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Driving your vehicle
Maintenance when trailer towing
Your vehicle will need service more often
when you regularly pull a trailer.
Important items to pay particular atten-tion to include engine oil, automatic
transmission fluid, mission lubricant and
cooling system fluid. Brake condition is
another important item to frequently
check. Each item is covered in this man-
ual, 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 maintenance
schedule that accompanied your trailer
and check it periodically. Preferably, con-
duct the check at the start of each day’s
driving. Most importantly, all hitch nutsand bolts should be tight.If you do decide to pull a trailer
Here are some important points if you
decide to pull a trailer:
Consider using a sway control. You can
ask a hitch dealer about sway control.
Do not do any towing with your car dur- ing its first 2,000 km (1,200 miles) in
order to allow the engine to properly
break in. Failure to heed this caution
may result in serious engine or trans-
mission damage.
When towing a trailer, be sure to con- sult an authorized Kia dealer for further
information on additional requirements
such as a towing kit, etc.
Always drive your vehicle at a moder- ate speed (less than 100 km/h / 60mph).
On a long uphill grade, do not exceed 70 km/h (45 mph) or the posted towing
speed limit, whichever is lower.CAUTION
Due to higher load during trailer
usage, overheating might occurin hot days or during uphill driv-ing. If the coolant gauge indicatesover-heating, switch off the A/C
and stop the vehicle in a safe area to cool down the engine.
When towing, check the transmis- sion fluid more frequently.
If your vehicle is not equipped with an air conditioner, youshould install a condenser fan to improve engine performancewhen towing a trailer.
What to do in an emergency
6
6
IF THE ENGINE OVERHEATS
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If your temperature gauge indicates over-
heating, you will experience a loss of
power, or hear loud pinging or knocking,
the engine will probably be too hot. If this
happens, you should:
1. Pull off the road and stop as soon as it is safe to do so.
2. Place the gear shift lever in P (Park) and set the parking brake. If the air
conditioning is on, turn it off.
3. If engine coolant is running out under the vehicle or steam is coming out
from the hood, stop the engine. Do notopen the hood until the coolant has
stopped running or the steaming has
stopped. If there is no visible loss of
engine coolant and no steam, leave
the engine running and check to be
sure the engine cooling fan is operat-
ing. If the fan is not running, turn the
engine off. 4. Check to see if the water pump drive
belt is missing. If it is not missing,
check to see that it is tight. If the drive
belt seems to be satisfactory, check for
coolant leaking from the radiator,
hoses or under the vehicle. (If the air
conditioning had been in use, it is nor-
mal for cold water to be draining from
it when you stop).
5. If the water pump drive belt is broken or engine coolant is leaking out, stop the engine immediately and call the
nearest authorized Kia dealer for
assistance. 6. If you cannot find the cause of the
overheating, wait until the engine tem-
perature has returned to normal. Then,if coolant has been lost, carefully add
coolant to the reservoir to bring the
fluid level in the reservoir up to the
halfway mark.
7. Proceed with caution, keeping alert for further signs of overheating. If over-heating happens again, call an author-
ized Kia dealer for assistance.
WARNING
While the engine is running, keep
hair, hands and clothing away from
moving parts such as the fan and
drive belts to prevent injury.
WARNING
Do not remove the radiator cap
when the engine is hot. This can
allow coolant to be blown out of the
opening and cause serious burns.
CAUTION
Serious loss of coolant indicates there is a leak in the cooling sys-
tem and this should be checked as soon as possible by an author-ized Kia dealer.
When the engine overheats from low engine coolant, suddenly
adding engine coolant may causecracks in the engine. To prevent damage, add engine coolantslowly in small quantities.
