just wanted to know if we could use our cars to jumpstart other cars. i read in our manual that we can get jumpstarts but i not vice versa.

the reason i am asking is because someone told me a while back that jumping other cars is not good because of our direct ignition.

any info on this would be great...

 

Yep, don't do it! That's what AAA is for.

 

I jumpstarted my wife's car last week..

Didn't notice any problems.. besides, I had to do it..

 

What would it exactly do? what would happen?

 

You can do it. I believe the manual even has a section devoted to it. Just make sure that on the car that is GETTING the jump, you connect the negative cable to a negative ground in the engine bay, NOT on the negative post of the dead battery.

I've done it a couple of times with no problems.

 

I have read that in any car you should connect the negative cable to ground in the engine bay and never connect it to the negative post on the battery. I guess you run the chance of damaging the battery and it may possibly explode.

 

Actually, since car batteries often leak hydrogen gas, you reduce the risk of igniting the hydrogen around the battery by connecting the jumper lead to the engine bay.

 

Usually you connect to both terminals of the good battery, but just in case there is something wrong with the internals of the dead battery (like an internal direct short), you connect only to the positive of the dead battery and to the chassis for the ground side. This way if there is a direct short you don't blow up your battery by putting it right in line with the short.

This is the main reason Acura discourages jumping vehicles. There are so many sensitive electronic components in cars these days (ECU, fuel management, navi, ignition, throttle, etc) that if there is something wrong with the electrical system of the car you are trying to jump, you risk damaging your own electrical system by connecting to it. It's not just an Acura thing--almost all cars today discourage jumping. Shorting a battery in a '80 Chevy Caprice would do nothing more than destory the battery. Do that on your TL and you're in for a big mess.

 

Actually, Daverman is correct. The negative terminal of the battery is directly connect to the chassis of the car anyways. Electrically speaking, there is no difference whichever of the two that you connect it to. Practically speaking, the last connection that you make will produce a spark, and you want the spark to be as far away from explosive gases (such as could be found around the battery) as possible. So you should make that ground connection to the chassis of the dead car the last step in the car jumping procedure.

Quote:

This is the main reason Acura discourages jumping vehicles. There are so many sensitive electronic components in cars these days (ECU, fuel management, navi, ignition, throttle, etc) that if there is something wrong with the electrical system of the car you are trying to jump, you risk damaging your own electrical system by connecting to it. It's not just an Acura thing--almost all cars today discourage jumping. Shorting a battery in a '80 Chevy Caprice would do nothing more than destory the battery. Do that on your TL and you're in for a big mess.

This is true. I saw an old car with a dead battery in the mall parking lot last week and was tempted to offer a jump start, but I really didn't know if it would have been safe for my baby.

 

thanks for all the info and replies...

 

A good alternative is buying one of those battery jumpers from R&S or pep-boys for about $50.00, which work like a charm.