How to start a car with tweezers

There is no shortage of people who refrain from long car trips for fear of being left behind and not knowing how to react. You do not have to be mechanical experts, but there are certain maneuvers and techniques that everyone who drives a car should master to be able to use them at any given time.

Among these techniques is knowing how to start a car with pliers, indispensable if we run out of battery and can not start the car. It's a really quick and simple act, but if you do not know how to do it can be dangerous. That is why in the following article we will explain how to start a car with tweezers so that the next time you find yourself in that situation you save the labor of the workshop or the replacement of the battery.

Recommendations for using tweezers

Before explaining what you should do to use them, we will talk a little about the clamps and their function when recharging the battery. Either because there is a leak, because you have left the lights on, the radio on or an open door the car can run out of battery, without the electrical impulse it needs to start the engine.

These tools are used to transmit the electrical energy of a battery that is already charged to the one that has run out, so that the empty one can start and recharge. Here are some tips to keep in mind before starting the car with tweezers:

The two batteries, both empty and full, must be of the same voltage.
Separate the two cars, their bodies should never be in contact. In this way we avoid sparks or short circuits.
Turn off the contact of both cars.
Put the parking brake on both cars to prevent them from moving during load transfer.
The battery of the car is usually in the engine compartment, if you do not locate it there will surely be in the back seat of the car.

How to start a car without a battery

These are the steps you must take if you want to recharge the car's battery with the clamps :

Take one of the clips with the red cable and place it on the positive terminal of the battery, the one with the "+" sign on the car that has the battery charged.
At the other end of the cable there will be another clamp, which you must place on the positive terminal of the discharged battery.
Place one of the black cable clamps on the negative "-" terminal of the full battery.
The other clip must go to the unloaded car, but not in the battery, but in some area of the body or chassis that is metallic.
Check that they are secure and that there is no contact with any cable.
Start the car engine with the charged battery, accelerate smoothly for a couple of minutes.
Turn off the car and get on the one with the unloaded battery; switch it on. Leave it running for a few minutes so that the battery recharges.
Turn it off and remove the clips of the car in reverse order to how you have placed them, avoid touching any metallic area of the car.

If you have any doubt or fear at any point in the operation, it is better that you let it be and call the technical service. It is better to make sure and leave it to professionals than to try to fix it and end up worse.

How long the car battery lasts

What is the battery in the car for?

The battery of the car has different functions. The main one is to provide enough energy for the car's engine to start, energy that is then recharged with the alternator. In addition, when the alternator is not able to supply all the electrical energy required by the car, for example when the car is stopped or idling, the battery serves as a backup supplying the supply.

How long the car battery lasts

On average, the car's battery lasts 4 years. But this is not a fixed rule, depending on the use and care of it, we can prolong or shorten its useful life, as well as its benefits. If we use too much, for example by forcing the starting cycles or adding electrical elements that need more amperage, as if we use too little, leaving the car idle for a long time, we can cause an early discharge of the battery.

Another factor that can affect its operation are the extreme temperatures and the operation of the alternator. There are different factors and clues that tell us that our battery may be aging and bringing problems:

Starting the car when the battery is not working well is much more energetic.
Depending on the car, you may have a light indicator on the dashboard.
Loose or rusty terminals can cause electrical faults, here we tell you how to clean the terminals of the car.
In the following article we explain how to take care of my car's battery.