Is this ture?

cableguynoe

cableguynoe

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I had heard from more than 1 person that it is not good to use my car to jump start another. Something about there being a chance of damaging the computer...or something like that...
Today someone asked to use my car to jump start theirs and i said no...:( ...i felt like crap!!!
Please tell me I did the right thing!!!:confused: .....
 
You run a risk of screwing up something, don't know about the computer. My amp light came on in my Mark VII years ago while jumping someone, didn't hurt nothing.
 
Yes - it is possible in weird situations.

The way I do it - is to not have the car running, disconnect my negative battery lead (easy for me since I have a 'cutoff' switch) and simply use my battery to start their car.
 
You did the right thing. They can do alot of damage to your electronics and power relays. Mainly if they have a short or dead cell in thier battery. It will drive your alternator to charge the fault in thier system. Not good.
 
QUIK.... How did u install a cutoff valve. its a good idea for this issue. id rather be helpful to others than sound like a jackass. and i definatly dont wanna mess the ls up.
 
I was looking through the owners manual the other day and there is a section on how to jump off another car. It shows you the right and wrong way. I believe what they do is just hook up the positive from your car to the other car and just use the spare tire screw as a ground. I just breezed over it so don't hold me too this. It might be worth a read though.
 
jump start

when jumping another car with yours you should always use a ground point other than your battery,that way all you are doing is using your battery to start their car...better have a good battery though..
 
Aside from using a separate ground, you connect the negative lead to a ground other than the negative battery terminal to avoid producing sparks around the battery. Lead-acid batteries produce hydrogen as a byproduct of the reaction, and sparks plus hydrogen equals explosion. Battery explosions are big-time bad news.

Years ago, when I had my T-Bird SC, my mechanic told me not to use my car to jump start another, so I stopped carrying jumper cables. Unless I'm in my pickup, if anyone asks me to jump their car, I just tell them that my mechanic advised me not to do so, and that I no longer carry jumper cables for that reason. So far, I haven't run into anyone who took it badly; they've all seemed understanding.
 
nips2300 said:
when jumping another car with yours you should always use a ground point other than your battery,that way all you are doing is using your battery to start their car...better have a good battery though..
Click to expand...


Well that explains that, "back in the day", you were supposed to touch bumpers when jumping another vehicle. Bumpers then were real bumpers and were chrome and/or had chrome or galvanized bolts that tied to the frame, which is ground.
 
As long as you hook it up right, you could jump start other cars 100 times a day and not damage yours. I have done this more times than I could ever count, especially back in high school when I worked for Sears Auto Center, I used to jump tons of people with my mighty Ford Granada.

Even now I probably have to jump one of my own cars 2-3 times per year (usually the Chrysler).

EDIT: I usually ground both batteries to the terminals because it's easy to ensure good contact, which isn't so easy on painted metal.
 
I had a bad battery in my Rodeo that wouldn't hold a charge if it sat for a few weeks, which it often does. I've jumped it off several times without incident.
 
Dutch said:
I worked for Sears Auto Center, I used to jump tons of people with my mighty Ford Granada.
Click to expand...
The electronics in the mighty Ford Granada bear about as much resemblance to the electronics in an LS as the Wright Flyer does to the Space Shuttle. Solid state electronics are amazing marvels of technology, but they're also very sensitive to power spikes.

BTW, when I say "my mechanic," I'm not talking about some kid who took a body shop class in high school--prior to being laid off because of corporate downsizing, e was a systems engineer (hardware) working on mainframe computers. (He's currently a master mechanic at the local Volvo dealership.)
 
SoonerLS said:
The electronics in the mighty Ford Granada bear about as much resemblance to the electronics in an LS as the Wright Flyer does to the Space Shuttle. Solid state electronics are amazing marvels of technology, but they're also very sensitive to power spikes.

BTW, when I say "my mechanic," I'm not talking about some kid who took a body shop class in high school--prior to being laid off because of corporate downsizing, e was a systems engineer (hardware) working on mainframe computers. (He's currently a master mechanic at the local Volvo dealership.)
Click to expand...

I hear 'ya loud and clear out here! After all, if your $40k car is a beater to you. Your gonna do what you want any how.
Great advice from all those who posted. Looks like if your a highway hauler and heed to the rules of the open road, then you have either learned something or helped out those of us who needed the input.
:F​
 
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