Towing The Vehicle - Skoda Octavia Owner's Manual

Negative cable – colour coding in the majority of cases is black.
Jump-starting in vehicles with the START-STOP system

Read and observe and
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.

Towing the vehicle

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Introduction
This chapter contains information on the following subjects:
Front towing eye
Rear towing eye
Vehicles with a tow hitch
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 auto-
matic gearbox is damaged!
When towing, the following guidelines must be observed.
Driver of the tow vehicle
›
Engage the clutch gently when starting off or depress the accelerator partic-
ularly gently if the vehicle is fitted with an automatic gearbox.
›
Only then approach correctly when the rope is taut.
The maximum towing speed is 50 km/h.
Fig. 202
Engine earth: START-STOP sys-
tem
on page 216 first.
202.
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 sys-
tem can be used.
›
Take the vehicle out of gear or move the selector lever into position N if the
vehicle is fitted with an automatic gearbox.
Please note that the brake servo unit and power steering only operate if the
engine is running. If the engine is not running, significantly more physical force
is required to depress the brake pedal and steer the vehicle.
If using a tow rope, ensure that it is always kept taught.
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.
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 dis-
tance is greater than 50 km.
Attach the tow rope or the tow bar to the towing eyes
or » page 218 to the detachable ball head of the towing equip-
ment » page 165.
WARNING
The tow rope must not be twisted as it may in certain circumstances re-
■
sult in the front towing eye being unscrewed out of your vehicle.
218
Do not use one-sided twisted tow rope, because the towing eye could
■
218
become unscrewed on the vehicle under certain circumstances.
219 When towing, respect the national legal provisions, especially those
■
which relate to the identification of the towing vehicle and the vehicle be-
ing towed.
CAUTION
Do not tow start the engine – there is a risk of damaging the engine and the
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catalytic converter. The battery from another vehicle can be used as a jump-
start aid » page 215, Jump-starting.
If the gearbox no longer contains any oil because of a defect, your vehicle
■
must only be towed with the drive wheels raised clear of the ground or on a
special breakdown vehicle or trailer.
» page 218
Emergency equipment, and self-help
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217