My wife's Nissan Xterra will not turn over so I tried to jump start it with my 2011 FEH's 12 volt battery. I configured the cables, turned the ignition for the Escape and then pressed the accelerator to get the engine to come on to charge the Xterra's battery. This was NOT successful, however, in getting the Xterra to turn over.

I suspect that the problem lies with the Xterra but I'm wondering if there are any tricks that I'm not aware of when jump starting FROM a hybrid. The service department from my dealership didn't know and I haven't been able to get in touch with anyone with Ford who knows. Does anyone here have any ideas?

Thanks,

Reilly

 

You could have a dead short in the Xterra battery or system. I would not advise starting the FEH or turning On the Key subjecting the DC/DC converter to expensive damage from a bad battery or system. In fact, I would disconnect the battery in the FEH completely before trying to jump start any other vehicle. It could be perfectly okay, but no where near risking damage to expensive hybrid parts that may not be covered from that kind of damage.

GaryG

 

Thanks, Gary! As I said, I did try to jump the Xterra before I wrote the message. I just made a quick trip in my FEH and it doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects.

 

A single battery can hardly overcome a dead battery with an internal short but tow truck have maybe four batteries hooked in parallel with lots of possible CCA's will.

 

just buy a battery conditioner/charger/jumpstarter from sears and save your hybrid the trouble.

 

"and then pressed the accelerator to get the engine to come on to charge the Xterra's battery"

NOTE: most if not all engine off (Auto Stop) electric drive capable hybrids do NOT have belt driven alternators.

Revving up the engine does nothing when your vehicle has a "solid state" alternator or high volt DC to 12 volt DC converter. Your DC-to-DC converter is capable of full power regardless of engine on, off, revved...

Next comes jumper cable wire gage. Most "big-box" store brands are maybe 10 gage at best. So 30 to 50 amps is about all you can get. "Professionals" will usually have something like a 0 gage welding cable for jumpers. These larger cables can carry hundresd of amps and do a much better job on deceased (shorted) or very cold discharged batteries.

 

What size do you think standard jumper cables are?

 

My jumper cables are 2ga. They are NOT Walmart ones though.
My old suburban was a recovery vehicle. So now I have high quality jumper cables and don't even know if I can use them on the Hybrid,,,darn,,,

 

My 06 MMH hybrid owners manual has the instructions. Looks like it's the standard jump start procedure. So Ford says it's okay to jump another battery.

The only change I noticed was this:

"5. Turn the heater fan on in both vehicles to protect any electrical
surges. Turn all other accessories off."
This might be standard operating procedure now a days though.

 

My bad! I thought that standard cables would be heavier but a search shows #2, #4 and even #8 ga. are common.