I am going to tow my Honda Fit Auto with four wheels on the ground behind a motorhome. The owners manual says to remove the radio fuse (30amp) so that the battery does not run down while towing. The fuse is not easy to get to and I thought I would install a battery disconnect instead. My question is, If I disconnect the battery for the time that I would be towing ( up to 6 hrs a day ) is there anything that would be adversely affected by me doing this? As you know the ignition switch must be in the ACC position in order to unlock the steering wheel.
To be safe, I would tow any front drive car on a dolly with the front wheels off the ground, regardless of what the manual says though It is designed for flat towing. You need to discuss this with a dealer !
Are you absolutely sure that the manual gives its blessing to towing an automatic trans Fit with all 4 wheels on the ground? Some/many automatic transmissions do not have the secondary oil pump that is necessary to keep some parts of the trans lubricated when it is turning as a result of the vehicle being towed. This is something that you need to be extremely careful about.
As to the battery disconnect switch, aside from having to reprogram the stations on your radio and re-set the clock every time that you reconnect the battery, anything else on the car that has a “memory” will also have to be re-set, and…believe it or not…this even includes some electric windows!
The biggest hassle will be the fact that the ECM will have to go through a re-learning process every time that you reconnect the battery, and this will mean that your engine may not run at its optimum, and gas mileage may not be up to par until the re-learning process has been completed each time.
Does the car have a manual transmission? I also question the advice to tow the car with the front wheels down if it is automatic.
The owners manual states TOWING YOUR VEHICLE Your vehicle can be towed behind a motorhome. Perform the following procedure before towing your vehicle Then it proceeds to outline the things that have to be done such as starting the engine and shifting through the gears and ending with going to N from drive, not from reverse, leaving the ignition in the ACC position to unlock the steering wheel and releasing the parking brake.
Remove the radio fuse to keep the battery from drawing down while towing. So the answer to is it towable with an auto trans. is yes it is
@Boilerman–thanks for the information from your owner’s manual. I have seen RVs towing cars equipped with automatic transmissions. I found this interesting that it was being done, but I figured that the owner of the RV knew what he was doing. As VDCdriver suggests, some automatic transmissions do have a secondary oil pump which allows the automatic vehicle to be towed.
Thank you for the information @Boilerman. I like to think that I am up to date on things automotive but your Fit’s towing feature is a surprise for me. If the competition doesn’t get on board quickly the Fit will become a popular vehicle to tow.
As for the fuse, could super gluing a thumb tab on the fuse make it significantly easier to deal with?
I’m going to repeat what I said originally. “though it is designed for flat towing. You need to discuss this with a dealer.” The reason is, there may be some additional precautions you should take before and / or after or during towing, like idling and shifting so many miles, etc. Obviously, none of us here are certified Honda mechanics. If you have to take extra precautions, then that tells me, you still might be better off towing on a dolly if you aren’t prepared or forget these precautions.
Just saying. Honda at one time stood behind their transmissions too in their vans; they failed at an alarming rate for Honda. I don’t feel there may be enough of a history here . Just my humble opinion and Honda or any maker saying something is safe to do does not always mean it is safe to do. If you consider your Fit expendable, feel free to totally disregard my advice. ;=)
If you decide to tow your Fit w/all 4 wheels on the ground, if it were my own car at least, I’d be inclined to follow the manufacturer’s towing directions exactly. Do what the instructions say: Remove the radio fuse, but leave the battery connected. There may be an important reasons, including safety, that the other circuits remain powered while the Fit is being towed. It may be a hassle to remove that fuse, but, I mean, seriously, how difficult can removing a fuse really be? The OP seems to be overthinking this.
And as said above, there’s less chance of drive train problems related to towing if the front wheels are put on dollies. Unless there is some significant reason why you don’t want to do this, buying/renting a pair of towing dollies for the front wheels is probably money well spent.
Honda doesn’t use planetary gears in automatics. They are similar to manuals with clutches replacing synchronizers. They just need to have oil in the right places and the gears can churn up the oil for the tow
Regarding the radio, can the rv juice up the fit?
I’ve had my battery disconnected from my Fit for long periods of time. You will have no problems with reconnecting it after your trips. The only thing you really need to have is the security code for your radio handy. Without it, it will not function. As for towing, I don’t have any experience as to the best methods.
If you do choose the battery disconnection route, have a battery disconnect switch installed. That way you avoid the unhooking/reconnecting step.
I’d imagine you’d need the security code for either the fuse removal or battery disconnect route. I’d go with the switch.
Mitch F
Thanks, you are the only one who has addressed my original question, congratulations on really reading my post. As you know I was not asking about towing options only if there would be problems with disconnecting the battery. Thank you very much
@Boilerman - don’t be surprised about getting a variety of answers. What you’re doing is NOT allowed for most all automatics. Complaining about our concern for you is kind of nasty, don’t you think?
^
And, I stand by my earlier statement about having to re-set the clock, reprogram the radio’s preset stations, and (possibly re-set the power windows and power seat memory) after cutting battery power. Personally, I wouldn’t want to have to contend with the constant re-learning process of the ECM (with related less-than-optimal engine performance), but the OP may not be bothered by that–as is his right.
"Thanks, you are the only one who has addressed my original question, congratulations on really reading my post. As you know I was not asking about towing options only if there would be problems with disconnecting the battery. Thank you very much "
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I own a Fit 2007 If I turn my key to ACC yes the radio works. all I need to do is turn off the radio then as far as I know nothing else is drawing power. But If you still want to remove the fuse and because its hard to get to you could do a simple 2 wire remote fuse holder to put that fuse where its easy to get at.
To the car psychic Yes I know you can turn off the radio but there is still power going to it to maintain memory and the clock. I would think there are other things going through that fuse circuit also because why would a radio use a 30 amp fuse.