Mercedes-Benz 230 1978, Owner'S Manual

Page: 72 / 91

Emergency-starting and Towing the Vehicle
Towing eyes are situated under­
neath the front and rear end on the
R-H side. Use a tow bar or long
cable.
Tow-start vehicle only with the
battery connected.
Caution: Remember, however, that
until the engine is running, the
power steering and power brakes
do not offer assistance and con­
siderable additional effort is
required to steer and stop the car.
Emergency Engine Start
(Tow-starting)
The engine must be cold if it is to
be started by towing or pushing
the vehicle.
Never start a hot engine by towing
or pushing the vehicle as the
catalysts m ight otherw ise suffer
damage.
Move selector lever to position
“ N” , switch on ignition, depress
accelerator pedal to the floor board
once (on model 230 only) and then
tow-start the vehicle.
After reaching a speed of 18 mph
(30 km /h), m aintain this speed for
about two m inutes in order to
ensure su fficient oil pressure in the
transm ission.
To start the engine, move selector
lever to “ L” . Only touch the
accelerator when the engine is
revolving. As soon as the engine
has fired, return the selector lever
to “ N” imm ediately.
If the engine fa ils to fire w ithin
a few seconds, return the selector
lever from “ L” to “ N” as otherw ise
the transm ission may be damaged.
For another starting attempt, tow
car again fo r a short w hile w ith the
selector lever in position “ N” and
then repeat starting procedure.
The same procedure may be used
for starting the engine w hile rolling
dow nhill.
Starting the Engine with Jumper
Cable (35 mm2 Minimum Cable
Cross Section) and Auxiliary
(Booster) Battery
Switch off ignition. Connect positive
( + ) term inal of auxiliary battery to
positive term inal of car battery and
negative ( - ) term inal of the
auxiliary b attery to the negative
term inal of the car battery. If the
battery of another vehicle is used,
the engine of the other car should
be run at high idle. A fter the
engine has started, firs t disconnect
the negative term inal and then
the positive term inal.
If the engine is started with
charging equipm ent, the battery
must be connected.
Towing a Vehicle
The vehicle may be towed with
the driving wheels on the ground
and the selector lever in position
“ N ” fo r distances up to 75 miles
(120 km) and at a speed not to
exceed 30 mph (50 km/h).
To positively avoid a possibility
of damage to the transm ission,
however, we recommend to dis­
connect the drive shaft at the
rear axle drive flange on any towing
beyond a short tow to a nearby
garage.