2009 Seat Alhambra steering wheel

Intelligent technology
186•
The effectiveness of the ESP is also determined by the tyres fitted
⇒ page 227.Caution
I n o rd e r to e nsu r e tha t ES P a n d TCS fu n ct io n cor re c tl y, a ll fou r w h e el s m u st b e
fitted with the same tyres. Any differences in the rolling radius of the tyres can
cause the system to reduce engine power when this is not desired.Power steeringPower steering does not work if the engine is not running or if the power
steering system has developed a fault. In this case the steering wheel is very
hard to turn.
Caution
Do not keep the steering wheel in the full-lock position for longer than
15 seconds when the engine is running. This could cause damage to the
power steering system.Four-wheel drive*
In vehicles with four-wheel drive, the engine power is distrib-
uted to all four wheelsThe four-wheel drive system is fully automatic and does not require interven-
tion by the driver. The engine power is permanently distributed to all four wheels. The engine power is distributed automatically to both axles
according to the road conditions and how you drive.
Winter tyres
Thanks to its four-wheel drive, your car will have plenty of traction in winter
conditions, even with the standard tyres. Nevertheless, we still recommend
that, in keeping with cars with front or rear wheel drive, winter tyres or all-
season tyres should be fitted on
all four wheels when winter road conditions
are expected, mainly because this will give a better braking response.
Snow chains
On roads where snow chains are mandatory, they must be fitted to the front
wheels of cars with four-wheel drive.
Replacing tyres
In vehicles with four-wheel drive, all four tyres should have the same amount
of wear. All four wheels must have the same rolling circumference.
WARNING
Never drive too fast on icy, slippery or wet surfaces. You could lose control
of your vehicle if you drive too fast. This may result in serious injury.•
Therefore, it is essential that you adjust your speed to suit the road and
traffic conditions. Do not let the extra safety afforded by four-wheel drive
tempt you into taking any risks when driving.
•
The four-wheel drive gives the vehicle good acceleration even in winter.
When braking, a four-wheel drive vehicle handles in the same way as a
front drive vehicle.
•
On wet roads the front wheels may start to “aquaplane” and lose
contact with the road if the car is driven too fast. If this should happen,
there will be no sudden increase in engine speed to warn the driver, as with
a front-wheel drive car.
WARNING (continued)
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Checking and refilling levels229
Safety First
Operating instructions
Tips and Maintenance
Te c h n i c a l D a t a
Wear indicators
The original tyres on your vehicle have 1.6 mm high “tread wear indicators”
⇒
page 228, fig. 149 , running across the tread. Depending on the make,
there will be six to eight of them evenly spaced around the tyre. Markings on
the tyre sidewall (for instance the letters “TWI” or other symbols) indicate the
positions of the tread wear indicators. The minimum tread depth required by
law is 1.6 mm (measured in the tread grooves next to the tread wear indica-
tors). Worn tyres must be replaced. Different figures may apply in export
countries ⇒.
Tyre pressure
Incorrect tyre pressure causes premature wear and could cause tyre blow-out.
For this reason, the tyre pressure should be checked at least once per month
⇒ page 228.
Driving style
Fast cornering, heavy acceleration and hard braking all increase tyre wear.
Changing wheels around
If the front tyres are worn considerably more than the rear ones it is advisable
to change them around as shown ⇒page 228, fig. 150 . All the tyres will then
last for about the same time.
Wheel balance
The wheels on new vehicles are balanced. However, various factors encoun-
tered in normal driving can cause them to become unbalanced, which results
in steering vibration.
Unbalanced wheels should be rebalanced, as they otherwise cause excessive
wear on steering, suspension and tyres. A wheel must also be rebalanced
when a new tyre is fitted.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incorrect wheel alignment causes excessive tyre wear, impairing the safety of
the vehicle. If tyres show excessive wear, you should have the wheel align-
ment checked by an Authorised Service Centre.
WARNING
There is a serious danger of accidents if a tyre bursts during driving!•
The tyres must be replaced at the latest when the tread is worn down to
the tread wear indicators. Failure to do so could result in an accident. Worn
tyres do not grip well at high speeds on wet roads. There is also a greater
risk of “aquaplaning”.
•
At continuously high speeds, a tyre with insufficient pressure flexes
more. This causes it to overheat. This can cause tread separation and tyre
blow-out. Risk of accident. Always observe the recommended tyre pres-
sures.
•
If tyres show excessive wear, you should have the running gear checked
by an Authorised Service Centre.
•
Keep chemicals such as oil, fuel and brake fluid away from tyres.
•
Damaged wheels and tyres must be replaced immediately!For the sake of the environment
Under-inflated tyres will increase fuel consumption.New tyres and wheels
New tyres and wheels have to be run-in.The tyres and wheel rims are an essential part of the vehicle's design. The
tyres and rims approved by SEAT are specially matched to the characteristics
of the vehicle and make a major contribution to good road holding and safe
handling ⇒.
Tyres should be replaced at least in pairs and not individually (i.e. both front
tyres or both rear tyres together). A knowledge of tyre designations makes it
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If and when
254Notes for tow-starting or towingIf a cable is used for towing the vehicle, please observe the
following:
As the driver of the towing vehicle
– Switch on the hazard warning lights. However, observe any regu-
lations to the contrary.
– Drive slowly at first until the tow-rope is taut. Then accelerate gradually.
– Begin and change gears cautiously. If you are driving an auto- matic vehicle, accelerate gently.
– Remember that the brake servo and power steering are not working in the vehicle you are towing. Brake earlier than you
would normally, but with a more gentle pressure on the brake.
As the driver of the vehicle being towed
– Switch on the hazard warning lights. However, observe any regu- lations to the contrary.
– Place the gearstick in neutral or position N .
– Ensure that the tow-rope remains taut at all times.Tow-rope or tow-bar
It is easier and safer to tow a vehicle with a tow-bar. You should only use a
tow-rope if you do not have a tow-bar.
A tow-rope should be slightly elastic to reduce the loading on both vehicles.
It is advisable to use a tow-rope made of synthetic fibre or similarly elastic
material. Attach the tow-rope or the tow-bar only to the towing eyes provided or a
towing bracket.
Driving tips
Towing requires some experience, especially when using a tow-rope. Both
drivers should be familiar with the technique required for towing. Inexperi-
enced drivers should not attempt to tow-start or tow away another vehicle.
Do not pull too hard with the towing vehicle and take care to avoid jerking the
tow-rope. When towing on an unpaved road, there is always a risk of over-
loading and damaging the anchorage points.
The ignition of the vehicle being towed must be switched on to prevent the
steering wheel from locking and also to allow the use of the turn signals,
horn, windscreen wipers and washers.
If the vehicle is towed, with the hazard warning lights on and the ignition
switched on, the turn signal may be used to indicate that you are going to
change direction. Move the turn signal lever accordingly. Meanwhile, the
hazard warning lights will go off. When the turn signal lever is returned to the
rest position, the hazard warning lights will automatically reconnect.
The brake servo works only when the engine is running. In this case the pedal
has to be pressed harder.
As the power assisted steering does not work if the engine is not running, you
will need more strength to steer than you normally would.
Towing vehicles with an automatic gearbox
•
Move the selector lever to N.
•
Do not drive faster than 50 km/h when towing a vehicle.
•
Do not tow further than 50 km.
•
If a breakdown truck is used, the vehicle must be towed with the front
wheels raised.
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If and when255
Safety First
Operating instructions
Tips and Maintenance
Te c h n i c a l D a t a
WARNING
The braking behaviour and capacity of a vehicle changes when being towed
or when you are trying to start the vehicle by pulling. Please observe the
following notes in order to prevent injury and accident:•
Inexperienced drivers should refrain from trying in order to avoid acci-
dent.
•
Notes for the driver of the towed vehicle
− The brake must be depressed must harder as the brake servo does
not operate. Take care not to bump into the towing vehicle.
− More strength is required at the steering wheel as the power
steering does not operate when the engine is switched off.
•
Notes for the driver of the towing vehicle
− Accelerate smoothly and avoid any sudden movement.
− Brake more in advance than usual and brake gently.Caution
When tow-starting, fuel could enter the catalytic converter and damage it
⇒ page 252.
Note
•
Observe legal requirements when towing or tow-starting.
•
For technical reasons, vehicles with an automatic gearbox must not be
tow-started.
•
If, due to a breakdown, the gearbox does not have lubricant, the vehicle
should be towed with the drive wheels suspended.
•
If it is necessary to tow a vehicle with an automatic gearbox for more than
50 km, it should be towed by qualified personnel and with the drive wheels
suspended.
Lifting the vehicleVehicle lifting points
Fig. 175 Lifting with the
lifting platform: lifting
point at front leftFig. 176 Lifting with the
lifting platform: lifting
point at rear left
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Index
278Manual gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Manual mode
Climatronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Mileage display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Mirrors Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Interior mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Make-up mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Mobile phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Multifunction steering wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86NNavigation system* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Net bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Number of seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18OObservations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Octane number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Oil change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Oil properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
On board computer with multifunction display* Check working . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Message on display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
One-touch closing and opening electric windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Overview
Control lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Instrument panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Multifunction steering wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Warning lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
PPaintworkPolishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Waxing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Parking aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Parking distance warning system . . . . . . . . . . 175
Parking lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Parts replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Passenger compartment Climatronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Pedals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Trips to foreign countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Physical principles of a frontal collision . . . . . . 20
Plastic key tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Plastic parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Pollution filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Power steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Preheating system indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
RRaising the vehicle with the vehicle tool kit jack . . 241
Reading lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Rear door driving with the tailgate open . . . . . . . . . . 100
Rear fog light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Rear seats characteristics of seat equipment . . . . . . . 127
moving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Rear window heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Heating element wires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Rear window wiper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Rear-view mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Refilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Remote control key Replacing the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Synchronising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Repairs Airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Replacement keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Replacing the battery Remote control key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Replacing tyres Four-wheel drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Retractor See Automatic belt retractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
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Index
280Starting the engine
after the fuel tank has been run dry . . . . . . 166
With the ignition key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Steam cleaners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Steering lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Steering wheel controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Steering wheel height adjustment . . . . . . . . . . 161
Stowage Other stowage areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Stowage compartment Front passenger side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Sun visor front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Sunroof blind Sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Switches Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Hazard warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Switching off the engine With the ignition key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166TTailgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Convenience opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Tailgate open display*
warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Tank Fuel level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Tank capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Tank capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
TCS (Traction control system) Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
The danger of not using the seat belt . . . . . . . . 21
Thermos box cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Tightening torque of wheel bolts . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Towing a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192, 260
Towing bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Towing eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Towline anchorage Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Tow-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252, 253
Traction control system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Trailer turn signals Indicator lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Trailer weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Trips, checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Turn signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75, 113
Two-way radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Type plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Tyre pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Tyre pressures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Tyres and wheels Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Tyres service life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Tyres tread depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Tyres with directional tread pattern . . . . . . . . . 227
UUnderbody sealant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Unfastening seat belt (with one buckle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Unfastening seat belts (with two buckles) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Upper right stowage on instrument panel . . . 135VVehicle Lifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Vehicle battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Vehicle data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Vehicle identification data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Vehicle identification number . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Vehicle paint Car care products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
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