[DeTomaso] NPC - jump starting a car

[Boyd Casey]

The so called advantages of an Optima battery will not improve it's ability
to start a car compared to a "cheap" battery if they both have the same
Cranking amp specifications and charge level.  You should never try to jump
start a car with a battery (in the car providing the jump) unless the
battery has a full charge. I have been told that when you jump start a car
the car providing the jump should not be running. You want the heaviest
gauge jumper cables you can find ( thinner cables offer more resistance)
you also should use the shortest cables that will do the job ( same reason
longer cables offer more resistance.). One reason the battery that would
not start the car with jumpers but would start the car when installed is
probably due to the combined effect of the added resistance of the jumper
cables, The connection with jumper cables is not as good as with a battery
attached to the terminal connections (better connection and better ground)
It sounds like even though your car started the first day your battery that
was trickle charged was on it;s last legs. If it had been fully charged (
24 hours at a 2 amp charge rate should be sufficient to fully charge
anything but a U-boat LOL! Also a battery that's good would have held it's
charge for  the weekend  (and longer) once you had charged it and run it
for awhile ( unless there are other problems) like a short that drains the
battery even when the car is turned off, a battery that needs service ( if
it is an old fashioned wet cell and was in need of water) with a wet cell
battery you can check the specific gravity of the battery acid and see if
it needs to be serviced. When the car starts with just the change to a new
battery it is an indication that 1. your old battery is not fully charged
or 2. if you have attempted to charge  and it is in the  state to accept a
charge (in the case of a serviceable  battery , like a wet cell that is not
sealed) and it doesn't fully charge then  you need a new battery. If the
battery has crapped out sooner then is considered normal you need to find
out if there is a problem that is damaging the battery ( an alternator or
voltage regulator that is allowing the battery to become over charged (
this will shorten a batteries life substantially) a short that continually
drains the battery as mentioned earlier ( completely draining a battery
especially repeatedly will also shorten a batteries life)
 I am not an expert in automotive electrical systems but in my many years
of personal experience I have found that in most cases were a car won't
crank due to a weak battery even with jumper cables it is usually due to
poor connections from the host battery ( host car is the car receiving the
jump) to the cars own battery connections ( sometimes the connectors are
cracked and you can't tell until you remove them to clean them, or
corrosion on the terminals is interfering with a good connection, you have
poor quality jumper cables and or a bad connection. If it is not the host
cars or jumper cables connections then it is usually that the host car's
battery is to weak to crank even with a jump. The easiest test of this is
to pop in a battery that you know is good. ( don' take a battery from a 4
cylinder Kia and expect it to start your 7 liter Dually) You have to be
using a battery with the proper amount of cranking amps required to start
the engine in the car you are trying to jump.
Boyd


On Sun, Aug 25, 2013 at 3:59 PM, Charles McCall <charlesmccall at gmail.com>wrote:

> Update - I took the battery out of the Pantera and put it in the dead car
> and it fired right up.
>
>
>
> So something was wrong with the jumper cable connection but I don't know
> what. Negative to negative, positive to positive, it really isn't that
> tricky, right?
>
>
>
> Will a trickle charger eventually charge a completely discharged battery?
> It's a normal, cheap car battery not an optima-whatever.
>
>
>
> Thanks all!
>
>
>
> Charles McCall
> Raising Pantera Awareness Across Europe
> 1985 DeTomaso Pantera #9375
>  <http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323>
> http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323
>
>
>
> From: Charles McCall [mailto:CharlesMcCall at gmail.com]
> Sent: domingo, 25 de agosto de 2013 20:00
> To: detomaso at poca.com
> Subject: NPC - jump starting a car
>
>
>
> Hi all
>
>
>
> The car in question hadn't been started in literally 3 months. I went to
> start it on Thursday and the battery was discharged. I hooked a trickle
> charger up to it overnight, and Friday morning the car started just fine.
>
>
>
> I drove the car during the day, had no trouble starting it on the 4-5
> occasions I had to start it.
>
>
>
> Today, Sunday, two days later the car wouldn't start again (I was going to
> move it to hook the trickle charger up to it and let it charge for a week
> or
> however long it takes to completely charge). I got some jumper cables and
> am
> trying to start the car but it won't turn over.
>
>
>
> When I turn the key, the interior light goes out which indicates to me that
> the battery is discharged. I hooked up the jumper cables and the car still
> won't turn over (and the interior light goes out).
>
>
>
> If I turn the headlights on on the car with the dead battery, I can see
> that
> the lights get noticeably brighter when connecting the jumper cables so I
> have to believe that current is reaching the battery. What can possibly be
> the problem?
>
>
>
> If the connection weren't good, then the headlights wouldn't get brighter.
> But on the other hand, if the connection were good then the interior light
> wouldn't go out when I try engaging the starter, right?
>
>
>
> This is kind of a problem as now the dead car is blocking the good car from
> getting out of the garage (and therefore going to work tomorrow!)
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> Charles McCall
> Raising Pantera Awareness Across Europe
> 1985 DeTomaso Pantera #9375
>  <http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323>
> http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323
>
>
>
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