2008 Seat Altea XL towing

If and when271
Safety First
Operating instructions
Tips and Maintenance
Te c h n i c a l D a t a
Towing and tow-startingTo 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 268.
However, if your vehicle has to be tow-started:
–Engage the 2
nd or the 3
rd gear.
– Keep the clutch pressed down.
– Switch on the ignition.
– Once both vehicles are mo ving, 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.
General notesPlease observe the following points if you use a tow-rope:
Notes for the driver of the towing vehicle
– 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.
Notes for the driver of the towed vehicle
– Ensure that the tow-rope remains taut at all times when towing.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 style
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.
altea_XL ingles.book Seite 271 Donnerstag, 13. September 2007 10:36 10

If and when
272Do not pull too hard with the towing vehicle and take care to avoid jerking the
tow-rope. When towing on an unpaved ro ad, 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.
As the brake servo does not work if the engine is not running, you must apply
considerably more pressure to the br ake pedal than you normally would.
As the power assisted steering does not wo rk if the engine is not running, you
will need more strength to steer than you normally would.•
The vehicle must not be towed faster than 50 km/h.
•
The vehicle must not be towed faster than 50 Km/h.
Towing vehicles with an automatic gearbox
•
Put the selector lever into position “N”.
•
Do not drive faster than 50 km/h when towing a vehicle.
•
Do not tow further than 50 km.
•
If a breakdown vehicle is used, the vehicle must be towed with the front
wheels raised.Note
•
Observe legal requirements when towing or tow-starting.
•
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.
•
If damage to your vehicle means that there is no lubricant in the gearbox,
you must raise the drive wheels while the vehicle is being towed.
•
If the vehicle has to be towed more than 50 km, the front wheels must be
raised during towing, and towing should be carried out by a qualified person.
•
The steering wheel is locked when the vehicle has no electrical power. The
vehicle must then be towed with the front wheels raised. Towing should be
carried out by a qualified person.
•
The towing eye should always be kept in the vehicle. Please refer to the
notes on ⇒page 271, “Tow-starting”.
altea_XL ingles.book Seite 272 Donnerstag, 13. September 2007 10:36 10

If and when273
Safety First
Operating instructions
Tips and Maintenance
Te c h n i c a l D a t a
Towing eyesFitting the towing eye
– Take the towing ring from the onboard tools. – Pull the lower front cover down and leave the cover hanging on
the vehicle.
– Remove the cover of the screw hole, insert a screwdriver into the lower slot and lever gently.
– Screw the towing eye as shown by arrow anti-clockwise to the
limit position in the front ⇒fig. 205 or rear ⇒fig. 206 threaded
hole.
Fig. 205 The front right
section of the vehicle:
Fitting the front towing
eyeFig. 206 Fitting the
towing eye to the rear of
the vehicle
altea_XL ingles.book Seite 273 Donnerstag, 13. September 2007 10:36 10

If and when
274Towing eye. FreetrackFitting the towing eye
– Take the towing ring from the onboard tools. – Pull the lower front cover down and leave the cover hanging on
the vehicle.
– Remove the cover of the screw hole, insert a screwdriver into the lower slot and lever gently.
– Screw the towing eye as shown by arrow anti-clockwise to the
limit position in the front ⇒fig. 207 or rear ⇒fig. 208 threaded
hole.
Fig. 207 Front towing eye
for vehicles with four-
wheel driveFig. 208 Rear towing eye
for vehicles with four-
wheel drive
altea_XL ingles.book Seite 274 Donnerstag, 13. September 2007 10:36 10

General notes on the technical data
278WeightsKerb 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 vehi cle's handling and lead to an acci-
dent. Always adjust your speed and dr iving 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 rTrailer weightsTrailer 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 the EU for maximum speeds of 80 km/h (in certain
circumstances up to 100 km/h). The figu res may be different in other coun-
tries. All data in the official vehicl e 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 75 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 th e 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 perm issible total weight is exceeded, the
driving characteristics of the vehicle may change, leading to accidents,
injuries and damage to the vehicle.
altea_XL ingles.book Seite 278 Donnerstag, 13. September 2007 10:36 10

Index
308Emission control system
warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Engine Running in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Engine compartment Working in the engine compartment . . . . . 215
Engine coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Engine fault Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Engine management Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Engine oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Checking level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Oil properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Topping up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Engine oil dipstick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Engine oil pressure Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 78
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Environmental friendliness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Environmental tip Avoiding pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
ESP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81, 183
Example of menu use Open the configuration menu . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Program a speed limit warning . . . . . . . . . . 67
To activate and deactivate the speed limit warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Examples of menu use
Open the main menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Open the winter tyres menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
To close the winter tyres menu . . . . . . . . . . 68
Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
FFastening rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Fire extinguisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Floor mats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fog lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
folding table* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Folding the seat backrests down . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Four-wheel drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Freetrack towing eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Front airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Front interior light type 1 Switching light off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Switching light on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Front interior light type 2 Switching light off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Switching light on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Front passenger airbag deactivation . . . . . . . . . 44
Front reading lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Front seat adjustment Lumbar support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Fuel
Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Fuel level Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Fuel reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Fuel Tank Opening the fuel tank flap . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Fuel tank See Fuel reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Fuel: save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
GG 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Gear shift pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
General overview of the engine compartment 279
Glove compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Glow plug system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81HHandbrake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77, 173
Hazard warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
altea_XL ingles.book Seite 308 Donnerstag, 13. September 2007 10:36 10

Index
312TTailgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Emergency opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Tank fuel level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
reserve indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
tank capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
TCS (Traction control system) Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
The danger of not using the seat belt . . . . . . . . 22
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Towing a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Towing bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Towing bracket, fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Towing eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Tow-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Traction control system warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Trailer Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Trailer turn signals Indicator lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Trailer weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Trips, checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Turn signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76, 117
Turning on the emergency indicators . . . . . . . 115
Type plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Tyre Mobility-System (Tyre repair kit) . . . . . . . 242
Tyre monitor indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Tyre pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Tyre pressure monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Tyre repair kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242, 250
Tyre-Mobility-System (Tyre repair kit) . . . . . . . 250
Tyres and wheels Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Tyres service life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Tyres tread depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Tyres with directional tread pattern . . . . . . . . . 233
UUnderbody sealant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
USB* connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Using the Tiptronic gear syst em . . . . . . . . . . . 172VVehicle battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Vehicle data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Vehicle identification data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Vehicle identification number . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Vehicle paint
Car care products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Vehicle tools
Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Vehicle wallet storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Ventilation slits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Volumetric sensor* Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Deactivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
WWarning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Warning lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Warning reportsRed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Warning texts in the display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Warning triangle and first-aid kit . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Washer fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Washing by hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Washing the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Washing with high pressure cleaners . . . . . . . 203
Water warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Water in the windscreen washer tank . . . . . . . 225
Wear indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Wheel bolts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Torque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Wheel change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Wheel trims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
altea_XL ingles.book Seite 312 Donnerstag, 13. September 2007 10:36 10