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boosting my C 240

786 views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  malmon 
#1 ·
This might be dumb but can boosting the car wreck anything?
 
#2 ·
Boost as in jump start? Possibly. I've personally blown the main fuse on a Toyota trying to jump start one. I suppose that's why the jumper cable ground is supposed to go someplace other than the negative on the allegedly dead battery.

A friend of mine fried the ECU on a three year old Mitsubishi Diamante while jump starting someone else's car. The Mitsu was running when they tried to start the other car. The other car cranked and started right up, then they noticed the Mitsu was dead.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Benzigirl said:
This might be dumb but can boosting the car wreck anything?
If you are to jump start a car, I would suggest that you don't use another car to do it. In today's cars where there are a lot of computers and electronics, it is just possible that one of the cars might have a faulty alternator (for example). This might produce electrical spikes that can ruin either or both of the cars.

Jump starting a car using a portable power packs would be OK because there is no possibility of these electrical spikes happening (the power pack is just basically a battery).

In some Mercs, you might need two of these power packs to be able to start the car. If you have to do it with two, so be it. But by all means, avoid charging the dead Merc battery with the alternator of another car (i.e. charging the dead battery by connecting it to a car that's running).
 
#5 ·
Kirill said:
can be dangerous. But, Usually people who experience problems after jump start just don't follow the basic instructions attached to cables.

I jumped SLK few times, and I jumped Audi A6 - knock on the wood - no problems so far.

You've been lucky so far. I hope your luck doesn't run out :)

A lot of people do it the old way with cables and a lot of times, it's OK. But personally, I wouldn't take the risk. FYI, I do carry one of those power packs from Costco. They're inexpensive, very small and portable and fits in the trunk easily. And they do work!
 
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