Can A Standard ignition Car get jump started by a car With a Keyless Ignition

li-ion packs keep their charge for a long time. That’s a big difference in li-ion vs lead acid. I have a SLA jump pack though. Don’t own a li-ion unit. I assume u do not keep it plugged into charger 24/7. I would use a jump pack before cables. But, if u have cables, go for it.

A good solution in very cold weather is to carry a Lithium Ion battery pack. They are small and powerful and fit in the glove box. Jump starting with those is safe and easy.

Proper maintenance and you will never need a jump start. That includes replacing the battery after 5 years.

The only times I needed a jump start were about 20 years ago when my Jetta had a battery drain problem, and then I called AAA.

I’d say the vast majority of the people in my circle (people I live near, or work, my wife’s family, and probably half my family) know NOTHING about cars. And don’t want to know anything about cars. People set priorities in their life.Knowing how to fix cars isn’t one of them.

It’s hard to tell whether you say that as a positive or a negative thing, but I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. Like you say, people set priorities in life.

Some people pay for AAA coverage, some people fix their own flat tires and dead batteries. One isn’t necessarily better than the other. It depends on who you are. Some people call a plumber for a leaky toilet, some people fix them themselves.

I’m quite proficient in automotive electrical and electronics. But when it comes to computers at home or at work, I refuse to deal with them. I’ll load paper and toner in the printer, but that’s it. I expect–I need–to have the office and shop computers wake up and work properly at the touch of a button. I have no time, patience, or inclination to mess around with software updates, backups, disk cleanups, upgrades or whatever. All that does is take away from the things I need to do in my life. So I have someone who takes care of all that. I pay him what he needs to keep my computers running. And he pays me what I need to keep his cars running. Works for everyone.

Replacing a battery ever 5 years in the North East is foolish. I’ve NEVER had a battery last less then 7 years in the North. While cold weather preserves battery life it also shows when a battery is getting old and tired. When a battery starts showing signs of aging (slow turn-overs)…then replace it.

Mike: ok, 7 years. But I’d rather be proactive than risk a non-start.

When ever a battery of mine died…it usually started showing signs (aka engine turning over slower). In the south…batteries just die. Then first cold weather and and engine turns over slower…I replace the battery. I haven’t had a battery fail on me in decades.

ASE, I don’t think of it as positive OR negative. It just is. A great many people who know nothing about cars know a great deal about other things. Doctors, dentists, lawyers, electronics people, architects, cooks, financial experts, and countless other areas of expertise are necessary to make the world work. I would never criticize any of them for not knowing about cars. I know almost nothing about any of their fields.

The OP’s original question prompted me to look in the owners’ manual of our car that has keyless ignition. There was indeed a section on jump starting; if memory serves, it was the exact same process written in all the other places I’ve read. So, in theory, I can jump start this car. That doesn’t mean that I should.

When a battery starts showing signs of aging (slow turn-overs)…then replace it.

I go a little further than that for most of my customers, that is the ones that expect me to maintain their cars to the level that they don’t even have to think about that. Batteries in cars less than 3 years old don’t get tested, they just don’t fail that soon. Batteries 3 to 7 years old are tested and recommended for replacement depending on the results. Batteries over 7 years old are recommended for replacement without any testing, because the results are a crapshoot. an 8 year old battery can test good today and fail tomorrow. It’s not worth the risk.

@MikeInNH you or I can go out to bring a car into the shop and tell it needs a battery by the way it cranks. I would say very few customers can do the same.

Proper maintenance and you will never need a jump start.
Gee, it must be nice to be infallible, and never, ever leave your lights on when in a rush. Tell us how you do it! Does this also mean you're incapable of forgetting a S.O.'s birthday/anniversary? :wink:

Actually, the Forster I can leave the lights on and they turn off when I turn the ignition off. My previous Passat, it buzzed if I left the lights on.

But let me modify that to “Proper maintenance and you will rarely need a jump start”

Most cars have some loud reminders when you leave the headlights on.

One time, however, I left the dome light on in my car after parking it at the airport leaving on a one week trip. I had to call my wife to make the trip to the airport and turn it off as the battery would likely have ben dead after my return.

This happened 30 or so years ago and she still occasionally reminds me of it.

I'd say the vast majority of the people in my circle (people I live near, or work, my wife's family, and probably half my family) know NOTHING about cars. And don't want to know anything about cars. People set priorities in their life.Knowing how to fix cars isn't one of them.
1) The OP specifically mentioned *wanting* to jump start her car, so that makes all the "most people don't know a battery from a hole in the ground" moot, for her. She either knows, or can be bothered to learn.
  1. You imply that a mechanical understanding (of the 2-ton hunk of metal you put your loved ones into, and haul heiney down the highway) is a “personal choice,” and exists in a moral vacuum. Nothing could be further from the truth! Part of gaining a commercial driver’s license/commercial pilot’s license, is a solid understanding of the mechanics and physics involved. Now, there is no mandatory “systems class” for a lowly non-CDL…largely due to the hideously low standards involved in getting the license…but that lack of institutional rigor hardly means “it’s all good” to be mechanically clueless of the systems that keep you and your loved ones alive.

How often do we hear people say the “steering wheel locked” when what actually happened was they lost steering assist, secondary to engine failure? Is it not morally virtuous in knowing a properly-functioning brake vacuum reservoir allows for two presses of the brakes before loss of power assist? If a CDL holder didn’t understand how air brakes worked, or how to verify the “glad hands” are properly connected…isn’t that morally suspect? Similarly, isn’t it morally suspect for a non-CDL driver to have no concept of brake fade, how to counter it…and with no desire to exert any effort to learn?

This isn’t computing, where treating it as a “black box” appliance merely increases the odds of a Blue Screen–ignorance of the systems installed on the car, and the physics involved, slightly increases the odds of bad things happening to you, a loved one, and/or somebody you share the road with. I cannot in any way accept the proposition that mechanical ignorance is “morally neutral” in such a scenario.

There’s nothing wrong with knowing nothing about cars as long as one realizes that cars, like pets, or may other things require CARE. A friend of my wife is a retired medical practitioner, and she’s had Mazdas for the last 32 years. She works out a maintenance schedule with the dealer and sticks to it religiously. She also carries an AAA card.

To my knowledge, she’s never been stranded and gives her old cars to her kids.

ASE, I wholeheartedly agree with the philosophy of getting a new battery every five or six years even if the old one isn’t showing its age… There are things that wear out even if they don’t give us warning, and it’s prudent to replace them occasionally. Batteries, belts, coolant, and brake fluid are among them. There are other things that won’t let us know either unless we’re paying attention, but WILL let us know if we are. Tires, and even brake pads are in that category. I can tell when the brake pads are getting low just by the level of the fluid in my reservoir… and checking fluids regularly is a part of good maintenance. There are a whole lot of posts we get here from people who have catastrophic failures simply because they weren’t paying attention to the basics.

Meanjoe, there are no absolutes in life. Life happens to us no matter how diligent we are. We all realize that. There’s no need to be nasty about it. I should add that your implication that everyone should know how cars work has no more validity than saying everyone should be able to repair their own furnace. Or fill their kid’s teeth. Or be nutritional experts. Cars are not the only important thing in life, and there are millions of people out there who have zero interest in how cars work. Fortunately, they have knowledge of equally important subjects that I know little or nothing about.

Meanjoe, there are no absolutes in life. Life happens to us no matter how diligent we are.
Yup, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take every advantage to "shave" the percentages in your favor. Unless you buy into the whole "if it's your fate; it's your fate, and there's nothing you can do about it" malarkey!
There's no need to be nasty about it.
Huh? I'm coming from a loving place: if my blunt assessment jolts just ONE person free of their lassitude; if they come to realize they can and should do anything possible to shave the percentages--then I've potentially saved a life; theirs or possibly somebody they care about. That's love; a very "tough" love, yes, but still...
I should add that your implication that everyone should know how cars work has no more validity than saying everyone should be able to repair their own furnace...
Not *everyone*, TSMB, just every *motorist*!

Everybody should, at least, understand what CO is, and how to predict if a furnace is susceptible to killing your and/or your loved ones. There’s a moral obligation there. There’s also a moral obligation to ID grossly unsafe wiring…and other assorted “basic stuff, around the house, that wants me dead” items. I see no moral obligation to know what fork goes with dessert, or similar “not likely to kill anyone” items. That IS a personal preference.

Isn’t there a cost/benefit to be done here?

The chances of furnace CO killing me are virtually nil. The chances of me looking ill-mannered by using the wrong flatware at a banquet are much higher.

If I spent time trying to shave the advantages in my favor by gaining a working understanding of every appliance or mechanism in my life I’d never accomplish anything for all the time spent.

I don’t need to understand what CO is or how to predict is a furnace is going to kill me. That’s the purview of the heating company that I hire to service it.

Customers don’t need to understand how a battery works or how to predict its failure. That’s what they hire me to do.

@MikeInNH you or I can go out to bring a car into the shop and tell it needs a battery by the way it cranks. I would say very few customers can do the same

Then before every winter get the battery checked from a trusted mechanic. Just replacing a perfectly good battery is not my idea of proper maintenance.

@MikeInNH I bought a $30 battery load tester and it tells me the voltage and the cranking load it can handle which shows how it will perform in cold weather. So far my 9 year old battery is still in the “green” area of the scale, which is calibrated to reflect the battery size.

However, the minute I’m in the slow cranking mode in cold weather, the battery goes. The time interval depends much on your driving patter; highway driving will draw juice mainly from the alternator. If you live in a moderate climate, the battery will last much longer.

Where I live all new cars are shipped with “heavy duty” batteries. These don’t necessarily last longer but ensure better cold morning starts.