2011 AUDI S8 ignition

Good anti-corrosion treatment is very impor­
tant, particularly in the winter . If the vehicle
is freq uent ly driven on salt treated roads, the
entire engine compartment and plenum panel
should be thoroughly cleaned at t he end of
winter and retreated to prevent salt damage.
At the same time, the underside of the veh icle
should be washed as we ll.
If the engine compartment is cleaned at any
time with grease removing solut ions
1>, or if
you have the engine washed, the anti-corro­
sion treatment is a lmost always removed as
well.
It is therefore essential to have a long­
l as ting co rrosion protection reapp lied to all
surfaces, seams, joints and components in the
engine compartment.
~ WARNING
Be aware: The engine compartment of any
motor vehicle is a potentially hazardous
area.
- Before working in the engine compart­
ment, be s ure to read the informat ion
o page 216.
-Be fore reaching into the front pane l, al­
ways switch off the ignition. Othe rwise,
the windshield wiper system co uld un in­
tent ionally be switched on, possib ly
caus ing persona l injury from the moving
wiper linkage.
- Never reach into the area around or touch the radiator fan . The auxiliary fan
is temperature cont rolled and can switch
on sud denly - even when the ign it ion is
off.
- Do not wa sh, wax or dry the engine w ith
the engine running. Moving or hot parts
cou ld injure you.
- Do not clean the underside of the cha s­
sis, fen ders, wheel cove rs, or ot her hard
to reach parts w ithout protecting your
hands and arms . You may cut yourse lf on
sharp-edged metal parts.
l ) Use o nly the co rrec t cle anin g so lu tio ns. Neve r use gas­
olin e or d iese l fuel.
Cleaning and protec tion 217
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other information
c:> page 206. •
•

220 Fuel su ppl y and filli ng your fu el t ank
transport fue l to use for your lawn mower,
snow blower, etc., be very careful and al ­
ways observe local and state laws regard­
ing the use, transportat ion and storage of
such fuel containers . Make certain the con­
tainer meets industry standards (ANSI/
AS TM F852 - 86) .
(D Note
Never drive your vehicle until the fuel tank
is completely empty. The irregular supply
of fuel can cause misfiring . Gasoline could
enter the exhaust system and damage t he
catalyt ic converter.
Refuelling
Fig. 172 Rig ht rea r vehicle s ide: Ope ning t he fuel fille r
f lap
Fig . 173 Fuel filler fla p with attached fuel c ap
When activating the central locking, the fuel
fi ller flap is automatically un locked or locked.
Refue l the vehicle with the ignition switched
off.
Taking the fu el cap off
• Press the left side of the fuel filler flap to
open it
q fig . 172 -arrow-.
• Unsc rew fuel filler cap counter-clockwise
and hang it on the fuel fill er flap
¢ fig. 173 . Refuell
ing proc edur e
• Insert the fuel nozzle from the gasoline
pump into the fuel fi ller neck as far as it wi ll
go .
• Sele ct a med ium r efuelling rate so that the
no zz le switches off automatically when the
tank is full .
Putting th e fu el cap ba ck on
• After filling your tank, twist the fuel filter
cap clockwise as far as it w ill go.
• Close the fue l fill er flap.
T o avoid fuel spilling or evaporating from the
fuel tank always close fuel filter cap properly and completely. An improperly closed fuel fi ll­
er cap may also cause the MIL lamp
cc> page 2 7
to come on.
A WARNING
Improper refue ling or handling of fuel can
cause fire, explosion and severe burns.
- Fuel is highly flammable and can cause
severe burns and other injur ies .
- Fai lure to shut the engine off while refu­
eling and/or to insert the pump nozzle
fully into the fuel filter neck could cause
fuel to spray out of filler neck or to over­
flow. Fue l spray and overflowing fuel can
cause a fire .
- Never use a ce llular telephone whil e re­
fue ling . T he electromagnet ic rad iat io n
can cause sparks that can igni te fuel va­
pors and cause a fire.
- Never get back into your vehicle whi le re­
fuel ing.
If in exceptional circumstan ces
you must get back in your vehicle while
ref ueling, make certain that you close
the door and touch metal to discharge
static electricity before touching the fill­
er nozzle again . Static electricity can
cause sparks that can ignite fuel vapors
released during refueling .
- Never smoke or have an open f lame any­
where in or near your veh icle when refu­
eling or filling a portable fue l conta iner .
- For your safety, we strongly recommend
that you do not travel with a portable

222 Checking and filling
Checking and filling Engine hood
Releasing the engine hood
The engine hood is released from inside the
vehicle .
Fig. 175 Driver foo twell: release lever
AUD I
Fig. 176 Rocker switch un der the hood
Make sure the wiper arms are not raised up
from the windshield. Otherwise the paint
could be damaged.
.,. Pull the lever under the instrument panel in
the direction of the arrow
¢ fig. 175.
.,. Raise the hood slightly¢,&. .
... Press the rocker switch under the hood up­
ward ~
fig. 176. This releases the catch.
... Open the hood.
&_ WARNING
Hot engine coolant can burn you.
- To reduce the risk of being burned, never
open the hood if you see or hear steam
or coolant escaping from the engine compartment . Wait until no steam or
coolant can be seen or heard before care­
fully opening the hood .
' Working in the engine compartment
Be especially careful whenever you work in
the engine compartment.
Whenever you must perform any work in the
engine compartment, for example checking
and filling different fluids, there is a risk of injury, burns and accidents. To prevent per­
sonal injury always observe the following
WARNINGS. The engine compartment of any
vehicle is a hazardous area
¢ ,&. .
/n.. WARNING
To help avoid injury, before you check any­
thing under the hood:
- Turn off the engine.
- Switch off the ignition .
- Apply the parking brake.
- Move selector lever to "P" (Park) .
- Always let the engine cool down. Hot
components will burn skin on contact.
- To reduce the risk of being burned, never
open the hood if you see or hear steam
or coolant escaping from the engine
compartment. Wait until no steam or
coolant can be seen or heard before care­
fully opening the hood.
- Keep children away from the engine com­
partment.
- Never spill fluids on hot engine compo­
nents . They can cause a fire .
- Never touch the radiator fan. The auxili­
ary electric fan is temperature controlled
and can switch on suddenly .
- Never open the coolant reservoir cap
when the engine is still warm . The cool­
ant system is pressurized and hot cool­
ant could spray out.
- Protect your face, hands and arm from
steam or hot engine coolant by placing a
thick rag over the cap when you open the
coolant reservoir.
- If work on the fuel system or the electri­
cal system is necessary:
- Always disconnect the battery.

-Never smoke or work near heate rs or
open flames. Fluids in the engine com­
partment could start a fire.
- Keep an approved fire extinguisher im­
mediately ava ilable.
- To avoid elect rical shock and persona l in­
jury while the engine is running or be ing
started, never touch:
- I gnition cables
- Othe r components of the high voltage
e lectronic ignition system.
- If you must pe rform a check or repair
with the engine running:
- F irst, fully apply the pa rking brake,
move selector lever to "P" (Park) .
- Always use extreme caution to prevent
clothing, jewelry, or long hai r from get­
ting caught in the radiator fan, V-belts
or other moving parts, or from contact­ ing hot parts. T ie back hair before
starting, and do not wear cloth ing that
will ha ng or droop into the eng ine.
- Min imize exposure to emission and
c h emical hazards
c:> &,.
A WARNING
California Propos ition 65 Warning:
- Engine exhaust, some of its constituents,
and certai n veh icle components co nta in
or em it chemicals known to the State of
Californ ia to cause cancer a nd b irth d e­
fects a nd rep roduct ive ha rm. In addi tion,
c e rta in fluids cont ained in vehicle s and
c ertain p rod ucts of component wear con­
tain or emit chemicals known to the
State of Ca lifo rnia to cause cancer and
birth defects or other reproductive harm.
- Battery posts, terminals and related ac ­
cessories contain lead and lead com-
Checkin g and fillin g 223
poun ds, c hemicals known to the State of
California to cause cancer and reproduc­
tive harms. Wash hands after handling.
([) Note
When adding fluids, always make su re that
they are poured into the p roper conta iner
or fi ller opening, otherwise serious dam­
age to vehicle systems w ill occur .
@ For the sake of the environment
To detect lea ks in time, inspect the vehicle
floor pan from underneath regular ly. If
you see spots from oil or other veh icle flu­
i ds, have you r vehicle inspected by an au­
thorized Audi dea ler.
Closing the engine hood
.. Pull the hood down until the pressure from
t he st ruts is reduced.
.. Let the hood
drop down a nd l atc h in pla ce.
Do not try to push it shut; it may fail to en­
gage ~ A_.
A WARNING
-
A hood that is not completely latched
could fly up and block your view while dr iv­
i ng.
- When you close the engine hood, chec k it
to make sure t he safety catch has prope r­
ly engaged. The hood shou ld be flush
with the surround ing vehicle body parts .
- If you notice while driv ing that the hood
is not secured prope rly, stop at once and
close it. •
•

Checking the engine oil level
Fig . 178 D is p lay: o il level indica tor
Park your vehicle on a level surface.
• Shut the engine off when i t is wa rm.
• Swi tch on ly the ignition back on .
• Wait approximately two minutes .
• Se lect :
I CAR I funct ion button > C ar sys tem s
cont rol button > Se rvicing & c heck s > Oil
le ve l.
• Check the oil level in the display¢ fig. 178 .
Add engine oil if the bar of the oil level indi ­
cator is near "min " ¢
page 22 7.
Depending on the way the veh icle is driven
and the operating conditions, oil consumpt ion
can be up to 1/2 quart per 600 m iles (0 .S liter
per 1 ,000 km) . Consumption may be h igher
within the first 3,000 miles (S,000 km) .
@ Tips
The oil level indicator in the MMI Display is
only an informat ion d isp lay . If the oil leve l
is low, a minimum o il warning appears in
t he ins trumen t cluste r. Add oi l
¢
page 22 7 . If the hood h as been opened,
the current oil level is shown in the instru ­
ment cluster the next time the ignition is
sw itched on.
Checkin g and fillin g 22 7
Adding engine oil 'i=:1:
Fig. 179 Eng in e compa rtm en t: co ve r on the engine oi l
filler n eck
Before you check anything in the eng ine com­
partment ,
alw ays re ad and he ed all WARN­
INGS
c:> &, in Working in the engine compart ­
ment on page 222 .
• Unscrew the cap~ to the eng .i ne o il filling
hole
c:> fig . 179.
• Carefully top off with the appropriate oil in
0.S liter doses .
• Check the oil level again after two minutes
¢ page 22 7.
• Top off the oil aga in, if necessary .
• Screw the cap back on the filling hole .
A WARNING
-Wh ile topping off, the oil must not come
in contact w ith hot engine parts -fi re
hazard!
- The oi l filler cap must be p roperly se­
cured to prevent oil from being sprayed
on the hot engine and exhaust system
when the engine is runni ng -fire ha zard!
- I f your s kin has come in contact with the
engine o il, you must subse quently
cleanse it thoroughly.
(D Note
- Check the oil level using the MMI. If the
message
Please reduce oil level appe ars,
c ontact yo ur a uth ori zed Aud i dea ler o r
ot her qualified workshop to have excess
oil extracted if necessary.
- Audi d oes not re commend the u se of oil
additi ves. The y m ay dama ge the engine
1111-

Engine cooling system
Coolant
The engine coolant performs two functions: it
keeps the engine from overheating and it pro ­
te cts the engine from freezing in the winter .
The cooling system is sealed and generally re­
qu ires little attention .
The cooling system has been filled at the fac­
tory with a permanent coolant which does not need to be changed. The coolant consists of a
mixture of water and the manufacturer's gly ­
col-based coolan t additive G12++ ant ifreeze
with a nticorrosion add itives (50% fo r USA
models; 60% for Canad ian models). This mix­
ture bot h assu res the ne ces sary frost protec­
tion and protects metal components in the
engine's cooling system from corrosion and
scaling. It also raises the bo ili ng po int of t he
coolant.
D o not red uce the concentration of the coo l­
ant in the summe r by adding plain water .
The
proportion of coolant addit ive must be at
least 50% but not mo re than 60 %
to main­
tain antifree ze protection and cooling efficien­
cy. If the coolant frost protect ion is too low,
the coolant could freeze and damage the veh i­
cle heating and eng ine cooling system .
For year-round driving, antifree ze is added at
the factory for temperatures down to:
- -3 1°F (-35°C)USA
- -4 0 ° F ( - 4 0 °C) Canada.
You can mix t he G12 ++ cool ant ad ditive with
o ther addit ives (G1 2+ or G1 2). Alway s check
w ith your author ized Audi dealer.
& WARNING
Before yo u check any thing in the engine
compartment, always read and hee d all
W AR NIN GS
Q .&. in Working in the engine
compartment on page 222.
(D Note
- Before win ter se ts in , have the coolan t
checked to see if the coolant addit ive i n
Checkin g and fillin g 229
your vehicle is sufficient to meet the cli ­
mate conditions . This is especia lly impor­
tant if you live in a reg ion where t he win­
ter is extreme ly co ld. If necessary, in­
crease t he p ropo rtion of coo lant add itive
t o 60% .
- Whe n add ing coolant additive to your
cooling system , remember :
- W e re co mme nd usin g only cool ant ad­
dit ive G 12++ (check t he labe l) for your
vehi cle. This coolan t addi tive is ava ila­
b le at a uthorized Audi dea le rs . Othe r
types of ant ifreeze can significant ly re­
d uce co rrosi on protection. The res ult­
i n g corrosion can ca use a loss of co ol­
ant and ser io us eng ine damage .
- Do not add any type of rad iator leak seal­
ant to you r vehicle's eng ine c oolant .
Add ing radiator repair fl uid may adverse­
ly affect t he f unction and performance of
yo ur cooling sys tem and co uld resu lt i n
damage not covered by yo ur New Ve hicle
Li mi ted Warran ty.
Checking the engine coolant level
The engine coolant level can be chec ked with
a quick glan ce.
:!, MAX
% MIN
Fig. 180 En gin e compar tment: mark ings on t he coo l­
a n t expa nsion tank
Befo re you check a nyth ing in the eng ine com­
partment,
always read and heed all WARN­
INGS ¢.&, in Working in the engine compart­
men t on page
222 .
"' Switch off the ignition .
"' Read the engine coo lant level from the coo l­
ant expa nsion tank
Qfig . 180. Wit h a co ld
eng ine , the coo lant level s hou ld be between
1JJ>-

A WARNING
-=
-The cooling system is under pressure and
can get very hot . Reduce the risk of
scald ing from hot coolant by following
these steps .
- Turn
off the engine and a llow it to cool
down.
- Protect your face, hands and arms from
escaping fluid and steam by covering
the cap with a large, thick rag.
- Turn the cap slowly and very carefully in a counter-clockwise direction while
applying light, downward pressure on
the top of the cap.
- To avoid being burned, do not spi ll an­
tifreeze or coolant on the exhaust sys­
tem or hot engine parts. Under certa in
conditions, the ethylene glycol in en­
g ine coolant can catch fire.
- Antifreeze is poisonous. Always store an­
t ifreeze in its original container and well
out of the reach of children.
- If you drain the coolant, it must be
caught and safely stored in a proper con­
tainer clearly marked "poison".
(D Note
- Coolant pollutes the env ironment and
could cause an engine fire. Excess cool­
ant w ill be forced out through the pres­
sure relief valve in the cap when the en­
gine becomes hot.
- If, in an emergency, only water can be
added, the correct ratio between water
and antifreeze
Q page 229 must be re­
stored as soon as possible.
@ For the sake of the environment
Drained coolant should not be reused. Al­
ways dispose of used coolant while obse rv­
ing all environmental regulations.
Checkin g and fillin g
Radiator fan
The radiator fan switches on automatically by
itself .
The rad iator fan is dr iven by the engine via the
V-belt. The viscous clutch regulates the speed
of the fan according to the temperature of the
coolant .
An auxiliary electric radiator fan* switches on
and
off depending on coolant temperature
and other vehicle operat ing cond it ions .
After you switch the engine
off, the aux iliary
fan can continue running for up to 10 minutes - even with the ignition
off. It can even switch
on again later by itself
Q &., if
- the temperature of the engine coo lant rises
due to the heat build-up from the engine in
the engine compartment, or
- the engine compartment heats up because the vehicle is parked in intense sunlight.
A WARNING
- To reduce the risk of personal in jury nev­
er touch the radiator fan .
- The auxiliary electric fan is temperature
controlled and can switch on suddenly
even when the engine is not running.
- The auxiliary radiator fan sw itches on au­
tomatically when the engine coolant reaches a certa in temperature and w ill
continue to ru n until the coolant temper­
ature drops.
231
•
•

_& WARNING
California Proposition 65 Warning:
- Battery posts, terminals and related ac­
cessories contain lead and lead com­
pounds, chemicals known to the State of
California to cause cancer and reproduc­
t ive p roblems. Wash hands afte r han­
dling.
(D Note
- Do not d isconnect the vehicle battery
when the ignition is on or when the en­
gine is running, otherwise, you will dam­
age electron ic components in the elect ri­
c al system.
- If your vehicle is going to stand for a
l ong pe riod of time wi thout bei ng d riven,
protect the battery from "freezing", oth­
erwise it wil l be damaged and w ill then
have to be replaced.
Battery charging
Starting the engine requires a well charged
battery.
F ig . 182 Eng ine compartment : connecto rs for a cha rg ­
er and jump sta rt cab les
Alway s read and h eed all WARNINGS be low
¢ &. and
¢&. in Working on the ba ttery on
page 234.
• Switch off the ignit ion and a ll electrica l con­
s u mers.
• Make sure the are a is well vent ilated when
you charge the battery.
• Open the engine hood
¢page 222.
• Remove the cover @ by press ing on the ar­
row ¢
fig. 182.
Checkin g and fillin g 235
• Open the cover @on the pos itive termina l.
• Connect the charge r co nnectors according to
the instruct ions to the
jump sta rt bolts.
(Bo lts under the red cover= "positive", Bo lts
w ith hex head= "negative").
• On ly now plug the mains lead for the charg­
ing equ ipment into the wall outlet and turn
iton ¢_& .
• Make sure the charging rate is not over
30 amp s/14.8 V olt .
• W hen the battery is fully charged: T urn the
charging equipment off and remove the
mains lead from the wall out let.
• Now remove the clamps for the charging
equipment.
• Close the red cover on the positive pole.
• Close the hood ¢
page 223.
A discharged battery can freeze at tempera­
tures of only 32 F
0 (0 °C). Allow a frozen bat­
tery to thaw completely before attempting to
charge it ¢ Ii::,. . However, we recommend not
us ing a thawed batte ry aga in because the bat­
te ry casing can be c racked due to i ce fo rma­
t ion and can leak ba ttery a cid.
Battery charging (Maximum charging rate
of 30 amps /14.8 Volt )
When charg ing at low vo ltages (e.g. wi th a
trickl e charger ), the batte ry cables do no t
have to be dis conne cted firs t. T he bat tery
caps should
not be opened when charg ing a
batte ry .
It is no t necessa ry to remove the battery from
t he luggage compartmen t, a nd it is a lso not
necessary to d isconnect the cab les.
Fast charging the battery (charging rate
above 14 .8 Volts)
Fo r tec hni cal re asons do not use a battery
c h arger that uses voltage g reater than 14.8
Volts to charge yo ur vehicle's battery.
A WARNING
Charging a battery can be dangero us.
- Always follow the operating instructions
provided by the battery charger manu ­
facturer when charging your battery.