Emergency-Starting And Towing The Vehicle - Mercedes-Benz 280 E 1981 Owner's Manual

Emergency-starting and Towing the Vehicle

Towing eyes are situated under­
neath the fro n t and rear end on the
R-H side. Use a solid towing link
such as atow bar.
Only tow -start vehicle w ith the bat­
tery connected and the key in steer­
ing lock position " 2" .
Caution: Remember, however, that
until the engine is running, the
power steering and power brakes do
not offer assistance and consider­
able additional effort is required to
steer and stop the car.
Emergency Engine Start
(Tow-starting)
The engine must be cold if it is to
be started by tow ing or pushing the
vehicle.
Never start a hot engine by tow ing or
pushing the vehicle as the catalysts
m ight otherwise suffer damage.
Move selector lever to position " N".
Turn key in steering lock to position
" 2" and have vehicle towed.
After reaching a speed of 30 k m /h /
18 mph, maintain this speed for
about two minutes in order to en­
sure sufficient oil pressure in the
transmission.
To start the engine, move selector
leverto " L" . Only touch the accele­
rator when the engine is revolving.
As soon as the engine has fired, re­
turn the selector lever to " N" imm e­
diately.
If the engine fails to fire w ithin a few
seconds, return the selector lever
from " L" to " N" as otherwise the
transm ission may be damaged.
For another starting attempt, tow car
again for a short while w ith the
selector lever in position " N" and
then repeat starting procedure.
The same procedure may be used
fo r starting the engine while rolling
downhill.
Towing a Vehicle
The vehicle may be towed with the
driving wheels on the ground and
the selector lever in position " N" for
distances up to 120 km /75 miles and
at a speed not to exceed 50 k m /h /
30 mph.
To positively avoid a possibility of
damage to the transmission, how ­
ever, we recommend to disconnect
the drive shaft at the rear axle drive
flange on any towing beyond a short
tow to a nearby garage.