towing Seat Alhambra 2006 Owner's Guide

If and when251
Safety FirstOperating instructionsTips and MaintenanceTe c h n i c a l D a t a
WARNING
•Please note the safety warnings referring to working in the engine
compartment Ÿpage 209, “Working in the engine compartment”.
•The battery providing assistance must have the same voltage as the flat
battery (12V) and approximately the same capacity (see imprint on
battery). Failure to comply could result in an explosion.
•Never use jump leads when one of the batteries is frozen. Danger of
explosion! Even after the battery has thawed, battery acid could leak and
cause chemical burns. If a battery freezes, it should be replaced.
•Keep sparks, flames and lighted cigarettes away from batteries, danger
of explosion. Failure to comply could result in an explosion.
•Observe the instructions provided by the manufacturer of the jump
leads.
•Do not connect the negative cable from the other vehicle directly to the
negative terminal of the flat battery. The gas emitted from the battery could
be ignited by sparks. Danger of explosion.
•Do not attach the negative cable from the other vehicle to parts of the
fuel system or to the brake line.
•The non-insulated parts of the battery clamps must not be allowed to
touch. The jump lead attached to the positive battery terminal must not
touch metal parts of the vehicle, this can cause a short circuit.
•Position the leads in such a way that they cannot come into contact
with any moving parts in the engine compartment.
•Do not bend over the batteries. This could result in chemical burns.
Note
The vehicles must not touch each other, otherwise electricity could flow as
soon as the positive terminals are connected.
Towing and tow-starting
Tow-starting*
The use of jump leads is preferable to tow-starting.
We recommend that you do not tow-start your vehicle. Jump-starting
is preferable Ÿpage 249.
However, if your vehicle has to be tow-started:
– Engage the 2
nd or the 3rd gear.
– Keep the clutch pressed down.
– Switch on the ignition.
– Once both vehicles are moving, release the clutch.
– As soon as the engine starts, press the clutch and move the gear
lever into neutral. This helps to prevent driving into the towing
vehicle.
WARNING
The risk of accidents is high when tow-starting. The vehicle being towed
can easily collide with the towing vehicle.
Caution
When tow-starting, fuel could enter the catalytic converter and damage it.

If and when 252
Front towline anchorage
The towline anchorage is located on the right of the front bumper
Ÿfig. 174. To access the housing it is necessary to remove the
cover.
Removing the cover of the front towing eye
– Turn the grooved bolt Ÿfig. 174 one quarter turn to the left or
the right.
– Take off the plastic cover and store it in the vehicle.
Assembling the cover of the front towing eye
– Fit the cover over the towing eye.
– Turn the grooved bolt Ÿfig. 174 one quarter turn to the left or
the right, until the cover is secure.
– Check that it is correctly fitted.
The towing eye should always be kept in the vehicle. Please observe the
notes for towing or tow-starting Ÿpage 253.
Rear towline anchorage
On the right hand side of the lower rear section of the body, there is a fixed
towline anchorage Ÿfig. 175 (arrow).
Towing bracket
If the vehicle has a factory-fitted towing bracket, it should also be used for
towing other vehicles.
Fig. 174 Towing eye at
the front of the vehicle
Fig. 175 Rear towline
anchorage

If and when253
Safety FirstOperating instructionsTips and MaintenanceTe c h n i c a l D a t a
Tow-starting
The use of jump leads is preferable to tow-starting.
We recommend that you do not tow-start your vehicle. Jump-starting
is preferable Ÿpage 250.
However, if your vehicle has to be tow-started:
– Engage 2nd or 3rd gear.
– Keep the clutch pressed down.
– Switch on the ignition and switch on the hazard warning lights.
– Once both vehicles are moving, release the clutch.
– As soon as the engine starts, press the clutch and move the gear
lever into neutral. This helps to prevent driving into the towing
vehicle.
WARNING
The risk of accidents is high when tow-starting. The vehicle being towed
can easily collide with the towing vehicle.
Caution
When tow-starting, fuel could enter the catalytic converter and damage it.
Note
•The legal requirements concerning towing should be observed.
•Switch on the hazard warning lights of both vehicles. However, observe
any regulations to the contrary.
•For technical reasons, vehicles with an automatic gearbox must not be
tow-started.
Notes for tow-starting or towing
If a cable is used for towing the vehicle, please observe the
following:
As the driver of the towing vehicle
– Switch on the hazard warning lights. However, observe any regu-
lations to the contrary.
– Drive slowly at first until the tow-rope is taut. Then accelerate
gradually.
– Begin and change gears cautiously. If you are driving an auto-
matic vehicle, accelerate gently.
– Remember that the brake servo and power steering are not
working in the vehicle you are towing. Brake earlier than you
would normally, but with a more gentle pressure on the brake.
As the driver of the vehicle being towed
– Switch on the hazard warning lights. However, observe any regu-
lations to the contrary.
– Place the gear stick in neutral or position N.
– Ensure that the tow-rope remains taut at all times.

If and when 254
Tow-rope or tow-bar
It is easier and safer to tow a vehicle with a tow-bar. You should only use a
tow-rope if you do not have a tow-bar.
A tow-rope should be slightly elastic to reduce the loading on both vehicles.
It is advisable to use a tow-rope made of synthetic fibre or similarly elastic
material.
Attach the tow-rope or the tow-bar only to the towing eyes provided or a
towing bracket.
Driving tips
Towing requires some experience, especially when using a tow-rope. Both
drivers should be familiar with the technique required for towing. Inexperi-
enced drivers should not attempt to tow-start or tow away another vehicle.
Do not pull too hard with the towing vehicle and take care to avoid jerking the
tow-rope. When towing on an unpaved road, there is always a risk of over-
loading and damaging the anchorage points.
The ignition of the vehicle being towed must be switched on to prevent the
steering wheel from locking and also to allow the use of the turn signals,
horn, windscreen wipers and washers.
If the vehicle is towed, with the hazard warning lights on and the ignition
switched on, the turn signal may be used to indicate that you are going to
change direction. Move the turn signal lever accordingly. Meanwhile, the
hazard warning lights will go off. When the turn signal lever is returned to the
rest position, the hazard warning lights will automatically reconnect.
The brake servo works only when the engine is running. In this case the pedal
has to be pressed harder.
As the power assisted steering does not work if the engine is not running, you
will need more strength to steer than you normally would.
Towing vehicles with an automatic gearbox
•Move the selector lever to N.
•Do not drive faster than 50 km/h when towing a vehicle.
•Do not tow further than 50 km.
•If a breakdown truck is used, the vehicle must be towed with the front
wheels raised.
WARNING
The braking behaviour and capacity of a vehicle changes when being towed
or when you are trying to start the vehicle by pulling. Please observe the
following notes in order to prevent injury and accident:
•Inexperienced drivers should refrain from trying in order to avoid acci-
dent.
•Notes for the driver of the towed vehicle
−The brake must be depressed must harder as the brake servo does
not operate. Take care not to bump into the towing vehicle.
−More strength is required at the steering wheel as the power
steering does not operate when the engine is switched off.
•Notes for the driver of the towing vehicle
−Accelerate smoothly and avoid any sudden movement.
−Brake more in advance than usual and brake gently.
Caution
When tow-starting, fuel could enter the catalytic converter and damage it
Ÿpage 251
Note
•Observe legal requirements when towing or tow-starting.
•For technical reasons, vehicles with an automatic gearbox must not be
tow-started.

General notes on the technical data 260
Weights
Kerb weight refers to the basic model with a fuel tank filled to 90% capacity
and without optional extras. The figure quoted includes 75 kg to allow for the
weight of the driver.
For special versions and optional equipment fittings or for the addition of
accessories, the weight of the vehicle will increase Ÿ.
WARNING
•Please note that the centre of gravity may shift when transporting
heavy objects; this may affect the vehicle's handling and lead to an acci-
dent. Always adjust your speed and driving style to suit road conditions
and requirements.
•Never exceed the gross axle weight rating or the gross vehicle weight
rating. If the allowed axle load or the allowed total weight is exceeded, the
driving characteristics of the vehicle may change, leading to accidents,
injuries and damage to the vehicle.
Towing a trailer
Trailer weights
Trailer weights
The trailer weights and drawbar loads approved are selected in intensive
trials according to precisely defined criteria. The approved trailer weights are
valid for vehicles in EU for maximum speeds of 80 km/h (in certain circum-
stances up to 100 km/h). The figures may be different in other countries. All
data in the official vehicle documents take precedence over these data Ÿ.Drawbar load
The maximum permitted weight exerted by the trailer drawbar on the ball joint
of the towing bracket must not exceed 85 kg.
In the interest of road safety, we recommend that you always tow
approaching the maximum drawbar load. The response of the trailer on the
road will be poor if the drawbar load is too small.
If the maximum permissible drawbar load cannot be met (e.g. with small,
empty and light-weight single axle trailers or tandem axle trailers with an axle
base of less than 1 metre), at least 4% of the actual trailer weight is a legal
stipulation for a drawbar load.
WARNING
•For safety reasons, you should not drive at speeds above 80 km/h when
towing a trailer. This also applies to countries where higher speeds are
permitted.
•Never exceed the maximum trailer weights or the draw bar loading. If
the permissible axle load or the permissible total weight is exceeded, the
driving characteristics of the vehicle may change, leading to accidents,
injuries and damage to the vehicle.
Wheels
Tyre pressure, snow chains, wheel bolts
Tyre pressures
The sticker with the tyre pressure values can be found on the inside of the
tank flap. The tyre pressure values given there are for cold tyres. The slightly
raised pressures of warm tyres must not be reduced Ÿ.

Index 292
Mobile phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Multifunction steering wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
N
Navigation system* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Net bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Number of seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
O
Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Octane number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Oil change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Oil properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
On board computer with multifunction display*
Check working . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Message on display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
One-touch closing and opening
electric windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Overview
Control lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Instrument panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Multifunction steering wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Warning lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
P
Paintwork
Polishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Waxing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Parking aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Parking distance warning system . . . . . . . . . . 173
Parking lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Parts replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Passenger compartment
Climatronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Pedals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Trips to foreign countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Petrol additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Physical principles of a frontal collision . . . . . . 19
Plastic key tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Plastic parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Pollen filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Power steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Preheating system
indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Puncture repair kit
storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
R
Raising the vehicle with the vehicle tool kit jack . .
239Reading lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Rear door
driving with the tailgate open . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Rear fog light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Rear seats
characteristics of seat equipment . . . . . . . 126
moving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Rear window heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Heating element wires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Rear window wiper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Rear-view mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Refilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Remote control key
Replacing the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Synchronising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Repairs
Airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Replacement keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Replacing the battery
Remote control key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Replacing tyres
Four-wheel drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Retractor
SeeAutomatic belt retractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Retrofitting a towing bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Rev counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Index 294
Steering wheel audio controls
audio + telephone version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
audio version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Steering wheel height adjustment . . . . . . . . . . 159
Stowage
Other stowage areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Stowage compartment
Front passenger side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Sun visor
front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Sunroof blind
Sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Switches
Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Hazard warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Switching off the engine
With the ignition key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
T
Tailgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Convenience opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Tailgate open display*
warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Tank
Fuel level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Tank capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Tank capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
TCS (Traction control system)
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
The danger of not using the seat belt . . . . . . . . 20
Thermos box
cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Tightening torque of wheel bolts . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Towing a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188, 260
Towing bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Towing eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Towline anchorage
Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Tow-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251, 253
Traction control system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Trailer turn signals
Indicator lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Trailer weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Trips, checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Turn signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73, 112Two-way radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Type plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Tyre pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Tyre pressures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Tyres and wheels
Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Tyres service life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Tyres tread depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Tyres with directional tread pattern . . . . . . . . . 225
U
Underbody sealant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Unfastening seat belt
(with one buckle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Unfastening seat belts
(with two buckles) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Upper right stowage on instrument panel . . . 134
V
Vehicle
Lifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Vehicle battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Vehicle data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Vehicle identification data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Vehicle identification number . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Vehicle onboard tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Vehicle paint
Car care products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Vehicle tool kit jack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239