Car won't jump start

Nazbit

Nazbit

Nazbit

Soldato
Joined
11 Dec 2004
Posts
3,871
Hi,

My car is a 2011 focus titanium 1.6 petrol.

I've been in hospital for three weeks and probably hadn't used the car for a week before that so the battery has gone flat.

There is no power at all, no central locking, no interior lights etc.

I tried to jump start it from a Suzuki grand vitara 2.0 petrol. I connected red from positive to positive and black from other cars negative to my chassis and ran the other car for about 10 minutes at 2k rpm and I still couldn't start the car.

But then afterwards I was thinking, even with a (maybe) duff battery in the system, my car should have been taking power from the other one? Like interior lights or the ability to start the ignition and crank?

I didn't gain any power at all at any point....so I did it wrong didn't I?
 
after 3 weeks your battery should still start a car, jump starting a car will start a car even with a duff battery so id look past a dead battery....

were did you fasten to ground to? if it was a painted area then it might of not of even contact

do you or anybody you know have a test meter to make sure your battery has some volts in it
 
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I don't have a multimeter, I can get one from someone tomorrow though.

The ground was attached to painted metal, I couldn't reach the grounding point indicated by the hand book, but that was also painted metal.

Nothing happens at all when trying to start, no ignition, no lights nothing. Whole car is as dead as it can be.
 
I can follow the cable from the positive terminal to the fuse box, opened it up but there is no master fuse so to speak.

As nothing at all electrical is working on the car then it would have to be that every individual fuse had blown wouldn't it? Which seems unlikely!
 
unless 1 of the fuses then goes of inside your car which then has all fuses for everything else , electric windows , lights , central locking ect ect.

trying to guess isn't the best idea though, a test meter should find you your problem tomorrow. as you can test your battery as well as test to see were power is or isn't getting to.

if you need you car today then buy your self a multimeter from screwfix if you have one local

something that'll do that basics
http://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-mas830b-digital-multimeter-600v/75337
 
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It probably didn't get a clean negative connection if you put it on a painted surface you need to get it on bare metal, I am surprised the manual points to a painted part all the ones I have seen have been bare metal or a physical terminal. I normally try and clamp it on the alternator bracket if no other obvious point is available

Ideally you should try and charge the battery with a charger overnight
 
Why don't you just connect the -ve to the battery terminal?

I realise you can connect anywhere due to common ground, but why arse about if you know you can reach the battery? :confused:
 
The negative terminal isn't easily accessible on the Focus as the battery is under the scuttle panel. But there is an earth lead that goes straight to the strut top to the right of the battery. You can put the jump lead to there. Even with a totally dead battery that should be enough to give you dash lights etc.
 
If the battery is completely on it's arse after just a month then I'd look at just replacing it, it will likely not last through the winter anyway.
 
If you have absolutely no power anywhere on the flat vehicle with the jump leads connected as described, you probably don't have the leads connected properly.
Clamp the earth lead directly to the engine block/head if you can't find anything "unpainted"
Recheck your connections, try a different location, double check the jump leads are actually working and the cable is attached to the clamps properly.
Some of the really cheap jump leads only power up on half of the "crockclip" clamp, make sure it is that side of the clamp that firmly has metal to metal contact.

If all is good after this check, you probably have one of the main fuses blown, either from incorrectly applying the leads or something major has failed/shorted on the car in the three weeks it stood idle.
 
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There is a negative terminal "Bolt" located just to the right of the battery. It sticks out from the bulkhead and "points" towards the front of the car.

Attach the positive first then the negative but give it a wiggle and, if the contact is good, you will get a little spark.

You should turn on the fans of both cars to put a load across the batteries of both cars to help prevent any ECU damage etc when jumping cars.
 
Sounds very much like it was not making good contact, as you said you tried to connect the negative cable to a painted area. Put the negative on clean metal. Do as Richie said above, wiggle the connectors (on all connectors/connections) to see if there is a little spark.

Had this issue a couple of months ago when trying to jump my car - it looked like everything was connected properly, but I had to use the the crocodile connector to grind away at the terminal a bit to make a good connection.
 
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