Moving a car with a dead battery is simpler than ever before because of the innovation of technology in the automobile industry.
A car battery can go dead for various reasons, but the problem is your car battery can be dead anywhere and anytime.
Therefore, learning how to move your car if the battery is dead seems necessary, and these dead car battery tricks are going to help in an emergency.
The car won’t go into gear after the dead battery. That’s why you must put a car in neutral with a dead battery to move the dead car. So, let’s see how it’s done:
How To Move A Car With A Dead Battery
To move your car with a dead battery, you can push-start the car or shift the car to neutral, or jump-start the vehicle. All these ways you can follow to move your car if the battery is dead, so choose the way that is more convenient for you.
Four easy ways to move a car with a dead battery:
- Push The Dead Car
- Shift The Car Into Neutral To Move
- Connect With Towing Service Or Roadside Assistance to Move The Dead Car
- Jump-Start To Move Dead Car
1. Push The Dead Car
When your car battery is dead, first, you need to immediately push your car to the side of the road.
Pushing a car with a dead car battery to move to a safe spot from the road is not really an easy task. You are going to need other people to move a car with a dead battery.
You can not move a dead car by yourself; you have to get another person who is strong enough to push your car.
To move your car, if the battery is dead, you can call your nearest friend or anyone you know to help you push your car.
Or you can ask for help from a stranger on the road and other drivers. A friend would be more helpful in pushing the car.
How to push a car with a dead battery:
See all steps you need to do to move a dead battery car by pushing:
Step 1: Send your friend or helper to the back of your car and tell them to be ready for pushing.
Tell your friend to keep a decent distance from the rear wheels of your car. Ensure the driver’s car window is down because you need to talk with them while pushing.
Step 2: When someone is back in your car, ready to push the vehicle, now you need to engage the parking brake using your hand.
Step 3: To move that won’t start, you also need to unlock the steering wheel.
Get your key and enter the key into the ignition and turn the ignition on; it will unlock the steering wheel, although the battery is dead.
Step 4: After turning on the ignition, shift the gear into neutral and release the parking brake slowly.
Don’t forget to tell the other person behind your car to push the vehicle.
Step 5: Now, tell the person behind the car to start pushing with the full force of their body.
As I said earlier, you should also tell them to keep the right distance from the rear wheel.
Step 6: Moving time of your car that has a dead battery to the side of the road depends on the distance.
When you bring your car to the right place by pushing, do brake and tell your friend to stop pushing.
Related: Common Dead Car Battery Signs
2. Shift The Car Into Neutral To Move
If your car battery dies while you are driving, that is an emergency. In emergencies, the neutral gear becomes extremely helpful in controlling the situation.
When your car battery is completely dead, the battery cannot provide any electric power to the car to start the engine; hence the car won’t start.
So, when the car is not starting, you cannot move by pressing the gas pedal.
The only option to move a car with a flat battery is to shift the car into neutral.
Whether you are driving a manual or automatic transmission car, the neutral gear can help your vehicle set in motion so that you can control steering without transferring power to the wheels.
That is what you exactly need to move your car if the battery is dead. Let’s see how you can shift your car into neutral with a dead battery.
How to shift the car into neutral to move:
Step 1: To shift your dead car into neutral, you first need to pull the parking brake so that your car won’t move unnecessarily.
You will find the parking brake near your car steering column or next to the gear sector.
Step 2: After pulling the parking brake, you’re going to need your vehicle key.
Put the key into the ignition and turn on the switch smoothly. But, you don’t need to worry about the car moving because, in the first step, you pull the parking brake so the car won’t move.
Step 3: Before going to the next step, you must ensure you have pulled the parking brake properly.
Now, you need to press the brake pedal really hard. But something below the brake pedal can prevent you from pressing the brake, so check that first.
Step 4: Now, you need to release the shift lock of your car to move it.
Find the shift lock latch or keyhole that is located just right of your car’s gearbox.
Generally, the shift lock slot has a plastic cap on it which you need to remove.
Step 5: Finally, press the shift lock using your finger because it’s not that hard.
While you are holding the shift lock, change the gear to neutral, and you can move your car easily.
See Also: Can A Completely Dead Battery Be Recharged?
3. Connect With Towing Service Or Roadside Assistance to Move The Dead Car
Getting help from any towing company or roadside assistance to move a car with a dead battery is common nationwide.
Especially, new car owners who have a dead battery problem get help from towing companies or roadside assistance.
Finding roadside assistance or the nearest towing service is now very simple work with the help of the internet.
Your car insurance company also might have towing service or roadside assistance policy included. So, you should call your insurance company to know about the towing service.
Both towing companies and roadside assistance can help you to move your car if the battery is dead.
Roadside assistance can move your car from the road and also give your car a jump-start so that you can run your car again.
Using a map application on your smartphone, you can find the nearest towing services and roadside assistance so easily.
Related Article: Who To Call When The Car Battery Dies
4. Jump-Start To Move Dead Car
Jump-starting is another way to move a car that won’t start. Jump-start has been a very common practice for all car owners for a long time.
By performing jump-starting, you will not only be able to move your car if the battery is dead, but you can even start your car with a dead battery.
But jump-starting a dead car is a little bit time-consuming; you need to know the right procedure to perform this.
Especially if you need to move an automatic car with a dead battery, the jump-start is the best option.
You are going to need a functional car to help perform jump-start and, most importantly, a jumper cable.
How to jump-start to move a dead car:
Step 1: As you already know, you are going to need another car to perform a jump-start.
That’s the first thing you should do, ask other car owners to help you to perform jump-starting your dead car.
When you find another car owner who is willing to help, you need to park both cars close to one another and shut off both vehicles completely.
Step 2: In this step, you will need to make a connection between the dead battery and the functional battery.
Attach the red (+) clamp to the positive terminal of the flat battery and the other red (+) clamps to the positive terminal of the functional battery.
Now it’s time to make a connection of black (-) clamps. First, hook the black (-) clamp to the negative terminal of the working battery and the other end of the black (-) to attach the unpainted metal surface of your dead car.
Step 3: After finishing the connection between the dead car battery and the working car battery, you need to start the working car.
Let the functional car’s engine run for a couple of minutes so that the dead car battery can receive enough electric power to start the engine.
Step 4: Put the key into the ignition and try to start your dead car; if the dead battery gets charged from the functional car battery, then the dead car will start.
But, if your dead car is not starting, check the jumper cable connection and also let the working car’s engine start for a couple more minutes.
Step 5: When your dead car battery starts, now you just need to disconnect the jumper cables. Make sure to remove the cables properly and safely.
Step 6: Now, you can move your car with a dead battery and also run the vehicle to get back home.
Run at least 15 to 20 minutes after jump-starting your dead car battery.
Check Out: Why New Car Battery Dead
How To Move An Automatic Car With A Dead Battery
You can move an automatic car with a dead battery by shifting gear in neutral and also with a roadside assistance service.
Automatic cars come with gear shift locks that operate the gear shifting in your car.
And to move an automatic car that won’t start, you are going to need to shift the car into neutral.
You need to release the gear shift lock first by pressing the gear shift lock button.
Shift the gear into neutral quickly while pressing the gear shift lock properly.
When you can put your car into neutral, you will be able to move your automatic car without any hassle.
New car owners can move their automatic transmission car with the help of any roadside assistance or towing companies which is applicable, but it’s costly.
But, if you really don’t know the right process for releasing the gear shift lock, then you can get help from roadside assistance.
So, move an automatic car by releasing the shift gear lock, but roadside assistance can also help you.
Related Article: Why Car Keeps Dying, Battery And Alternator Are Good
How To Move A Dead Car By Yourself
You can move a dead car by yourself, but you must know moving a car by yourself is going to be hard because the car is heavy.
Certainly, you need to be strong enough to push a car with your bare hands, which is not easy.
Whether you are driving an automatic or manual transmission car, you must put your car in neutral to move the car with a dead battery.
So, put the car into neutral and then push the car by yourself. But, as I mentioned earlier, moving a dead car by yourself is going to be tough.
Instead, you can get help from strangers, friends, or other drivers to move your dead car to a safe place.
This will be much quicker and also be safe than moving a completely dead car by yourself.
Can You Put A Car In Neutral Without Starting It?
Yes, you can put a car in neutral without starting it. But shifting a car in neutral depends on your car’s transmission.
The process of putting an automatic transmission car in neutral without starting it is different from putting a manual transmission car in neutral without starting it.
If you are driving an automatic transmission car, you need to release the gear shift lock to put the car in neutral without starting it.
On the other hand, you can put a manual transmission car in neutral without starting by pushing the vehicle.
But, putting an automatic car in neutral without starting it is easier and also very convenient.
You will need others’ personal help to push the manual transmission car to shift gear in neutral without starting.
Final Thoughts
In several ways, you can move a car with a dead battery. But, you must know the process of moving a vehicle.
Previously, I mentioned four proper steps to move your car if the battery is dead.
Gear shift lock release is the most common and also easy way to move an automatic car with a dead battery. So, you can also do this when your car is dead.
When you are a completely new driver and don’t know about the car battery process, getting a towing service is going to be a good option.
Also, if your car battery is dead in the middle of nowhere, you can connect with the nearest roadside assistance to move your dead car.
More Dead Battery Solutions:
- How To Keep Car Battery From Dying
- What Can Drain A Car Battery When The Car Is Off
- Car Battery Dead Will It Recharge By Itself?
Hey there,
How is it going?
I’m Meraj Sarker. I am a Car Mechanic and a student of Automobile Restoration here in Florida, USA. I’ve been studying automotive for around 9 years now. So you can rely on my recommendation. For me, studying and getting knowledge about automobile it’s really fun and entertaining. I will help you to get solutions for your car through this website. If you need any help let me know.
