Jump starting Civics leads to depression

[Edub]

Let me begin by stating I know this is the wrong forum... I know this. But oddly enough, they won't let me join there with my Gladiator

something weird is happening to me. On Sunday, I'm with the family getting frozen yogurts when the lady in the car next to me asked if I could give her a jump. I hook everything up and nothing. I double check. Positive cable on positive terminal, negative on the frame. Again, nothing. I then move the negative cable to the negative terminal of the battery. again nothing. I let it sit to charge, nothing. I rev my engine... all this to say that her lights would come on, radio worked, but we couldn't get a sound from her starter. not even a click. I left defeated and sorry that I couldn't help.

Fast forward to this morning. I'm dropping my kid off at school and a teacher asked if I could jump start another parent whose car has stalled in the car drop off lane. yes, this is a habit, and the teachers know to look for me as I'm always ready to help.

Again, I hook everything up. this time I get a click, but nothing more. I repeat all the steps from Sunday. still nothing. I ask for the year. it's a 2016, just like Sunday. only major difference is this on didn't have the push to start button. I even touched my cables together to make sure they were working ... big spark.

in 4 days, I've come across two civics that I couldn't jumpstart. What is it about those cars that I'm not understanding? what else could it be. in both cases the cars had just been driven.

I have jumped dozens of other cars with my setup. my wife is telling me to let it go, but as someone who is always trying to help, this one is getting to me.

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[Jefe1018]

If the starters aren’t even clicking, it could be they were bad. If the lights wouldn’t even come up on the first one at first, you might have needed to wait a few minutes. It could be one of 2,000 things really.

 

[Edub]

If the starters aren’t even clicking, it could be they were bad. If the lights wouldn’t even come up on the first one at first, you might have needed to wait a few minutes. It could be one of 2,000 things really.

I should have specified; the lights came on in both cars. the first car the starter wouldn't make a sound. the second car would click but nothing more.

 

[ShrimpHappens]

They may have an auxiliary battery for ESS that makes jumping more complicated.

 

[Edub]

They may have an auxiliary battery for ESS that makes jumping more complicated.

I didn't think about that, but wouldn't it still be a question of Positive terminal and ground?

 

[ShrimpHappens]

I didn't think about that, but wouldn't it still be a question of Positive terminal and ground?

No clue

 

[AstroZombie]

well if both batteries are dead and we only connect to the accessory battery and not the starter battery it might not pass the charge on to the starter battery. I think the light use a slow draw and the starter uses a large burst of amperage. I find it odd you had 2 civics in 24 hours asking you for a jump. Do stranded ladies often ask you for help? Maybe they pulled the starter fuse just to talk to you?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I find it odd you had 2 civics in 24 hours asking you for a jump. Do stranded ladies often ask you for help? Maybe they pulled the starter fuse just to talk to you?

Absolutely love it. You win the whole internet for the day for that one.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I even touched my cables together to make sure they were working ... big spark.

Be careful doing that - could lead to a big fuse going south. Not likely, but can happen.

Anyway, when jump starting other vehicles, you need to connect and then sit back and relax for a couple of minutes. I'd even give the Jeep throttle a bit of a boost to let the charging system on the Jeep work up to capacity.
IF those were dead batteries, you can't just connect and get in and hit the starter. They'll draw down the donor vehicle's electric system and it may take some time to get enough back into the dead batteries to allow high enough voltage for the dead car to crank..

Too may connect cables, get in and hit the key and wonder why it won't work.
Sit back and relax, let the donor vehicle's charging system build up voltage at the dead vehicle for a while - again, boost the donor vehicle's engine speed a bit.

Sounds like you did all of that, so I suspect it's more of a problem with the car - shorted battery, or dead starter and not a battery issue.

 

[Rockabillyroy]

I too like to help jump start vehicles. But I never use my own. I always carry a battery jump starter in my truck. And I have one in my wife's van as well. Never a need for pulling up vehicles or pulling out cables.

Good luck finding answer. youtube is always a good place to start.

 

[Hootbro]

Must have "AAA" tattooed on your forehead.........Just Kidding. Probably been 10+ years since someone asked me for a jump.

 

[Rahkmalla]

I always carry a battery jump starter in my truck

Yep, this is my preferred method as well. Don't have to get the vehicles close together which can often be awkward if you're trying to jump in a parking lot, also it avoids the risk of someone who insists on connecting the cables themselves because they don't want you "damaging their car" then they put them on reversed. (i wish i made this up, it happened to me once when I was too young and lacking confidence to just say "i'm the one who's helping you, either let me do it or it's not happening") Not that I would give up on that fight again, but i don't even want to invite the potential of having it.

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

I once helped a vehicle with a jump and I actually had to disconnect their battery and hook my jumpers straight to the cables to get it to start. Told them to drive straight to an auto parts store and buy a new battery ?

 

[JTHarp]

Agree with others. Sounds like bad starters. Back in my high school days I had an 81 El Camino that wouldn’t crank about every 4 starts. Carried a small hammer to tap it, worked every time. Couldn’t afford a new starter. I also carry a NoCo pack as I’ve tried to jump enough shorted batteries to know the risk of hooking my vehicle up to another…

 

[PuddleJumper]

Let me begin by stating I know this is the wrong forum... I know this. But oddly enough, they won't let me join there with my Gladiator

something weird is happening to me. On Sunday, I'm with the family getting frozen yogurts when the lady in the car next to me asked if I could give her a jump. I hook everything up and nothing. I double check. Positive cable on positive terminal, negative on the frame. Again, nothing. I then move the negative cable to the negative terminal of the battery. again nothing. I let it sit to charge, nothing. I rev my engine... all this to say that her lights would come on, radio worked, but we couldn't get a sound from her starter. not even a click. I left defeated and sorry that I couldn't help.

Fast forward to this morning. I'm dropping my kid off at school and a teacher asked if I could jump start another parent whose car has stalled in the car drop off lane. yes, this is a habit, and the teachers know to look for me as I'm always ready to help.

Again, I hook everything up. this time I get a click, but nothing more. I repeat all the steps from Sunday. still nothing. I ask for the year. it's a 2016, just like Sunday. only major difference is this on didn't have the push to start button. I even touched my cables together to make sure they were working ... big spark.

in 4 days, I've come across two civics that I couldn't jumpstart. What is it about those cars that I'm not understanding? what else could it be. in both cases the cars had just been driven.

I have jumped dozens of other cars with my setup. my wife is telling me to let it go, but as someone who is always trying to help, this one is getting to me.

I have a Tazer mini, i put it in winch mode for jumpstarts, holds 2000 rpms. Honda's don't have enough ground usually if u just hit the chassis. Now both starters could have been shot. But i've jumped many a civic just fine, but a good ground the engine/trans casing itself was needed. i usually go straight for the passenger motor mount on the block side. Also make sure your cables are of quality. too many thin cables out there wasting space.

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