towing an automatic car

Thanx for all your posts.I'll guess I should follow the manual and disconnect the battery. I've heard of someone adding a switch inside the car to make disconnecting the battery a "flick of a switch".
Brad

paulcardoza wrote:
Sorry...... Not buying into that.

1. My 2011 Wrangler says I need to disconnect the battery. The manual is hogwash.

2. I don't believe for a minute that any car will shift from N into gear on it's own.

There is at least one member here on RV.net for which this is EXACTLY what happened. The result: A completely fried transmission, and major repair bill. Can't recall if Ford covered it under warranty or not.

As I recall, Ford specifically warned that this (electronic transmission shifting out of neutral) was the reason for the battery disconnect recommendation as well.

Now, if you think you know better than the folks that designed and built the car (Ford), AND you don't believe the first-hand experience posted on here from the member who had a transmission fried because of this...Wellll, go on not believing it. Sure hope if you ever own a car like this and tow with it, that you don't have to learn a very expensive lesson the hard way.

Will

Sorry...... Not buying into that.

1. My 2011 Wrangler says I need to disconnect the battery. The manual is hogwash.

2. I don't believe for a minute that any car will shift from N into gear on it's own.

willald wrote:

paulcardoza wrote:
Let's assume that you have done your homework and confirmed that the 2013 Fiesta, with Auto trans is indeed towable.

If the instructions tell you to disconnect the battery, it's ONLY because with the ignition set to ACC (to unlock the steering wheel), there will be significant battery drain present....

Not necessarily true. There are some vehicles, specifically the Ford Focus, where disconnecting the battery is done for a much more important reason than battery drain.

The transmission on them is electronically controlled, and not disconnecting the battery can cause the transmission to shift itself out of neutral, resulting in major damage to the transmission. Its actually happened to a few folks on here.

Not sure if the Fiesta has the same or a similar tranny as the Focus, but if the manual says to disconnect the battery, you'd best be disconnecting it one way or another.

This is actually one of the reasons I chose our Ford Fusion over the Focus - no need to disconnect the battery like you do with the Focus.

If the owner's manual specifically says to disconnect the battery, I'd be very, very hesitant to leave it connected, charge line or not.

willald wrote:

paulcardoza wrote:
Let's assume that you have done your homework and confirmed that the 2013 Fiesta, with Auto trans is indeed towable.

If the instructions tell you to disconnect the battery, it's ONLY because with the ignition set to ACC (to unlock the steering wheel), there will be significant battery drain present....

Not necessarily true. There are some vehicles, specifically the Ford Focus, where disconnecting the battery is done for a much more important reason than battery drain.

The transmission on them is electronically controlled, and not disconnecting the battery can cause the transmission to shift itself out of neutral, resulting in major damage to the transmission. Its actually happened to a few folks on here.

Not sure if the Fiesta has the same or a similar tranny as the Focus, but if the manual says to disconnect the battery, you'd best be disconnecting it one way or another.

This is actually one of the reasons I chose our Ford Fusion over the Focus - no need to disconnect the battery like you do with the Focus.

If the owner's manual specifically says to disconnect the battery, I'd be very, very hesitant to leave it connected, charge line or not.

The Fiesta does use the same 6 speed dual clutch "automatic manual" transmission that is used in the Focus. As Will states, not removing the battery cable could cause the electronically controlled transmission to shift out of Neutral causing transmission damage.

paulcardoza wrote:
Let's assume that you have done your homework and confirmed that the 2013 Fiesta, with Auto trans is indeed towable.

If the instructions tell you to disconnect the battery, it's ONLY because with the ignition set to ACC (to unlock the steering wheel), there will be significant battery drain present....

Not necessarily true. There are some vehicles, specifically the Ford Focus, where disconnecting the battery is done for a much more important reason than battery drain.

The transmission on them is electronically controlled, and not disconnecting the battery can cause the transmission to shift itself out of neutral, resulting in major damage to the transmission. Its actually happened to a few folks on here.

Not sure if the Fiesta has the same or a similar tranny as the Focus, but if the manual says to disconnect the battery, you'd best be disconnecting it one way or another.

This is actually one of the reasons I chose our Ford Fusion over the Focus - no need to disconnect the battery like you do with the Focus.

If the owner's manual specifically says to disconnect the battery, I'd be very, very hesitant to leave it connected, charge line or not.

Hi Brad,

Let's assume that you have done your homework and confirmed that the 2013 Fiesta, with Auto trans is indeed towable.

If the instructions tell you to disconnect the battery, it's ONLY because with the ignition set to ACC (to unlock the steering wheel), there will be significant battery drain present. This will leave you with TWO options.......

1. Disconnect the battery
2. Run a charging line from the RV to the Fiesta, to keep the battery charged while traveling.

#2 will also allow you to use an aux braking system that requires power from the Fiesta. There are numerous ways to set up the charging line, so google around and check out the various options.

First off,
Is the Fiesta "Flat towable"? Second, if so, what are the procedures in the Operators Manual? Third, if it's flat towable and, there are a set of procedures in the Operators Manual, does one of them say to leave the key in a certain position for say, "steering wheel lock/unlock"? Fourth, if that's the situation, then, what kind of electronics is in the "ON" state when that key is in that position, i.e. Radio, GPS, etc.?

If any of the above are YES, and, there's any form of auxiliary braking system that utilizes the toads electronic system i.e. "battery", then there will be a drain on the battery of the Fiesta. Now, if an auxiliary braking system is in use that utilizes the Fiestas battery, then obviously you cannot disconnect it, just to save it from being drained while towing due to other system drains while in motion.

So, you'll have to answer some of the questions in order for anyone here to assist you with a more accurate answer.
Scott

wildtoad wrote:
What does you Ford Fiesta Manual say?

+1

Why do you think you need to disconnect the battery cable?

What does you Ford Fiesta Manual say?