Are you willing to jump start a stranger's vehicle?

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What's the point of my having 4/0 gauge cables & snatch straps behind the bench seat if I don't help folks in need.

I seem to pull out vehicles from ditches more than I jump dead batteries.

I draw the line at anything with a man-bun, or any vehicle with a leftie decal.
 
Originally Posted by domer10
Originally Posted by mclasser
I know I sound like a D-bag, but no. I'm afraid of a possible explosion from hydrogen gas released by batteries. You also hear about some modern cars frying something after a jump start. The odds of these things happening are very low but I don't want the liability. Luckily, nobody's ever asked me for a jump and if I ever need one, I have AAA.


Seriously a hydrogen explosion, would never happen in open air setting, you would have to be in a pretty small enclosed confined space for even enough hydrogen vapour to cause a explosion lol.


I have had a battery explode right in my face when I was a kid. Spent a day in the hospital and was super lucky not to lose an eye!

Never say never...
 
Originally Posted by ZZman
Either with your cables or theirs?

I have cables and am always willing to do it.


It depends. In the area I live now, typically the answer is "yes".
Where I used to live, "not my problem, sorry." Because people are shady, dirty, and just want to stick a shank in you and take your wallet, some places. Even the cops won't do a thing for you in that town. Had one pull over behind my college roommate and I when we had a flat on the highway. We had a spare, just no jack. "hate it for ya" pretty much, and drove off. Some places, you just don't adopt other people's problems if you don't want to get dead.
 
Nope. If I have a jump pack on me, they are more than welcome to use it themselves, though.

I've seen jumper cables hooked up backwards. Easy to do when it's dark and rainy in a low lit parking lot. I want no part of it on my vehicles and I don't want to be around for when someone ends up losing a computer over it.
 
I mean, sure if you use a little common sense. I'm assuming most of the people on this thread/site are men...if I were a woman I wouldn't jump start anyone's car, but as a man using a little bit of common sense/character assessment?? Yeah I would. And I have. One time I was at the gym and the owner came over and asked if I could jump a car in the parking lot, I was a little hesitant, but when I got out there it was two little old Irish ladies standing in front of an F150. Jumped it...oh thank you luv, you're an angel luv, oh my heavens luv (I'm trying to do this in an Irish accent). It's was a pretty cool day. Love that Irish accent.
 
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If the situation looks legit and not a setup, I'm willing to lend a hand.
The last person who came asking for a jump was the divorcee next door who had cleverly left the key switch on for a good twenty four hours with her Patriot sitting in the garage. Unsurprisingly, it wouldn't crank at all. I told her that a jump would probably get her going but that it would be better for both the alternator and the battery to put it on a charger for several hours.
I brought over my battery charger and set it up and left with my wife on a shopping excursion. I gave it around four hours on the charger at a low rate and it was fine.
I remember that when she bought the Patriot she said she'd never owned a Jeep before.
I recall thinking that she still hadn't.
 
What I don't get...and I see it several times a week since I do a lot of driving...is when you see a broken down vehicle on the side of the road. This vehicle may have 4 flat tires, steam bellowing from the engine bay and pouring oil from an engine seal...and somebody will have their vehicle in front of it with jumper cables hooked to it.

Raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about.
 
As long as the situation seems safe, and it seems like a jump will actually do something, I'll try to help. I don't usually carry cables myself though.

One guy actually pulled out a $20 after jumping his truck off in the Jimmy John's parking lot, but I declined it.
 
Originally Posted by GoldDot40
What I don't get...and I see it several times a week since I do a lot of driving...is when you see a broken down vehicle on the side of the road. This vehicle may have 4 flat tires, steam bellowing from the engine bay and pouring oil from an engine seal...and somebody will have their vehicle in front of it with jumper cables hooked to it.

Raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about.


I don't see that a lot here, but I know exactly what you are talking about.

The same people come to my parts department with late 90s Expeditions with no boots on the ball joints, tons of play in the steering, the rear bumper dragging on the ground from blown out air springs, and metal to metal brakes with baby seats in the backseat and they want prices on upgrading their stereo or a wheel cover.
 
Just jump started a lady this week. Told her there was an O'reillys about 100 yards away, and to have them load test it. Of course she said 'yes',, then drove in the opposite direction.
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Originally Posted by GoldDot40
What I don't get...and I see it several times a week since I do a lot of driving...is when you see a broken down vehicle on the side of the road. This vehicle may have 4 flat tires, steam bellowing from the engine bay and pouring oil from an engine seal...and somebody will have their vehicle in front of it with jumper cables hooked to it.

Raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about.


I don't see that a lot here, but I know exactly what you are talking about.

The same people come to my parts department with late 90s Expeditions with no boots on the ball joints, tons of play in the steering, the rear bumper dragging on the ground from blown out air springs, and metal to metal brakes with baby seats in the backseat and they want prices on upgrading their stereo or a wheel cover.


I think your customers are related to mine. They come in and want a quote on some important safety related parts like ball joints or shocks or brakes then they complain that they are too expensive and they can't afford it and go down aisle 2 and buy $100 worth of crap accessories like decals, flashy interior lights, etc.
 
Originally Posted by GoldDot40
What I don't get...and I see it several times a week since I do a lot of driving...is when you see a broken down vehicle on the side of the road. This vehicle may have 4 flat tires, steam bellowing from the engine bay and pouring oil from an engine seal...and somebody will have their vehicle in front of it with jumper cables hooked to it.

Raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about.


We had a blind safety speaker who said "any of you who have ever ____ please raise your hand" … you can imagine his next line.
Somehow I just thought of him
 
Yes

strangers helped me when I needed it
smile.gif
 
To the extent of my knowledge and where there's not a risk of either me or the other party being hurt I'm generally happy to help people if I see them in need - others have done the same for me and I am incredibly grateful for it.
 
Originally Posted by 240_Ed
To the extent of my knowledge I'm generally happy to help people if I see them in need - others have done the same for me and I am incredibly grateful for it.

I did edit this quote a little, but I salute it's sentiment.

Further, I refuse to live my life in fear. I know I looked pretty undesirable in my earlier life.
 
I am grateful for anyone willing to help if I need a boost (happened when I left my interior lights on last weekend a couple hours from home). Two nights ago I returned the favor in the pouring rain when someones Honda Civic had a dead battery. If someone tries to blame me if something goes wrong with their vehicle after boosting them when they asked for help they can go screw themselves. Same with anyone who isn't willing to help if I need a boost. If you won't help someone in this situation you are an arse whole, that's all I have to say about that. It's an excuse to be lazy and not help.
 
I will generally help anyone who ask. Especially with the Caprice. As it went through police up fit it has 2 batteries in the trunk. One of them just gets charged. The other does all the work. The second one was installed for the police equipment it does not have. It can literally jump itself.
smile.gif
Which I had to do when the main battery crapped itself and I was picking up the car from airport parking.
 
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Yes I do help others with this when I have a chance.
If you know how to properly connect and disconnect jumper cables, there's no risk of explosion or damaging a computer.
We all need to learn how to do it properly, for the benefit of ourselves and others too.
 
Probably. Last time I had to help a co-worker who left her lights on. I've done it enough times to do it correctly, and I've got cables in the back of my car. Had to decline someone once because they insisted they need a jump, although their car cranked mightily but wouldn't run. Tried to explain that their battery was not dead, but they wouldn't listen and seemed rather annoyed that I wasn't going to make a futile effort to try jump starting. Apparently folks have it in their minds that a jump start is the cure-all for all cases where the car won't start.

If the battery is maintaining enough voltage under load that your starter is cranking along normally, it's also maintaining enough voltage to keep the ECU, fuel pump, fuel injection, and ignition working, so it's flawed logic that maybe it has enough juice to crank but may not have enough juice to run the other things; it doesn't work that way. It's the other way: Weak batteries may have enough oomph to light up the dash and possibly even run the engine, but if you crank and the starter is barely turning, or the starter solenoid keeps dropping out because the voltage is drooping too far (lots of loud clicking), then a jump may get it going.
 
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