Monday Maintenance Tip: How To Safely Jumpstart Your Car

Be kind to your battery

If you inadvertently leave your lights on and drain your battery, take the following precautions to prevent damage to the battery and the starter when jump-starting your car:

• Don’t risk causing the battery to explode. With both cars off, connect a positive cable end to the positive battery terminal of the dead battery.
• Connect the other positive cable end to the positive terminal of the source battery.
• Connect a negative cable end to the negative terminal of the source battery.
• Attach the remaining negative cable to unpainted metal on the car engine (as far from the dead battery as possible).
• Wait a few minutes and try to start the disabled car. If it doesn’t start, start the source car and then try starting the dead one again.
• When the car starts, be careful to disconnect the cables in the reverse order.
• If the car still doesn’t start, don’t keep trying to charge it or you are liable to damage the starter. Bring the battery to an automotive shop to see if it can be recharged.
• Even if you’re successful, ensure a full recharge by hooking up the battery to a charger overnight or by driving the car for 5 or 10 miles (8 to 16 km).

 

Courtesy of Reader's Digest.

Happy Friday! Go have a fantastic weekend!

This 1960 Dodge Phoenix Is The World's Most Beautiful Custom Car

This 1960 Dodge Phoenix is the world's most beautiful custom car—at least according to the judges at the Sacramento Autorama, who chose the Phoenix from 450 custom cars on display.

Built by Australian custom car king Justin Hills, the one-off Phoenix reportedly cost over $175,000 in parts and labor and took about two years to complete.

Courtesy of Complex Rides.

Dodge Partners With SyFy On “Defiance” Dodge Charger

Dodge has partnered with SyFy and Trion Worlds as the exclusive sponsor of the highly anticipated new series Defiance which features a futuristic Dodge Charger as its hero vehicle. The television series also has a unique online game component that will feature a Dodge Challenger.

Defiance debuts tonight on SyFy alongside the tie-in video game that rolled out April 2nd. The two allow Dodge the unique opportunity to introduce co-branded advertising across multiple platforms at the same time. It also means they can target customers they see as being more socially engaged.

The television series and the online game can each stand independently, but are designed best to work together. This blending of television and online gaming is something that’s never before been attempted. What happens on the show will have an impact on the game, and what happens in the game influences the show.

Although set in the year 2046, the Defiance Dodge Charger stays true to its roots and looks very much like the vehicle that’s on the road today. It has been given a few exterior modifications that help it manage the greatly transformed world of Defiance but it’s still completely recognizable.

There will actually be two different Dodge Chargers featured on the television show as the vehicles driven by main character Nolan who is the “law-keeper” in the city of Defiance. Considering the number of police officers that actually drive the Dodge Charger in the real world of today, it looks like this particular part of the future hasn’t changed much.

You won’t see either of the cars on screen tonight, but they will debut in mid-May during episode six and will become integral to the show’s storyline. Once the cars make their on-screen and in-game debuts, Dodge plans to release a special co-branded television spot along with a social gaming experience and a contest.

Courtesy of TFL Car.