Tried helping neighbor jump his car and failed

M

MoneyJohn

Joined
Mar 1, 2012
Messages
853
Location
HUdson Valley, NY
Today morning, in a rush to drop my kid off to school, neighbor walks up and asks if I could help him jump the car (Mazda 6 turbo).

His dashcam has a parasitic draw and most likely that drained his battery overnight.

I could not use Camry Hybrid (AGM battery) as it specifically states in the manual somewhere not to jump other car. So I got my Forester (lead acid battery), connected both the cars correctly and tried jumping for almost 15 minutes but was not successful. The jumper cables are brand new and used for the first time in 5-6 years of ownership.

My battery is about a year or two old. Not too sure if he has AGM battery.

Out of curiosity, what could be the reason?
 
If the battery is DEAD completely, it'll take 5-10 minutes or more of just sitting there to charge the battery enough to get it to crank. I was in ahurry to move a dead vehicle once and ended up putting a brick on the gas of my Focus to get the thing to rev way up so the alternator would put out enough to get the other vehicle to crank.
 
Seems odd.

Before hooking up, did you check the brightness of the lights on the dead car? They should be dim. I ask because they should go to full brightness, or brighten up, once you hook up the cables. If they don't... that's the problem, bad connections.

I've always left the good car running so as get more voltage and to push more current to the dead battery.

But today I don't know if I'd hook up a car. Just buy a cheap jump pack and charge it up periodically. Much less space than jumper cables that don't always age well (at least not the cheap ones that I have). This lets your EV and hybrids "jump" other cars too, and no worries about doing it wrong.
 
Maybe not good connections with the clamps, or grounds with the chassis if you used the body instead of the negative post? I would think even a completely drained battery would be charged enough after being connected for 15 minutes to start the car if everything else was good. It could be a problem with his car too?
 
Bottom_Feeder said:
Jump packs are incredibly cheap for what they are capable of doing.
Click to expand...
Shortly after buying my Corolla the battery went dead. It would not hold a charge for more than a couple of days. After a couple of incidents, I bought a jump pack... and then I could give myself a jump whenever, no second card needed.

[Never did figure out what the issue was. I think there is a coding bug with Sirius radio in my car--if I leave it tuned to Sirius and then leave the radio on, the Sirius antenna might still be powered? no idea. I simply turn the radio fully off when I get out, and the Sirius freebie timed out anyhow. The radio should be fully switched off when the key is out, so it's a pure guess on my part--but my "fix" has fixed the problem, so...? and it's a 100% stock factory radio, with Sirius support built-in, not anything separate.]

Only downside is trying to remember to charge it up every couple of months. Otherwise it's just a cheap setup from Walmart.
 
My son used his jump pack yesterday to help a co-worker. When he walked out of work they were already trying with cables and another car. He grabbed his jump pack from his trunk, unhooked their VERY tiny cables, clicked the override/boost button on pack and car started right up.

Co-worker went to AZ and got a new one installed. He brought pack in and charged it just to be sure and now back in his trunk.
 
Bottom_Feeder said:
This. There's too many electrical systems on newer cars. I don't want that responsibility/liability if something gets hosed while trying to help someone.

Jump packs are incredibly cheap for what they are capable of doing.
Click to expand...
I kept a cheap Cobra model in my cruiser when I worked. Started many cars with it including a Dodge Ram 3500 diesel in cold weather. Get one.
 
SwampSurvivor said:
If the battery is DEAD completely, it'll take 5-10 minutes or more of just sitting there to charge the battery enough to get it to crank. I was in ahurry to move a dead vehicle once and ended up putting a brick on the gas of my Focus to get the thing to rev way up so the alternator would put out enough to get the other vehicle to crank.ie
Click to expand...
Revving up definitely helps. On several occasions over the years I was able to get a car started doing this when others had tried the "by the book" method for a period of time failing to get the engine started.
 
If the battery is flat it needs to sit there for a while at idle just to put some power back in with accessories off on both vehicles and then you have to bring the revs up to about around 2500 or more before telling them to start cranking and not stop until it either starts or they hear lots of clicking. I've seen starters bog down without clicking then get back to cranking again after a half second stop and succeed.
 
I completely dead battery wil not accept more than a few amps. I can take several hours to build up enough acid to charge normally worst ever was a Propane forklift at work, worker left it's lights on over the weekend. Too dead to charge on a regular charger. Had to use my power supply to charge for an hour to get it build up enough to charge on our 10 amp charger. 1/2 Hour later the lift started. That was several years ago and the battery is still alive.

Rod
 
I have these light weight jumper cables maybe 10 Gauge that stows away nicely in my minivan rear compartment. When finally called for duty, the receiver car just clicked and clicked and wouldn’t fire. So I took another set of old grimy unbundled cables from wife’s car trunk which were more heavy duty or 6 Gauge and immediately engine turned over and started. So not sure in your case, but for my example, don’t skimp on wire thickness if possible since worse situation in freezing cold etc, etc, you’re going to wish you had them.
 
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Cables or pack, it often takes me a couple attempts to get a good connection.

I usually have them test (when using cables) by turning the headlights on while they key the starter so that I can see visually what’s happening to voltage when the load is applied. Lights go out? Bad connection. Lights stay on? Power isnt the problem.
 
Nowadays, with 40-50 computers in an average gasoline powered vehicle, I would not jump start due to voltage spikes. Use a jump pack. The days of being a nice neighbor are over using you're personal vehicle. Buy yourself a jump pack and leave it in the trunk. Charge it every few months. Then you can play nice neighbor with the jump pack. You spike a computer in you're vehicle and damage it, is the neighbor going to fork over the money to pay for the computer replacement/ repair ????? Big bucks fixing electrical issues in a car. I don't think he would pick up the tab. Might be $ 100- $3000 bucks for all you know. Not worth it. Jumper cables are good for riding mowers, ATV's, etc nowadays.
 
I have a GOOLOO GT 4000. POWERFUL TOY. IT POWERS UP MY LUG NUTS (GOT A FLAT &,Couldn't loosen LUG NUTS)
JUMP BOX THATS 4K AMPS
1000000107.webp
 
A lot of the jumper cables out now are very small gauge wire. It can't take the load of an engine starting. You are better off by hooking them up for say 1/2 hr to charge the dead battery then start the car .
 
supton said:
Just buy a cheap jump pack and charge it up periodically. Much less space than jumper cables that don't always age well (at least not the cheap ones that I have).
Click to expand...
I remember back in high school, the old chrome bumper days.
In a mall parking lot, some friends rolled up when they saw my old Chevy 3/4 ton with the hood up.
I needed a jump, but neither of us had cables. One of the guys was a big gear-head, so...
He pulled his car up to match my bumper. We then used our oil dip sticks, handles twisted together.
Connected each dip stick end to the positive posts, and BINGO! You bet the dip sticks warmed up, but my engine cranked right off with some juice.

We had no jumper cables or jump packs. But we did have a dude that could think outside the box.
I ended up paying that guy back by using my truck to move him in the dead of night a couple of times.
Evidently "thinking outside the box" didn't work out well for his landlords. :oops:
 
Thank you, everyone. Appreciate the input.

I have considered buying these jump packs so many times. I wonder if they are not used at all, will they really be useful when you actually need it?
 
MoneyJohn said:
Thank you, everyone. Appreciate the input.

I have considered buying these jump packs so many times. I wonder if they are not used at all, will they really be useful when you actually need it?
Click to expand...
yes.. unless they are defective, Lithium Ion doesn''t lose it's charge over time, that's the great thing about these jump packs. They say to charge it every couple months, I think that's just to "exercise" the battery in the jump pack. so yes it would have the juice when you need it.

There was a comparison of jump packs posted here, I think it was within the last year. There's one that looks like the one I bought in the review (lots of them are made in the same factory in China, as much stuff is lately). I bought the AstroAI jump pack, good reviews

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZP6HCVS?th=1

wish I could remember the results from that video, search for the reviews.. you should be able to find it.
 
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