Driving With A Trailer - Volvo S80 Owner's Manual

05 During your journey

Driving with a trailer

General
If the towing bracket is mounted by Volvo, then
the car is delivered with the necessary equip-
ment for driving with a trailer.
•
The car's towing bracket must be of an
approved type.
•
If the towbar is retrofitted, check with your
Volvo dealer that the car is fully equipped
for driving with a trailer.
•
Distribute the load on the trailer so that the
weight on the towing bracket complies
with the specified maximum towball load.
•
Increase the tyre pressure to the recom-
mended pressure for a full load. For tyre
05
pressure label location, see page 254.
•
Clean the towing bracket regularly and
grease the towball.
•
Do not tow a heavy trailer when the car is
brand new. Wait until it has been driven at
least 1000 km.
•
The brakes are loaded much more than
usual on long and steep downhill slopes.
Downshift to a lower gear and adjust your
speed.
•
The engine is loaded more heavily than
usual when driving with a trailer.
•
If the car is driven with a heavy load in a hot
climate, the engine may overheat. If the
temperature in the engine's cooling system
is too high the warning symbol is illumi-
208
nated and the information display shows
High engine temp Stop safely
car in a safe way and allow the engine to
run at idling speed for several minutes and
cool down. If High engine temp Stop
engine Coolant level low, Stop
or
engine
are shown then the engine must be
switched off after stopping the car.
•
The automatic gearbox has a built-in pro-
tection system that engages in the event of
overheating. If the temperature in the gear-
box is too high the warning symbol is illu-
minated and the information display shows
Transmission hot Reduce speed
Transmission hot Stop safely
the instructions and reduce speed or stop
the car in a safe way and allow the engine
to run at idling speed for several minutes to
enable the gearbox to cool down. In the
event of overheating the car's air condi-
tioning may be temporarily switched off.
•
In the interests of safety, you should
restrict speed to 80 km/h, even if the laws
of certain countries allow for higher
speeds.
•
Move the gear selector to position P when
parking an automatic car with a hitched
trailer. Always use the parking brake. Block
the wheels with chocks when parking a car
with hitched trailer on a hill.
Trailer cable
. Stop the
An adapter is required if the car's towing
bracket has 13 pin electrics and the trailer has
7 pin electrics. Use an adapter cable approved
by Volvo. Make sure the cable does not drag
on the ground.
Direction indicators on trailer
A symbol in the combined instrument panel
flashes when the direction indicators are used
and the trailer is connected. If the symbol
flashes more quickly then one of the lamps on
the car or the trailer is broken, see page 64.
or
Automatic gearbox
. Follow
Parking on a hill
1. Activate the parking brake.
2. Move the gear selector to position P.
Starting on a hill
1. Move the gear selector to position D.
2. Release the parking brake.
Steep inclines
•
Do not use a higher manual gear than the
engine can "handle". It is not always eco-
nomical to drive in high gears.
•
Avoid driving with a trailer on inclines of
more than 15%.