Tow Starting And Towing

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In order to be able to tow the vehicle, a towing eye must first be installed.

The towing eyelet is supplied with the vehicle tool kit.

Front Towing Eye

-- Remove the bolt -arrow 1-, using a screwdriver, from the air grille -A-.

Fig 1: Identifying Screw -Arrow 1- From Air Grille -A- And Openings For Air Grilles -Arrows 2-

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-- With both hands, reach in the air grille openings -arrows 2-.

-- Pull the air grille -1-, in the direction of the -arrow-, out of the mounting.

Fig 2: Pulling Air Grille -1- In Direction Of Arrow

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When removing the air grille -1-, be sure not to break off the tabs in the bumper -arrows-.

Fig 3: Identifying Air Grille -1- And Tabs In Bumper -Arrows-

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-- Install towing eye in direction of -arrow- (left threads) as far as top and tighten securely with wheel wrench.

Fig 4: Identifying Direction To Unscrew Towing Eye

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-- After use, unscrew towing eyelet and store with vehicle tool kit. Re-install cover.

Rear Towing Eye

-- The threaded hole for the towing eye is located on the right side, behind the bumper at the bottom.

-- Remove the cover -1- in front of the threaded hole.

Fig 5: Identifying Cover -1- And Bumper Cover -2-

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-- Install the towing eye -1- until it stops (left thread) -arrow- and tighten it with a wrench.

Fig 6: Identifying Towing Eye -1-

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-- After use, unscrew towing eyelet and store with vehicle tool kit. Re-install cover.

General notes

NOTE:

Tow-ropes or bars should be attached at above mentioned points only.

The tow-rope should be able to stretch to reduce the risk of damage to both vehicles. Therefore only ropes of synthetic material or rope from similarly flexible material should be used. However it is safer to use a tow bar!

Avoid excessive towing effort and do not jerk. During towing operations on unsurfaced roads there is always a danger that the attachment points will be overstressed and damaged.

The battery from another vehicle should be used for starting if possible before trying to start an engine by towing.

NOTE:

Legal regulations concerning towing must be observed.

Both drivers must be familiar with towing procedures. Inexperienced drivers should not attempt to tow start or tow.

When using a tow rope the driver of the towing vehicle must engage the clutch very gently when moving off and changing gear.

The driver of the vehicle being towed must ensure that the tow rope is always taut.

The emergency lights must be switched on both vehicles, unless local regulations differ.

The ignition must be switched on, so that the steering wheel is not locked and the turn signals, horn, windshield wipers, and windshield washer system can be operated.

Because the brake booster only works when the engine is running (in vehicles without ABS), considerably more pressure is required on the brake pedal when the engine is not running.

In vehicles with Power Assisted Steering (PAS), more force must be used to steer when engine is not running.

Without lubricants in the manual transmission and/or automatic transmissions the car may only be towed with raised drive wheels.

For vehicles with catalytic converter, the engine with catalytic converter at operating temperature must not be tow started over a long distance, otherwise unburned fuel reaches the catalytic converter and can be burned there. This may cause the catalytic converter to overheat.

Vehicles with Manual Transmissions:

-- Before tow starting, push in clutch pedal and hold, and select gear 2 or 3.

-- Switch the ignition on.

-- When both vehicles are in motion, release the clutch pedal.

-- As soon as engine starts, depress clutch and shift into neutral to avoid running into the towing vehicle.

Vehicles with Automatic Transmissions:

NOTE:

Tow starting of vehicles with automatic transmission is not possible for technical reasons.

Selector lever in "N".
Do not tow at speeds greater than 30 mph (50 km/h).
The maximum towing distance is 30 miles (50 km).
For longer distances, the front end of the vehicle must be raised.

Reason: With engine switched off, the transmission oil pump does not work. Therefore the transmission is not sufficiently lubricated at higher speeds and longer distances.

When towing with a tow truck, the vehicle may only be towed with raised front wheels.

Reason: With car raised in the back, the driveshafts turn backwards. This would cause the planetary gears in the automatic transmission to achieve such high RPM that the transmission would be heavily damaged within a very short time.

All Wheel Drive (AWD) vehicles:

Vehicle can be towed like a two-wheel drive vehicle.
The vehicle can be towed with a tow truck with the front or rear axle raised.

If vehicle must be towed with rear axle raised and rear wheels cannot move freely, make sure that the free movement of the rear axle has not been bypassed beforehand by backwards driving. To undo the bypass, shift into 1. gear briefly with ignition switched on and again into idle.