Short answer is yes! Although, you are trying to help, it may be dangerous as it may cause a battery explosion. Batteries in vehicles contain hydrogen gas that can explode if sparks reach the battery. Moreover, car batteries also contain acid, which may splash on you if you are not careful and cause extreme damage if you are not wearing protective gear. Not only it is harmful to you and those near you, but also to your vehicle. The danger occurs if you other party is not familiar with the jumpstart procedure, where they may do things like rub the cables together, which will result in high voltage that may end up damaging the electrical system or other major components of your vehicle.
There are a few ways however to minimize these hazards and to prevent yourself and the ones around you from injury. Smoking itself is injurious to health, but if you still do, it is definitely you do so when a jumpstart is in progress. Furthermore and something most people ignore is to wear protective gear. If you don’t have access to protective clothing, the basic gear you should carry and wear during a jumpstart is protective eyewear. Next aspect is to ensure that the vehicles involved in the jumpstart operation are not in contact with each other, even the cables are short or you simply don’t have enough room to fit the vehicles.
The Proper Jumpstart Procedure
Regardless of the weather conditions or anything else, make sure that your vehicle is turned off completely. Most jumper cables are color coded or should be where red indicates positive and must be connected to the corresponding terminal on the vehicle with the dad battery. Connect one end of the black cable to you’re the negative connector of your (good) battery, and the other end to a strong ground on the other (affected) vehicle such as an engine bracket or metal holding, but not any painted parts.
When making the initial connections, it is important to NOT make the last connection to the dead battery itself so do not connect the black wire to the ground first, and then connect the red cable to the node on the dead battery. In most cases, the last connection that you make usually produces a spark, which is a significant hazard in itself so it is best to keep it away from the battery. In terms of connecting the cables, make sure they do not come in contact with each other during the jumpstart process especially the fan and pulleys on both vehicles.
Once you’ve carefully connected the cables, start your vehicle (good battery), and rev on the engine while it is idle for at least 2-3 minutes, before attempting to start the other vehicle (dead battery). This will buy enough time for the affected vehicle to gain some level of charge, and just enough for it to start up. When the vehicle with the dead battery starts, disconnect the jumper cables from both the vehicles. Although the dead back and running again, it is still not fully recovered and to charge it completely, the vehicle needs to be run continuously for at least 20-30 minutes. This time may vary depending on the vehicle and how low the battery power was to begin with.
If the vehicle the affected vehicle doesn’t startup easily or doesn’t startup at all, then have it looked at professionally rather than performing actions that could prove to be hazardous.
