Em Ergency-Starting And Towing The Vehicle - Mercedes-Benz 450 SL 1980 Owner's Manual

Towing eyes are situated under­
neath the R-H front and rear end.
Use a solid towing link such as a
towbar.
Only tow -start vehicle with the
battery connected and the key in
steering lock position " 2" .
Caution: As long as the engine is
not running, the power assistance
system is inoperative and
substantially greater pedal forces
need to be applied fo r braking;
increased effort is also required to
steer the car.
Emergency Engine Start
(Tow-starting)
The engine must be cold if it is to
be started by towing or pushing the
vehicle.
Never start a hot engine by towing
or pushing the vehicle as the
catalysts m ight otherwise suffer
damage.
Move selector lever to position " N " ,
switch on ignition and then tow-
start the vehicle.
After reaching a speed of 30 k m /h /
18 mph, maintain this speed for
about two minutes in order to
ensure sufficient oil pressure in the
transm ission.
To start the engine, move selector
lever to " L" . Only touch the accele­
rator when the engine is revolving.
As soon as the engine has fired,
return the selector lever to " N"
immediately.
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.

Em ergency-starting and Towing the Vehicle

For another starting attempt, tow
car again fo r a short w hile with the
selector lever in position "N " and
then repeat starting procedure.
The same procedure may be used
for starting the engine w hile rolling
downhill.
Towing the 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 /3 0 mph.
To positively avoid a possibility of
damage to the transm ission, how­
ever, we recomm end to disconnect
the drive shaft at the rear axle drive
flange on any towing beyond a
short tow to a nearby garage.