2004 SKODA FABIA emergency towing

Instruments and Indicator/Warning Lights
30
stop the car immediately and switch the engine off - risk of engine
damage!
Fog lights* 
The warning light  comes on when the fog lights are operating
⇒ page 55.
Power steering* 
The warning light  comes on for 2 seconds after the ignition is switched
on. There is a fault in the electronics for the power-assisted steering if the
warning light lights up while driving or does not go out 2 seconds after
switching on the ignition. Contact a Škoda dealer to obtain assistance.
The warning light does not come on when there is a lack of oil.
Further information ⇒page 156, “Power steering*”.
Note
There is no power-assisted steering support when the vehicle is being
towed without the engine running or when the power-assisted steering is
defect. The vehicle is fully steerable however. There is simply increased
force required to turn the steering wheel.
 fault light (petrol engine)
The  (Electronic Power Control) warning light comes on for a few
seconds when the ignition is switched on. There is a system fault in the engine control system if the warning light

does not go out or comes on or flashes while driving. The engine manage-
ment system selects an emergency programme which enables you to
drive to the nearest Škoda dealer while adopting a gentle style of driving.
The following text will be displayed in the information display*:
ENGINE WORKSHOP!
Glow plug system  (diesel engine)
The indicator light  lights up for a cold engine when switching on the
igntion (pre-heat position) 2 ⇒ page 101. Start the engine just as soon as
the indicator light goes out.
The glow plug indicator light will come on for about 1 second if the engine
is at a normal operating temperature or if the outside temperature is
above +5°C. This means that you can start the engine right away.
There is a fault in the glow plug system if the indicator light
 does not
come on at all or lights up continuously. Contact as soon as possible a
Škoda Dealer to obtain professional assistance.
The following text will be displayed in the information display*:
ENGINE WORKSHOP!
Turn signal system for vehicles towing a trailer* 
The indicator light  on vehicles towing a trailer flashes together with the
respective indicator light for the turn signal system.
The indicator light
 does not flash if a turn signal light on the trailer or
on the vehicle is not operating.

Automatic gearbox*
114
down at higher engine speeds than is the case for the economy-oriented
programmes.
Selecting the most appropriate driving programme for the particular style
of driving is a continuous process. Irrespective of this it is, however,
possible to switch into a sporty driving programme by depressing the
accelerator rapidly. The gearbox shifts down into a lower gear matching
the speed of the car and this allows you to accelerate rapidly (e.g. when
overtaking) without having to depress the accelerator pedal fully into the
kickdown range. The original programme will be reactivated to match your
particular style of driving once the gearbox has shifted up again.
When driving in hilly regions, the gears are selected to match uphill and
downhill sections. This avoids the gearbox frequently shifting up and down
when negotiating an uphill stretch. Depressing the brake pedal while
driving downhill causes the gearbox to shift down into the next lower gear.
This makes it possible for you to exploit the engine braking power without
the need for shifting gears manually.
Emergency programme
An emergency programme exists in the event of a fault in
the system.
The gearbox operates in a corresponding emergency programme if there
are functional faults in the gearbox electronics. This is indicated by all of
the segments in the display lighting up or going out.
•The gearbox still switches automaticallly but stronger switching shocks
are noticeable.
•The gearbox does not switch anymore automatically. The gearbox can
now only be switched manually but there are only 3 gears available over
the selector lever positions namely D, 3 and 2. The 1st gear and reverse
are available as before over the selector lever positions 1 and R. If the gearbox has switched over to emergency mode, drive to the
nearest Škoda dealer in order to have the fault rectified.
Tow-starting and towing vehicle
Tow-starting a vehicle
For technical reasons it is not possible to tow-start a car fitted with an auto-
matic gearbox
⇒page 220.
you can use jump-start cables connected to the battery of another vehicle
for starting your car if the vehicle battery is flat ⇒page 218.
Towing a vehicle
Please pay attention to the following information if it comes necessary to
tow-in your car ⇒page 220.

Index
240
Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Clothes hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Cockpit
An overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Compartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Convenience operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Converting/masking over headlights . . . . . . 164
Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 replenishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Coolant level Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Coolant temperature gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Coolant temperature/coolant level Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Correct seated position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Counter for distance driven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Cruise control system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
D
Deactivating an airbag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Defrosting rear window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Defrosting the windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Defrosting windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
De-icing the windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Detachable towing device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Diesel engines
Starting engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Digital clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Dipstick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Direction indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
distance driven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Door Child safety locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Door open Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Drinks can holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Driving economically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Driving time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Dynamo Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
E
EDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Electric sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Electrically adjustable rear mirror . . . . . . . . . 65
Electronic Differential Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Electronic Differential Lock (EDL) . . . . . . . . 153
Electronic immobiliser Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Electronic stability programme (ESP) . . . . . 151
Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Emergency locking of the door . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Engine Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
switch off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Engine compartment Safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Engine electronics Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Engine oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
replenishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Engine revolutions counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Environmental compatibility . . . . . . . . . 159, 163
ESP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Exhaust gas inspection Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Exhaust gases Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
F
First-aid box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209