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WHAT TO DO IN EMERGENCIES
CONTENTS
JUMP STARTING ....................... .170▫With Portable Starting Unit ................172
6
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JUMP STARTING
WARNING!
•To prevent personal injury or damage to clothing, do
not allow battery fluid to contact eyes, skin or
fabrics. Do not lean over a battery when connecting
jumper cables or allow cable clamps to touch each
other. Keep open flames or sparks away from battery
vent holes. Always wear eye protection when work-
ing with batteries.
• Do not use a booster battery or any other booster
source that has a greater than 12 Volt system, i.e., do
not use a 24 Volt power source.
NOTE: Replacement batteries should both be of equal size
to prevent damage to the vehicle’s charging system.
Your vehicle is equipped with two 12 Volt batteries. If it
becomes necessary to use a booster battery with jumper
cables to start a vehicle’s engine because its batteries are
discharged, the following procedure should be used:
Set the parking brake and place an automatic transmission
in PARK (or NEUTRAL for a manual transmission).
Turn off lights, heater and other electrical loads. Observe
charge indicator (if equipped) in both batteries. If the indicator (if equipped) is light or yellow on either battery,
replace that battery.CAUTION!
Use the jump start procedure only when the charge
indicator (if equipped) in both batteries is dark in the
center. Do not attempt jump starting when either
battery charge indicator (if equipped) is light or yel-
low. If the charge indicator (if equipped) has a green
dot in the center, failure to start is not due to a
discharged battery and cranking system should be
checked.
1. Attach one jumper cable to the positive terminal of booster battery and the other end of the same cable to
the positive terminal of the discharged battery.
NOTE: Do not connect jumper cables to the fuses. Only
use the jump post when connecting jumper cables.
WARNING!
Do not permit vehicles to touch each other as this could
establish a ground connection and personal injury
could result.
170 WHAT TO DO IN EMERGENCIES
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2. Connect one end of the other jumper cable to negative(-) post of booster battery. Connect the other end of the
jumper cable to a good ground on the engine block of
the vehicle with the discharged battery. Make sure a
good connection is made, free of dirt and grease.
NOTE:
• Take care that the clamps from one cable do not inad-
vertently touch clamps from the other cable.
• Do not lean over the battery when making connection. •
The negative connection must provide good electrical
conductivity and current carrying capacity.
WARNING!
• Do not connect the cable to the negative post of the
discharge battery. The resulting electrical spark
could cause the battery to explode.
• During cold weather when temperatures are below
freezing point, electrolyte in a discharged battery
may freeze. Do not attempt jump starting because the
battery could rupture or explode. The battery tem-
perature must be brought up above freezing point
before attempting to jump start.
3. After the engine is started or if the engine fails to start, cables must be disconnected in the following order:
• Disconnect the negative cable at the engine ground.
• Disconnect the negative cable at the negative post on
booster battery.
• Disconnect the cable from the positive post of both
batteries.
Positive Jumping Location
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WHAT TO DO IN EMERGENCIES 171
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Electronic Range Select (ERS)..................147
Electronic Speed Control (Cruise Control) ..........96
Emergency, In Case Of Jump Starting .......................... .170
Engine ................................. .174
Air Cleaner ............................ .180
Block Heater ....................... .125 , 137
Break-In Recommendations ..................94
Compartment ...................... .174 , 175
Coolant (Antifreeze) ..................... .205
Identification ....................... .174 , 175
Idling ................................ .133
Jump Starting .......................... .170
Oil .............................. .176 , 205
Oil Filler Cap .......................... .178
Oil Synthetic ........................... .179
Runaway ............................. .156
Exhaust Brake ............................ .138
Exhaust System ........................... .200
Filters Engine Fuel ........................... .184
Engine Oil ........................ .179 , 205
Engine Oil Disposal ...................... .179
Fluid Capacities ........................... .204Fluid Level Checks
Brake ................................ .195
Manual Transmission ..................... .197
Transfer Case .......................... .197
Fluids, Lubricants And Genuine Parts ............205
Fuel ................................... .157
Adding ........................... .160 , 162
Diesel ........................ .157 , 162 , 205
Filter ................................ .184
Requirements .......................... .157
Specifications .......................... .157
Tank Capacity .......................... .204
Fueling ................................. .160
Gauges V
oltmeter ............................. .130
Gear Ranges ............................. .142
Idle Up Feature ........................... .134
Instrument Cluster ......................... .102
Intervention Regeneration Strategy ..............113
Jump Starting ............................ .170
222 INDEX - RAM 2500 / 3500 / 4500 / 5500