Few things are more frustrating than getting into your car only to find that the engine won’t start. Often, the problem is as simple as a dead battery. Although this is obviously inconvenient, you can always attempt to jump start the car in order to revive the dead battery. This is assuming you have jumper cables, another vehicle with a working engine and some basic knowledge of  how battery recharges work.

If you’ve never jumped a dead battery before, you may have a few questions. For example: How long does it take to charge the battery? How long should you give it before trying to power the engine and get back on the road—and at what point do you throw in the towel and admit that there might be a deeper issue with the car engine?

To start the process of re-charging the battery,  you’ll first need to get the good car and the bad car as close together as possible. Then, you’ll attach the red/positive cable to the battery terminal in the good car and then to the dead one. You’ll also do the same with the black/negative cable.

Now here is where you’ll want to time things. Turn on the engine in the good car and wait two minutes. Then turn on the bad/dead one and wait an additional two minutes. From there you’ll remove the cable in the  reverse  order at which you put them on, and you’ll let the car run for two more minutes before you get back on the road.

So what happens if that doesn’t work? If that’s the case, there may be something else wrong with your vehicle.

Obviously, there are times when a battery recharge is not only possible, but fairly straightforward. So long as you know what you are doing, it shouldn’t take but a few minutes to recharge the dead battery. But if you are still unsure about the process, you may want to request help as it  can  be dangerous.

If the problem turns out to be something more serious than a dead battery, you’ll want to take your car to your  local Meineke Car Care Center , where the problem can be diagnosed and repaired as quickly as possible.

ARTICLE SOURCE:   https://www.meineke.com/blog/how-long-should-you-charge-a-dead-car-battery/

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