Have you run out of battery and need to use the car urgently? In this article we show you how to start a car without a battery.

How to start a car without a battery

Start a car without a battery

As you all know, the main function of The battery of a car is to start the vehicle . If the battery does not have enough charge, even if we turn the ignition key, the starter will spin the heat engine, but each time with less intensity and will not be able to start the car. There should be no panic, as there are other options to start a car without a battery.

I'm sure you've heard about clamps or starters . In the first case, by means of conductive clamps, we connect our battery to that of another vehicle, while in the second we are talking about a kind of portable battery that, for a few seconds, can give us enough energy to make our motor come alive. In the first case, it is less and less advisable because the electronics do not get along very well with the voltage peaks. Also, and more than once, you will have seen " start a push car ".

With clamps

Hyundai i30 N engine

The most common claim, and a tool that we should all Carry in our trunk, they are the clamps . We put a car next to another trying to get the batteries as close as possible and proceed to the connection. Of course, it is important to have the car with the battery charged a few minutes started and somewhat accelerated for the alternator to "fill" completely before proceeding to the connection.

In modern cars it is recommended that the vehicle that is going to supply charge to the one that has run out of battery it's off. If it is started, the voltage peaks that will be generated when the other vehicle hits the contact can damage or deconfigure electronic elements. Therefore, better to leave it off and without even turning on the contact.
Tweezers to start the car

Otherwise, the operation is very simple . We connect, in this order, a clamp to the positive pole (marked with a + and red color) of the charged battery and the other -from the same cable- to the positive of the discharged battery. We take the other cable and tie a clamp to the negative (marked with one - and black color) of the charged battery and the other clamp to the chassis of the car with the battery discharged. We can already try to start the car.

Once started, we proceed to disconnect the clips . For this, the order is the inverse, that is, we remove the clamp attached to the chassis, the negative of the car battery that gives us the charge, the positive battery that was unloaded and, finally, the clamp attached to the positive pole of the car that has helped us to start it.

Now, the best thing is to take a ride with him to try that the battery takes some load through the alternator, being It is advisable to do it in areas cleared of traffic because it could be that the engine stops again. Of course, the fewer consumers we activate (radio, heating, lunette, etc.), the better.It is a very useful device and it is with this that we usually start the car without a battery when we call the travel assistance of our insurance.

Therefore, the procedure is the same . The only difference is that the starter will only transmit its energy when activated by a button. It is advisable to follow the same procedure as mentioned in the previous point to connect and disconnect the starter with the car without a battery.

A push

Who has not seen start a car (or a motorcycle) pushing it? It is not the "healthiest" method for modern vehicles, but often can get us out of trouble . Of course, we will need help and, in any case, we should try it on vehicles with automatic transmission, because it will not start and we could also damage the transmission. In modern cars with button start is also not possible, because the starting procedure requires to follow a series of specific requirements, such as having the clutch or brake pressed.

To start a car without a battery "To push" we must be in a place with good visibility, without traffic and where there are no crosses that could pose a danger. In addition, we must bear in mind that, in case of failure and not being able to start the car, we can stop it in a safe area without obstructing.

Honda CR-V manual shift test
Important: With the engine off we will not have brake booster or power steering , something that we must take into account at all times. Therefore, it is advisable to be clear that in case of an unforeseen event it is best to release the coupling clutch (with the gear engaged) and use the parking brake to quickly stop the vehicle.

After make sure that we are in a safe area and ready to start the vehicle, one or more people should push the car. The driver must put the ignition key in contact position (position before starting) and engage the second speed with the clutch fully depressed.

The people who push the vehicle must be prepared because, at the moment when the driver releases the clutch, the car can be completely stopped. That is, be careful not to hit the car because it could "slam" at once.

Once you start to pick up speed, at about 15 km/h , with the second speed in gear We release the clutch sharply while pressing the accelerator to the top in a quick movement of feet. The engine should have started already. Once this movement is made, and to avoid frights and unwanted jerks, we will quickly step on the clutch again.

We must bear in mind that, in diesel engines , starting the car in this way is more complicated . The compression ratio of the engine is higher and, in addition, if the engine is cold and the battery completely discharged, the heaters will not perform their function, so it will cost much more.

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