GOOLOO GT4000S Jump Starter – We've Actually Had to Rely on It

There are plenty of bits of emergency gear we carry around Australia hoping we'll never actually need.

Our GOOLOO GT4000S Jump Starter is one we've already had to use — more than once.

And both times it did exactly what we needed it to do.

We've used it to jump-start our Y62 Patrol when its previous starter battery was on the way out, and we've also used Boost Mode to bring our Kings auxiliary battery back to life after it shut itself down.

That battery has been fine ever since.

So unlike a review where we've connected a jump starter once in the driveway just to see if it works, we've actually relied on ours.

And we're bloody impressed with it.

Why We Carry a Jump Starter

Our Y62 is our tow vehicle, touring vehicle and the car taking us around Australia.

We spend plenty of time away from major towns and regularly head away from the caravan for a full day of exploring.

A flat battery somewhere remote isn't something we want to deal with.

Yes, you can carry jumper leads.

But jumper leads still require another vehicle.

A portable jump starter means we've got our own way of getting the Patrol going without relying on somebody else being around.

For the amount of space the GT4000S takes up, it's an easy bit of insurance to carry.

When the Y62 Battery Was Stuffed

The first proper test came when the previous battery in our Y62 was stuffed.

This is exactly the situation we'd bought the GOOLOO for.

Battery doesn't have enough in it to crank the Patrol properly.

Grab the GT4000S.

Connect it.

Start the vehicle.

Done.

There wasn't much more to it.

And that's exactly what we want from emergency equipment.

When something has already gone wrong, we don't want the solution to create another problem.

The Kings Battery Was a Different Story

The more interesting use came from the auxiliary setup.

We had a Kings rear battery shut itself down.

This wasn't simply a case of using the GOOLOO to crank an engine.

The battery had dropped into a state where we needed to get enough voltage back into the system to wake it up.

That's where the GT4000S Boost Mode came in.

We used Boost Mode to give the battery what it needed to kick back into life.

It worked.

And that same battery has been fine ever since.

That experience alone made us pretty happy we had the GOOLOO sitting in the Patrol.

Boost Mode

Boost Mode is designed for situations where a battery is extremely low and the normal smart detection system may not recognise it properly.

That's important because modern jump starters have safety electronics between the internal battery and the clamps.

Normally that's exactly what you want.

The GT4000S has multiple built-in protections covering things such as reverse polarity, short circuits and overcurrent.

But when a battery is extremely depleted, the jump starter may need to be manually told to provide output.

That's what Boost Mode allows.

It's a feature we'd rather have and rarely need than discover we don't have when a battery is completely dead.

And in our case, we've actually used it successfully.

4000A Peak Starting Power

The GT4000S is rated at 4000A peak current and GOOLOO rates it for 12V petrol engines up to 12 litres and diesel engines up to 10 litres.

Our Y62's 5.6-litre petrol V8 falls comfortably within that claimed range.

That's important to us.

The Y62 isn't a little four-cylinder hatchback, so we wanted a jump pack with plenty of starting capability rather than carrying the smallest unit we could find.

The GT4000S gives us plenty of headroom for our vehicle.

It's Surprisingly Compact

Considering what it can do, the GT4000S isn't particularly big.

That's another reason we like it for touring.

Space disappears very quickly once you start setting a 4WD up for full-time travel.

We've already got tools, recovery equipment, tyre gear, compressor equipment, fridge, water and everything else living in the Patrol.

We don't want a massive old-school jump pack taking up half a drawer.

The GOOLOO gives us serious starting capability in something that's easy to store with the rest of our gear.

100W USB-C Charging

It's also much more than a jump starter.

The GT4000S supports 100W bidirectional USB-C charging, meaning the USB-C connection can be used both to quickly recharge the GOOLOO itself and to supply power to compatible devices.

GOOLOO claims a full recharge in around 1.2 hours with the appropriate 100W charging setup, and the USB-C output is powerful enough to charge compatible laptops as well as phones and other devices.

For us, that's a bonus rather than the main reason we bought it.

But when you're travelling, another decent portable source of power is never a bad thing.

Built-In Display

The 3.2-inch display is another feature we like.

Rather than relying on a handful of flashing lights, the screen gives you useful information about what's happening with the unit and its connections.

For emergency gear, simple is good.

We don't want to be standing beside a vehicle trying to remember what three blinking LEDs are supposed to mean.

Built-In Light

There's also a built-in LED light with different operating modes, including emergency signalling functions.

Again, it's not why we'd buy the GT4000S.

We've got other lighting in the Patrol.

But if you're dealing with a flat battery on the side of the road at night, having a light built directly into the jump starter you're already holding makes sense.

Great for More Than One Vehicle

Another reason a portable unit works well for us is that we're not tied to one vehicle.

We've got the Y62, GQ Patrol and RG Colorado, as well as plenty of other battery-powered equipment between our different setups.

The GOOLOO isn't permanently installed in one vehicle.

We can take it wherever we need it.

That's particularly handy for something designed primarily as emergency gear.

A Good Addition to a Touring Setup

We carry a lot of recovery equipment.

MAXTRAX.

Winch.

Recovery points.

Tyre repair gear.

ARB compressor.

Tools.

And now we'd put the GOOLOO into that same general category.

It's not traditional 4WD recovery equipment, but a vehicle that won't start is still a vehicle that's not going anywhere.

When we're travelling through remote parts of Australia, being able to independently deal with something as simple as a flat battery is important.

The Difference Between Owning It and Trusting It

There's a big difference between carrying emergency gear and actually knowing whether it works.

We know ours works.

We've had a failing starter battery on the Y62 and the GT4000S got the Patrol going.

We've had the Kings auxiliary battery shut itself down and used the GT4000S Boost Mode to wake it back up.

Those weren't demonstrations for a video.

They were situations where we actually needed the unit.

And it worked.

That's why it continues travelling with us.

Would We Recommend the GOOLOO GT4000S?

Absolutely.

It's compact, powerful and easy to use, and the additional features like Boost Mode, 100W USB-C charging, the 3.2-inch display and built-in light make it more useful than something that only exists to jump-start a vehicle.

But the spec sheet isn't really why we recommend it.

We recommend it because ours has already got us out of trouble. Twice.

When the Y62 battery didn't have enough left to start the Patrol, the GOOLOO started it.

When our rear Kings battery shut down, Boost Mode helped us bring it back.

That's exactly what we bought it for.

For anyone travelling remotely, 4WDing, towing or simply wanting an independent backup for a flat battery, we'd happily carry one.

Ours has well and truly earned its place in the Patrol.