You've parked your car with the lights on, returning to a run-down battery.Fortunately, there are jumper cables in the trunk. All you need is some kind soul with a healthy battery and a few minutes for a jump start.

Not so easy to find, since many people are intimidated by jump starting a car, especially someone else's. They may have heard about sparks, explosions and damage to electronic components when clamps were installed incorrectly. A well-meaning passer-by can offer to help, connect the cables improperly and do serious damage to one vehicle or the other.

The directions that come on most jumper cables and information in your vehicle owner's manual warn the user to follow specific instructions when making connections. These five steps are:

1.       Connect the red cables to the positive (+) posts on each battery;

2.       Connect the black cable to the negative (-) post on the good battery;

3.       Connect the other end of the black cable to an unpainted part on the engine block, as far as possible from the battery.

4.  Start the car with the good battery and let it run at high idle for a few minutes before attempting to start the disabled vehicle.

5.       Remove cables in reverse order.

Following this procedure should cause no damage, no explosion and no problem.

Car Care Council suggests another jump start option that totally eliminates getting a boost from one vehicle to another, putting the driver in control of the situation. You can do it yourself with a self-contained power source, a compact device with its own rechargeable 12-volt battery, cables and virtually foolproof instructions.

Once started, can your car recharge its own battery? It depends upon the age and condition of the battery and how much driving you'll do before turning off the engine again. In most cases a few miles at normal speed will bring a battery back to useable condition.

A big factor in battery performance is outside temperature. A fully charged battery at 80 degrees F may lose a third of its power when the temperature dips to 32 degrees F.  To make matters worse, due to thickening of the oil, it can take 50% more battery power to start the engine under those temperature changes.

The Council offers a brochure, entitled, "A Roadside Emergency: Would You Know What To Do?". For a free copy send a stamped, self addressed envelope to Car Care Council, Department WE1-EM, 42 Park Drive, Port Clinton, OH 43452. Additional information is available on the Council's web site at www.carcarecouncil.org.

Brought to you as a public service by Car Care Council. Visit the Council's web site: www.carcarecouncil.org.