Battery jumping
11-28-2012, 10:02 AM
#1
New Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 03-17-2012
Location: Florence Ky
Posts: 28
Battery jumping
Both my dad and I have HHR's. The other day he called me with a dead battery. Are we not able to jump another vehicle from the jumping point under the hood. When I connected the cables between the two points his interior lights worked better but would not start. Ended up had to take the trays out of the back and directly hooked cables battery to battery and his car started right up.
He had his battery tested the nest day and it tested fine, he had just left key in accessory to long. Just asking to see if there was something I could have done to make it work without removing all the crap out of the back of my car. LOL
He had his battery tested the nest day and it tested fine, he had just left key in accessory to long. Just asking to see if there was something I could have done to make it work without removing all the crap out of the back of my car. LOL
11-28-2012, 11:29 AM
#3
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Join Date: 02-01-2006
Location: lockport,ny
Posts: 1,409
A few weeks ago I jumped my wife's Caravan from the underhood terminal. The harder issue was to find a good ground point under the hood. The first ground I used didn't work, a second was better and it worked.
Connecting directly to the battery will always be better as you don't have the added resistance of the cable from the battery to the underhood terminal. Even a relatively heavy-gauge wire like the one in the HHR has enough resistance to affect the amount of amps you can draw when drawing a lot of amps. A starter motor can draw hundreds of amps for a short time at startup.
Another trick is to hook up the jumper cables and let the battery in the weak car recharge for a about 10 minutes before attempting a start. If the battery is completely dead it will draw a lot of amps tying to charge itself and that will compete with the amps needed to turn the starter.
Steve
Connecting directly to the battery will always be better as you don't have the added resistance of the cable from the battery to the underhood terminal. Even a relatively heavy-gauge wire like the one in the HHR has enough resistance to affect the amount of amps you can draw when drawing a lot of amps. A starter motor can draw hundreds of amps for a short time at startup.
Another trick is to hook up the jumper cables and let the battery in the weak car recharge for a about 10 minutes before attempting a start. If the battery is completely dead it will draw a lot of amps tying to charge itself and that will compete with the amps needed to turn the starter.
Steve
11-28-2012, 02:33 PM
#4
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Join Date: 01-13-2008
Location: Washington State, where it rains
Posts: 4,708
From what Ive read, with all the power steering fuses being blown from trying to jump from the front, I'd stick to the rear..but, hook the cables up front first to unlock the rear hatch, then go straight to the battery..otherwise you'll have to climb thru the rear to open the hatch..not fun if you've never done it before..
11-28-2012, 05:48 PM
#5
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Join Date: 11-04-2012
Location: Dedham Maine
Posts: 1,546
From what Ive read, with all the power steering fuses being blown from trying to jump from the front, I'd stick to the rear..but, hook the cables up front first to unlock the rear hatch, then go straight to the battery..otherwise you'll have to climb thru the rear to open the hatch..not fun if you've never done it before..
11-28-2012, 10:45 PM
#10
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Thread Starter
Join Date: 03-17-2012
Location: Florence Ky
Posts: 28
Yes I had tried to use the jump-point next to fuse panel under the hood and the ground point on the shock tower... no go. Tried to do it a few times nothing. Got his rear door open and got battery exposed and then had to dig through all the crap I had in the rear of my HHR. (rolling eyes) Once I hooked up this way, his car started right up. I guess what got me wondering about this was about 6 months ago I gave a guy at Kroger a jump when his son's car crapped out on him. I know I used the jump-point that day and his car started right up.
As for my jumper cables I have my 2 gauge set I had from my Tahoe/Bronco days. Heavy duty...almost too heavy duty for this. They are almost too big to hook up with in the space we have on the HHR.
As for my jumper cables I have my 2 gauge set I had from my Tahoe/Bronco days. Heavy duty...almost too heavy duty for this. They are almost too big to hook up with in the space we have on the HHR.