What To Do If Your Car Battery Dies
If your car refuses to start or the engine comes alive but dies immediately after, you may have a dead car battery on your hands. On top of being inconvenient, car battery problems can potentially leave you stranded without a solution. Here are a few pointers on what to do when your car battery shuts down.
Causes of a Dead Car Battery
When a battery “dies”, it just means its voltage has dropped significantly and it has become fully discharged. If the voltage drops to just under 12.2V, you can still jump-start it, and the alternator will replenish as you drive. However, a voltage under 11.2V might mean it is permanently damaged and needs to be replaced.
Signs You May Have a Car Battery Problem
As mentioned before, a dead battery can cause your car not to start at all. If it does, the engine dies quickly instead of idling. These are only two of the few indicators of a dying battery. As they say, prevention is better than cure. Use these other common cues to identify the problem before it becomes an inconvenience.
A Sluggish Start
While it is normal for engines to struggle during cold seasons, a slow start might be a sign of battery issues in normal or warmer weather.
Dead or Malfunctioning Headlights
The battery affects the headlights. If they keep flickering, are dim, or do not turn on at all, your car’s battery might be weak, flat, or dead.
An Odd Look and Smell
When a battery does not dispel gases as well as it should, hydrogen gases can easily build up and cause it to be misshapen or swollen. The odd look may or may not be accompanied by leaking hydrogen sulfide, whose smell can be likened to rotten eggs.
No Usual Lights or Sounds
Many drivers are aware of the sounds their cars make when they are opened and closed. Depending on the model, your vehicle’s lights might turn on or flash. When you no longer hear the usual sounds or see the usual lights, beware. Your battery might be in trouble.
Jumpstarting a Dead Battery
If your car’s battery is not permanently damaged, it can still be jump-started. If you have a jump-starter with you, use it. If not, you are going to need jumper cables and a car – any functioning car – to give yours a boost.
Step 1: Park the Cars to Face Each Other
Once that friendly stranger in the parking lot agrees to help you out, position the cars opposite each other but not touching. There should be enough space between the vehicles for a person to stand comfortably. Turn off both engines with all gears in neutral or park.
Step 2: Find Terminals and Attach Cables
There should be a + (plus) sign on your car’s battery – this is the positive terminal. The negative terminal should have a – (minus) sign. In some cars, it may be written POS for positive and NEG for negative.
Your jumper cables should be red and black in color, each of them with clips at both ends. Take the red jumper cable and clip it to the + positive terminal on your battery and its other end on the other car’s battery. It should be positive to positive.
You should attach the black or negative jumper cable to the other car’s battery only, not yours. The other negative terminal should be clipped to an unpainted metal surface of your car.
Step 3: Start Your Engines
Ask the other driver to start their car and let it idle for a moment, preferably a few minutes to charge the healthy battery. Then, you can start your car. If your vehicle fails to start, wait a few minutes before trying again. The healthy car should keep running.
If, after a few attempts, your car still refuses to start, ask your friend to rev their engine before you start your car again. If your car starts, keep it running. Do not turn it off. Carefully unclip the negative terminal from the healthy car first and then from the metal surface of yours.
Follow by removing the positive terminals, making sure that neither cable nor terminals are touching.
You can then close the hood of your car. Drive around for 15 to 20 minutes to charge the battery’s alternator.
If the jumpstart fails completely, you can try the steep hill roll technique next.
The Steep Hill Roll
If your battery has died or failed to start the car on several occasions, park the car at the top of a steep hill. This technique requires two people (and practice). It should be done on an empty road or parking lot.
Jump into the driver’s seat. Turn on the ignition fully even if the car doesn’t turn on. Put the vehicle in second gear and your foot firmly down on the clutch. As the second person pushes the car down the hill, wait for it to gain momentum.
When it does, quickly achieve a clutch balance by lightly stepping on the gas and slightly lifting the foot off the clutch at the same time. You will basically be doing the same thing with your feet as you do when you are inching up a steep hill without using brakes.
Once the car turns on, shift the gear into neutral. Alternatively, you can keep going if you have an open road ahead of you. Drive a reasonable distance – about 15 minutes – to recharge the dead battery and wherever you go, park on a steep hill to execute the maneuver again.
A dead car battery can be revived easily with a portable charger or jumper cables and another vehicle to help. With practice, you can also perfect the steep hill roll technique. If every effort to jumpstart a battery fails, you need to consider purchasing a new one altogether.