Jump starting fixes everything

[Dave Sherman]

I love when folks are convinced that jump starting will cure all ailments. I see more people jump starting vehicles that have stalled in the middle of the road, cranking mightily and not starting. So they fiddle with the cables, crank again, and... No start. Sorry folks, but jump starting doesn't fix a darn thing when the battery is healthy enough to be cranking away.

Do vehicles often die in the middle of the road with dead batteries?

 

[Quest]

Originally Posted By: Dave Sherman


Do vehicles often die in the middle of the road with dead batteries?


Remotely so (only if the owner tries to get a few more miles of out a dead alternator with a healthy battery or vice-versa).

It's only the ignorant crowd that would believe that a jumpstart of their battery in the middle of the road would cure everything, including ticks(like MMO) and hiccups.

*laughs*

Q.

 

[HerrStig]

It's amazing how little the average consmer knows about ANYTHING but sports statistics these days.

 

[sky7]

The last time you saw this, did you stop and offer to help?

 

[01rangerxl]

Most people do not understand how the systems of a car work or how they are interrelated. Honestly, if they get to the point of opening the hood and finding the battery, they probably know more about their car than a lot of people. They don't know how jump starting a car "fixes" it, they just know it's the last thing they can try before calling someone else.

When I worked at Jiffy Lube we had a policy that the customer would always pull the hood release. It helped us avoid liability from broken hood releases that would get blamed on the shop. You would be amazed at how many people had no idea where the hood release on their car was.

 

[The_Jeff]

Co- irker's alternator went out and he got jumped. Car made it around the corner and coasted down a hill after stalling again. Naturally he was so scared to have to manhandle the power(less) steering and brakes.

To his (dis)credit, the idiot light shows a battery, not an alternator.

This is the same tool who came to me saying his car ran rough in the rain. I remotely diagnosed plugs and wires. He kept thinking an oil change would cure this. Every month he'd wander over: Soooooooo, you think an oil change will fix it?

Eventually I fixed his car on the street outside his apartment. Plugs and wires. Started right up.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I (reluctantly) jump-started our secretary's Taurus Wagon at then end of the work week and ended up toasting the wiring(?) on my 85 Suzuki Aerio SX in the process. My Boss was trying her first and couldnt get her fired up, then he HAD to leave quickily on a doctors appointment, leaving me with the grimey task. After moving the GND cable to the lower block, I finally got it purring, but later, when removing the cable, i noticed it was melting the insulation. When i finally drove off, my car ran like garbage and continued to due so for the rest of its days!
-You try to do the right thing and get burnt in the process. It won't stop me from trying though !

 

[fsskier]

I stopped to observe/help a car being jumpered at our local shopping mall.... it seemed the car would not crank at all. They moved the cables several times, I noted that the dome light was not dimming at all when they tried to start it, and that the problem was NOT a dead battery.

I was immediately informed that a starter takes more power than a dome light, when I responded that it was not dimming even when they attempted to engage the starter....... OK, they made it apparent that they know WAY more about cars and electricity than I do, so I began to wander off, but still....

I noted a teenage girl standing behind the car, and learned that it belonged to her. Making note that the ignition switch, the solenoid, the neutral safety switch could be involved, checking the neutral safety switch is free, wiggle the shifter, try park and neutral..... and she was a good listener.

Then I walked away, all the young men had their heads under the hood, I saw the girl walk to the drivers seat and in a couple of seconds the car started.

nuff said!

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: fsskier
I stopped to observe/help a car being jumpered at our local shopping mall.... it seemed the car would not crank at all. They moved the cables several times, I noted that the dome light was not dimming at all when they tried to start it, and that the problem was NOT a dead battery.

I was immediately informed that a starter takes more power than a dome light, when I responded that it was not dimming even when they attempted to engage the starter....... OK, they made it apparent that they know WAY more about cars and electricity than I do, so I began to wander off, but still....

I noted a teenage girl standing behind the car, and learned that it belonged to her. Making note that the ignition switch, the solenoid, the neutral safety switch could be involved, checking the neutral safety switch is free, wiggle the shifter, try park and neutral..... and she was a good listener.

Then I walked away, all the young men had their heads under the hood, I saw the girl walk to the drivers seat and in a couple of seconds the car started.

nuff said!


LOL! Nice way to help.

I haven't had any jump starting mishaps luckily. A couple years ago I stopped to get lunch and there was a guy in the parking lot with the hood up on his C2500 and some jumper cables in hand. I asked if he needed a jump and he thanked me profusely. His really was a case of a dead battery and his truck cranked right up. He offered me $20, but I turned him down.

I've never actually used my jumper cables to get my own vehicles started come to think of it.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

I have a friend who flagged down someone on the interstate at night to jump start his car. The poor good samaritan then proceeded to kill his own battery trying to get my friend's engine to turn over. He then flagged down another car who stopped on the road and that driver subsequently got rear-ended. A real cluster.

So what was wrong with my friend's car in the first place, you ask? Well, he was in a front-end accident a day or two earlier which damaged his radiator (among other things, see below). He thought he could make the four hour drive home from college (at night, mind you) by stopping every 20 minutes or so to re-fill the radiator. Yeah... no. It overheated 15 minutes into his trip so badly it locked up the engine. For some unknown reason, he thought jump starting it was the fix. He also thought the same thing when he ran out of gas once before.

So his dad drives up there to sort things out and sees what's left of the Mustang. My friend had played down the severity of the previous accident. The front end was shifted over about 8" from getting hit from the side, one wheel had about 20 degrees negative camber, and the entire core support was crushed and folded, and the split-open radiator end tank 'fixed' with duct tape. The hood was tied down with an old T shirt. The headlights on one side didn't work. And he was going to drive home 200+ miles at night in a car in this condition with his girlfriend in the car with him.

And he thought all he needed to get on his way was a jump start. Yeah, my friend is one of those people.

True story!

 

[gathermewool]

This is why a code reader and Fluke are always in my car...

 

[suspiciousmind]

Sometimes cars just need a good transfusion I reckon.

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Co- irker's


That's got to be the best word ever.

 

[wirelessF]

When I get a call that a person's vehicle won't start, tons of things go though my mind. It's that when you get to the site, then you can make a diagnosis.

91 Sentra had to be towed because of bad fuel pump. Checked fuses/relays all were fine. It was also dark so we towed it with my pickup truck back home.

04 BMW also had to be towed because of a bad alternator. The battery died without her notice. Not even jumping it would revive it.

 

[wrcsixeight]

A while back I was in a parking lot overlooking the ocean on a rainy day. A guy pulls in next to me with a Tundra and leaves his lights on. I wordlessly indicate he left his lights on in 2 different methods, and the second one earned me a scowl in return.

Eff it I thought.

1/2 hour later I hear the dreaded click, then the scowler comes over and asks for a jump.

Neither he nor I have jumper cables, but I do have some 12 awg leads with alligator clips from my compressor that will reach from my electrical cabinet to his battery with a 12 awg extension I have.

I inform him that this wire is very undersized for the task of jumpstarting, but after 20 minutes or so of my batteries feeding his through the thin wire, it should start. He indicates he can wait about that long.

I hook it up, my monitor indicates that my batteries are feeding 54 amps to his battery. As the wire and connectors heat up this drops down to the 25 amp range in about a minute, and I think my 20 minute estimate might be a little low. He wants to jump inside and try to start it instantly, and I inform him that don't bother yet.

Mutter mutter scowl.

The connectors on this improvised jumper cable are getting way too hot now and I am reluctant to melt them for this increasingly annoying stranger.

After 10 minutes I see him sneak into the driver's seat, and I know him attempting to start his engine will likely melt the undersized wiring, and I quickly disconnect the connector.

Somehow, enough amps had passed from my batteries to his to allow it to start anyway. I inform him he should put his battery on a charger overnight as the alternator will take 6+ hours to fully charge the battery.

He informs me that his new 140 amp alternator will recharge it fully in about 15 minutes.

I tell him this is impossible, that no way will his alternator make that much amperage, no way will the battery accept that much, and now way can the oem wiring carry that much current.

He took major offense to me informing him of battery physics, It looked like he wanted to hit the stranger who just helped him out. Wisely he decided he would likely end up pulverized if he tried.

Without even grunting a thanks, he got in his truck and drove away.

I wish there were less people in this area who would fuel my misanthropic tendencies, but a huge percentage of them just go through life chanting "ME ME ME" internally, and all their actions and interactions are tainted by this narcissism.

 

[ffhdriver]

A few years ago my neighbor called me to jump start his Chevy Impala. That didn't work and I noticed that the engine turned over too easily. I put a vacuum gauge on the intake manifold and got no vacuum. Diagnosis --- broken timing chain. Luckily no engine damage.

 

[Colt45ws]

Yes, I see this a lot. Its because its the easy fix. They dont want to think it might be something more expensive. When you try to tell them its not the battery, you get noise back, like they know everything. I dont care. I tell them politely once in what area I would look for a problem, and if I get noise I walk away. Let them figure it out on their own.

 

[GMBoy]

The ONLY way I will jump a car is with a booster pack. I'm not risking any of my car's electrical systems.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: GMBoy
The ONLY way I will jump a car is with a booster pack. I'm not risking any of my car's electrical systems.


Agreed! And I don't offer any help. As shown in the previous posts, all it can do is aggravate me.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: eljefino


To his (dis)credit, the idiot light shows a battery, not an alternator.

I hate that.

Many times a year a client will tell me, "The battery light came on so I replaced a battery. It's a brand new battery and the machine you installed killed the new battery!"

Nevermind the fact that the "battery light" stayed on even after he or she replaced the battery.