towing Seat Alhambra 2009 Owner's Guide

If and when253
Safety First
Operating instructions
Tips and Maintenance
Te c h n i c a l D a t a
Rear towline anchorageOn the right hand side of the lower rear section of the body, there is a fixed
towline anchorage ⇒ fig. 174 (arrow).
To w i n g b r a c k e t
If the vehicle has a factory-fitted towing bracket, it should also be used for
towing other vehicles.To w - s t a r t i n g
The use of jump leads is preferable to tow-starting.We recommend that you do not tow-start your vehicle. Jump-starting
is preferable ⇒page 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.
Fig. 174 Rear towline
anchorage
alhambra_aleman.book Seite 253 Montag, 23. M‰ rz 2009 1:12 13

If and when
254Notes for tow-starting or towingIf 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 gearstick in neutral or position N .
– Ensure that the tow-rope remains taut at all times.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.
alhambra_aleman.book Seite 254 Montag, 23. M‰ rz 2009 1:12 13

If and when255
Safety First
Operating instructions
Tips and Maintenance
Te c h n i c a l D a t a
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
⇒ page 252.
Note
•
Observe legal requirements when towing or tow-starting.
•
For technical reasons, vehicles with an automatic gearbox must not be
tow-started.
•
If, due to a breakdown, the gearbox does not have lubricant, the vehicle
should be towed with the drive wheels suspended.
•
If it is necessary to tow a vehicle with an automatic gearbox for more than
50 km, it should be towed by qualified personnel and with the drive wheels
suspended.
Lifting the vehicleVehicle lifting points
Fig. 175 Lifting with the
lifting platform: lifting
point at front leftFig. 176 Lifting with the
lifting platform: lifting
point at rear left
alhambra_aleman.book Seite 255 Montag, 23. M‰ rz 2009 1:12 13

General notes on the technical data
260WeightsKerb 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 ⇒.
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.
To w i n g a t r a i l e rTra iler weig htsTrailer weigh ts
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 the EU for maximum speeds of 80 km/h (in certain
circumstances up to 100 km/h). The figures may be different in other coun-
tries. All data in the official vehicle documents take precedence over these
data ⇒ . 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.
WheelsTyre pressure, snow chains, wheel boltsTyre pressu res
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 ⇒.
alhambra_aleman.book Seite 260 Montag, 23. M‰ rz 2009 1:12 13

Index279
Retrofitting a towing bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Rev counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Reverse gear
Automatic gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Manual gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Risk of front passenger seat airbag for a rear facing child seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
RME fuel (biodiesel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Roll-back function Sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Roof aerial* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Roof carrier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149, 150 saving fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Roof load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Rubber seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Running in Brake pads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Tyres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Running in tyres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187SSafe Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Safety equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Safety Instructions Coolant Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Safety notes
Belt tension devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Curtain airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Disabling front and side passenger airbag . 45
Front airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Using child seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Using seat belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Saving fuel roof carrier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Sealant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Seat adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Front seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Seat belt position Pregnant women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Seat belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Seat belt warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Seat belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Detachable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Incorrectly fastened . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Not worn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
one buckle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
With two buckles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Seat belts protect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Seat heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Seat layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Folding backrest forwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Lifting seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Removing and fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Securing load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Selector lever lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Service interval display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Side lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Sitting position Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Front passenger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Incorrect sitting position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Passengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 13
Sitting position, occupants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Sliding/tilting sun roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Snow chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232, 261 Four-wheel drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Sockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Spare wheel Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Starting a petrol engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
alhambra_aleman.book Seite 279 Montag, 23. M‰ rz 2009 1:12 13

Index
280Starting the engine
after the fuel tank has been run dry . . . . . . 166
With the ignition key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Steam cleaners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Steering lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Steering wheel controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Steering wheel height adjustment . . . . . . . . . . 161
Stowage Other stowage areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Stowage compartment Front passenger side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Sun visor front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Sunroof blind Sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Switches Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Hazard warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Switching off the engine With the ignition key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166TTailgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Convenience opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Tailgate open display*
warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Tank Fuel level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Tank capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Tank capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
TCS (Traction control system) Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
The danger of not using the seat belt . . . . . . . . 21
Thermos box cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Tightening torque of wheel bolts . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Towing a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192, 260
Towing bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Towing eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Towline anchorage Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Tow-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252, 253
Traction control system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Trailer turn signals Indicator lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Trailer weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Trips, checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Turn signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75, 113
Two-way radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Type plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Tyre pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Tyre pressures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Tyres and wheels Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Tyres service life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Tyres tread depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Tyres with directional tread pattern . . . . . . . . . 227
UUnderbody sealant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Unfastening seat belt (with one buckle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Unfastening seat belts (with two buckles) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Upper right stowage on instrument panel . . . 135VVehicle Lifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Vehicle battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Vehicle data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Vehicle identification data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Vehicle identification number . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Vehicle paint Car care products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
alhambra_aleman.book Seite 280 Montag, 23. M‰ rz 2009 1:12 13