For those of you who have never had the nasty experience of getting ready to get in your car and finding out your battery is dead, this article is a guide to help you fix that problem if and when you ever have the misfortune of the incident happening to you for the first time. It's not the end of the world if it does happen, but it certainly can be frustrating if and when it does.

To start with, make sure you have everything you need. These include a pair of jumper cables, (make sure they are clean without rusty ends, and that the wires are not exposed), another vehicle with a similar battery to yours, (never try to jump start your car with a motorcycle, snowmobile, lawn mower, or tractor battery, these are normally 6 volt batteries compared to your vehicle being a 12 volt battery) and it is recommended to use goggles and gloves to protect yourself with while jump-starting.

Something to remember is to never try to jump start a battery that looks like it's been leaking, or is cracked, and also don't try to jump start a battery that the fluid may be frozen in. Don't use a cell phone near it, and don't smoke. These are all conditions that can cause very adverse effects, such as an explosion!

Make sure that you have everything you need and that you've eliminated the dangers mentioned above, then follow the steps below.

Park the second vehicle close enough that you can run the cables between the two safely.

Attach the positive (red) cable to the positive (red) battery terminal, and attach the negative to the negative battery terminal. Do this on both vehicles. If one doesn't have the negative post available, use a metal point close to the battery to ground with.
Once attached, start the vehicle with the good battery, and let it run for about 30 seconds or so before trying to start the vehicle with the dead battery. Try it then. If it doesn't start, wait another 30 seconds or so, and try again to start it. You should get it to start right up this time!

Something to consider investing in for the future after this experience, is a portable battery charger. There are a couple of different types, and several different brands to pick from. If you want something that you don't have to worry about plugging in, look for the battery operated models, or the hand crank type models. You can carry these types in the trunk of your car for added security. If you want to slowly charge a battery that you don't need to start right away, there are other models that are electricity operated, that you can choose from. These have options such as quick start, which is a jump start mode, and deep cycle modes as well, for both 12 volt and 6 volt batteries. This will be handy if you need to keep something charging that doesn't seem to hold a charge until you can purchase a new battery.

Bio: David works for www.cashforcar.org, since he works with cars he has a lot of experience dealing with simple car problems. He also provides a service that can help you junk a car for cash.