Is is bad for your car battery if you if you give people a jump once a week? ( sometimes people are forgot to

Question

turn off the headlight...)

Answer 1

in my opinion NO,,,,but if your car is over charging it will only explode,,,

MY RULES in jump starting a car,,
my car on idle,,,,the other car key off,,,,connect cable and leave it there for a minute or three,,, ,while talking to the owner to buy a new battery or have the car fix......

turn off my car,,,,start the other car,,,the moment the other car start ,,,i remove the cable,,,

i never have any experience that jumping another car will damage any thing ,,,if i follow my rules

Answer 2

Stop being a good samartian unless you like buying alternators for your car.

Jumping another car puts a LOT of strain on YOUR alternator. Think of this: your car is sitting there idling. You attach jumper cables to a dead battery. Your alternator immediately jumps to full output, causing a lot of heat. You're still at idle, so it can't cool off as well.

Plus, you run the risk of damaging the computer in your car once the other cars starts up and causes a surge.

All in all, not a good idea. Tell your friends to get AAA.

Rick

I'm a retired ASE Master/L-1 Technician. I still keep current with the latest automotive technology. Visit my blog for cool articles and TSB's: http://free-auto-repair-advice.blogspot.com

Answer 3

Depends. I have an optima battery I don't even have to start my car. With good cables the 2nd car has no hesitation to start. Unfortunately the battery's cost 180$

Answer 4

I agree with the first answerer.

The biggest problem is the "dead" car reving up the engine as soon as their engine starts, and overloads YOUR electrical system with a voltage spike with the cables still connected.

Answer 5

No, shouldn't be bad at all. unless you continuously let your battery drain as well.