A smooth ride is essential to the overall driving experience, and it is only made possible by the suspensions of a vehicle. However, several drivers are unaware and drive around with worn-out shock absorbers, until the car starts to behave abnormally. Does your vehicle bounce excessively whenever you drive over a bump or a pothole? A primary reason for this is that you are driving on bad shock absorbers. In such a condition, it’s important to have the shocks and struts of your vehicle checked and replaced. If you are wondering about the cost of shock absorber replacement, this guide has you covered. Read on to learn about shock absorber replacement costs, and how you can replace a shock absorber yourself to save some money.
You can only count on the battery in your car to last for a while. When your car’s battery reaches the end of its shelf life, it may no longer be able to hold a charge. Or, if you are living in a colder climate, your battery may drain before your expectation. If this happens, you won’t be able to start your car. If your car battery has ever died on you, you know how it feels. When you turn the key in the ignition and nothing happens, you feel a brief panic. You can jump-start your car by connecting the dead battery to the battery of another vehicle through jumper cables or you can use a jump starter. But, before doing anything, you must know about the precautions you should take to avoid getting hurt. Skim through to learn about these tips.
In this article:
1. How Should You Park Your Car?
2. What Are The Precautionary Measures That Has To Be Taken?
3. What Personal Protective Equipment Should I Wear?
4. How Should I Attach The Cables?
5. What Not To Do With A Jump-Starter?
6. How Should I Jump-Start The Car Battery?
1 How Should You Park Your Car?
To jumpstart your vehicle, you’ll need another car battery or portable jump starters. If you’re out in public, look for a good Samaritan who might be willing to help you. If you get stuck and no one is willing to help, call a friend and ask them to meet you in their car or bring a portable jump starter. Car batteries are usually kept under the hood, so you’ll need to park the vehicles back-to-back or close together. The cars are parked in this manner to allow the cables to connect the batteries from both vehicles. But remember that some car companies now put the battery in the trunk when they make their cars. Make sure you park the vehicle in the right place. Once the vehicles are where you want them, please put them in “Park” mode and turn off their engines.
2 What Are The Precautionary Measures That Has To Be Taken?
Before you jump-start a car, take off any jewelry on your wrists, hands, and fingers. Why do we have to do this? Well, a lot of jewelry is made of metals that conduct electricity. If it’s close to the battery terminal, it could draw a charge and cause a shock. If you take off your jewelry, you won’t have to worry about this.
3 What Personal Protective Equipment Should I Wear?
When you jump-start your car, you should wear safety glasses and safety gloves. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that nearly three out of every four injuries caused by batteries are to the eyes. Car batteries can completely blow up, which can cause serious eye injuries. On the other hand, wearing safety goggles can protect your eyes if your car’s battery explodes when you jump-start it.
4 How Should I Attach The Cables?
Now it’s time to start the process of jumping. Open the hood of each car and grab your jumper cables. Each battery has two ends, one that is positive and one that is negative. Make sure at no point of time, you will allow both the clamps to meet. Again, make sure that both vehicles are turned off all the way. This is how to connect the cables:
- Place one end of the positive cable on your vehicle’s dead battery.
- Then, clamp the other end of the positive cable to the other vehicle’s battery and ensure that the clamps of the cable and batteries are well connected.
- Once the positive cable is connected, you can connect the negative cable. But remember that you should only connect the negative cable to the dead battery.
- Connect one end of the negative cable to the good battery and the other to a piece of bare metal in the engine bay of your car. The negative cable is just a ground cable, so it doesn’t have to be connected to both batteries.
5 What Not To Do With A Jump-Starter?
Don’t Let It Get Discharged
Keep the device from sitting in a state where it is very discharged. Even if they are only slightly discharged, charging them often won’t hurt them. So, use your jump starter often and plug it in early. The best thing to do with a jump starter is to charge it after each use. Even if this type of charge frequency is not possible, one should charge the unit every night if used often. If you use the jump starter sparingly, make sure to charge it at least once every three months, so the battery stays high for a while.
Cranking For A Long Time
There is a Jump Starter duty cycle for every jump starter. That means one can only crank the car you’re trying to jump for a certain amount of time before the jump starter needs a break. Check your jump starter’s manual for more information. The recommended duty cycle for almost all car jump starters is six seconds of cranking and then three minutes of rest. Follow the correct duty cycle for your jump starter to keep the battery from getting too hot. Too much heat can hurt the jump starter and shorten its life.
Store In The Wrong Conditions
Keep your jump starter at a temperature between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit (10 and 20 degrees Celsius) when you can. Extreme temperatures are bad for jump starter batteries in the short and long term, just like car batteries. Keeping your jump starter in the right temperature range can do more than make it last longer. It can also give it more power. For example, a jump starter kept at 5°C will have less power to start a car when it needs to be started than one kept at 20°C. Long-term exposure to high storage temperatures (above 30°C) will make a jump starter battery last less long.
6 How Should I Jump-Start The Car Battery?
Once the jumper cables are connected correctly, start the engine of the car that works and let it run for a minute or two. This will give your dead battery time to get a slight power boost from the car battery that is still working. Start the car even though the battery is dead. We hope that the battery will charge and that the engine will start. If you turn the key and nothing happens, turn it off and let the working car run for 5 to 10 more minutes before trying again.
Disclaimer: If nothing happens again, it’s possible that your battery needs replacement.
Pro Tip: Consider getting a new battery as soon as possible, or you might need a jump start again the next time you try to start the car.
Once you’ve taken the jumper cables off, drive the car for a few minutes to let the battery charge up. If you jump-start your car and it starts, wait until you reach the destination to turn it off. If you turn it off, you may have to start over. Still, once you start the vehicle, you can safely pack up and head out on the road.
