2009 Toyota RAV4 Owners Manual - Page 486

5 -2 . St e ps t o t a k e in a n e m e rge nc y I f t he ve hicle be c om e s st uck Carry out the following procedures if the tires spin or the vehicle becomes stuck in mud, dirt, or snow. STEP 1 Stop the engine. Set the parking brake and put the shift lever in P. Remove the mud, snow, or sand from around the stuck tire. Place wood, stones or some other material to help provide traction under the tires. Restart the engine. 4WD models: Activate 4WD lock mode. (→P. 192) Shift the shift lever to the D or R position and carefully depress the accelerator pedal to free the vehicle. Turn off TRAC and/or Enhanced VSC if these functions are hampering your attempts to free the vehicle. (→P. 182) STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5 STEP 6 CAUTION n When attempting to free a stuck vehicle If you choose to rock the vehicle back and forth to free it, make sure the surrounding area is clear, to avoid striking other vehicles, objects or persons. The vehicle may also lunge forward or lunge back suddenly as it becomes free. Use extreme caution. n When shifting the shift lever Be careful not to shift the shift lever with the accelerator pedal depressed. This may lead to unexpected rapid acceleration of the vehicle that may cause an accident and result in death or serious injury. 5 When trouble arises NOTICE n To avoid damaging the transmission and other components l Avoid spinning the wheels and do not rev the engine. l If the vehicle remains stuck after trying these procedures, the vehicle may require towing to be freed. 463