Jump starting my car.....?

Question

my car has been sitting in the drive for weeks now without being used. I am going to try and jumpstart it because i am driving it to an auction to sell it but the auction place is quite a bit away like maybe 40 min to 1 hr drive away. is it likely to break down because it has been just sitting there? what kind of things happen to a car when it is not used for a while? :)

Answer 1

The battery should be fine if when you jump it, let it sit plugged into the other vehicle for a while.
Gas in the tank and lines can go bad. Old gas is not good for your car. Brakes might not work as well as before.
Just be careful on the drive there, and have a person follow you just in case.
Or you could pull it to the auction.

Answer 2

First of all don't listen to "Skunkmasta". You don't need a "man" for this... just another person. Jumpstart your car while the 'good' car is NOT running. If your car is in good enough condition to run, it will start off of the other cars battery. Depending on how long it's been sitting, the gas may have gone sour, but from your post I don't think it's been that long. Check your air pressure in your tires. (don't follow the air pressure guidlines written on the side of the tire, look for a sticker on the inside of the drivers side door or in the glovebox.)
Make sure you check your oil before you go, and yes, drive it around the block a few times to make sure it's all good. It is a good idea to have someone follow you, just in case. Besides, if you sell your car, how else will you get home? Over all it appears that everyone gave you sound advice with the exception of Mr. Obnoxious telling you to "get a man". Grrr...those guys make my blood boil.
Anyway, good luck with your auction!

Answer 3

Hello,

Standing for weeks itself doesn't mean that the car need jump starting.

Jump starting: you need another car (or just another battery) with at least the same size and capabilities of your battery. You will need jump start cables to connect the batteries is parallel: with the red jump start cable, connect the POSITIVE (+) poles of the batteries. With the black cable, connect the NEGATIVE (-) poles of the batteries. Others would say, start the engine of the car that helps you, and afterwards try to start your car. But I suggest you NOT to start the car that helps you, because you bang up the other car's alternator quite fast. The other car's battery itself must be enough to jump start your car. When your engine is running, disconnect the black cable from both cars, then the red cable from both cars. Caution: don't short circuit the black and red cables, check twice before acting.

When your car was regularly serviced, I think everything should be all right even after a couple of weeks.

Unused cars in general loose some of the tyre pressure, might have some (not much!) oil/water/fuel/brake fluid leakage. The battery may discharge(or even drain). When the clutch is older, the clutch can be seized a bit, when this happens, you feel that the clutch pedal moves very hard, and it comes up slowly when released. The brakes should be tested with a couple of brakes.

Regards

Answer 4

If its just a few weeks you shouldn't have any problems except maybe a flat battery, use a set of jump leads and another vehicle, jump start your car then put the leads in the car just in case because a flat battery will take a good 20 Min's driving to get a good charge back into it and if you stall it you might not start it again without another jump start, if there was nothing wrong with the car before you parked it up then theres no reason why it should breakdown Good Luck

Answer 5

Depending how old the car is and what condition it is in it should be ok. but before you go anywhere you will have to check all the levels i.e coolant, oil, brake fluid, transmission oil Laval(if automatic). tyre pressure will be low so you must check this, the tyres may seem as if they are ok but you must check them at a garage or with a tyre pressure gauge. the brakes may grind a little for the first few applications, this is normal as the pads will be getting rid of the rust from the disks. when you put fuel in the car also put some REDEX in the tank with the fuel this will get rid of some of the debris from the fuel lines. lastly ones you have started the car the battery will need charged so leave the car running or go out for a drive down the motorway. try and not to stall it ones you have just jumped started it.

Answer 6

If you can get it started okay you shouldn't have any problems, the hand brake may be stiff and the foot brake may need to be pushed a couple of times but this is unlikely. Good luck at the auction

Answer 7

If the car starts then drive it around your nieghbourhood for a while. If it all seems to be fine then don't worry. If you need to jump the car to start it then connect up the jump leads, give the engine you're jumping from a few revs then try starting the old car.

Answer 8

only you know your car !! but once its started and warmed up it should keep going. take the leads with you just in case. best thing to do is take the car out for a little local drive before just to get the battery charged up again and make sure everything is OK.

Answer 9

Hope youve not left it in gear or with the hanbrake on, you might have to free the brakes before you do anything! a good smack with a mallet might free them? depending what age the car is you can cause trouble to the electricals, radio etc too, get a man Shonsay who knows what hes doing,its not rocket science, but will be for you,like dylan said "just like a woman" good luck 11

Answer 10

Once the car starts, let it idle for a while to make sure the oil gets distributed evenly over all the internal parts that need lubrication.

If it didn't have any major mechanical problems the last time you drove it, there shouldn't be any now.