Jump start a positive ground car

Joe W. · Jul 2, 2012

I have a positive ground car, MGA, and wonder if I can jump start it with a negative ground S-10 pickup without blowing something up? I'm going to be storing the car in a place without electricity and won't be able to use a battery charger when I need to start it up in a few months.

in-too-deep · Jul 2, 2012

Take the battery out and keep it charged at home.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 2, 2012

positive to positive, negative to negative, don,t let bumpers ect touch and you will have no problems

rrlund · Jul 2, 2012

It won't hurt anything as long as the vehicles aren't touching.

RWK in WI · Jul 2, 2012

I know the S10 is 12 volt but I wonder if the MG is 6 volt or 12 volt.
if 12 volt then as other have said neg to neg & pos to pos and nothing touching. If 6 volt then it is a whole different situation and new directions and cautions apply. if it is 6 volt and you jump from 12 volt you could cause major damage.

John T · Jul 2, 2012

Sure, one battery can be used to jump another battery (so long as you hook + to + and - to -)regardless which battery terminal just happens to be tied to some huge hunk of iron. As posted below however, dont let the vehicle frames come in contact. USE CAUTION, Its not good to create a spark near the top of a battery where expolsive gasses can be present ya know...........

John T

old · Jul 2, 2012

I always get a laugh out of the + ground problem because it is all in the person mind that is the problem. You ALWAYS and FOREVER only hook up to jump start something + to + and - to - so it does not matter if it is + or - ground. Now if it is 6 volts NO you can not but that would be a very old MG to be 6 volts

ShadetreeRet · Jul 2, 2012

I think that in-too-deep has the best idea. Take the battery out and keep it charged at home. I used to jump a 6v tractor with a 12 volt battery, but the 12 volt was not in a vehicle and I never connected it to the 6v battery. I grounded one jumper and touched the other to the cable terminal on the starter. However, I doubt if it would be that easy on an MGA.

John B. · Jul 3, 2012

If you take the battery out and keep it charged at home. Be careful when you put it back in the vehicle. This is when the explosive gasses are most present and if you create a spark it's gonna explode. My dad years ago took his combine battery out for the winter to keep it charged. Well he needed it to jump a tractor and his last connection he made on the combine battery and it exploded. He's lucky he still has his sight. I read all the posts here and no one mentioned;
ALWAYS and I say ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES WHEN WORKING WITH BATTERIES.

teddy52food · Jul 3, 2012

Never make the last connection on a battery post!

Philip Doolittle · Jul 3, 2012

Thefellow with the + to + and - to - is correct ! However, the factory origional MGA"s had Two (2) 6 volt connected in series for 12 volt system with the positive (+) terminal grounded Why,? because it makes the spark plug adjusted part erode not the center insulated terminal erode each time it fires. The two 6 volt batteries balanced the car weight distribution. $ usually resulted in a sigle 12 volt battery being used in the replacement market in the area behind and under the seats They are getting rare these days-- An old MG factory mechanic.

Jump start a positive ground car

Joe W.

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in-too-deep

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Anonymous-0

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rrlund

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RWK in WI

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John T

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old

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ShadetreeRet

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John B.

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teddy52food

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Philip Doolittle

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