Jump Start Not Battery To Battery

[djtdjt]

Been reading about jump starting and it says positive to positive and negative to body part not the negative terminal of dead battery. I'm sure years ago it was battery to battery, have things changed or have I been doing it wrong? Not had to jump start a car for years, just checking just in case neighbour asks for jump start. TIA.

[Old_Geezer]

I think you're trying to start something.

[Ryzen]

bhg is spot on...connecting as close to the starter as poss will reduce the current return path to the donor battery and eliminate any high resistance joints on the way.

[Mexican18]

Ring the RAC and let them do it!

[bhg481]

Another point; if you buy cheap jump leads they can be made of aluminium rather than copper and possibly thinner cable than the optimum. This gives you a built-in resistance and you only find they're no good when you come to use them.

[NickorWan]

It makes sense really when you think about it. The common positive of a car is the + terminal of the battery; everything is connected to that either directly (in the case of the starter motor) or via the fuse box. The common negative is the chassis and everything is connected to that including the starter motor and the battery. Why would you connect to something that is connected to the common negative when you could connect directly to it!