Freeing A Stuck Vehicle - Fiat 500 ABARTH 2017 Owner's Manual

264 WHAT TO DO IN EMERGENCIES

FREEING A STUCK VEHICLE

If your vehicle becomes stuck in mud, sand or snow, it
can often be moved using a rocking motion. Turn the
steering wheel right and left to clear the area around the
front wheels. Then shift back and forth between DRIVE
and REVERSE (with automatic transmission) or SEC-
OND GEAR and REVERSE (with manual transmission),
while gently pressing the accelerator. Use the least
amount of accelerator pedal pressure that will maintain
the rocking motion, without spinning the wheels, or
racing the engine.
CAUTION!
Racing the engine or spinning the wheels may lead
to transmission overheating and failure. Allow the
engine to idle with the transmission in NEUTRAL
for at least one minute after every five rocking-
motion cycles. This will minimize overheating and
reduce the risk of clutch or transmission failure
during prolonged efforts to free a stuck vehicle.
NOTE: Push the ESC Off switch, to place the Elec-
tronic Stability Control (ESC) system in Partial Off
mode, before rocking the vehicle. Refer to "Electronic
Brake Control" in "Starting And Operating" for further
information. Once the vehicle has been freed, push the
ESC Off switch again to restore ESC On mode.
WARNING!
Fast spinning tires can be dangerous. Forces gener-
ated by excessive wheel speeds may cause damage,
or even failure, of the axle and tires. A tire could
explode and injure someone. Do not spin your
vehicle's wheels faster than 30 mph (48 km/h) or for
longer than 30 seconds continuously without stop-
ping when you are stuck and do not let anyone near
a spinning wheel, no matter what the speed.
CAUTION!
• When "rocking" a stuck vehicle by shifting be-
tween DRIVE/SECOND GEAR and REVERSE,
do not spin the wheels faster than 15 mph
(24 km/h), or drivetrain damage may result.
(Continued)