A dead car battery will leave you stranded and unable to start your car's engine. Boosting a dead battery is fairly simple and can be done by following the simple steps outlined below.

1 - Pull the running car up close to the car with the dead battery, so that the engines are facing one another. Make sure that both cars are parked out of the way of oncoming traffic and off to the side of the road if possible.

2 - Pop the hood latch on both vehicles, which is usually located under the driver's wheel near the gas and trunk releases. Release the hood by unclasping the release located in the middle of each hood and put the hood rod in place to hold it securely in position. The hood rod will prevent the hood from falling on top of you while you work.

3 - Using the jumper cables, connect the positive cable, indicated by a plus sign or usually colored red, to the post on the dead battery. Make sure you hold each of the cables apart and avoid having them come into contact with one another while connected to any of the posts on a batter. A connected cable can send an electrical charge or spark when they touch one another so keep them spread apart at all times.

4 - Connect the positive cable at the other end to the positive post on the running car.

5 - Connect the negative post, which is indicated by a minus sign or usually colored red, and connect it to the negative post on the running car.

6 - Take the negative on the other end to a metal portion under the hood of the car with the dead battery, but not on the engine. Do not hook the negative post to the dead car battery, as you will need to ground the connection. The metal part can be a bolt screw, or part of the engine block that is unpainted metal.

7 - Start the running car and let it run for three to five minutes to charge the dead battery.

8 - After the dead battery has had a chance to charge, attempt to start the engine of the dead battery. If the engine starts let it run for forty minutes to an hour to allow the dead battery to fully charge back up.

If the dead battery doesn't turn on you might have a much larger problem that needs to be fixed by a professional mechanic, or you might need to buy a brand new batter from a company like United Battery Systems, Inc.