Jump-starting any car has its hazards. Any car with a computer is in danger of the same affects of jump-starting it as the Delorean. Did you know that vehicle manufactures advise you NOT to jump-start any car that is equipped with air bags? If not done right then you an inadvertently deploy the air bags as you are jump-starting the car. Care should be taken when jump-starting any car. As long as you follow the procedures Walt outlined PLUS the ones below, you will be fine: 1. On the "Host" car connect the positive cable first to the positive side of the battery then the negative cable to the negative side of the battery. 2. On the car with the dead battery: Connect the positive cable to the positive side of the battery and connect the negative cable to the engine block or chassis (whichever will provide a good ground). The jumper posts on the Delorean in the engine compartment provide good connections. What I tend to do before connecting the Jumper cables to either car is this: I put one of the clamps onto the post (with all of the other clamps disconnected) and rock it back and forth a little. The teeth that are on the clamps will scrape away any oxidation and bite into the metal. Just be sure the other three clamps are not connected to anything. By connecting the positive cable first THEN the negative cable, you eliminate/minimize any surge that is sent into the electrical system of BOTH cars. I have seen countless amount of times people installing new batteries into their car and connecting the ground first then the positive lead and then wonder why all of their bulbs all burnt out at the same time in their dash board or why their computer fried. Steve --- In dmcnews@xxxx, "Walter" <Whalt@xxxx> wrote: > Senator, > > I think that the suggestion to only jump-start DeLoreans in extreme > emergencies is being too conservative. As long as some basic guidelines are > followed, there should be no danger of voltage spikes damaging the computer > governor. Here are my guidelines. Y'all correct me if I'm wrong and add > anything that gives more insight. > > 1) Before trying to start the parasite car, it is useful to leave the host > car running with the jumper cables connected for a while. (Then shut it off > before cranking!) This is for two reasons: First, this will help to charge > the dead battery. Even with a partial charge, any current delivered by it > will help considerably toward getting the car started. Long jumper cables > particularly with their weak electrical connections do not make good > conductors for the high current it takes to run a starter. Second, having > the host car running will provide a higher and considerably more effective > charging voltage (typically 14 volts or more) than with the host car not > running (typically 12 volts, maybe less). > > 2) Never have the host car running while cranking the parasite car. Despite > the little extra kick that this may provide, don't do it. The reason for > this is because the parasite car's starter may put an excessive load on the > host car's alternator causing it to overheat, burn out diodes, and produce > spikes as the regulator deals with the excessive load. Alternators are only > designed to produce enough current to charge the battery and run the rest of > the car. They do not have a high enough capacity or a regulator that is > meant to handle the load of starting a car. > > <SNIP>> > Walt Tampa, FL > > <SNIP>