2013 INFINITI JX towing

Trailer brakes
When towing a trailer load of 3,500 lbs.
(1,587 kg) or more, trailers with a brake
system MUST be used.However, most states
require a separate braking system on trailers with
a loaded weight above a specific amount. Make
sure the trailer meets the local regulations and
the regulations where you plan to tow.
Several types of braking systems are available.
Surge Brakes -The surge brake actuator is
mounted on the trailer tongue with a hydraulic line
running to each trailer wheel. Surge brakes are
activated by the trailer pushing against the hitch
ball when the tow vehicle is braking. Hydraulic
surge brakes are common on rental trailers and
some boat trailers. In this type of system, there is
no hydraulic or electric connection for brake op-
eration between the tow vehicle and the trailer.
Electric Trailer Brakes -Electric braking sys-
tems are activated by an electronic signal sent
from a trailer brake controller (special brake-
sensing module) . If electric trailer brakes are
used, see “Electric trailer brake controller” in this
section.
Have a professional supplier of towing equip-
ment make sure the trailer brakes are properly
installed and demonstrate proper brake function
testing.
WARNING
Never connect a trailer brake system di-
rectly to the vehicle brake system.
Electric trailer brake controller
Trailers equipped with electric brakes may re-
quire the installation of an aftermarket trailer
brake controller.
Your vehicle is equipped with a connector and
jumper harness that is specifically designed to be
used when installing an aftermarket brake con-
troller.
To install the electric trailer brake controller jumper
harness, perform the following procedure:
1. Open the driver door. Move the seat to the rearmost position.
example
LTI0117
9-24Technical and consumer information

2. Locate the jumper harness connector underthe lower portion of the instrument panel.
The connector is taped to the wiring harness
1as indicated.
● The connector is marked with a white tag
with “elec brake conn”. Wire color designation for electric trailer brake
controller jumper harness.
WIRE COLOR
NOTE
WHITE Vehicle stop lamp switch
to trailer brake controller.
BLACK Brake controller ground
(-) .
WHITE Trailer brake controller
switched output.
GREEN Fused trailer brake con-
troller battery feed (B+) .
3. Peel off the tape and connect the jumper
harness to the connector .
4. Release the parking brake.
5. Install the aftermarket electric trailer brake controller according to the manufacturer’s
instructions.
Pre-towing tips
●Be certain your vehicle maintains a level
position when a loaded and/or unloaded
trailer is hitched. Do not drive the vehicle if it
has an abnormal nose-up or nose-down
condition; check for improper tongue load,
overload, worn suspension or other possible
causes of either condition.
● Always secure items in the trailer to prevent
load shift while driving.
LTI2045LTI2046
Technical and consumer information9-25

●Keep the cargo load as low as possible in
the trailer to keep the trailer center of gravity
low.
● Load the trailer so approximately 60% of the
trailer load is in the front half and 40% is in
the back half. Also make sure the load is
balanced side to side.
● Check your hitch, trailer tire pressure, ve-
hicle tire pressure, trailer light operation, and
trailer wheel lug nuts every time you attach a
trailer to the vehicle.
● Be certain your rearview mirrors conform to
all federal, state or local regulations. If not,
install any mirrors required for towing before
driving the vehicle.
● Determine the overall height of the vehicle
and trailer so the required clearance is
known.
Trailer towing tips
In order to gain skill and an understanding of the
vehicle’s behavior, you should practice turning,
stopping and backing up in an area which is free
from traffic. Steering stability and braking perfor-
mance will be somewhat different than under
normal driving conditions.
● Always secure items in the trailer to prevent
load shift while driving. ●
Lock the trailer hitch coupler with a pin or
lock to prevent the coupler from inadver-
tently becoming unlatched.
● Avoid abrupt starts, acceleration or stops.
● Avoid sharp turns or lane changes.
● Always drive your vehicle at a moderate
speed.
● When backing up, hold the bottom of the
steering wheel with one hand. Move your
hand in the direction in which you want the
trailer to go. Make small corrections and
back up slowly. If possible, have someone
guide you when you are backing up.
Always block the wheels on both vehicle and
trailer when parking. Parking on a slope is not
recommended; however, if you must do so:
CAUTION
If you move the shift selector to the P
(Park) position before blocking the
wheels and applying the parking brake,
transmission damage could occur.
1. Apply and hold the brake pedal.
2. Have someone place blocks on the downhill side of the vehicle and trailer wheels. 3. After the wheel blocks are in place, slowly
release the brake pedal until the blocks ab-
sorb the vehicle load.
4. Apply the parking brake.
5. Shift the transmission into P (Park) .
6. Turn off the engine.
To drive away: 1. Start the vehicle.
2. Apply and hold the brake pedal.
3. Shift the transmission into gear.
4. Release the parking brake.
5. Drive slowly until the vehicle and trailer are clear from the blocks.
6. Apply and hold the brake pedal.
7. Have someone retrieve and store the blocks.
9-26Technical and consumer information

●While going downhill, the weight of the
trailer pushing on the tow vehicle may de-
crease overall stability. Therefore, to main-
tain adequate control, reduce your speed
and shift to a lower gear. Avoid long or
repeated use of the brakes when descend-
ing a hill, as this reduces their effectiveness
and could cause overheating. Shifting to a
lower gear instead provides “engine brak-
ing” and reduces the need to brake as fre-
quently.
● If the engine coolant temperature rises to a
high temperature, refer to “If your vehicle
overheats” in the “In case of emergency”
section of this owner’s manual.
● Trailer towing requires more fuel than normal
circumstances.
● Avoid towing a trailer for your vehicle’s first
500 miles (805 km) .
● For the first 500 miles (805 km) that you do
tow, do not drive over 50 MPH (80 km/h).
● Have your vehicle serviced more often than
at intervals specified in the recommended
Maintenance Schedule in the “INFINITI Ser-
vice and Maintenance Guide”. ●
When making a turn, your trailer wheels will
be closer to the inside of the turn than your
vehicle wheels. To compensate for this,
make a larger than normal turning radius
during the turn.
● Crosswinds and rough roads will adversely
affect vehicle/trailer handling, possibly caus-
ing vehicle sway. When being passed by
larger vehicles, be prepared for possible
changes in crosswinds that could affect ve-
hicle handling.
Do the following if the trailer begins to sway: 1. Take your foot off the accelerator pedal to allow the vehicle to coast and steer as
straight ahead as the road conditions allow.
This combination will help stabilize the ve-
hicle
– Do not correct trailer sway by steering or applying the brakes.
2. When the trailer sway stops, gently apply the brakes and pull to the side of the road in a
safe area.
3. Try to rearrange the trailer load so it is bal- anced as described earlier in this section. ●
Be careful when passing other vehicles.
Passing while towing a trailer requires con-
siderably more distance than normal pass-
ing. Remember, the length of the trailer must
also pass the other vehicle before you can
safely change lanes.
● Downshift the transmission to a lower gear
for engine braking when driving down steep
or long hills. This will help slow the vehicle
without applying the brakes.
● Avoid holding the brake pedal down too long
or too frequently. This could cause the
brakes to overheat, resulting in reduced
braking efficiency.
● Increase your following distance to allow for
greater stopping distances while towing a
trailer. Anticipate stops and brake gradually.
● INFINITI recommends that the cruise control
not be used while towing a trailer.
● Some states or provinces have specific
regulations and speed limits for vehicles that
are towing trailers. Obey the local speed
limits.
● Check your hitch, trailer wiring harness con-
nections, and trailer wheel lug nuts after
50 miles (80 km) of travel and at every break.
Technical and consumer information9-27

●When launching a boat, don’t allow the wa-
ter level to go over the exhaust tail pipe or
rear bumper.
● Make sure you disconnect the trailer lights
before backing the trailer into the water or
the trailer lights may burn out.
When towing a trailer, final drive gear oil
should be replaced and transmission
oil/fluid should be changed more fre-
quently. For additional information, see the
“Maintenance and do-it-yourself” section
earlier in this manual.
FLAT TOWING
Towing your vehicle with all four wheels on the
ground is sometimes called flat towing. This
method is sometimes used when towing a vehicle
behind a recreational vehicle, such as a motor
home.
CAUTION
● Failure to follow these guidelines can
result in severe transmission damage.
● Whenever flat towing your vehicle, al-
ways tow forward, never backward.
● DO NOT tow any automatic transmis-
sion vehicle with all four wheels on the
ground (flat towing) . Doing so WILL
DAMAGE internal transmission parts
due to lack of transmission lubrication.
● For emergency towing procedures refer
to “Towing recommended by INFINITI”
in the “In case of emergency” section of
this manual.
Continuously Variable Transmission
To tow a vehicle equipped with a continuously
variable transmission, an appropriate vehicle
dolly MUST be placed under the towed vehicle’s
drive wheels. Alwaysfollow the dolly manufac-
turer’s recommendations when using their prod-
uct. DOT (Department of Transportation) Quality
Grades: All passenger car tires must conform to
federal safety requirements in addition to these
grades.
Quality grades can be found where applicable on
the tire sidewall between tread shoulder and
maximum section width. For example:
Treadwear 200 Traction AA Temperature A
Treadwear
The treadwear grade is a comparative rating
based on the wear rate of the tire when tested
under controlled conditions on a specified gov-
ernment test course. For example, a tire graded
150 would wear one and one-half (1 1/2) times
as well on the government course as a tire graded
100. The relative performance of tires depends
upon the actual conditions of their use, however,
and may depart significantly from the norm due to
variations in driving habits, service practices and
differences in road characteristics and climate.
Traction AA, A, B and C
The traction grades, from highest to lowest, are
AA, A, B, and C. Those grades represent the
tire’s ability to stop on wet pavement as mea-
sured under controlled conditions on specified
government test surfaces of asphalt and con-
crete. A tire marked C may have poor traction
performance.
UNIFORM TIRE QUALITY GRADING
9-28Technical and consumer information

Foglightswitch ...............2-35
Hazard warning flasher switch........6-2
Headlightaimingcontrol ..........2-33
Headlight and turn signal switch ......2-30
Headlightcontrolswitch ..........2-31
Power door lock switch ............3-6
Power inverter switch ............2-41
Rear window and outside mirror defroster
switch.....................2-30
Rear window wiper and washer
switches ...................2-29
Turnsignalswitch..............2-34
Vehicle dynamic control (VDC) off
switch.....................2-41
Windshield wiper and washer switch . . .2-26
T
Tachometer ....................2-5
Temperature gauge Engine coolant temperature gauge .....2-5
Theft (INFINITI vehicle immobilizer system) ,
engine start ...........2-25,3-4,5-13
Three-way catalyst ................5-2
Tire Flat tire .....................6-3
Spare tire ...................6-5
Tire and Loading Information label .....9-11
Tire chains ..................8-38
Tireplacard..................9-11
Tirepressure.................8-31
Tire rotation..................8-38
Types of tires .................8-37
Uniform tire quality grading .........9-28Wheels and tires
...............8-31
Wheel/tire size .................9-8
Tire pressure Low tire pressure warning light ........2-8
Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) ....5-3
Top tether strap child restraint .........1-33
Towing Flattowing..................9-28
Towing load/specification ..........9-21
Towtrucktowing...............6-13
Trailer towing .................9-17
Transceiver HomeLink® Universal Transceiver . .2-57, 2-61
Transmission Continuously Variable Transmission
(CVT) fluid ..................8-11
Driving with Continuously Variable
Transmission (CVT) .............5-15
Travel (See registering your vehicle in another
country) ......................9-9
Trip odometer ...................2-4
Turn signal switch ................2-34
U
Uniform tire quality grading ...........9-28
USB interface Audio file operation .............4-90
Video file operation .............4-91
V
Vanity mirror ...................3-28
Variable voltage control system .........8-16Vehicledimensionsandweights.........9-8
Vehicle dynamic control (VDC) off switch . . .2-41
Vehicle dynamic control (VDC) system
.....5-92
Vehicle identification ...............9-9
Vehicle identification number (VIN)
(Chassis number) .................9-9
Vehicle identification number (VIN) plate ....9-9
Vehicleloadinginformation...........9-13
Vehicle recovery ..............6-15,6-16
Vehicle security system .............2-24
(INFINITI vehicle immobilizer system) ,
enginestart ...........2-25,3-4,5-13
Ventilators ....................4-53
Visors.......................3-28
Voice recognition system ...........4-140
W
Warning Airbagwarninglight.........1-64, 2-11
Anti-lock
brake warning light .........2-7
Battery charge warning light .........2-8
Brake warning light ..............2-8
Hazard warning flasher switch ........6-2
Low fuel warning light ........2-10, 2-22
Low tire pressure warning light ........2-8
Low windshield-washer fluid warning
light......................2-23
Passenger air bag and status light .....1-58
Seatbeltwarninglight............2-11
Vehicle security system ...........2-24
Warning/indicator lights and audible
reminders ...................2-7
Warning labels (for SRS) ..........1-64
Warninglights...................2-7
10-6