Hey all, I'm moving cross country and have my Mazda 3 in tow on a tow dolly. Per the owners manual, the car is in neutral and the car is in acc mode.

The thing is, after two days of that it's killed the battery. Which sucks because I need some juice in the battery so I can lock the doors when we stop for the night. I'm planning on getting a jump pack to power up the cars electrical system enough toggle the door locks, but it seems like there's got to be a better way of going about this journey.

Bonus question: am I going to have to deal with any security system bull**** when I revive the battery?

Thanks y'all.

 

Leaving the ignition on will definitely kill the battery.

You shouldn't have any issues recharging or replacing the battery.

 

I guess my bigger question is, is there any way to do a multi day tow with this car without the battery dying? Or is that just something I should come to expect?

 

How many wheels are on the ground during towing? Front or rear or all?

Is the transmission Auto or Manual?

 

Automatic transmission. It's on a tow dolly, so front wheels are if the ground, and the rear wheels are freewheeling on the road.

Also: thanks for your reply!

 

They is no need to have the ignition on. Strap the front in tight, release the handbrake and away you go.

 

The manual is pretty clear that the car should be in neutral when towing, and there doesn't seem to be a way to have the car off when it's on neutral- unless I'm missing something.

 

I assume its a FWD? No need to have in neutral as the front wheels aren't turning. Leave it in park with ignition off.

If you want, you can pop the small tab beside the gear lever, press the lock release below and slip the gear lever to neutral.

 

Yup, fwd. Will try the shift lock override before we set off in the morning.

Thanks for all your help!