All posts tagged jump-start

Fixing A Bad Ground Cable

Over the past one year, I have been stranded several times during the rain where the car does not start up and I need a jump start.

At first I thought it was the battery but the battery was fine as per the auto-parts store and I could recharge it fully using a trickle charger.

However, turns out the negative battery cable was loose each time, and the jump starter clamps would make it tight and it would start.

This is the problem referred to as bad ground in various forums, and it just means that you need to replace your negative battery cable with a new one.

This post describes how to and the OEM part numbers.

Jump-starting the Porsche Boxster S

First I added 2 gallons of gasoline in the Boxster. Then I tried to start it with the key in the ignition.

The Boxster was completely dead. So probably the battery was dead and needed a jump-start.

The battery is in the front trunk and the trunk does not have a manual lever to open it, in the event that the battery is dead. The Boxster fuse box (Figure 1) has a special red terminal (Figure 3) for a spare battery to turn on just enough electronics in the car to pop the front trunk. Once the front trunk is popped, you can access the battery and jump-start the full car.