The Vehicle - Skoda 2011 Praktik Owner's Manual

180 Breakdown assistance
Jump-starting on vehicles with the "START-STOP" system
On vehicles with the "START/STOP" system, the negative cable of the charger must
not be connected directly to the negative pole of the vehicle battery, but only to the
 fig.
engine earth 155.

The vehicle

General
Manual transmission cars can be towed in with a tow bar or a tow rope or with the
front or rear wheels raised.
Automatic transmission cars can be towed in with a tow bar or a tow rope or with
the front wheels raised. If the vehicle is raised at rear, the automatic gearbox is
damaged!
A tow bar is safest way of towing a vehicle and also minimises any shocks. You can
use a tow rope only if a suitable tow bar is not available.
Please pay attention to the following instructions if you are going to use a tow rope:
Driver of the towing vehicle
– Release the clutch particularly gently when starting off or depress the acceler-
ator particularly gently if your vehicle is fitted with an automatic gearbox.
– In manual transmission cars, do not hit the gas pedal until the rope is taught.
The maximum towing speed is 50 km/h.
Fig. 155 Jump-starting on vehicles with
the START-STOP system
Driver of the towed vehicle
– Switch the ignition on so that the steering wheel is not blocked and you can also
operate the turn signal lights, the headlight flasher, the windscreen wipers and
windscreen washer system.
– Take the vehicle out of gear or move the selector lever into position N if your
vehicle is fitted with an automatic gearbox.
Note that the brake servo unit and power steering only operate if the engine is
running. You will require significantly greater physical force to depress the brake
pedal and to steer the vehicle if the engine is not running.
Ensure that the tow rope is always kept taught.
Caution

Do not leave the engine running when towing - risk of damaging the engine. In
vehicles with catalytic converters, there is a risk of unburnt fuel from getting into
the catalytic converter where it will ignite. This in turn would damage the catalytic
converter, and destroy it. You can use the battery of another vehicle as a jump-start
aid  page 178, "Jump-starting".

If the gearbox of your vehicle no longer contains any oil because of a defect,
your vehicle must only be towed in with the driven wheels raised clear of the
ground, or on a special vehicle transporter or trailer.

The vehicle must be transported on a special vehicle or trailer if it is not possible
to tow in the vehicle in the way described or if the towing distance is greater than
50 km.

When tow-starting or towing the vehicle, the towing rope should be elastic in
order to protect both vehicles. Thus one should only use plastic fibre rope or a rope
made out of a similarly elastic material.

One should be constantly vigilant not to allow impermissibly high towing forces
or jerky loadings. There is always a risk of excessive stresses and damage resulting
at the points to which you attach the tow rope or tow bar when you attempt to tow
a vehicle which is not standing on a paved road.

Attach the tow rope or the tow bar only to the towing eyes provided for this
purpose  page 181, "Front towing eye" and  page 181, "Rear towing eye".
Note

Towing another vehicle requires a certain amount of practice. Both drivers
should be familiar with the particular points about towing a vehicle. Unskilled
drivers should not attempt to tow in another vehicle or to be towed in.

When towing pay attention the national legal regulations, especially with
respect to drawing attention to the towing vehicle and the vehicle being towed.