Freeing A Stuck Vehicle - Fiat 500 2015 Owner's Manual

340 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 2nd gear
and REVERSE (with manual transmission), while gently
pushing the accelerator. Use the least amount of accelera-
tor 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 en-
gine 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 Electronic
Stability Control (ESC) system in Partial Off mode,
before rocking the vehicle. Refer to "Electronic Brake
Control" in "Starting And Operating" for further infor-
mation. Once the vehicle has been freed, push the ESC
Off switch again to restore ESC On mode.
• When "rocking" a stuck vehicle by shifting be-
tween DRIVE/2nd gear and REVERSE, do not spin
the wheels faster than 15 mph (24 km/h), or drive-
train damage may result.
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CAUTION! (Continued)
CAUTION!
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