You forgot to connect the negative to the good battery.

 

Worst thing i've done in my whole life to my B5:

Putting the polarity of the jump cables the other way round. Yup that means I connected + to -, - to +. Shiat.

This happened less than a week after I bought my B5. At that time I had no idea about what the hell's inside the hood of a B5 was about.

So lucky my ECU and everything still works fine right now. The AC display acts weird once in a while but other than that its all set.

 

Always make the last connection the one that grounds to the dead car somewhere away from the battery. It will spark. You don't want that to happen near a battery: especially one that has a lot of hydrogen in it. I nearly lost my face doing it in the wrong order.

 

Positive on dead battery to positive on good battery.

Negative on good battery to engine block or other very solid ground point on dead car. I have used the negative battery post besfore, but I strongly recommend you use a ground lug or other large piece of metal far away from the battery to avoid ignition of any hydrogen that may have formed and escaped the battery sheel.

 

Why not do the ground on the donor/good car last? Since the dead battery has been charged/discharged, it's the one likely to have been gassing and the one you'd like to have the spark farthest away from.

Matt

 

I've found that sometimes grounding doesn't get you a good enough connection and have had to risk going directly to the negative terminal! :nervous:

Thankfully, no mishaps yet. Ground if you can!

 

yeah, and make sure the car that you're jumping has a battery in it. I tried to jump my car and the battery was out of it..(it was dead and i had it out to exchange it for a good one, but just wanted to see if my new turbo worked) So I connected the jumper cables directly to the terminal contacts. melted my ECU.

I guess the dead battery acts as a buffer/resistor.

 

From Interstate Battery website:

http://www.ibsa.com/www_2001/conten...alk/maintenance/jump_starting.htm?mscssid=2JNFUMQ5TMBQ9NP07BJ98GK2X6NH0X3A&js=1

Saw the aftermath of an exploded lead-acid battery once...wasn't pretty. Nothing something you want to screw up.

PS: Make sure the dead battery has the correct amount of distilled water in it.

 

My father used to work in the Red Desert where, if one were stranded, one would likely wait for days before help arrived. He taught me some things that vary from conventional wisdom:

1. Check the electrolyte in the dead car's battery before doing anything. Check the level and be sure it is not frozen. If the level is too low, you don't want to jump it, until you have topped it off. If it is frozen, the battery must be replaced, jumping it will cause an explosion.

2. Start the source car before making any connections, otherwise the dead car may drain enough power to prevent the source car from starting, leaving two cars stranded instead of one. This is particularly true when it is very cold.

3. Make the last connection on the source car, because it is less likely to have a problem that generates hydrogen, so a spark is less of a problem.

4. Do not leave the jumper cables connected longer than is required to start the dead car. If there is a gremlin in the dead car's electrical system, this will reduce it's chances of affecting the source car.

 

All I can say is, after reading all of the variations on this thread :crazy: , "user beware." If the gawdam thing blows up in your face, you'll look like Mel Gibson...

not like this:

but like this:

I've used the method listed in the owner's manual of my vehicles (don't know if the VW manual addresses this or not), on the box that the Sears jumper cables came in, and shown on the Interstate Battery webpage (they were identical, so that says something) and it worked.

 

I have jumped many a dead battery. The best way I have always done things, and get a good jump everytime is the following:

Make sure the source car is ON. The alternator in the souce car is also going to help, so if you want to give the source car a little gas, it will help the processes.

Connect the positives first. Postive to the source and to the dead.

Then, connect the negatives. I have typically connected the dead battery last, and have yet to get a spark. When I have connected the source battery last, I have always gotten a spark.

Rev up the source car a bit to get the power flowing, then try to start the dead car.

(my biggest jump success to day. Ford Expedition powering/jumping a 25 foot dead motorhome )