When you’re in a city, surrounded by many people and vehicles, and your battery goes flat, it’s easy to turn it on with jumper cables or ask someone for help – you might not even need a mechanic. But what if you’re alone on the road and you don’t know how to start a car without these cables? Let’s say you’re moving across the country, and your car stops all of a sudden in the middle of nowhere. Those cables you might have become useless if there are no other cars around. A car shipping company has some tips for every car-related issue, and it’s no different with this one.
As we all know, even the best cars for city driving and the most expensive cars in the world sometimes break down. When you have a dead battery because you left your lights or the radio on, there are plenty of ways to charge it in normal conditions. If you don’t have the cables, or you do, but there are no operable cars anywhere near, it’s time to learn how to be your own hero in this story. We will show you two ways of doing this, depending on whether you’re driving a vehicle with automatic or manual transmissions. Let’s see how to turn on a car with a dead battery and how to jump start a car without jumper cables before calling and paying for for local towing services, but don’t forget to try these tips only in case of an emergency.
If you’re not driving in New York City but on some isolated parts of the famous routes in the USA and your car stops, don’t panic – there’s always a solution. The primary thing you should do is to inspect what caused the car to stop. If you’re still learning how to drive a car for beginners, get the owner’s manual, and begin the research. In case you’re an experienced driver, this should be no problem for you. Keep in mind that this article isn’t a solution for you if the battery isn’t the problem.
Before getting down to business and getting your car started, there are a few details to look at:
Another important thing is to see if there’s any damage to the battery because it can catch fire or even explode. Using safety gloves while inspecting will protect you from electricity, and you’ll learn how do you start a car with a dead battery in no time.
How to start a dead car without jumper cables? If you’re driving a manual – it should be easy. Even though situations like these can cause you driving anxiety or driving stress, it’s very important to stay calm. Your car won’t become operable if you just sit there angry and do nothing, so look at the bright side – If you’re driving a vehicle with a manual or standard transmission, the chances to get it going again with this method are really high.
This is something you probably won’t see on the best TV shows about cars, but it’s very useful. The ideal scenario will be if you’re on a small hill or some other incline. Try pushing the car from the top of it – if you’re alone, place the car in neutral, open the driver’s door so that you can hold the steering wheel, and push the car with your shoulder. If you have someone to help, then one person should be sitting in the driver’s seat, steering the wheel, and others can push to the incline. Push starting the car this way helps to reach the momentum – once you go downhill, the force will allow your car to reach the momentum it needs to get going.
Once you’re there, it’s time to find out how to jump start a car without cables. You should get in the car, press the clutch with the parking brake still engaged, and put the car in the second gear. Then, put the key in the ignition, but don’t try to start the vehicle. It should be in so-called position two, just one step to the right. Get out of the car and push the car downhill, then get back to the driver’s seat quickly (just like in an action movie, right?), and hold the clutch until the car reaches five miles per hour. Then release it quickly, and it should turn on the engine.
If you can’t find any hills around, you will require spare hands. Press the brake pedal and release the parking brake. While your friends start pushing the car, the other person should put the key in the ignition and switch to the 2nd gear. Hold the clutch until the car gets some momentum, and then release the clutch quickly. If it doesn’t work, try pressing the clutch again and again. The more push-starting help you have, the better, since it’s harder to reach momentum when pushing a car on a flat road.
Once the car is going, drive for a while and the car’s alternator will gradually charge your dead battery car.
You maybe know how to use a tire repair kit, but do you know how to start an automatic transmission car’s battery if it’s an automatic? Push start method might not work, so the safest answer to how to fix a dead car battery without jumper cables is to have a charger. It is much more simple, but without it, you’re in a dead-end street. Every driver of automatic vehicles must know that they need a simple portable charger with them at all times. It should be in your emergency toolkit for situations just like these.
There’s only one step – plug the charger to your cigarette lighter. It can take from ten to twenty minutes to recharge, and you’ll be on your way. A solar charger is an answer for how to recharge a car battery without jumper cables. Put the solar panel anywhere in the car where it reaches enough sunlight, and plug it into a cigarette lighter once it’s full. That will be enough to solve the problem of how to charge a car battery without any cables on cars with automatic transmission.
How do I start my car with jumper cables? In case you have a jump box (or portable jump starter) with you, we’d dare to say that there’s no problem at all. Most new jump starters are essentially small portable batteries with jumper cables attached, and they’re much safer than using cables. A modern battery-powered starter may also come with onboard safety lights, USB ports, etc. They aren’t expensive, and they’re easily accessible, so having one in your trunk could save you from stress.
There will be no pushing cars, no looking for hills, no worrying if you have a charger with you, and no waiting for charging – only a charged jumper box. Most of them have integrated cables, so there’s no need to have your own cables. They also have special safety mechanisms, which help prevent voltage spikes. Here’s a method of how you can get your engine working again:
If it worked, you’re done, just turn off the portable jump starter and detach the cables in reverse order – first the black one and then the red one. If it didn’t work after a few attempts, wait for a few more minutes and try a jump starter again. This will drain the power from the jump starter, so don’t forget to charge it again once you arrive at where you’re headed.
This could seem off-topic, but actually, it isn’t. It’s still about jump-starting the vehicle, but, unlike in the previous cases, this one doesn’t have a battery inside. In case you have a car that’s been sitting in your garage for some time and doesn’t have a battery, you could ask yourself if it is possible to make it operable again in a few attempts by jump-starting it. The answer is – no. Mainly because it isn’t safe. It’s better to go out to a local auto parts store or find a battery service nearby and get yourself a used battery than to try and trick the vehicle that the battery is there. It could burn and explode, especially if you have a model newer than 1975. A new battery is also a good investment if you plan on selling and shipping the car cross country.
If you used these tips and managed to turn on your vehicle again, your next step should be going to the nearest mechanic and see what caused the problem. You may have heroically defeated the car’s dead battery, but it’s more important to stay safe. These methods should only be used in extreme circumstances when there’s no other way to move from the spot you’re in. In every other case, you should call a tow service’s number to tow you away and save you from hurting yourself or damaging the car.
Imagine not getting auto transport services, be that in an open or enclosed trailer, but moving cross country in your car with no other car around, and this whole mess with a dead battery happens while you drive. If you don’t have the number of roadside assistance, you have no chance of calling a tow truck, and the trip can turn out to ruin your day, week, or even an entire month. Keep the roadside assistance phone numbers memorized in your phone just in case, or find them on your insurance card, and don’t forget to tip the service tech. All these tips will help you avoid dead battery situations.
