Checking and Filling
will be d amage d and will then have to be re
placed.
Battery charging
Starting the engine requires a w ell charged bat
tery.
F ig. 191 Eng ine co mpartmen t: connecto rs for a cha rge r
and jump start cab les
Alwa ys re ad and h eed all WARNINGS below
¢ A and ¢ A in Working on the battery on
page 227.
• Switc h off the ignition and all elec trical con
sumers .
• Make sure the area is well venti lated when you
charge the battery .
• Open the engine hood
c> page 216.
• Open the red cover on the positive pole
¢ fig. 191.
• Connect the charger connectors according to
the instructions to the
j um p sta rt bo lt s . (Bolts
u nder the red cover= "positive" , Bolts w ith hex
head = "negative ") .
• Only now pl ug the mains lead for the charging
equipment into the wall outlet and tur n it on
¢£ .
• Make sure the charg ing rate is not o ver
30 a mps/14 .8 Volt .
• When the battery is fully charged: Turn the
charging equipment off and remove the mains
lead from the wall outlet .
• Now remove the clamps for the charging equ ip-
ment .
• Close the red cover on the positive pole.
• Close the hood
c> page 217 .
A discharged battery can free ze at temperatures
of only 32 F
0 (0 °C). A llow a frozen battery to
228
thaw completely before attempting to charge it
c> & . However, we recommend not using a
thawed battery aga in because the battery cas ing
can be cracked due to ice formation and can leak
battery ac id.
Batte ry cha rging (M ax imum charg ing rate of
30 amps /14 .8 V olt)
When charging at low voltages (e.g. with a tric k
le ch arger ),
the battery cables do not have to be
disconnected first . The battery caps should
not
be opened when charging a battery .
It is not necessary to remove the battery from
the luggage compartment, and it is also not nec
essary to disconnect the cables.
Fa st cha rging the batt ery (charg ing rat e
above 14 .8 Volt s)
For techn ical reasons do not use a battery charg
er that uses voltage greater than 14.8 Volts to
charge your veh icle's battery.
&_ WARNING
Charg ing a battery can be dangerous .
- Always follow the operating instructions
provided by the battery cha rger manufactur
er when charging your ba tte ry .
- Never charge a frozen battery . It may ex
plode because of gas trapped in the ice. Al
low a froze n battery to thaw out first.
- Do not reuse batter ies which were frozen.
The battery hous ing may have c racked and
weakened when the battery fro ze.
- Cha rge the batte ry in a well ventilated area .
Keep away from open flame or elect rical
sp ark. Do not smoke. Hydrogen gas generat
ed by the batte ry is e xplosive.
- To red uce the da nger of explosion, never
connect or d isconnect c harger c ables while
the charger is ope ra ting.
- Fa st c harg ing a bat tery is dange rous and
should o nly be atte mpted by a compe ten t
technician w ith the proper equipment .
- Ba tte ry a cid that may spill d uring charging
should be washed off w it h a so lution of
warm water and baking soda to neutralize
the acid.
