How to Jump Start a Car
The correct cable order in one diagram, and four steps — that’s the whole thing.
Get the cable order right and a jump start is completely routine. Get it wrong and you can spark next to a battery that vents hydrogen gas. Here’s the order, visually — then four short steps.
The 4 Steps
- Connect red to dead+, then red to good+. Both cars off, both in park, parking brake on.
- Connect black to good−, then black to unpainted metal on the dead car. Not the dead battery’s negative terminal — grounding away from the battery keeps sparks clear of it.
- Start the working car. Wait 2-5 minutes, then try the dead car. If it won’t catch after a few tries, wait longer — don’t crank it repeatedly.
- Remove the cables in the exact reverse order. Black off ground, black off good−, red off good+, red off dead+.
Skip the jump and call for help if
The battery case is cracked, swollen, or leaking · you smell rotten eggs near it · terminals are heavily corroded · or it’s died and been jumped more than once this week. Repeated dead batteries mean a real problem — a jump won’t fix it.
Hybrids and EVs
Never touch the orange high-voltage cables or the traction battery. Most hybrids/EVs have a separate 12V jump point — check the owner’s manual. Can’t find it clearly marked? Call roadside assistance instead of guessing.