G
WARNING
Battery acid is caustic. There is a risk of
injury.
Avoid contact with skin, eyes or clothing. Do
not inhale any battery gases. Do not lean
over the battery. Keep children away from
batteries. Wash away battery acid immedi-
ately with plenty of clean water and seek
medical attention. G
WARNING
A discharged battery can freeze at tempera-
tures below freezing point. When jump-start-
ing the vehicle or charging the battery,
gases can escape from the battery. There is
a risk of an explosion.
Allow the frozen battery to thaw out before
charging it or jump-starting.
! Vehicles with a gasoline engine:
avoid
repeated and lengthy starting attempts. Oth-
erwise, the catalytic converter could be
damaged by non-combusted fuel.
If the indicator and warning lamps in the
instrument cluster do not light up at low tem-
peratures, the discharged battery may have
frozen. In this case you may neither charge the
battery nor jump-start the vehicle. The service
life of a thawed battery may be shorter. Start-
up behavior may deteriorate, in particular at
low temperatures. Have the thawed battery
checked at a qualified specialist workshop.
Do not use a rapid charging device to start the
vehicle. If your vehicle's battery is discharged,
the engine can be jump-started from another
vehicle or from a donor battery using jumper
cables. For this purpose, the vehicle has a
jump-starting connection point in the engine
compartment.
When jump-starting, observe the following
points:
R The battery is not accessible in all vehicles.
If the other vehicle's battery is not accessi-
ble, jump-start the vehicle using a donor
battery or a jump-starting device.
R You may only jump-start the vehicle when
the engine and exhaust system are cold.
R Do not start the engine if the battery is fro-
zen. Let the battery thaw first. R
Jump-starting may only be performed from
batteries with a nominal voltage of 12 V.
R Only use jumper cables that have a suffi-
cient cross-section and insulated terminal
clamps.
R If the battery is fully discharged, attach the
battery of another vehicle for a few minutes
before attempting to start. This charges the
empty battery a little.
R Make sure that the two vehicles do not
touch.
Make sure that:
R The jumper cables are not damaged.
R Bare parts of the terminal clamps do not
come into contact with other metal parts
while the jumper cables are connected to
the battery.
R The jumper cables cannot come into contact
with parts such as the V-belt pulley or the
fan. These parts move when the engine is
started and while it is running.
Jumper cables and further information regard-
ing jump starting can be obtained at any quali-
fied specialist workshop. Before connecting the jumper cables
X Apply the parking brake.
X Shift the transmission to position j.
X Switch off all electrical consumers, e.g.
audio equipment, blower.
X Turn the key to position u in the ignition
lock and remove it .
X Open the hood (Y page 251). Connecting the jumper cable Jump-starting
273
Breakdown assistance Z
