Freeing A Stuck Vehicle

If your vehicle becomes stuck in mud, sand or snow, it can often be moved by a rocking motion. Turn your steering wheel right and left to clear the area around the front wheels. Then shift back and forth between DRIVE (automatic transmission) or 1st gear (manual transmission) and REVERSE. Using minimal accelerator pedal pressure to maintain the rocking motion, without spinning the wheels, is most effective.

Racing the engine or spinning the wheels may lead to transmission overheating and failure. Allow the engine to idle with the shift lever in NEUTRAL for at least one minute after every five rocking-motion cycles. This will minimize overheating and reduce the risk of transmission failure during prolonged efforts to free a stuck vehicle.

NOTE: If your vehicle is equipped with Traction Control or Electronic Stability Control (ESC), turn the system OFF before attempting to “rock” the vehicle.

• When “rocking” a stuck vehicle by moving between DRIVE (automatic transmission) or 1st gear (manual transmission) and REVERSE, do not spin the wheels faster than 24 km/h, or drivetrain damage may result.
• Revving the engine or spinning the wheels too fast may lead to transmission or clutch (manual transmission) overheating and failure. It can also damage the tires. Do not spin the wheels above 48 km/h while in gear (no transmission shifting occurring).

Fast spinning tires can be dangerous. Forces generated by excessive wheel speeds may cause damage, or even failure, of the axle and tires. A tire could explode and injure someone. Do not spin your vehicle’s wheels faster than 48 km/h or for longer than 30 seconds continuously without stopping when you are stuck and do not let anyone near a spinning wheel, no matter what the speed.