How to Jump Start Your Car

Imagine this, you walk out the door towards your vehicle, get in, and it won’t start. Oh no, maybe the battery’s dead! This can be because the headlights were left on, a door was not completely closed, or maybe the battery is just old. In any case, you’ve got somewhere to go, and you’re not going to let this stand in your way. Well as long as you’ve got a friend with a charged car battery and some jumper cables, you can still get where you’re heading after a quick jump.

“Put on the safety glasses and open the hoods of both cars. Make sure the battery position on each car is compatible to the length of the cables.
Attach the red clamp of the jumper cables to the working battery in the assisting car first, then attach the black clamp to the negative terminal of the working battery in the assisting car. Be sure once both of those clamps are attached to the working battery that the idle clamps on the other end of the jumper cables do not come into contact with one another, or sparks will fly.
Hold the remaining clamps of the jumper cables apart and attach the red clamp to the positive battery terminal on the dead battery. Attach the black clamp of the jumper cable to a non-moving metallic ground away from the dead battery. Use a large bolt head or metal engine bracket within reach. Make sure that there is no slack in the cable or clamp connections that can come into contact with moving engine parts when the dead car battery starts the engine.
Start the car with the dead battery. If it doesn't start, you may need to start the engine of the assisting car and allow it to run for a while, or have the engine revved to accommodate the cold cranking amps of the dead battery. It will depend on how many cold cranking amps the dead battery calls for and how dead the battery is. A rule of thumb is to find a compatible vehicle to jump start from. A small compact car with a low cold cranking amp battery may have a difficult time jump starting a 3/4-ton truck with a high cold cranking amp battery.
Remove the black clamp from the ground position on the vehicle that needed to be jump started first, then remove the red clamp from the same vehicle (once the battery starts the engine). Again, be sure not to allow the clamps of the jumper cables to contact one another. Finally, remove the black clamp from the assisting car's negative battery terminal and then the last clamp from the positive battery terminal. Close the hoods and remove the safety glasses.”

For two other ways to jump your car, check out the rest of this article. http://www.ehow.com/how_4899364_jump-start-car-safely.html