Your vehicle has an underbody mounted tire hoist assembly equipped with a secondary latch system. It is designed to stop the compact spare tire from suddenly falling off your vehicle if the cable holding the spare tire is damaged. For the secondary latch to work, the tire must be stowed with the valve stem pointing down. See Storing a Flat or Spare Tire and Tools for instructions on storing the spare tire correctly.

Caution: Before beginning this procedure read all the instructions. Failure to read and follow the instructions could damage the hoist assembly and you and others could get hurt. Read and follow the instructions listed next.

To release the spare tire from the secondary latch, do the following:

Caution: Someone standing too close during the procedure could be injured by the jack. If the spare tire does not slide off the jack completely, make sure no one is behind you or on either side of you as you pull the jack out from under the spare.

1. If the cable is not visible, start this procedure at Step 3.

All-Wheel-Drive Vehicle shown




2. Turn the folding wrench counterclockwise until approximately 6 inches (15 cm) of cable is exposed.

Front-Wheel-Drive Vehicle shown




3. Attach the folding wrench to the jack and raise the jack at least 10 turns.
4. Place the jack under the vehicle, ahead of the rear bumper. Position the center lift point of the jack under the center of the spare tire.
5. Turn the folding wrench clockwise to raise the jack until it lifts the secondary latch spring.
6. Keep raising the jack until the spare tire stops moving upward and is held firmly in place. This lets you know that the secondary latch has released and the spare tire is balancing on the jack.



7. Lower the jack by turning the folding wrench counterclockwise. Keep lowering the jack until the spare tire slides off the jack.



8. Disconnect the folding wrench from the jack and carefully remove the jack. Use one hand to push against the spare tire while firmly pulling the jack out from under the spare tire with the other hand.
9. Tilt the retainer and slip it through the wheel opening when the spare tire has been completely lowered.
10. Turn the folding wrench clockwise to raise the cable back up if the cable is hanging.

Have the hoist assembly inspected as soon as you can. You will not be able to store a spare tire using the hoist assembly until it has been repaired or replaced.