Battery Jumping???

[glazounov]

Howdy all!

I've always been informed that it is strictly "verboten" to jump a Corvette (mine is a 94 LT-1 convertible) with a dead battery because of the risk of screwing up the electronics. HOWEVER ... my close friend has had his jumped on several occasions (same year LT-1) with no ill effects. So ... my question is: My Corvette has been sitting in storage for a couple of weeks at -20 degrees and has a dead battery ... SHOULD I TAKE THE RISK AND JUMP IT????

 

[C4Tom]

I don't see the problem with jumping it. I suppose the risk would be if you accidentally connected it backwards. There shouldn't be any surge from the connection. Disconnect the cables as soon as possible after starting.

Although the correct way would be to put low amp charger on it for a while.

edit: It just hit me that if it could hurt your system, wouldn't it do the same thing when you connected a 'new' battery?

 

[Rabbit]

I have heard it is important that the ignition be "off" when jump starting.

 

[1-E-Tkt]

I have heard it is important that the ignition be "off" when jump starting.

... just a minute, bear with me! ......

 

[c4cruiser]

The ignition should definitely be off when connecting a jumper battery or a charger.

I once tried to help a young kid start his Honda by pushing it. It was a manual tranny car so we told him to put it in 2nd gear and let the clutch out once we got the car moving. He did but the car didn't start. He had the ignition off.... :W

So we tried again and told him to turn the key to the ON position. Once we got the car rolling, he left the clutch in and tried to start the car with the ignition.....

 

[6speeder]

The recommended method for 'jumping' the batt is to connect only the positive jumper cable to the positive batt terminal, and the negative jumper cable to an engine ground. The reason being if both cables are connected to the 'dead' batt, the batt will try to draw all the amps, leaving fewer amps for the starter.

 

[G Winter]

You stand a better chance of damaging the vehicle you use to jump. I used to help people often by jumping them. I drive all GM .After awhile I noticed a pattern , about 1 to 3 months after jumping another vehicle the internal regulator or the diodes would turn up bad. My theory is it overloads the Alt.

Glenn

 

[John Robinson]

Howdy all!

My Corvette has been sitting in storage for a couple of weeks at -20 degrees and has a dead battery ... SHOULD I TAKE THE RISK AND JUMP IT????

The outside temp might be -20 but the storage temp would be higher. The question you should be asking is what is wrong with the battery. Do you have a bad battery or an alternator that was not charging well when you stored the car. I have let motorcycles, lawn mowers, and a 1960 vette of my dad's sit all winter and the battery turns them over just fine. Two weeks should not deplete the battery. You also could have something draining current like a short. :confused

 

[glazounov]

Thanks for the input everyone. Hey ... funny story about push-starting the Honda! Go figure! (I grew up as a kid push-starting cars - never owned an automatic until my 27th year of car ownership ... always amazed at the people who don't get that "pop the clutch" concept...)
Thanks again!

 

[XJ6GUY]

heck back in the old day's you could push start an automatic.i used to do it all the time on my 61 ford.

 

[John Robinson]

Push Starting

When my son was road racing motorcycles I noticed a fellow with a truimph that was pushing his bike to start it and it just would not fire. Being the good guy I am I jumped in and started to push him up and down the pits. We checked the plug etc. This kept going on for about 30 min. before we discovered he had the kill switch on. Next push and it started in about 5 feet. :duh

 

[Rabbit]

... just a minute, bear with me! ......

I left out the important part. Ign "off" when hooking up the battery to the reciever battery.

Sori about that Chief!