Starting the car with jump leads

HotRodDub

Hi all,
my car would nt start this afternoon, because I left one of the inside lights on !! But anyway, starting it with a set of jump leads wouldnt work for me! Now what could be the problem? The car with the dead battery was a 1.9 TDI A4 and the car with the donor battey was a 1.4 Golf, could it be the battery is now powerful enough? Or maybe the connection points are too dirty, or maybe its the crappy set of jump leads I got from Alanatic Homecare!!

Any suggestions welcome, if all less fails I just jump start with a tow.


cheers!

crosstownk

Most likely it was a combintion of crappy jump leads and poor connections. You should always connect positive to positive, and negative on the donor to something metal(not painted) and approx 40cm from the battery on the dead car.

Sometimes it helps to rev the donor car slightly for a few minutes to allow some charge pass to the dead battery. But always ensure that all the connections have plenty of metal contact with as much surface area as possible connected. It's unlikely that the Golf battery wasn't powerful enough.

peasant

If one miserly inside light (5 Watts?) drains your battery to the point of not starting any more, then it's most likely fubar'd.

If its old and drained and two of the lead cells have connectd/shorted, then you can jump it 'til kingdom come and will still just short.

drdre

it was so funny. i had the same problem my car wouldnt start.I never had to use jump leads in my life and didnt know how they worked.I tried it 2-3 times and didnt work and blamed the leads then i went online and googled it and found ou how they work.went out and the used the instructions from google and the car started

So my point is just check your leads again and leave them on for around 1-2 mins before you start the cars

HotRodDub

Cheers people,
I'll try again in the morning. About a month ago I left the cars inside light on whilst it sat for a week, so it drained, a quick tow and it was away again. But there on Saturday I was doing a bit of tar removal on car and have the CD player going for an hour or so and never tried starting it till today. I always drive with the lights on day or night so maybe the battery doesnt get a chance to fully charge???? on the other hand, maybe its time for a new battery. The leads are pretty crap, very narrow cable nothing like I've seen/used before!

thanks again!

Hal1

If the points on the battery are making poor contact I would suggest rubbing them with a bit of sandpaper, that will remover grit and any rust. Leave the donor car running for a few minutes. If it still fails to start change the leads there only €10 or so. In last weeks evening hearld they had a portable battery charger/compressor for €80 maybe.

unkel

HotRodDub wrote:

on the other hand, maybe its time for a new battery

Don't write if off just yet! Not even a brand new fully charged battery will still have any charge left after having just a tiny 5W inside light switched on for a week

crosstownk

What year is the A4? Most Audis (and other cars) have a timer system whereby if the car is locked for more than a predetermined time and any interior lights are on, they will be automatically turned off. My 2000 VW Bora does this after 40 mins. I've also a 2006 Zafira which does the same - not sure of the time limit on the Zafira.

HotRodDub

its a 1999!