jump cable MAZDA MODEL MX-5 MIATA 2003 Owners Manual

4-8
Before Driving Your Mazda
Driving Tips
Form No. 8R09-EA-02G
•Carry emergency gear, including tire
chains, window scraper, flares, a small
shovel, jumper cables, and a small bag
of sand or salt.
Ask a Mazda dealer to perform the
following precautions:
• Have the proper ratio of antifreeze in
the radiator.
• Inspect the battery and its cables. Cold
reduces battery capacity.
• Use only cold-weather engine oil
(page 8-13).
• Inspect the ignition system for damage
and loose connections.
• Use washer fluid made with
antifreeze
—but don ’t use engine
coolant antifreeze for washer fluid
(page 8-22).
• Don
’t use the parking brake in freezing
weather as the parking brake may
freeze. Instead, shift to P with an
automatic transmission and to 1 or R
with a manual transmission. Block the
rear wheels.

Snow Tires
Use snow tires on all four wheels
Don
’t go faster than 120 km/h (75 mph).
Inflate snow tires 30 kPa (0.3 kgf/cm2, 4.3
psi) more than recommended on the tire
pressure label (driver ’s door), but never
more than the maximum cold-tire
pressure shown on the tires.
Your vehicle is originally equipped with
summer tires designed for optimum
traction on wet and dry roads. If your
vehicle is to be used on snow and ice
covered roads, you may find it necessary
to replace the original equipment tires
with snow tires, during the winter months.
Winter Driving
Mixing Tire Types:
Using tires different in size or type is
dangerous. Your vehicle’ s handling
could be greatly affected and result in
an accident. Use only the same size
and type tires (snow, radial, or non-
radial) on all four wheels.
Check local regulations before using
studded tires.
WARNING
CAUTION
J07R_8R09_EA_02G_Edition4.book Page 8 Monday, February 3, 2003 1:16 PM

7-14
In Case of an Emergency
Emergency Starting
Form No. 8R09-EA-02G
1. Make sure the booster battery is 12 V and that its negative terminal is
grounded.
2. If the booster battery is in another vehicle, don ’t allow the vehicles to
touch. Turn off the engine of the
vehicle with the booster battery and all
unnecessary electrical loads in both
vehicles.
3. Connect the jumper cables in the exact sequence as in the illustration.
•Connect one end of a cable to the
positive terminal on the discharged
battery (1).
• Attach the other end to the positive
terminal on the booster battery (2).
• Connect one end of the other cable
to the negative terminal of the
booster battery (3).
• Connect the other end to a solid,
stationary, exposed metallic point
(for example, the trunk latch catch)
away from the discharged battery
(4). 4. Start the engine of the booster vehicle
and run it a few minutes. Then start the
engine of the other vehicle.
5. When finished, carefully disconnect the cables in the reverse order
described in Step 3.
Booster battery
Discharged
battery Jumper
cable
Connect cables
in numerical
order and
disconnect
in reverse order.
Jumper cable
Connecting to Negative Terminal:
Connecting the end of the second
cable to the negative ( ) terminal of
the discharged battery is dangerous.
A spark could cause the gas around
the battery to explode and injure
someone. Connect the cable to a point
away from the battery.
WARNING
J07R_8R09_EA_02G_Edition4.book Page 14 Monday, February 3, 2003 1:16 PM