2008 Seat Altea coolant level

Checking and refilling levels215
Safety First
Operating instructions
Tips and Maintenance
Te c h n i c a l D a t a
•
Wait until no more steam, smoke or coolant is emitted from the bonnet,
then carefully open the bonnet.
•
When working in the engine compartment, always observe the safety
warnings ⇒ page 212.
Closing the bonnet– Raise the bonnet slightly
– Release the bonnet stay and replace it in its support.
– At a height of about 30 cm let it fall so it is locked.If the bonnet does not close, do not pr ess downwards. Open it once more and
let it fall as before.
WARNING
If the bonnet is not closed properly, it could open while you are driving and
completely obscure your view of the road. Risk of accident.•
After closing the bonnet, always check that it is properly secured. The
bonnet must be flush with the surrounding body panels.
•
If you notice that the bonnet latch is not secured when the vehicle is
moving, stop the vehicle immediately and close the bonnet properly. Risk
of accident.
Engine oilEngine oil specifications
The engine oil used must conform with exact specifications.Specifications
The engine comes with a special, high quality, multi grade oil that can be
used in all seasons of the year except for those regions affected by extreme
cold.
As the use of good quality oil is necessary for the correct operation and long
service life of the engine, when it be comes necessary to replenish or change
the oil, always use an oil that complies to the VW standards.
If it is not possible to find oil co nforming to the VW standards then oil
conforming to the ACEA or API standa rds with an appropriate viscosity at
atmospheric temperature should be used instead. The use of this type of oil
may have some repercussions on the performance of the engine for example,
long starting time, increased consumption and a higher emission level.
If a top up is required then different oils may be mixed as long as they all
conform to the VW standards.
The specifications (VW standards) set out in the following page should
appear on the container of the service oil; the container will display together
the different standards for petrol and diesel engines, the oil can be used for
both types of engines.
WARNING (continued)
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Checking and refilling levels219
Safety First
Operating instructions
Tips and Maintenance
Te c h n i c a l D a t a
•
Before opening the bonnet, read and observe the warnings
⇒ page 212, “Safety instructions on working in the engine compartment”.
•
Wait for the engine to cool down. Hot oil may cause burn injuries.
•
Wear eye protection to avoid injuries caused by splashes of oil.
•
When removing the oil drain plug with your fingers, keep your arm hori-
zontal to help prevent oil from running down your arm.
•
Wash your skin thoroughly if it comes into contact with engine oil.
•
Engine oil is poisonous! Used oil must be stored in a safe place out of
the reach of children until it is disposed of.Caution
No additives should be used with engine oil. This could result in engine
damage. Any damage caused by the use of such additives would not be
covered by the factory warranty.
For the sake of the environment
•
Because of the disposal problems, the necessa ry special tools and
specialist knowledge required, we reco mmend that you have the engine oil
and filter changed by an Authorised Service Centre.
•
Never pour oil down drains or into the ground.
•
Use a suitable container when draining the used oil. It has to be large
enough to hold all the engine oil
CoolantCoolant specifications
Coolant is a mixture of water and at least 40% coolant addi-
tive.The cooling system must be filled with a mixture of water and at least 40 % of
our coolant additive G 12+ or an addi tive with the specification TT-VW 774 F
(it is dyed purple). This mixture gives the necessary frost protection down to
-25°C and protects the alloy parts of th e cooling system against corrosion. It
also prevents scaling and raises the boiling point of the coolant.
The concentration of coolant must always be at least 40% - even if frost
protection is not required.
If greater frost protection is required in very cold climates, the proportion of
the antifreeze additive G 12+ can be increased. However, the percentage of
coolant additives should not exceed 60%, as this would reduce the frost
protection. It would also reduce th e cooling effect. A mixture with 60%
coolant additive will give frost protection to approx. -40°C.
WARNING
•
The coolant additive is toxic. There is a toxic risk. Always keep the
coolant additive in the original container which should be stored out of the
reach of children. The same applies to coolant which you have drained off.
•
The coolant additive G 12+ must be added in sufficient quantities to
provide anti-freeze protection at the coldest ambient temperatures that
can be expected. At extremely cold ambient temperatures, the coolant
could freeze, causing the vehicle to breakdown. As the heater would also
not work in this situat ion, there is a risk of suffering exposure!
WARNING (continued)
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Checking and refilling levels
220
Caution•
Other additives may give considerably inferior corrosion protection. The
resulting corrosion in the cooling system can lead to a loss of coolant,
causing serious damage to the engine.
•
The coolant additive G 12+ (purple) ca n be mixed with the additive G 12
(red) or G 11. Never mix G12 (red colour) with G 11.
Checking the coolant level and topping up

The correct coolant level is important for fault-free func-
tioning of the engine cooling system.Before opening the bonnet, read and observe the warnings ⇒ in
“Safety instructions on working in the engine compartment” on
page 212. Opening the coolant expansion tank
– Switch off the engine and allow it to cool.
– To prevent scalding, cover the cap on the expansion tank with a
thick cloth and carefully unscrew the cap ⇒.
Checking coolant level
– Look into the open coolant expansion tank and read off the coolant level.
– If the level is underneath the “MIN” mark, top up with coolant.
Topping up coolant
–Only use new coolant.
– Do not fill above the “MAX” mark.
Closing the coolant expansion tank
– Screw the cap on again tightly.
The position of the coolant expansion re servoir is shown in the corresponding
engine compartment diagram ⇒page 276.
Make sure that the coolant meets the required specifications ⇒page 219.
Do not use a different type of additive if coolant additive G 12+, is not avail-
able. In this case use only water and bring the coolant concentration back up
to the correct level as soon as possible by putting in the specified additive
⇒ page 219.
Always top up with new coolant.
Do not fill above the “MAX” mark. Otherwise the excess coolant will be forced
out of the cooling system when the engine is hot.
Fig. 165 In the engine
compartment: Coolant
expansion tank cap
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Checking and refilling levels221
Safety First
Operating instructions
Tips and Maintenance
Te c h n i c a l D a t a
The coolant additive G 12+ (dyed purple) may be mixed with G 12 (dyed red)
and also with G 11.
WARNING
Any work carried out in the engine compartment or on the engine must be
carried out cautiously.•
When working in the engine compartment, always observe the safety
warnings ⇒ page 212.
•
When the engine is warm or hot, the cooling system is pressurised! Do
not unscrew the cap on the expansion t ank when the engine is hot. This is
a burn injury risk.Caution
•
When mixed with other additives the colour of G 12 will change to brown.
If this occurs you should have the coolant changed immediately. Failure to do
so will result in engine damage!
•
If a lot of coolant has been lost, wait for the engine to cool down before
putting in cold coolant. This avoids damaging the engine. Large coolant
losses are an indication of leaks in the cooling system. See a specialised
workshop immediately and have the c ooling system checked. Otherwise,
there is a risk of engine damage.
Washer fluid and windscreen wiper bladesTopping up washer fluid

The water for cleaning the windscreen should always be
mixed with washer fluid.The windscreen washer and the headlight washing system are supplied with
fluid from the windscreen washer flui d container in the engine compartment.
The reservoir is located on the right-hand side of the engine compartment.
Plain water is not enough to clean th e windscreen and headlights. We recom-
mend that you always add a product to the windscreen washer fluid.
Approved windscreen cleaning products exist on the market with high deter-
gent and anti-freeze properties, these may be added all-year-round. Please
follow the dilution instructions on the packaging.
Fig. 166 In the engine
compartment: Cap of
windscreen washer fluid
reservoir.
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Index299
Convenience closing
Sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Convenience opening Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219, 220 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Coolant Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Coolant level warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Coolant Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Coolant temperature Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Cruise control system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Cruise control* Turning off the cruise control system . . . . . 177
Curtain airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42DDanger of fitting a child seat on the front passenger seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Diesel engine Winter driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Diesel engine particulate filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Differential lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Differential lock fault (EDL)
warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Digital clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Dipped headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Disabling front passenger airbag Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Disabling the airbag Disabling front passenger airbag . . . . . . . . . 44
Display (without warning or information texts) . 59
Displays in the Mult i-function display
Memory displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Door lock cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Door release lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Doors Childproof locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Drawer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Drinks holders at the front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Drive wheels traction control system . . . . . . . . 180
Driving Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Economically / With Respect for the Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
With a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Driving economically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Driving programmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Driving safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Driving with an automatic gearbox / DSG automatic
gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Driving with respect for the environment . . . . 191
Duplicate keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Dust filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Dynamic headlight range control . . . . . . . . . . . 114
EEDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
EDS Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Electric steering system warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Electrical sockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Electronic differential lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Electronic immobiliser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83, 163 warning message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Electronic stabilisation program . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Electronic stabilisation programme . . . . . . . . . . 81 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Electronic stabilisation programme (ESP) warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
emergency manual locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Emergency opening Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Emission control system warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
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Index
300Engine
Running in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Engine compartment Working in the engine compartment . . . . . 212
Engine coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Engine fault Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Engine management Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Engine oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Checking level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Oil properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Topping up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Engine oil dipstick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Engine oil pressure Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 78
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Environmental friendliness . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Environmental tip Avoiding pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
ESP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81, 181
Example of menu use Open the configuration menu . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Program a speed limit warning . . . . . . . . . . 67
To activate and deactivate the speed limit warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Examples of menu use
Open the main menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Open the winter tyres menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
To close the winter tyres menu . . . . . . . . . . 68
Exhaust gas purification system . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
FFastening rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Fire extinguisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
First-aid kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Floor mats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fog lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
folding table* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Folding the seat backrests down . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Foot brake Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Front airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Front passenger airbag deactivation . . . . . . . . . 44
Front reading lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Front seat adjustment Lumbar support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Fuel Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Fuel level Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Fuel reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Fuel Tank Opening the fuel tank flap . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Fuel tank See Fuel reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Fuel: saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
GG 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Gear shift pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
General overview of the engine compartment 276
Glove compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Glow plug system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81HHandbrake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77, 172
Hazard warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
head restraints Adjusting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129, 130
adjustment of the head restraint angle . . . 130
Removing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
head restraints, correct adjustment . . . . . . . . . 13 In-use and non-use positions . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Headlight flasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Headlight range control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
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