Push-starting a Car

If your battery has run a bit low and doesn't have enough power to start the car, a push-start may be all that is needed. Put the car into second gear. Turn on the ignition, put the clutch pedal to the floor and get some willing volunteers to push you. When you are going at a reasonable speed, engage the clutch and hopefully the engine will fire. Immediately put the clutch to the floor and rev hard to keep the engine running.

Once the engine has started, leave it running for a good 20 minutes, otherwise you'll need another push-start the next time you want to drive.

Jump-starting a Car

If the battery is completely dead, a push-start may not be enough. You will need to jump-start it, using a pair of jump leads (normally red and black) and another car.

* Open the bonnets of both cars.

* Connect the red jump lead to the positive (+) terminal on both batteries3. Make sure the healthy car's engine is running.

* Connect the black jump lead to the negative terminal (-) of the faulty car's battery.

* Carefully connect the other end of the black lead to a piece of bare metal on the body of the healthy car. If this isn't possible, you can connect it directly to the negative terminal of the healthy car's battery, but this is not recommended.

* Rev up the healthy car, then start the faulty car. When it is running steadily, remove the black jump lead at both ends. Then remove the red jump lead at both ends.

If the car doesn't start the first time, leave the jump leads attached for a minute or two to charge the dead battery, then try again.

Keep a close eye on the jump leads. If they start to smoke, it is likely that there is a dead short in the battery and it is drawing too much current through the leads. Stop immediately!

Originally Posted by texaxile Bear in mind you cannot push start a car with Automatic transmission, they have to be jump started. Also if your battery is tired, depress the clutch and try turning it over (yes, even in Neutral), but leave it for a few minutes inbetween, in order to allow the battery to regain some of its charge. The reason for this is that by engaging the clutch you reduce the load on the crank thus making the engine easier to turn over. another safer way of attaching the leads is from the Donor car + to the + of the dead battery and donor car Battery - (Negative) to any Earthing point (nut or bolt or chassis earth) on the dead car. This will reduce in modern cars the danger of a power surge through the battery which could damage some of the circuitry.