I was returning home kinda late and decided to indulge in some fast food. I drove down the street and parked overlooking a major intersection for the area. It’s a 4 way stop light with multiple lanes for each road. On one side of the intersection was a stopped car that had apparently just made it through the intersection but was no longer moving. It was in a middle lane but it was late enough that he wasn’t interfering enough with traffic for most to care, simply driving by him and giving him dirty looks. The headlights, running lights and flashers going, if not for them the car would have been hard to see. It was dark out and raining. Street lights in the area but I wouldn’t consider it a safe place to be. The apparent owner of the car was had his cell phone out and was stand at half in the car with the drivers door open.
My thoughts were ‘that guys a fucking idiot.’ If my car broke down in such a place my first instinct would be to get it the hell out of the intersection. If he had been attempting that I would have been inclined to help, but the stupidity of his position made me more inclined to just avoid the stupid. Maybe the car can’t move and he couldn’t do anything about it but standing with one leg in the car and the door open is just asking to get clipped.
Ten minutes later another car shows up, turns around down the street and lines up hood to hood with the stalled car. They pop the hood on the stalled car, stare at it for a few minutes and then out comes the jumper cables.
So apparently upon examining a car with it’s headlights on and flashers running they decided it needed a jump? What leaps of logic do people follow to come to such a conclusion?
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this type of behavior either, driving down the highway I’ll occasionally see people attempting to jump start cars, I’m always curious on seeing that, what percentage of cars break down on the highway and the solution would be a jump start. I’d wager a guess it’s pretty freaking low. If you made it onto the highway I think the chances the problem is your battery are next to nil. Maybe an alternator but in which case jumping the car isn’t going to get you much further then pushing it.
So what say you? Do you or people you know attempt to jump start your car when it stops working? Do you know the circumstances in which a jump start would be effective? Is there some magic involved here that would fix a broken fuel pump for un-seize an engine? Why do so many people try this?
Do these same people start applying tourniquets if the see someone choking? Sure jump starting a car may help with a specific problem but it doesn’t solve all problems as many seem to think.
Needless to say the group I watched attempt to jump the car had no success. A cruiser showed up and swore at them a bit. The second car left and the cop pushed the pushed the broken car into the adjacent parking lot.
Because that’s the only thing they can do. Except they should push the car off to the side first. There may be times when the engine won’t turn over because the battery is low, and the lights are on. It’s dark and raining, so they should leave the lights on until they push the car out of the intersection. So basically they have no idea what to do, but they’ll try the only thing they can think of. At least they left the lights on while the car was in the intersection.
The only times I’ve ever jumped a car was when it was obvious that that was what was most likely needed; usually because the lights had been left on or at least the starter was barely cranking or not cranking at all.
No, I would not jump a car that just suddenly stopped running. Especially when the lights etc. work. People who do that obviously don’t have a clue about what is going on under a hood. Not that I’m anything close to a mechanic. I barely know what’s going on, but I do know that much.
Of course, I wouldn’t try to jump a car at all now since I have a hybrid and I’m not at all sure if it would work or if it might result in some kind of damage or injury.
I have never seen this behavior. I’ve only seen people who actually needed a jump (in parking lots, usually) getting said jump. I think I would laugh heartily if I saw someone in the OP’s description.
Years ago my brother and I were headed up I-5 in his Pinto station wagon. It began to run a little rough, then died. We pulled over and opened the hood – the alternator mount had gotten loose and let the belt go slack. The battery discharged until it didn’t have enough juice to spark the plugs. Amazingly, he had a socket set in the car, so we tightened the belt and fixed the primary problem, but then we had to sit and wait until someone stopped to help us… someone with jumper cables.
When I was a new driver, my car broke down…so I checked the oil. I wanted to do something and that was the only thing I knew how to do. Feel free to point and laugh at me!
Automotive professional here. IMHO two things are going on here.
Cars are more reliable than ever.
Drivers as a group are less knowledgeable about their cars.
So now when the car acts abnormally the average driver is less likely to know the proper course of action.
I regularly see minor problems turned into major ones by the customer’s inaction. Example:
Got a low coolant message came on and the temp gauge started to go up to H. Kept driving and then the engine quit.
Congratulations. You get to buy a whole engine instead of a hose, 2 clamps and a gallon of antifreeze.
This is one reason I get such a smile out of the outrage here over new cars not coming with a spare tire. I can’t recall the last time I saw a driver changing their own flat. 99%+ percent of drivers are going to call the auto club anyway and the AC has tow trucks which can take you to a tire store.
Just saying…
Last winter I was having battery problems. One night, leaving work, I had to jump my car off the jump box I carry with me, and it stopped again on the way home and I had to do it again. The next morning I bought a new battery, and I had no further problems.
In short, jumping a car that stopped in the road can be the right (short-term) thing to do.
I don’t know if this is just my own wacky perspective, but it does seem like changing your own tire is something that disappeared almost over night: when I was a teen learning to drive in the 90s, it was something we learned how to do. It was something we had seen our parents (or at least our dads) do. It wasn’t even a big deal. Now, almost no one I know changes their own tire if they get a flat–not even middle aged men. It really baffles me.
I still change my own tire when need be. I hate dealing with service people (my hang up). Also, we are a one car family, so trips to the shop really need to be at least a little coordinated if possible.
As far as changing tires; I’ll admit I haven’t done it in years, although I’ve done it for myself and others in the past. The auto club is just too convenient, so why risk injuring myself or damaging the car somehow?
Also, nowadays it seems like you have to have the special jack for that particular car and have to place it in exactly the right spot. It’s just less hassle to have a professional do it and let him be responsible for any damage.
I think I stopped doing it myself after I reached the stage where I could drive nice cars rather than junkers. That’s the same time I pretty much stopped fooling around under the hood myself except for obvious stuff like washer fluid, wiper blades, and burned out bulbs.
a battery with one weak cell might be able to supply enough current to run the lights and stuff, but once the starter tries to draw a couple hundred amps it’ll fall on its face. A jump can help in this case.
Also, if the battery terminals are corroded, you may get intermittent power but not enough of a connection to crank the engine. Checking (and cleaning, if necessary) battery terminals is a good annual maintenance task for your vehicle. It’s simple, quick, and they even make a special tool just for the purpose.
Just for the record, I changed a tire on the side of the road a month ago. Do people really not do that themselves anymore? It never even occurred to me to call somebody else.
Oh, and I haven’t bought a car in almost ten years. They don’t even come with spare tires anymore? WTF?
This could happen if there is some sort of bad connection in the starting circuit, where only a fully-juiced battery will start the vehicle. Or maybe the starter is going, and only will function under full voltage. A jump start has been the answer a number of times with vehicles I have driven.
I’ve started cars that had a bad ground coming off the battery. the lights took ground from the frame but the engine took ground from the engine. Pretty unusual.
