Concerned about possible battery damage
 

Hello all,
I am new to the site and wanted to post a quick question with hopes of getting some insight. I am a new 06HCH owner and was in a situation the other day where I had to jump start a Jeep Cherokee. First off, we didn't jump the Jeep, either by doing it incorrectly or other reasons unknown to me. I may just be overly concerned, but wanted some assurance here.

My car was running to start with (should have had it off obviously as I have found out now), and then the jumper cables were attached to each cars battery. The jeep never started, but does anyone think I may have been able to damage my alternator, or electric battery in the rear?

The cars seems to be running fine - but wanted to see if anyone thought I should take it in to be looked at, or if anyone's had experience with jumping cars off the hybrids.

Thanks much.

Re: Concerned about possible battery damage
 

Was anybody else able to jump the Jeep?

Re: Concerned about possible battery damage
 

Yes...another honda civic (non-hybrid)...it worked but I found out that this morning the Jeeps battery was dead again. The guy got a new battery for it. I'm thinking my car is fine, but wasn't sure if the 12V battery upfront had any connection that might have fried or damaged any of the electrical parts running to the battery pack in the rear of the car.

Re: Concerned about possible battery damage
 

The HCH II does not have a traditional alternator, instead it is a belt start alternator. If you did any damage, the IMA system would already have shown a fault or would not start.

Did you connect positive to postive or postive to negative?

#

Attach the cables in the following order:

1.

Attach one end of one cable to the dead battery's positive terminal.
2.

Attach the other end of the same cable to the positive terminal of the battery in the starting vehicle.
3.

Attach one end of the other cable to the negative terminal of the battery in the starting vehicle.
4.

Attach the other end of that cable to the engine block of the car with the dead battery. Look for unpainted metal surfaces and be sure it will clear anything moving when the car starts. Do not attach the negative cable to the dead battery itself.

#

Stand back from the hood areas of the cars. Do not smoke while you're doing this. Safety goggles are always a good idea.
#

Start the car that's providing the jump start.
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Wait about five minutes, and then try to start the car with the dead battery. If it does not start, stop trying and wait a few minutes longer. Try again for no more than thirty seconds. If the car still doesn't start, chances are that it's not going to. Time to call a tow truck.
#

Remove the cable connections in the reverse order that you put them on. That means that the first disconnection is from the block, and the last is from the positive terminal of the car that has just been started.


FROM: http://autorepair.about.com/cs/doity...ljumpstart.htm

Re: Concerned about possible battery damage
 

Thanks for the info! Yea, I was thinking it would have acted a bit goofy or told me if something was not right. It had been too long since I had jump started anything, forgot how to do it. Thanks again.

Re: Concerned about possible battery damage
 

The Honda's battery is smaller than a traditional car battery and may not have had the power needed to crank the starter on the Jeep.

Unless you hooked up the cables wrong, the likelyhood of damage is zero.

Re: Concerned about possible battery damage
 

I have the same concerns. I wonder if power out (formerly cig lighter) chargers are worth it? Any informed thoughts on this?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...Fencoding=UTF8

Re: Concerned about possible battery damage
 

In the manual it describes exactly how and where to connect jump start other vehicles as well as the Civic Hybrid itself.

The HCHII, if on, will have more than enough cold cranking power to start any vehicle.