How To Use Jump-Leads

Few things are more dispiriting than turning the ignition key and hearing nothing. Just when you need your car to start, it plays dead. Worse still, it's probably your fault. Look at the lights switch - did you leave them on?

Modern car batteries are very reliable, but leaving the lights on for a few hours will soon discharge them. Even a boot light or an interior light left on overnight can flatten a battery. And a car left standing for a month or so may discharge its battery just from the current drawn by the alarm.

There are other causes of a flat battery - the charging system may be faulty or the battery may simply be worn out. But whatever the cause, the tell-tale signs are headlights that fail to come on or just glow dimly, and an engine that turns slowly or not at all when you rotate the ignition key.

Haynes Manuals list the battery in the section on weekly checks for your vehicle. This is astute advice, because battery failure is one of the commonest reasons for calling a breakdown service. Haynes is the world's leading publisher of automotive repair manuals and renowned for teaching millions of car owners how to carry out routine maintenance and repairs. Haynes publishes manuals for more than 500 cars and vans.

To start a car with a flat battery, you need a friend and a set of good quality jump-leads. A friend with a set of good quality jump-leads is better still! Your friend must have a car with a battery in good condition, and jump-leads - heavy-duty cables with beefy clamps at each end - are available from good car accessory shops. To jump-start your car, simply follow the instructions below. Do remember that fully discharging a battery will reduce its life - don't be surprised if it needs replacing sooner than you expected.

Notes to Editors:

The information above is supplied courtesy of Haynes Publishing, please credit accordingly if you intend to use it. For further information, please contact Rebecca Nicholls on Tel: 01452 260063 or email: pr@haynes.co.uk

Haynes, the world-leading publisher of automotive repair manuals, is renowned for teaching millions of car owners how to carry out routine maintenance and repairs. The manuals provide authoritative and accurate step-by-step information for both basic and more complex tasks.

For more advice on model-specific procedures, please refer to the appropriate Haynes Service and Repair Manual. Haynes Manuals retail at £17.99 (hardback) and are available from all good car accessory retailers and bookshops including: Halfords, Motor World and WH Smith. A comprehensive stockist locator can be found at www.haynes.co.uk.