-When a battery is charged, it produces
hydrogen gas which is explosive and
could cause personal injury.
- Always keep the battery well out of the
reach of children.
- Before work is done on the electrical sys
tem, disconnect the negative ground ca
ble.
- Before performing any work on the elec
trical system, switch off the engine and
ignition as well as any electrical equip
ment. The negative cable on the battery
must be disconnected. If you are just go
ing to replace a light bulb, then it is
enough to switch off the lights.
- Before disconnecting the battery, switch
off the anti-theft alarm system! Other
wise you will set off the alarm.
- When disconnecting the battery, first
disconnect the negative cable and then
the positive cable.
- Before reconnecting the battery, make
sure all electrical consumers are switch
ed off. Reconnect the positive cable first
and then the negative cable. Never inter
change the cables -this could start a fire!
- Never charge a frozen or a thawed-out
battery. It could explode! If a battery has
frozen, then it must be replaced. A dis
charged battery can freeze over at
32 °F
(0 oc).
-Mak e sure the vent hose is always attach
ed to the opening on the side of the bat
tery.
- Never use batteries which are damaged.
There is the danger of an explosion! Al
ways replace a damaged battery.
_& WARNING
California Proposition 65 Warning:
- Battery posts, terminals and related ac cessories contain lead and lead com
pounds, chemicals known to the State of
California to cause cancer and reproduc
tive problems. Wash hands after han dling.
Checking and filling 209
(D Note
- Do not disconnect the vehicle battery
when the ignition is switched on or when
the engine is running, otherwise, you will
damage electronic components in the
electrical system.
- When working on the engine, protect the
battery housing from ultraviolet (UV)
rays by not parking the vehicle in direct
sunlight .
- If your vehicle is going to stand for a
long period of time without being driven,
protect the battery from "freezing", oth
erwise it will be damaged and will then
have to be replaced
~ page 209.
Charging of battery
All work on the battery requires technical knowledge!
Fig. 165 E ngine compart ment: conne ctors for a charg
er and jump start cables
A charged battery ensures good starting per
formance . A discharged battery can
freeze at
temperatures of only
O 0C. A frozen or thawed
battery must be replaced, as the battery
housing may be cracked due to freezing and
could therefore leak acid.
.,. Always read and heed all WARNINGS be
low~ .&, and ~.&, in
Working on the bat
tery on page 208.
... Switch off the ignition and all electrical con
sumers .
.,. Make sure the area is well ventilated when
you charge the battery.
.,. Connect charger cables.
Charger cables
must always be connected POSITIVE
G to ..,.
CD Note
-Applying a higher vo ltage booster bat
tery will cause expensive damage to sen
sitive electronic components, such as
control units, relays , radio, etc.
- There must be no e lectrica l contact be
tween the vehicles as otherwise current
could already start to flow as soon as the
pos itive(+) terminals are connected.
- Improper ly connected jumper cables can
cause substantial damage to the electri
ca l system of the vehicle .
(D Tips
-The discharged battery must be properly
connected to the vehicle's electrical sys
tem.
General information of
starting assistance
Please observe that the procedure described
be low for connecting jumper cables is inte nd
ed to p rov ide a jump star t for you r veh icle.
M ake sure t hat the co nnected clamps have
sufficient
metal co ntac t. S tart assist ance d if
fe rs fo r vehicles wi th a 4-cyli nder eng ine:
¢ page 249, Use of jumper cables
_& WARNING
Improper handling of t he ju mper cab les
can lead to an explosion of the battery and
severe injuries. To reduce the r isk of injury,
note the following:
- The sections of the terminal clamps that
are not insu lated must not touch each
other. In addition, the cab le clamped to
the battery's positive term inal must not
come in contact with e lectrically con
nec ted parts of the veh icle -dang er of
sho rt cir cuit!
- Route t he jumper cab le so that it cannot
catch in any rotating parts in the engine
compartment .
- Do not bend over the batte ries -danger
of chemi cal bu rns!
Emergenc y situ ation s 249
-The battery cell locking screws must be
tightened secure ly.
- Keep ignition sources (open f lame, b urn
ing cigarettes, etc.) away from t he bat
ter ies - danger of explosion!
- Do not clamp the minus cable to parts of
the fuel system or the brake lines.
CD Note
If yo u prov ide start assis tance for others
with your vehicle, you sho uld not clamp
the minus cab le (- ) to the negative termi
nal of the discha rged battery¢
page 249,
fig. 193 @but
to a solid meta l part
screwed firmly to the engine block, or to
the engine block itse lf. In case of an inade
q uately v entilat ed battery of the vehicle
r eceiving powe r, the re is a danger of explo
s io n due to deton ating gas!
Use of jumper cables
Make sure to connect the jumper cable
clamps in exactly the order described below!
Fi g. 193 Ju mp -start ing wit h the battery of a nother ve
hi cle: A -disc ha rged veh icle battery, B -booster battery
T he bat tery is lo cated in the fron t, i n t he en
gine compar tment on the dr iver's s ide. To
reach the positive term inal, remove the cover
~ page 208.
Preparatory measures
1. Do not jump sta rt a fro zen battery! ¢..&,
in S tarting wi th jumper cables on
page 248, ¢.&. in General info rmation of
starting assistance on page
249. Rep lace
s u c h a battery! ..,.
250 Emergency sit uat ions
2. Otherwise apply the hand brake and shift
into idle gear if your vehicle has manua l
transmission, and put the selector lever
into P position if your vehicle has auto
matic transmission.
3 . For both vehicles switch off all consumers
and the ig nition .
Connectin g/disco nn ecting th e jumper
cable
4 . Connect one end of the red jumper cable
to the positive term inal
(D ¢ fig . 193 of
the discharged battery @ ¢0
in General
information of starting assistance on
page 249 .
5. Connect the other end of the red jumper
cab le to the positive termina l@ of the
booster battery @.
6 . Connect one end of the black jumper ca
b le, preferably at the ground point. Other
wise, connect it to the negative terminal
@ of the booster battery @.
7 . Connect the other end of the black jumper
cab le to the
ground po int (bolt head )©
in your v ehi cle @ .
8. Route the jumper cables so that they can
not catch in any rotating parts in the en
gine compartment.
Starting the engine
9 . Start the engine of the vehicle provid ing
assistance and allow it to run at idle .
10. Now start the eng ine o f the vehicle w ith
the discharged battery, wa it for two to
three minutes unti l the engine "runs"
smoothly .
11. If the engine does not start: Stop trying
after
10 seconds and then try again after
about
30 seconds.
12 . In the veh icle that has received start as
sistance, turn on the heater blower and
the rea r window heat ing to eliminate any
voltage peaks when disconnecting. Driv
ing lights must be swi tched off!
13. Disconnect the cable whi le the engine is
running exact ly in
reverse order to that
described in¢
page 250, Connecting/dis
connecting the jumper cable.
When do ing so, make sure that the cable cannot con
tact rotating engine parts.
14. Turn the heater b lower and the rear w in-
dow heating off again .
The battery is vented to the outside to prevent gases from entering the vehicle interior .
Make sure that the jumper clamps are we ll
connected with thei r
metal ports in full con
tact
with the battery terminals .
A WARNING
To avoid serious personal injury and dam
age to the vehicle, heed all warnings and
instructions of the jumper cable manufac
turer. If in doubt, call for road service.
- Jumper cables must be long enough so
that the veh icles do not touch.
- When connecting jumper cables, make sure that they cannot get caught in any
mov ing parts in the engine compart
ment.
- Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS ¢page 187, Engine com
partment.
{CT) Note
Improperly connected jumper cab les can
damage or destroy the generator .
- Do not use the battery negative terminal
for jump start ing or a malfunct ion could
occur in the vehicle electrical system.
- Always connect POSITIVE(+) to POSI-
TIVE(+), and NEGATIVE(-) to NEGATIVE
( - ) term inal.
- Check that all screw p lugs on the battery
cells are screwed in firm ly . If not, tighten
plugs prior to connecting clamp on nega
tive batte ry term inal.
- Please note that the procedure for con
necting a jumper cable as described
above applies specifically to t he case of
your vehicle being jump st arted. When
yo u are g iving a jump sta rt to another ve
hicle, do
not connect the minus( -) cable
to the minus (-) terminal on the dis
charged battery@¢fig.193 . Instead,