Hi

maybe a daft question, but what amp jump leads would you suggest for the 1.9 TDI engines

Thanks

Would you not be best buying a jump pack?? the winter of 2010 i jump started about 10 vehicles with mine saves strain on my vehicle for the sake of other peoples incompetence to keep there vehicle in a fit condition, granted some are genuine battery/elec issues.

600mA would be fine

You should be using 25sq.mm cables. Many people get away with 16sq.mm, but they really should only be used for petrol up to 2l.

...600mA would be fine...

I assume that should be 600A

Ignore the current rating and go by cable size. I've seen 10sq.mm sold as 600A cables, but if you read the small print, you can only crank for 10 seconds every 2 minutes :( 

When I had my Land Rovers, I made a set up.

These were 600Amp welding cables, with the terminals (Anderson plugs at the battery end, with a permanant attachment) crimped on via a contact who serviced fork-lifts\

i think they're about 20 foot long? (still in garage, even if my last Landie isn't)

Edited 12 November, 201213 yr by Richard A Thackeray

The starter motor on a diesel car will be rated somewhere between 1.5 and 2.0 kW.

This means that you're looking at around 300A current draw on starting, because the battery voltage will drop dramatically when you crank: from something like12-13V to around 6-9V in a healthy battery.

You first notice a sick battery battery when you try to start the car with it, and the voltage drops from 9V to 0V!

Also the 'stall current' drawn when the starter motor is initially at rest will be momentarily very high; as it starts to spin, it will fall back.

Some car battery's specs will quote some figure like 300A as a 'starting' or 'cranking' power, in addition to the usual more familiar capacity figures, e.g. "80AH capacity, 300A cranking". Have a look on the sticker on the top of your battery case to see if it does.

The size of the cable in your engine bay that supplies the starter direct from the battery will give you a good idea of what's needed, bearing in mind that jump leads will have to be longer, and so they will need to be bigger to avoid too much of a drop in power.

You'll need a good margin added for safety; you won't want a blinding flash, the smell of hot molten copper, and a plume of burnt plastic insulation smoke adding to the excitement of jump starting. So as per the good advice above, 600A would be a good spec to aim for.

I assume that should be 600A

yes hahaha.

I was always taught not to use the leads for starting, but as a faster way to charge the lowly charged battery. There's no way you'll get a good connection with clips, so even if clips are 0.1 ohm, at 100a = 10v drop . Even at 0.05 ,there's still a decent drop. From memory on older petrols the max drop on the starter solenoid is approx 0.5volt. Lot of times that's source of problem

When I had my Land Rovers, I made a set up.

These were 600Amp welding cables, with the terminals (Anderson plugs at the battery end, with a permanant attachment) crimped on via a contact who serviced fork-lifts

i think they're about 20 foot long? (still in garage, even if my last Landie isn't)

Now that's what I call ' a set of jump leads ' ....

Edited 13 November, 201213 yr by studmuffin