2012 Jeep Patriot Owner Manual - Page 318

316 STARTING AND OPERATING and hill descent braking to control the descent and apply designated and approved. You should tread lightly and your brakes if necessary, but do not allow the tires to lock. avoid damage to the environment. You should know your vehicles abilities and be able to recover it if someWARNING! thing goes wrong. You should never stop or shut a vehicle off when crossing deep water unless you ingested If the engine stalls or you lose headway or cannot water into the engine air intake. If the engine stalls, do make it to the top of a steep hill or grade, never not attempt to restart it. Determine if it has ingested attempt to turn around. To do so may result in water first. The key to any crossing is low and slow. You tipping and rolling the vehicle, which may result in want to use low (L Off-Road) with the 4WD LOCK severe injury. Always back carefully straight down a engaged and proceed very slowly with a constant slow hill in REVERSE gear. Never back down a hill in speed {3-5 mph (5-8 km/h) maximum} and light throttle. NEUTRAL using only the vehicle brakes. Never Keep the vehicle moving; do not try to accelerate through drive diagonally across a hill, always drive straight the crossing. After crossing any water higher than the up or down. bottom of the axle differentials, you should inspect all of the vehicle fluids for signs of water ingestion. Driving Through Water Extreme care should be taken crossing any type of water. Water crossings should be avoided if possible, and only be attempted when necessary in a safe responsible manner. You should only drive through areas which are