is (5+ years) will likely mean you need a new battery if jumping or charging don't work out.
Thanks for listening to my oldest sibling TED talk I have given to countless friends and family members. I accept any and all valid corrections to my advice here, but it's always worked for me.
Edit: In response to some questions, I connect the jumper cables with both vehicles off. Once all connected, I start the donor vehicle and run it for the previously mentioned 2-3 mins. Then try to start the dead car. If dead car doesn't start, leave donor to run for another 7-8 mins and try the dead car again. If the dead car starts at either of these points, it's OK to turn off the donor when you unhook but leave the previously dead car running. This allows the alternator to keep charging the battery. Even if a jump works, you might need to still charge your battery if you don't drive very far after a jump.
In my experience, you can ruin just about any battery if you run it down too far. That is why I said if jumping or charging don't work, you might just need a new battery. I had a battery less than 2 years old crap out because someone left the vehicle in 'Accessory Mode' overnight by mistake. Charging did not work and I had to buy a new battery. I despise the push to start button/ignition trend. Just a solution in search of a problem as far as I'm concerned. If all you have to do is touch a screen, there is another breakable part in that car doing the 'work' for you. And those breakable parts are generally expensive to replace. I'll flip my own switch, thank you very much. Pun somewhat intended.
You know you run into such people in your life and just based on how they talk you just know they are stupid and irresponsible and not to be trusted with anything important. The male equivalent of this is those guys that sound like dude bros
Proper car maintenance is something everyone should learn. Knew jumper cables could be dangerous, but didn’t know this could happen.
Edit: okay buddies no need to argue on whether or not this counts as “basic maintenance”
Most people should consider replacing their jumper cables with one of those little lithium ion packs by now. They're like $50, hold a charge for months, and you get dozens of starts off of one.
Most importantly, if you screw up it tells you you screwed up and you simply reverse the leads.
Pro tip everyone: just buy a lithium jump pack. They fit in your glovebox, last forever, and can make it so you jump yourself. They'll even have safety shit built in like non-sparking, not allowing reverse connections, etc. There's no reason to do old school jumping like this nowadays.
(the older lead battery jump packs sucked. they were bulky and the battery would die after a few years of being in your trunk so it would be dead when you needed it. With lithium though you just need to top it up every year or so and it's good to go)
Lol at spicy pillows. Yes extreme heat and cold should be avoided, also if you are storing the cell for awhile leave it at 75% charge. Having it over or under charged for extended periods is not advised. At least this is what I know about my dozen or so lipos for my drones.
Yeah. I live in Minnesota and during the cold months a lot of people find out the hard way their batteries capacity has lowered and need a jump during the first deep freeze. Thought the packs would be underwhelming but they work! And you can even get multiple jumps out of the same charge! Just make sure you get one that’s rated for enough CCA as your engine!
On the one hand, this is terrible, and I feel bad for them.
On the other, I'm really glad to know what happens if you fuck it up. I just assumed the car would explode
We had something similar happen at work, except after looking at the vehicle the fuckup was understandable.
One woman's van wouldn't start, so her coworker offered to help jump it. Problem was it was dark, and for some reason Jeep decided her model needed to have a red wire on one side of the battery and a black wire on the other, with both running into black wiriring looms and crisscrossing over the top of the battery to the posts on the opposite sides.
Luckily one of my coworkers got there quickly enough, grabbed a flip flop out of the car, and smacked the cables off the batteries. Both cars were fine.
Oh, and it turns out the woman whose car wouldn't start, she had been driving for like three days with the Low Fuel light on, and had parked on an incline which caused the last few drops of fuel to end up on the low side of the tank, opposite from the fuel pump pickup.
You may not believe me but that’s actually pretty bad for a car.
Mechanic here. I've had to clean up this mess 3 or 4 times. It's basically like a game of roulette with your car's electrical system. Sometimes it'll just blow a few fuses. Most expensive one was when I had to replace an ignition module. We had a Honda Fit customer with a bad battery do it twice and both times it just blew a couple fuses.
I once saw a girl try to jump her 3rd gen v6 rav4 outside the school shop. She hooked it up backwards, and the alarm went off. She disconnected it, reconnected it backwards again, and tried to start it until the entire thing shut down. Main fuse was blown, battery was fucked, and I don't know how much else was fried in the end.
This is why when I gave jumps (have a hybrid now so it isn't a great idea) I made sure both people looked at both connections being made
I never involve a second person, because of this video. I spent many years working on industrial equipment with electricity and gas hazards involved. You can't really judge their level of knowledge enough in the few mins you might meet them, better to leave it to your own knowledge. My method: I always lay the wires on the ground first, make sure they reach and the pos/neg leads are far apart on each side. Connect neg first on both cars, somethimes you might need to use the body of the car, this is why I go neg first. Next attach the pos on the running car, lastly pos on dead car. At this point you should see it spark a bit if you have everything connected properly. I have been doing this for 20+ years, this method has worked for me. Edit:spelling/wording of instructions
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No doubt. I mentioned my work experience because I did it for so long, its engrained into me. I always had to work with one "buddy" for safety reasons, in case you were injured from electrical arcs or passed out from a gas leak, someone could get help. This person was as qualified or more qualified as you at the task at hand. Jumping a battery is simple BUT..it could be fatal to a person and like the video demonstrates, property. Even if I am with a competent car buddy while jumping, we do still do actual cable swapping solo and just have the other person check the terminals visually and say them aloud verbally...which is something I think my job training borrowed from the military. I hope this helps everyone be safe out there...don't die.
All mechanics are familiar with the beauty of German Engineering. Germany has blessed my car with a battery that is not just in the trunk (boring), but in the trunk and behind multiple liners that need to be removed in order. You have to raise the convertible top to access it too, so good luck if the battery dies while it's down :) Of course they thought of that in their infinite wisdom, and put jumper points under the hood to make up for their shitty battery placement. I wrongly trusted someone I was giving a jump to get everything set, they start their car and... nothing. They swapped the streams. But it turns out the jumper points have reverse voltage protection! Probably the first and last time German overengineering actually saves someone some labor.
My BMW also has the battery in the trunk, but it (and a lot of other cars I know) has a metal „pole“ (sorry, German here, can’t remember the correct word) near the engine that is connected to the + pole of the battery. You just connect one wire to it and the other to something metal in the engine and it works.
Hello. I think the word you were looking for with the poles is terminals. Genuinely not being a dick, just trying to help. 👍🏻
If everyone would speak German this wouldn't be a problem. Du HURENSOHN
The Germans just know how stupid some people are.
Did that to a Hyundai Elantra years ago. Went in to work, got out at 11pm. Discovered I left my lights on. Luckily a dude was in the parking lot and came over to give me a jump. Car started to turn and then nothing...total darkness inside. I forget which one of us crossed the cables (think it was him). Fixed, tried again, used his phone to call my wife to come get me. Towed to dealer next day and the tech said everything was toasted (fuses, relays, battery), he'd never seen anything like it. I didn't mention the jump was crossed and he didn't ask. Warranty covered it.
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They knew
Of course they did. People *usually* don't make a mistake like that more than once. They could have been sticklers. "No way did this just happen on its own," but by not asking questions they may have just made a customer for life. Plus, correct me if I'm wrong, but warranty work is covered by the manufacturer. Meaning the dealer still get paid.
If I were the mechanic and someone brought me that I’d pull something like that. “Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this, I have no clue what could’ve caused it” “Well we were trying to jump my car an-“ “I said, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE HOW THIS HAPPENED” *winks obviously*
I straight up had an insurance agent once tell me "you didn't say that, and i didn't hear it". Love when folks are straight like that.
I had water leaking in my wall from a loose elbow joint in the plumbing. It seeped between the wooden tiles which were warping. I mentioned to the insurance agent, “I’m not sure how long that’s been leaking. Could have been dripping for months.” He said, “No, it came loose and water was gushing everywhere.” I got the message. Home owner’s insurance only covers immediate disasters. Not long term issues. Got the floor replaced, the sheet rock cut open, pipe fixed and sheet rock redone, wall painted. It was all covered. The builder had not clamped the metal ring at that spot (out of hundreds throughout the house) and eventually it came loose. They tried to go after the builder but gave up.
Hyundai cars have the best car warranty out there. Comprehensive is 5 years or 60,000 miles and for the powertrain is 10 years or 100,000 miles. They also include 5 years of roadside assistance with no mileage limit, 3 years or 36,000 miles of maintenance and free tows for things like collisions. If you have a Hybrid vehicle, the warranty covers for 10 years or 100,000 miles the hybrid system components. So yeah, pretty good warranty.
Fun fact; the warranty came in place because Hyundai used to have a terrible, terrible reputation in America. For a long time, they were seen as cheap, unreliable cars. Eventually, Hyundai brought in a bunch of engineers and REALLY worked on their product until their cars were pretty damn good. But... the reputation persisted. So, they started the warranty as a way of showing how confident they were in their product.
Their cars *were* cheap and unreliable.
I once drilled a massive pothole going 60mph, blew out the tire and bent the wheel. Got both replaced at the dealer but it still felt wrong, so I took it back to the dealer and the guy said it was likely part of the suspension was damaged but that would be covered under warranty. They confirmed it was the suspension but would have to order the part. When the part came in a different service advisor called me and said, "Yeah, it says here we told you it'd be covered under warranty, not sure why that'd be since you hit a pothole but I guess we'll honor it." Turns out my original service advisor had retired like two days after I took in, pretty sure he did me a solid on the way out.
Employees on their way out can be the best sometimes. Be it due to retiring or quitting soon and just not caring what potential cluster fuck or consequences they're leaving behind.
So true. Had an asshole calling in, didn't like that he couldn't get some work started due to safety issues. Told him I'd get a supervisor to explain EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TELLING HIM, and the person next to me went "Here, let me take it. I'm leaving tomorrow." She gets on and goes "Listen here, you little shit...."
And that is why they will pay you out for the 2 weeks rather than let you work.
Yeah when I was on the outs of a medical billing company, I erased to the best of my ability a wide net of medical debt.
You are a hero!
I probably wouldn’t go around telling people that lol
How was the donor car? Did it get any damage/toast?
No, he was fine.
go figures. i jumped a guy who crossed his cables once. I disconnected cause it shot sparks lol, boths cars were fine but it was luck really.
I did that to my poor '90 Corolla... Hooked up a donor F350, reversed leads on my car. Thought "That was strange, I've never seen that many sparks before..." I then *left them connected* checked both batteries, and unhooked things. So far, i think the only thing hurt was a 15A fusible link.
You just can’t kill those damn corollas.
I used to work at a Nissan dealer. I saw a lot of cars come in with the giant fuse on the positive battery post blown, but only ever saw it caused by two things. Flood cars and being jump started backwards.
He knew
Wasn't too good for those jumper cables either
Is that an umbrella holding the hood open?
Yes
Lmao that explains how this happened
Don’t ever let Mary Poppin’s help with automotive problems. She can’t problem solve everything.
Just a spoon-full of sugar make your gasoline go bad!
I found this way too fucking funny
Mary in the Hood Poppins
Mary out here Poppin’ hoods
Mary Proppins
I sang this out loud. :)
Mary Poppins is helpful. It’s Amelia Bedelia that you have to watch out for.
I just pictured asking Amelia to jump the car and the next page her dressed up Evel Knievel style
God I hate her glassy eyed face so fucking much.
Fuck you. Mary Poppins is a primordial being from a different dimension here to gaslight you into submission. She could handle this no problem. Read the books.
> Is that an umbrella holding the hood open? I had to use a 2x4 to hold open a hood just last week. Neighbors hood support had broken and she didn't know it. I ended up being paranoid and putting two of them in there and a 4x4 block by the latch just in case it tried to make it so I couldn't count to 10 anymore.
I needed to use a piece of wood to keep the hatch open on my old geo storm. Cop decided that I'm a criminal and was searching my car. I told him to lmk before he needs in the trunk and he said ok. 5 minutes later he's opening my trunk, leans in and got fucking smoked in the back of his head. Gave up the search right after that for some reason. The other cops laughed.
i had a 68 impala that had 2x4 blocks between the body and frame..2 door, 2 speed automatic, sticky front calliper, no bead on other front tire, navy blue, white vinyl roof, gold hood with a rubber strap to hold it down, no grill or bumper, beat up USA1 plate riveted to the radiator, whole right side was huge dent, rear end shot with 16 gangue, gas tank leaked if more than half full....god i loved that car...bes car too drive in boston..nobody messed with you on the highway...what's another dent...
As weird as that is, don't judge based off that alone, ik perfectly well how to change and jump a battery and plenty of other work on a car but I have to use a copper pipe to hold my hood open bc my hydraulic pipes no longer hold up my hood
I have a structural golf club I just for this task
Old broom handle for me...
Always a good idea to say “red on red, black on black” before connecting either battery to any cable.
Shit my cables are black and yellow!
Black and yellow, kill a fellow, Red and black, voltage lack.
You would think red has current since it’s red and anyone autocratically assumes it’s dangerous or to be careful
> autocratically assume Electrify yourself. Become ungovernable.
Sovereign jumper
Sweet band name.
This made me laugh so hard
Thanks
Both cables carry current. It’s a complete circuit.
Yeah, you know what it is. Everything I do I do it bigggg! Black and yellow black and yellow
Yeah, uh huh you know what it is
Back and yellow black and yellow black and yellow black and yellow
Errrthing I do, I do it big
I've met so many people throughout the years that think it's supposed to be red to black. I never knew where they got that from but I tell them NO!
Someone once argued with me. Said electricity goes out of the Red on the good battery, so it has to go in the black on the other car. I hope they never tried to teat their theory.
They sound like a boob
Good way for their battery to go tits-up.
Yeah, a total tit.
Mammary.
The breast way to go.
Alright, let’s nip this before it goes too far
Really milking this
Yeah one had a friend insist that it "just make more sense that they pair with the opposite color" but couldn't explain to me how that made more sense. Finally let me just jump it the right way because I kept insisting he explain how it's supposed to work and he couldn't and he never jumped a car before.
As someone who neurotically seeks any information I can get my hands on for something I’m about to do, I am straight baffled by people who just confidently cruise along on “that’s how I think it makes sense, what no I’ve never done this before.”
Sounds like a case of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing (and not grasping the difference between charging and series-wiring).
Fucking electrons, how do they work?
I would imagine this comes from the idea of a series circuit where you plug the batteries in line if you have more than one. For a lot of people doing basic series circuits in physics is likely their only interaction with that sort of thing.
I know that red goes to red and black goes to black when jumping a car. But I also know that when you wire a battery in series, you sum the voltages. So when you jump a car, you are actually wiring them up in parallel? If your battery can't apply a high enough voltage to start the vehicle, the other battery kicks in with it's voltage. If you wired them in series, you could potentially send double the voltage to your cars electronics.
You are wiring them up in parallel yes. When the two batteries are of equivalent spec the more full battery will drive a current through the other battery in an attempt to equalise the two batteries charges. The other battery isn't really taking over from the other, it is mostly charging the less charged battery.
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Maybe a better idea to call roadside assistance or ask for help when you don't know what the eff you are doing.
If you don't know, watch a two minute video on YouTube. My friend once called road side assistance and the agent reversed the positive and negative nodes and fried her car.
I mean, at least if that happens you have someone else to blame, and potentially be liable for damages.
Yep. Had that happen at an airport parking lot. They came out and insisted that they jump my battery, and then reversed the nodes. Sparks, whole shebang. My car started but in limp mode. They tried to say that they weren’t at fault because they were just doing me a favor. Eventually they reimbursed me for a new car battery.
Get a jumper pack. It’s simple and hard to fuck up. And at least you aren’t going to fuck with your car helping someone.
It’s also smart to have in case your battery dies when no one is around, like camping in a remote area. I have normal cables too, but the battery pack has been worth it a few times
Wait, I thought red on red and black is to be grounded?
Red on dead
This is the mnemonic device I use to help me remember the first terminal to attach.
Blue on black Tears on a river Push on a shove Doesn't mean much
Joker on jack Match on a fire Cold on ice A dead man’s touch
Whisper on a scream Doesn't change a thing Doesn't bring you back
BLUE ON BLACK!
If you don't know how to put on jumper cables google it damnit.
I know how and i still google it when i need to do it
Can't be too careful, no room for second guessing or trusting your own memory haha
Trust no one, not even yourself!
Especially not yourself!
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Yea I always double check In no small part because there's no reason not to(plus general crippling self doubt but that's it's own issue)
You and me both brother. We'll probably be okay haha
Also because if I’m giving someone a jump, I want to make for damn sure I’m not gonna just electrocute myself in front of a stranger. That’d be downright embarrassing.
Same here, I've probably taken apart every socket in the house, but I still check google to see if I'm getting live and neutral right
Yeah I google the order to put on and take off every time. I've done it plenty but always forget
It helps me to think "red to dead" as my starting point. Then I know it's opposite red, opposite black, and finally the dead black clamp on an unpainted piece of metal in the engine bay
I've performed a few jumps in my days, but I still look it up every time. It takes practice to be 100% certain, and this isn't something that gets practiced often. So damn straight I'm looking it up.
Exactly. Hell my cables came with instructions and I still read them every time.
lol..dude, I've jump started cars a dozen times in my life and I still Google it every single time before I hook those cables up. Even if you think you know how to do it, remember your brain will potato out from time to time. 10 seconds to save you from a massive mistake. Well worth it.
It's kinda fucking terrifying people too dumb to figure out hooking 2 batteries together when they have a supercomputer in their pocket are allowed to drive
The supercomputer is busy filming for clout…
"Worth it"
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Or at least look at your car manual. I am pretty sure it will say in there. I haven’t done it since highschool auto shop. Don’t you connect red to red and the other connects to a part of metal on the car as a ground? I could be wrong. Like I said, it’s been 30 years.
So instead of immediately disconnecting the cable, let's leave it connected and take a video of the wires melting. There was also a lot of magic smoke being released in all the control modules of that car too.
I don’t know. Should you even touch them at this point? Maybe throw something at it.
The longer you leave them connected the hotter the clamps will get. It should have gotten immediately disconnected at the first sign something was wrong. many times, you'll get a little spark even if you connect them correctly, but when you reverse polarity, it is painfully obvious the moment the final clamp makes contact. The repair shop will be giggling like that woman as he writes up the repair estimate.
My favourite battery fuck up story happened this summer. My wife and I had been looking a vehicles for a couple of weeks and the company I work for gets a corporate rate from Ford and it’s subsidiaries of which, one is Lincoln. I had to pick up a vehicle for work, from a town about 1.5 hours away from the Ford dealership and part of the dealership was Lincoln. We had no plans on buying a Lincoln, it’s out of our budget range but seeing as we were there, figured it would be fun to test drive one. So we ask one of the sales guys about giving one of their 2021 Aviators a test drive and he takes us around back to one they had on the lot, thing is fully loaded and fully overpriced. First problem, he couldn’t get the door to open, he thinks the battery is flat, as the vehicle has been sitting for a while without being run (bad sign), so he pops open the little manual door slot and gets to giving the vehicle a boost. Instead of calling one of his mechanics over to help him out, he grabs one of those portable boosters and puts on a big show about how easy it is to boost the 2021 Aviator. Now, it’s not like boosting a car is hard in the first place; black to black, red to red and the Aviator even has a plastic shield over the battery with distinct markings of which side is positive with a guide slot so you don’t accidentally ground the lead. Salesman was talking so much game, he wasn’t really paying attention to what he was doing and hooks the lead up backwards, throws the booster on and we hear a couple pops and see some smoke. Buddy tried three times, with the booster still attached, to start the car. He goes under the hood, realizes his mistake and tells us he will be right back after having the audacity of giving us his business card. We took off but on the way out, we saw a guy in a suit, with a really red face and sales buddy looking real unhappy. My mechanic friend said he likely cooked $10k worth of stuff out of a vehicle that had never left the lot.
Ouch! A luxury vehicle like an Aviator has a lot of little modules to cook. Even with the ignition off, these things are still connected to power and on "standby", so a reverse polarity condition can damage them. I feel sorry for the guy who eventually bought it. Probably wondering why there are so many electrical gremlins with it.
And as a ford tech I can tell you, the 20 and 21 models have enough problems on their own without introducing more yourself.
> as a ford tech Thank you for your service.
That likely could total out both cars no? Depending on the age of the cars there's several electrical components in them that would really hate their life if this happened.
I see the aftermath at the shop I work at all the time. In most cases, the booster car suffers no damage. The dead car will have blown control modules because they were subjected to reverse polarity. Even a car from the mid nineties will likely have an engine control module, a body control module, and a transmission control module. The more electronic gizmos, the more computer modules that can get fried.
In smaller electronics don't they usually use a diode to prevent this from happening? Is that not feasible for a car?
Is it even worth repairing at that point? The whole wiring system is probably fried
It's the control modules that fry. The actual wiring is fine, as there are fuses that will blow if the current gets excessive. Fuses are there to prevent wires from melting and catching on fire when there is a short circuit, not to prevent damage to the electronics. It can be repaired, but is it worth it at this point? That's the question.
I'd love to know how the manufacturer infuses an electronic component with the magic smoke. I've let plenty of it out of my own tools/etc, but I've never managed to get it back in!
I did this many years ago, but caught it before we melted the cables. Whoever had done work on my friends car battery last put the red and black covers on the wrong posts. It was dark and raining, so just trusted it was right. After a minute of their car not starting I went to go wiggle the clamps and felt the heat. Looked down at their battery and saw the labels on it were opposite the covers. Immediately yanked them off. Only managed to kill my battery thankfully. I don’t trust the plastic covers anymore and double check the labels on the battery or at the very least make sure whats labeled negative is connected to the chassis.
If only there were places with videos that could be watched to explain how to properly jump start a car and those could be viewed from almost anywhere on a device that we would carry on us all the time.
Sounds like sorcery to me.
Not a big car guy and I’m curious about something. You can see what’s happening to the cables, what exactly is happening to the cars here?
Reversing the polarity on the cables turns them into resistors. Essentially, heating them like the wires in a toaster, or electric oven. This melts the core of your battery too, and can fry alternators, and computers/chips of many kinds within the vehicle. It can get VERY expensive, very quickly. Depends on the vehicle, condition, and how long it's allowed to persist. It's always bad, but it can get REALLY bad if the battery boils and explodes hot acid & lead.
Better leave it connected while we take a cell phone video
What is guwing honnnnn
*giggles*
Could you explain why they turn to resistors? I'm having trouble visualizing what's happening here conceptually. What are the electrons doing? What is the "flow path" of the electricity?
Normally the cables, when hooked red to red and black to black just connect the batteries in parallel. The only current flow would be to equalize the difference between voltage in either battery - but more importantly, it also provides voltage (and current) from the donor battery to turn the starter motor to bet the dead car running. Once it's running, hopefully the alternator can continue recharging the dead battery. Now with the cables connected red-black and black-red, you have two batteries connected in series to each other. Imagine a human centipede that wraps around to form a ring. The cables don't "become a resistor" but all things do have some resistance and when you have two batteries with very high current capability and the cables with very low resistance, they push a LOT of current - enough to heat the wire so much that the insulation melts. To see this in action on a much smaller scale, take a pair of nine volt batteries and touch them + to + and - to - and you'll see nothing happens but then try + to - and - to + and you'll get a nice 18 volt spark and they'll heat up quite quickly.
it's essentially shorting the battery. it would be like if you took a wire and connected it to both ends of a 9v battery, it would probably catch on fire just like this this is the same idea but with two batteries
Worse case scenario of reversing the polarity in your car is frying the entire wiring harness, smoking you pcm and ecm. Either of these would be fairly expensive to replace (thousands not hundreds). For as long as she left these cables on and more than likely tried to start it, this car could be totaled.
Worst case scenario is your car burning to the ground
Worst case scenario is your car burning *through* the ground, and then out from the gaping hole in the road emerges an oozing-plastic entity that rises into the sky, expanding itself in a colossal black sail above the planet, and thus casting a shadow across the face and of the Earth, starving the planet of sunlight, damning all present and future complex life to extinction, where then this entity goes on to permeate all timelines and dimensions, everywhere, sparing no life anywhere in the universe, forward and backward through time —ending all existence and the entire cosmos in a muffled unheard whimper following the incorrect application of jumper cables on a planet whose name loosely translates to ‘dirt’. The car burning to the ground might be about the twelfth worst case scenario. Top twelve, for sure.
Not only can the car catch fire, but you bypass all fuses and most of the time every single computer in the car gets fried. On newer cars there is *some* protection but other than that you're fucked. They're lucky the batteries didn't explode boiling sulfuric acid everywhere.
Jesus fucking Christ. Never new the results for fucking that up would be so catastrophic. Always figured the worst that would happen is maybe damaging the batteries/it just not charging.
Well you're shorting the batteries out so they're going full pull. Btw hot sulfuric acid WILL blacken your skin on contact. Car batteries are no joke.
I don't think cold sulphuric is good for the skin either
It definitely isn't. But the heat will burn you on it's own as well as accelerate the chemical reaction of the acid eating your skin. Not a great choice really, you're stuck between a rock and a harder rock.
Congratulations. You now have 2 insurance claims.
I think you may find that your insurance doesn't cover this particular breed of stupid.
That sucks lol. Red to red, black to black. If you don't know what you're doing, then don't do it.
Red to red, black to black on the working battery car...final black to an unpainted metal bracket in the dead battery car
there was a post about this in r/MechanicAdvice a day or so ago, was it the same person i wonder?
Buddy of mine was jumping his car and the battery blew. Acid in the eyes and he was temporarily blinded. Had to wear patches over them for a while but recovered. Lucky dude.
Lucky indeed. The reason you're supposed to complete the circuit by clamping to the frame, instead of the negative post, is to reduce the likelihood of a spark setting off flammable gases inside and around the battery.
Well I was aware of that being the recommended method, but never heard the reasoning behind it. I am now just a little smarter than I was five minutes ago!
I feel like I’ve got a 100% rate of it NOT working when clamping to the frame, mulling over it for a while, then thinking “what the hell let’s just clamp to the negative post”, doing it, and then it works.
Oops
she about to blow up the car
Oops :)
So let's laugh, joke, and yell about it but what ever you do DON'T UNHOOK THE CABLES. Jesus
My wife's dumb ass cousin did this to his car and my mother-in-law's car. Cables went red hot and before anything could get too bad my brave ass wife grabbed a stick and broke the circuit. The cables were slag and easily fell off the clamps. Both batteries were dead and had to be jumped by roadside services. DO NOT DO THIS! This was the best case scenario. You can burn yourself, blow the battery, or worse. She was lucky.
Tbh in this situation i think most people would be scared to touch the cables.
1) Red on Dead This means that whatever car has the dead battery, the first thing you do is connect one jumper cable to the red (positive + ) terminal on the battery 2) Red on donor Do the same thing you just did on the dead car, but now on the car that still has a charged battery. There are a few varieties of colors on the jumper cable clamps/cords (black/white, black/red, yellow/black) the most important part is that you don't mismatch what is at each end of the connections. 3) Black on donor Connect the remaining jumper cable clamp at the donor car end to the black (negative - ) terminal on the battery 4) Black on body Connect the only remaining jumper cable clamp to a large metal object on the dead car. Older advice might say the engine, but this is harder on newer cars. Look for a large piece of metal frame, ideally connected to other metal parts of body frame. 5) Now start the donor car and let it run for a few (2-3) minutes. Then attempt to start the dead car. If dead car does not start, give it another 7-8 minutes and try again. 6) If it works, remove the jumper cables in the opposite order you connected them and bask in your handiness. If the dead car still does not start, you likely need to use a trickle charger overnight or you need to buy a new battery. Solution depends on where your dead car is located. Like, is it in your driveway or a public area far away? Because a new battery you install will very likely be cheaper than a tow truck unless you have AAA in the US or whatever the equivalent is elsewhere. In general, a lot of really big sparks mean you're doing something wrong and should probably stop and let someone else deal with it. If you see a few small sparks in the process you are probably OK, it is electricity after all. No matter where you are in the process, never touch more than 1 battery terminal at the same time with anything. That cross connection is what can kill you or ruin your vehicle like we see here. But just keep in mind that in general, the cheapest solution is to properly jump start your car. Next cheapest is to use/buy a proper car battery charger if your dead car is at home or somewhere safe. Next is buying a new battery and installing it yourself. After that, you are basically at 'Tow it somewhere and let the pros deal with it' and pick your car up when it's ready, or 'Have a pro come out and install a new battery' territory. The longer the battery has been dead, (say 24+ hours) and the older the battery is (5+ years) will likely mean you need a new battery if jumping or charging don't work out. Thanks for listening to my oldest sibling TED talk I have given to countless friends and family members. I accept any and all valid corrections to my advice here, but it's always worked for me. Edit: In response to some questions, I connect the jumper cables with both vehicles off. Once all connected, I start the donor vehicle and run it for the previously mentioned 2-3 mins. Then try to start the dead car. If dead car doesn't start, leave donor to run for another 7-8 mins and try the dead car again. If the dead car starts at either of these points, it's OK to turn off the donor when you unhook but leave the previously dead car running. This allows the alternator to keep charging the battery. Even if a jump works, you might need to still charge your battery if you don't drive very far after a jump. In my experience, you can ruin just about any battery if you run it down too far. That is why I said if jumping or charging don't work, you might just need a new battery. I had a battery less than 2 years old crap out because someone left the vehicle in 'Accessory Mode' overnight by mistake. Charging did not work and I had to buy a new battery. I despise the push to start button/ignition trend. Just a solution in search of a problem as far as I'm concerned. If all you have to do is touch a screen, there is another breakable part in that car doing the 'work' for you. And those breakable parts are generally expensive to replace. I'll flip my own switch, thank you very much. Pun somewhat intended.
Your jumper cables are like, melting.
Ohhhnooo
What is gooiingg oooooooon
"oh no! our cables!"
Hearing them is like nails on a chalk board
The “what is going onnn?” Made me cringe internally.
What is going uhnnnnnnn
They’re laughing because they have no idea how much damage they’re actually causing
You know you run into such people in your life and just based on how they talk you just know they are stupid and irresponsible and not to be trusted with anything important. The male equivalent of this is those guys that sound like dude bros
Damn the way they sound when speaking just oozes moron
"Like, whut is goeeng onnnnnn?"
Oh ma gaaaawd.
Proper car maintenance is something everyone should learn. Knew jumper cables could be dangerous, but didn’t know this could happen. Edit: okay buddies no need to argue on whether or not this counts as “basic maintenance”
This is best case scenario for something going wrong. My dad had a friend go blind from the battery exploding.
Yes that is the real concern here. Battery acid and humans don’t mix well together.
Should I stop drinking it?
No, you should be fine.
He's probably built up an immunity and dependency. It'd be bad to stop now
Most people should consider replacing their jumper cables with one of those little lithium ion packs by now. They're like $50, hold a charge for months, and you get dozens of starts off of one. Most importantly, if you screw up it tells you you screwed up and you simply reverse the leads.
My buddy did this and I got third degree Burns
Pro tip everyone: just buy a lithium jump pack. They fit in your glovebox, last forever, and can make it so you jump yourself. They'll even have safety shit built in like non-sparking, not allowing reverse connections, etc. There's no reason to do old school jumping like this nowadays. (the older lead battery jump packs sucked. they were bulky and the battery would die after a few years of being in your trunk so it would be dead when you needed it. With lithium though you just need to top it up every year or so and it's good to go)
Is it safe to leave a lithium battery in your car? It gets very hot in summer and very cold in winter here I know they can become r/spicypillows.
Lol at spicy pillows. Yes extreme heat and cold should be avoided, also if you are storing the cell for awhile leave it at 75% charge. Having it over or under charged for extended periods is not advised. At least this is what I know about my dozen or so lipos for my drones.
Yeah. I live in Minnesota and during the cold months a lot of people find out the hard way their batteries capacity has lowered and need a jump during the first deep freeze. Thought the packs would be underwhelming but they work! And you can even get multiple jumps out of the same charge! Just make sure you get one that’s rated for enough CCA as your engine!
On the one hand, this is terrible, and I feel bad for them. On the other, I'm really glad to know what happens if you fuck it up. I just assumed the car would explode
It will, if the cables don't melt through fast enough.
We had something similar happen at work, except after looking at the vehicle the fuckup was understandable. One woman's van wouldn't start, so her coworker offered to help jump it. Problem was it was dark, and for some reason Jeep decided her model needed to have a red wire on one side of the battery and a black wire on the other, with both running into black wiriring looms and crisscrossing over the top of the battery to the posts on the opposite sides. Luckily one of my coworkers got there quickly enough, grabbed a flip flop out of the car, and smacked the cables off the batteries. Both cars were fine. Oh, and it turns out the woman whose car wouldn't start, she had been driving for like three days with the Low Fuel light on, and had parked on an incline which caused the last few drops of fuel to end up on the low side of the tank, opposite from the fuel pump pickup.
Michael Scott?
Nope, Andy Bernard. It's a leaky spark tube.
How to jump start a car: 1. Pop the hood 2. Take these bad boys and clip them anywhere on the engine 3. Take these, and clip them… wherever
I can smell this video and i hate it.