Maybe I'm just overthinking it but I don't understand how you can jump the battery without it being connected.

 

One would not be "jumping the battery as such - just applying power to the rest of the car. :)

 

Haha yes you are over thinking this Steve. . Like Whopper said all you are doing is supplying power to the electrical system so that anything electric can work. this includes the stupid electric door handle in question. But if the jump box has enough charge in it then you can infact start the car via the ignition switch and key. From their the alt takes over and both powers the car and recharges the jump box.

The basic prinicple here is that voltage has been made availible to the electrical circuit. It just has been inserted into the circuit in a different location then the battery location. The circuit is still intact and functional.

 

Okay. I never used the 'jump box' when we had our HHR. The only time I needed to open the hatch with a low battery I used a cable that supplies power through the OBDII port.

 

Ah you put power thru the orange wire in the DLC.

 

Yeah, it's a pretty simple cable. It only has pins at 4 and 5 (chassis ground and signal ground) and 16 (battery positive). It can also be used to keep the radio presets, clock, etc. when the battery is removed.

 

Pretty cool. How long is that cable? I am guessing it must be fairly long so it can reach into another car

 

Cool - actually 07ashhr, it doesn't need to be that long - just long enough to plug it into the OBD2 port, and plug the other end into the cigarette lighter (maybe 2 1/2 feet would do it). ;-)

 

Actually 07', I think in another thread and post he indicated that he plugs it into a battery booster box.

 

It's 40" in length but as Snoopy said, I plug it into my stand alone jumper.