Jump-Starting; Towing The Vehicle - Skoda Octavia Owner's Manual

Both batteries must have a rated voltage of 12 V. The capacity (Ah) of the battery
supplying the power must not be significantly less than the capacity of the dis-
charged battery in your vehicle.
Jump-start cables
Only use jump-start cables which have an adequately large cross-section and in-
sulated terminal clamps. Observe the instructions of the jumper lead manufactur-
er.
Positive cable – colour coding in the majority of cases is red.
Negative cable – colour coding in the majority of cases is black.
Jump-starting in vehicles with the START-STOP system

First read and observe the introductory information and safety warn-
ings on page 243.
On vehicles with the START-STOP system, the jump-start cable of the charger
must never be connected directly to the negative pole of the vehicle battery, but
only to the engine earth » Fig. 204.

Towing the vehicle


Introduction
This chapter contains information on the following subjects:
Front towing eye
Rear towing eye
Vehicles with a tow hitch
244
Do-it-yourself
Fig. 204
Engine earth: START-STOP sys-
tem
245
245
246
Vehicles with manual transmission may be towed in with a tow bar or a tow rope
or with the front or rear wheels raised.
Vehicles with automatic transmission may 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 the safest way of towing a vehicle and also minimises any shocks.
Only use a tow rope if a suitable tow bar is not available.
When towing, the following guidelines must be observed.

Driver of the tow vehicle
›
Release the clutch particularly gently when starting off or depress the accelera-
tor particularly gently if the vehicle is fitted with an automatic gearbox.
›
On vehicles with a manual transmission, only push down on the accelerator
pedal once the rope is taught.
The maximum towing speed is 50 km/h.
Driver of the towed vehicle
›
Switch on the ignition so that the steering wheel is not blocked and so that the
turn signal lights, horn, windscreen wipers and windscreen washer system can
be used.
›
Take the vehicle out of gear or move the selector lever into position N if the ve-
hicle is fitted with an automatic gearbox.
Please note that the brake servo unit and power steering only operate if the en-
gine is running. If the engine is not running, significantly more physical force is re-
quired to depress the brake pedal and steer the vehicle.
If using a tow rope, ensure that it is always kept taught.
CAUTION

Do not tow start the engine – there is a risk of damaging the engine and the
■
catalytic converter. The battery from another vehicle can be used as a jump-start
aid » page

243, Jump-starting.

If the gearbox no longer contains any oil because of a defect, your vehicle must
■
only be towed with the driven wheels raised clear of the ground or on a special
breakdown vehicle or trailer.
The vehicle must be transported on a special breakdown 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.
To protect both vehicles when tow-starting or towing, the tow rope should be
■
elastic. Thus one should only use plastic fibre rope or a rope made out of a simi-
larly elastic material.
