dead battery on toad

[suntanmap]

how can I tow my Saturn Vue AWD and not run my battery down?

[wa8yxm]

There are several things that can run down the Towed's battery if you tow long distances with out driving the towed a bit

Brakes.. Many folks use Brake Buddy or one of the competitors which draw power from the towed and in all cases the brake lights may still draw power from the towed if you have aux brakes,,, and you should have aux brakes.

And of course parasitic loads that are always there

NOW: a New battery in good condition, LIkely no problem but as the battery nears end of life... problems.

[J-Rooster]

I can't remember how many Saturn's that I've own over the years, and towed behind my RV. I never had any battery problems towing my Saturn's. I would run the engine in my Saturn for 10 minutes before and after towing and, every time that I would stop for a meal, I would start the Saturn engine for 10 minutes. I also made sure everything was off on the dashboard of the Saturn while towing and the key on accessary. I'm not into unhooking fuses!

[down_home]

Pll the fuse.
CW installed charge wire on our Saturn. It killed the braake lights and some other things.
Saturn straightened out for a couple hundred dollars but couldn't make the charge wire work.
Pull the fuse. If not make sure to turn of head lights and recirculate the the air conditioner. Tail light still work. Stop every couple hundred miles during day and start etc to be sure. At night the tail lights and brake lights can drag the battery down quickly.
WE got caught with dead battery in mid Arkansas and mad the mistake of shifting it into park still attached to the coach. The Roadside Assistance came all the way from Rogers Arkansas to jump us off. The battery was in the trunk.
We have our other vehicles sorted out and how to set it up so the battery doesn't go dead or even used when being towed...usually. So we carry a combination starting battery and compressor, wouldn't work for Mh and a long set of jumping cables, that will reach from the MH batteries to anywhere around the coach end to end.

[AAFD]

Im going to go a different route, I use a small solar panel that I put in my toad windshield, and run the cable from that to the battery in the engine compartment (out DS door under hood) It has a system to make sure you battery doesn't get over charged. Easy to set up.

KC

[RedJeep]

I'm not sure if this would help, but on my 2002 Lands Rover Discovery I mounted a solar panel on the roof. Never had a dead battery.

[happy-2]

from the fuse panel in the pass side pull the 2 amp fuse that says ing switch.the fuse panel is down by the pass feet,read the back of the door.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

I just disconnect the battery when I tow any of my small vehicles on the tow bar.

[JFC]

We towed our Vue for over 100K miles with no problem. Owner's manual shows which fuse to pull. I never got around to installing a fuse switch. Our Flex will run the battery down when towed, but our HR has 12V wire to the electrical connector so adding a battery charger was a $20 solution after changing from a four to seven wire pigtail.

[catkins]

Exactly - you must remove a fuse or install a switch to cut the power to that circuit. You could also consider adding a charge line when towing. we encountered issues only when towing for several days without running the car. Have towed Vues for probably 80K miles. Great Toad!!

[ccxnola]

Suntan,
The instructions for towing 4-down are in the owners manual.
There is a specific fuse to be pulled for towing and then replaced to drive.
Also, there is an after market fix that is a switch that replaces the fuse so all you do is flip the switch to tow or drive.
Have a look at:
http://blueox.com/products/tow-bar/bx88271-bx88274-bx88294-fuse-bypass-switch/
Fuse Bypass Switch

[MountainAir05]

Locate and remove the large IGN fuse from the underhood fuse block.

[sch911]

If you are required to leave the key on during towing there may be fuses that can be removed to reduce the draw. Check the OM under recreational towing. Or, you could add a charge line from the MH to the car to keep the battery up. That's what we did...