Towing CRV...Question
For those of you who tow a CRV, on long distance trips requiring multiple days of travel. Do you start and run through the transmission routine every morning before travel. Have only towed the CRV on ...
Forum Discussion
jcsb wrote:
Yes. Also start engine each evening and let it run unless you have a battery charge line from the coach. There is draw on the battery during towing.
With the proper fuse pulled, or better yet, a fuse eliminator switch installed, as per the requirements for flat towing a CRV, there is no battery draw. I once forgot to hit the switch on my 2013 CRV, and after a long day of towing, the battery was very dead.
The car needs to be restarted and run for three minutes, every eight hours. You can't pull the key at the end of the day, then just stick it back in the ignition, restart and let it run for a few minutes the next day, prior to starting a multi-day trip. The process of moving the shift level to the various points, and holding it in drive for five seconds, before it is moved to N for three minutes, in a sequence that tells the computer that you are about to flat tow the vehicle.
There was once a member here who was extremely mad at me, since I pointed out that Honda was correct in not honoring his claim that they owed him a new transmission. He went into some detail, in two different posts, explaining how he shifts the transmission to get it ready to flat tow. The problem was that both descriptions differed from each other, and both had little to do with the procedure listed in his owner's manual.
Finally, I have flat towed two CRVs almost 70K miles. I had a long conversation with the head mechanic at our dealer about flat towing, and strongly agree with him on one point. Change the trans fluid frequently if you flat tow. It is incredibly easy to do, easier than changing the oil, and it only takes a few minutes and three quarts of OEM fluid. I do mine every third oil change.
