Weird behavior when jump starting.

[rickjames8]

So I left my lights on the other night and killed the battery. It was completely dead.

When I attempted to jump start the car with my wife's car (2012 Prius), I hooked up the cables, attempted to crank the car, but it barely had enough juice to move the starter. So then I started her car to let it charge a bit, and being a Prius it doesn't really idle. All the same I left it in this state for 10 minutes while I went inside, hoping that some current would flow in to the DeLorean battery.

I came back out, left the cables attached and cranked. It cranked at a speed much faster than normal, which caused some difficulty starting. Normally my car cranks up within 2 seconds of hittting the starter. This attempt probably took 8-10 seconds. I didn't notice the smoke coming from the engine bay until I got out to disconnect the cables. There wasn't a lot, and it dissipated faster than I could determine it's source. It smelled like burnt fuel, not burn wires. I drove the car for 15 minutes afterwards with no issues, and have now driven it to work twice, as well as several errands, all with zero change to the way it starts or runs. I feel lucky for that.

Any one have an idea of what happened?
Is there a special procedure for jumping a Delorean?

other keywords for future searches: jumper jumpstart jumpstarting

[DMCMW Dave]

Any one have an idea of what happened?
Is there a special procedure for jumping a Delorean?


No special procedure for jumping a DeLorean, but are you supposed to do that with a Prius? Any warnings in the Prius manual against doing this? It implies that the battery system on the Prius puts out something more than 14.4 volts.

[rickjames8]

No special procedure for jumping a DeLorean, but are you supposed to do that with a Prius? Any warnings in the Prius manual against doing this? It implies that the battery system on the Prius puts out something more than 14.4 volts.

So the Prius has the Hybrid battery, as well as a standard 12v battery for starting the car. I have used it to jump my Honda Odyssey before without any odd effects. But now that you mention it, that may the source of the weirdness. For some reason, my mind always goes to the DeLorean when I try to think of which would be the quirky car in any equation. :)

[Lwanmtr]

That is something interesting to find out...if hybrids like that are wired differently making jumping require a different procedure.

[rickjames8]

No special procedure for jumping a DeLorean, but are you supposed to do that with a Prius? Any warnings in the Prius manual against doing this? It implies that the battery system on the Prius puts out something more than 14.4 volts.

Hmm. It looks like you may be semi-correct. The Prius chat rooms seem to hint that it's not a good idea to jump anything off the 12v battery. But they say it's because there is not enough voltage. Apparently that battery is just used for running accessories and it doesn't have the juice to jumpstart another car. So my symptoms are from the Prius for sure, just not sure why/how.

The dead battery was timed perfectly just 4 hours after I lent my van to a friend for a week. :( Otherwise that would have been my go-to charge vehicle.

We can consider this case closed. Thanks!

[Lwanmtr]

Book 'em Dano

[DMC5180]

You can jump start with a Prius. You use the Jump start connections under the hood. You Power up the Prius, then the onboard Inverter that charges the 12v battery from the HV battery will output 13.9 v at a steady state. Let it sit 5-10 minutes with the jumpers hooked to the dead/low battery. Then you can crank it fairly easily.

As for your Smoke, I say you probably flooded the engine when you tried starting it earlier. The flooded condition was likely the reason for the smoke. Once you cleared it out everything was back to normal.


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[David T]

If the battery in the Delorean was completely dead, jumping it only got the motor to run, the battery is still empty-to-very low. Even driving it for a while will not bring it back to full charge. The thing to do is to slowly charge the battery back up to full charge with a trickle charger. Discharging a battery all the way is very detrimental to it's longevity. Once recharged it should be tested to see how much life is left in it. If it is over 5 years old you should probably replace it. As for jumping it with a Prius, if you did it incorrectly you could damage BOTH cars. The only "special" procedure in jump-starting a Delorean is that you do not do it at the battery, you do it with the terminal provided in the engine bay.

[Gregadeth]

The only "special" procedure in jump-starting a Delorean is that you do not do it at the battery, you do it with the terminal provided in the engine bay.Can those also be used on the DeLorean to jump start another car? I'm assuming you would actually need the battery's positive and negative in those cases.

[DMC5180]

Can those also be used on the DeLorean to jump start another car? I'm assuming you would actually need the battery's positive and negative in those cases.

Yes, Just make sure the engine is running. Like any other vehicle you would use as the source.


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