Club 80-90 Forums

Hello

I'm a new owner of a lovely T25 & need to jump start the van for the first time.

Should I connect the negative crocodile clip to the chassis near the battery or to the battery terminal itself? There seems to be conflicting advice here.

Thank you in advance!

James

Either will be ok, whats more important is to get a good connection so which ever allows that best.
Good thick jump leads best too, you are starting a van not a nissan micra and so it needs plenty of power that thin leads struggle to deliver.

The negative should always be connected to the chassis not the battery terminal.
As you always connect the negative last and disconnect first, having it away from the battery reduces the risk of a spark igniting any hydrogen gas around the battery.

Sounds as risky as using a mobile phone in a petrol station

And my tip / technique = start the "other vehicle" up, then CAREFULLY connect up the jump leads, check THREE times you are going to get them the right way round BEFORE you actually clip the last croc clip on. Then leave it alone for 5 minutes or longer, with the "other vehicle" running at tickover (no need to rev it). Then try and start the van. This works much better than just hooking up and cranking straight away.

Reason = as Itchy points out, a lot of current goes down those cables on attempting to fire it up. The method above takes a considerable load off the cables as leaving the "other vehicle" connected and running for 5+ minutes will have forced some charge into your battery, so you get more Ummmph to the starter motor.

ghost123uk wrote:And my tip / technique = start the "other vehicle" up, then CAREFULLY connect up the jump leads,

You should always connect up jump leads with the ignition switched off especially if any vehicle is fitted with an ECU, and especially Mercs VW's Fords which have electronic dashboards/body control modules that are particular prone to commit silicone suicide.
For information the recommended way to jump start any vehicle with an ECU is to connect the jumps and leave them connected for at least five minutes preferably 15 to allow the ECU's time to come out of power down mode before starting either vehicle.

^^^ Good to know, but flip, it's not like it was in my day is it

ghost123uk wrote: it's not like it was in my day is it

Nope, there are now different procedures you have to go through usually waiting for certain length off time before you can disconnect a battery to allow the ECU's to power down.

Thanks for the heads up, I didn't know this, havent had to jump start anything for years but I will be more careful if I do.

Put a new battery in might help.

I find the door catch gives a good earth and is convenient as long as you don't need to shut the door whilst starting and open door means little build up of hydrogen so little risk when you disconnect it
always connect earth to chassis, on a car I find the alternator body best if accessible, otherwise the bolts for the top plate on the damper are usually good