2006 KIA Spectra tow

Driving tips14
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Safety chains
You should always attach chains
between your vehicle and your trail-
er. Cross the safety chains under the
tongue of the trailer so that the
tongue will not drop to the road if it
becomes separated from the hitch.
Instructions about safety chains may
be provided by the hitch manufactur-
er or by the trailer manufacturer.
Follow the manufacturer’s recom-
mendation for attaching safety
chains. Always leave just enough
slack so you can turn with your trail-
er. And, never allow safety chains to
drag on the ground. Trailer brakes
If your trailer weighs more than 453
kg (1000 lbs.) loaded, then it needs
its own brakes and they must be ade-
quate. Be sure to read and follow the
instructions for the trailer brakes so
you’ll be able to install, adjust and
maintain them properly.
 Don’t tap into your vehicle's brake
system. Driving with a trailer
Towing a trailer requires a certain
amount of experience. Before setting
out for the open road, you must get
to know your trailer. Acquaint your-
self with the feel of handling and
braking with the added weight of the
trailer. And always keep in mind that
the vehicle you are driving is now a
good deal longer and not nearly so
responsive as your vehicle is by
itself.
Before you start, check the trailer
hitch and platform, safety chains,
electrical connector(s), lights, tires
and mirror adjustment. If the trailer
has electric brakes, start your vehicle
and trailer moving and then apply the
trailer brake controller by hand to be
sure the brakes are working. This lets
you check your electrical connection
at the same time.
During your trip, check occasionally
to be sure that the load is secure,
and that the lights and any trailer
brakes are still working.
WARNING
Do not use a trailer with its own
brakes unless you are absolute-
ly certain that you have properly
set up the brake system. This is
not a task for amateurs. Use an
experienced, competent trailer
shop for this work.
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Driving tips
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Following distance
Stay at least twice as far behind the
vehicle ahead as you would when
driving your vehicle without a trailer.
This can help you avoid situations
that require heavy braking and sud-
den turns.
Passing
You’ll need more passing distance
up ahead when you’re towing a trail-
er. And, because you’re a good deal
longer, you’ll need to go much farther
beyond the passed vehicle before
you can return to your lane.Backing up
Hold the bottom of the steering
wheel with one hand. Then, to move
the trailer to the left, just move your
hand to the left. To move the trailer to
the right, move your hand to the
right. Always back up slowly and, if
possible, have someone guide you.
Making turns
When you’re turning with a trailer,
make wider turns than normal. Do
this so your trailer won’t strike soft
shoulders, curbs, road signs, trees,
or other objects. Avoid jerky or sud-
den maneuvers. Signal well in
advance.Turn signals when towing a trailer
When you tow a trailer, your vehicle
has to have a different turn signal
flasher and extra wiring. The green
arrows on your instrument panel will
flash whenever you signal a turn or
lane change. Properly connected,
the trailer lights will also flash to alert
other drivers you’re about to turn,
change lanes, or stop.
When towing a trailer, the green
arrows on your instrument panel will
flash for turns even if the bulbs on
the trailer are burned out. Thus, you
may think drivers behind you are
seeing your signals when, in fact,
they are not. It’s important to check
occasionally to be sure the trailer
bulbs are still working. You must also
check the lights every time you dis-
connect and then reconnect the
wires.
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Driving tips16
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Do not connect a trailer lighting sys-
tem directly to your vehicle’s lighting
system. Use only an approved trailer
wiring harness.
Your Authorized Kia Dealer can
assist you in installing the wiring har-
ness. Driving on grades
Reduce speed and shift to a lower
gear before you start down a long or
steep downgrade. If you don’t shift
down, you might have to use your
brakes so much that they would get
hot and no longer operate efficiently.
On a long uphill grade, shift down
and reduce your speed to around 70
km/h (45 mph) to reduce the possi-
bility of engine and transaxle over-
heating.
If your trailer weighs more than 453
kg (1000 lbs.) and you have an auto-
matic transaxle, you should drive in
D (Drive) when towing a trailer.
Operating your vehicle in D (Drive)
when towing a trailer will minimize
heat buildup and extend the life of
your transaxle.
✽ ✽
NOTICE When towing a trailer on steep
grades (in excess of 12%) pay close
attention to the engine coolant
temperature gauge to ensure the
engine does not overheat. If the
needle of the coolant temperature
gauge moves across the dial
towards “H” (HOT), pull over and
stop as soon as it is safe to do so,
and allow the engine to idle until it
cools down. You may proceed once
the engine has cooled sufficiently.
 You must decide driving speed depending on trailer weight and
uphill grade to reduce the possibil-
ity of engine and transaxle over-
heating.
CAUTION
Failure to use an approved trail-
er wiring harness could result in
damage to the vehicle electrical
system and/or personal injury.
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Driving tips18
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Maintenance when trailer tow-
ing Your vehicle will need service more
often when you regularly pull a trail-
er. Important items to pay particular
attention to include engine oil, auto-
matic transaxle fluid, axle lubricant
and cooling system fluid. Brake con-
dition is another important item to
frequently check. Each item is cov-
ered in this manual, and the Index
will help you find them quickly. If
you’re trailering, it’s a good idea to
review these sections before you
start your trip.
Don’t forget to also maintain your
trailer and hitch. Follow the mainte-
nance schedule that accompanied
your trailer and check it periodically.
Preferably, conduct the check at the
start of each day’s driving. Most
importantly, all hitch nuts and bolts
should be tight.
✽ ✽
NOTICE Due to higher load during trailer
usage, overheating might occur in
hot days or during uphill driving.
If the coolant gauge indicates
over-heating, switch off the A/C
and stop the vehicle in a safe area
to cool down the engine.
 When towing check transaxle fluid more frequently.
 If your vehicle is not equipped with the air conditioner, you
should install a condenser fan to
improve engine performance
when towing a trailer.
OVERLOADING
CAUTION
The gross axle weight rating
(GAWR) and the gross vehicle
weight rating (GVWR) for your
vehicle are on the manufactur-
er's label attached to the dri-
ver's door. Exceeding these rat-
ings can cause an accident or
vehicle damage. You can calcu-
late the weight of your load by
weighing the items (or people)
before putting them in the vehi-
cle. Be careful not to overload
your vehicle.
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Road warning / 6-2
Overheating / 6-3
Emergency starting / 6-4
Electrical circuit protection / 6-7
Towing / 6-14
If you have a flat tire / 6-19
In case of an emergency
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In case of an emergency26ROAD WARNING
Hazard warning flasher The hazard warning flasher serves
as a warning to other drivers to exer-
cise extreme caution when
approaching, overtaking, or passing
your vehicle. It should be used when-
ever emergency repairs are being
made or when the vehicle is stopped
near the edge of a roadway.
Depress the flasher switch with the
ignition switch in any position. The
flasher switch is located in the center
console switch panel. All turn signal
lights will flash simultaneously.
• The hazard warning flasher oper-ates whether your vehicle is run-
ning or not.
 The turn signals do not work when the hazard flasher is on.
 Care must be taken when using the hazard warning flasher while
the vehicle is being towed.
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1LDN21001LDN3206A
5 Door4 Door
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In case of an emergency46EMERGENCY STARTING Jump starting Jump starting can be dangerous if
done incorrectly. Therefore, to avoid
harm to yourself or damage to your
vehicle or battery, follow the jump
starting procedures listed on page
6-6. If in doubt, we strongly recom-
mend that you have a competent
technician or towing service jump
start your vehicle.
✽ ✽NOTICEUse only a 12-volt jumper system.
You can damage a 12-volt starting
motor, ignition system, and other
electrical parts beyond repair by use
of a 24-volt power supply (either two
12-volt batteries in series or a 24-
volt motor generator set).
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WARNING
- Battery
• Keep all flames or sparks away from the battery. The bat-
tery produces hydrogen gas
which may explode if exposed
to flame or sparks.
 Do not attempt to jump start the vehicle if the discharged
battery is frozen or if the elec-
trolyte level is low; the battery
may rupture or explode.
WARNING
- Battery
Never attempt to check the elec-
trolyte level of the battery as
this may cause the battery to
rupture or explode causing seri-
ous injury.
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In case of an emergency66Jump starting procedure
1. Make sure the booster battery is12-volt and that its negative termi-
nal is grounded.
2. If the booster battery is in another vehicle, do not allow the vehicles
to touch.
3. Turn off all unnecessary electrical loads.
4. Connect the jumper cables in the exact sequence shown in the pre-
vious illustration. First connect one
end of a jumper cable to the posi-
tive terminal of the discharged bat-
tery (
➀), then connect the other
end to the positive terminal on the
booster battery (
➁). Proceed to
connect one end of the other
jumper cable to the negative ter-
minal of the booster battery (
➂),
then the other end to a solid, sta-
tionary, metallic point (for exam-
ple, the engine lifting bracket)
away from the battery (
➃). Do not
connect it to or near any part that
moves when the engine is
cranked. Do not connect the
jumper cable from the negative
terminal of the booster battery to
the negative terminal of the dis-
charged battery. Do not allow the jumper cables to
contact anything except the cor-
rect battery terminals or the cor-
rect ground. Do not lean over the
battery when making connections.
5. Start the engine of the vehicle with the booster battery and let it run at
2,000 rpm, then start the engine of
the vehicle with the discharged
battery.
If the cause of your battery discharg-
ing is not apparent, you should have
your vehicle checked by an
Authorized Kia Dealer.
Refer to illustration on page 6-5.
Push-starting Your manual transaxle-equipped
vehicle should not be push-started
because it might damage the emis-
sion control system.
Vehicles equipped with automatic
transaxle cannot be push-started.
Follow the directions in this section
for jump-starting.
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CAUTION
Never tow a vehicle to start it
because the sudden surge for-
ward when the engine starts
could cause a collision with the
tow vehicle.
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