2012 AUDI A3 maintenance

names etc.) that conform to Audi oil standard
VW 502 00 (vehicles with gasoline engine) or
VW 507 00 (vehicles with diesel engine).
C hang ing th e engin e oil
The engine oil and oi l filter must be changed
according to the m ileage (kilomete rs) and
time inte rva ls specified in yo ur vehicle's War­
ranty
& Maintenance booklet. Do not exceed
these intervals -harmful deposits from old
engine oil can reduce engine performance and
can lead to expensive eng ine repairs.
Changing the o il at the recommended inter ­
va ls is so very important because the lubricat ­
ing properties of oi l decrease gradually during
norma l vehicle use . If you are not sure when
you have your oi l changed, ask your author­
ized Audi Service Advisor.
Under some circumstances the engine oi l
should even be changed more frequently.
Change o il more often if you drive mostly
short distances, operate the vehicle in dusty
areas or mostly under stop-and-go traffic con­
d itions, or when you use your veh icle where
temperatures stay below freezing point for
l ong periods.
Detergent addit ives in the o il w ill make fresh
oil look dark after the eng ine has been run­
n ing for a short time. This is norma l and is not
a reason to change the o il mo re often than
r ecommended.
D amage or ma lf u nction s du e to lac k of
ma int enance
It is essential that you change your oil at the
recommended interva ls using only engine oil
that complies with Audi oil standard
VW 502 00 (veh icles with gasolin e engine) or
VW 507 00 (veh icles with diese l engi ne). Yo ur
L im ited New Vehicle Warra nty does not cover
damage or ma lfunctions due to failure to fol­
l ow recommended maintenance and use re­
quirements as set forth in the A udi Owner's
Manual and Warranty
& Maintenance book let.
Your dealer will have to deny warranty cover­ age un less you present to the dea ler proof in
the form of Service or Repa ir Orders that a ll
Checking and fillin g 199
scheduled maintenance was performed in a
timely manner.
· Engine oil consumption
The engine in your vehicle depends on an ade ­
quate amount of oil to lubricate and cool all
of its moving parts.
In order to prov ide effective lubrication and
cooling o f inte rna l engine components, all in ­
ternal combustion engines consume a certain amount of oil. Oil consumpt ion varies from
engine to engine and may change sign ificantly
over the life of the engine. Typically, engines
with a spec ified break-in period (see
Q page 169) consume more oil during the
break-in pe riod than they consume after o il
consump tion has stabilized.
Under normal cond itions, the rate of oi l con­
sumption depends on the quality and viscos ity
of the oil, the RPM (revolut ions per minute) at
which the engine is operated, the ambient
temperature a nd road conditions. Further fac ­
tors are the amount of oil dilut ion from wa ter
condensation or fue l residue and the oxida ­
tion level of the oi l. As any engine is subject to
wear as mi leage builds up, the oil consump­
tion may increase over time until replacement
of worn components may become necessary.
With a ll these variab les coming into p lay, no
standard rate of oil consumption can be es­
tablished or spec ified. There is no alternative
to regular and frequent check ing of the oil lev­
el, see
Not e.
If the yellow engine oil level warning symbo l
in the instrument cluster
Ill! lights up, you
shou ld check the oil leve l as soon as possib le
with the oil dipstick q page 200 . Top off the
o il at your earliest conven ience
Q page 200.
&_ WARNING
Before you chec k anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed al l
WARNI NGS
Q .&. in Working in the engine
compartment on page 194 .
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Before you check anything in the engine com­
partment,
always r ead and heed all W ARN­
ING S
¢ A in Working in the engine compart­
ment on page 194.
.. Park your vehicle so that it is horizontally
level.
.. Stopping the eng ine.
.. Unscrew the cap
«t=;,. to the engine oil fill ing
hole
¢fig. 161 .
.. Carefully top off with the appropriate o il in
0 .5 lite r doses.
.,. Check the o il leve l again after two minutes
¢ page 200.
.,. Top off the oil again, if necessary.
.. Screw the cap back on the filling hole and
slide the oil dipstick in as far as it will go.
A WARNING
- While topping off, the oil must not come
in contact with hot engine parts -fire
hazard!
- The oil filler cap must be properly se­
c u red to prevent oil from being sprayed
on the hot engine and exhaust system
when the eng ine is running - fire hazard!
- If your skin has come in contact w ith the
engine oil, you must subsequently
cleanse it tho roughly .
(D Note
-The oil leve l must not be above range~
- danger of converter or eng ine damage!
Contact a qualified workshop to draw off
oi l, if necessary .
-Audi does not recommend the use of o il
add iti ve s. They may damag e the engine
and adve rsely affect you r New Vehicle
Limited Warranty .
@) For the sake of the environment
-Under no circumstances can the o il come
i n contact with the sewage network or
the soil.
- Observe and follow legal regu lations
when d isposing of empty oil containers.
Checkin g and fillin g 201
Changing the engine oil
We recommend that have your oil changed by
an authorized Audi dealer or a qualified serv­
ice station .
Before you check anyth ing in the eng ine com­
partment,
alw ays read and h eed all WARN­
INGS ¢
A in Working in the engine compart­
ment on page 194 .
The engine oil mus t be changed according to
the intervals spec ified in your Warranty
&
Maintenance booklet. This is very important
because the lubricat ing properties of o il di­
min ish g radually du ring normal vehicle use .
Under some c ircumstances the engine oil
should be changed more frequent ly . Change
o il more ofte n if you drive mostly short d is­
tan ces, opera te the veh icle in dus ty a reas or
u nder p redominant ly stop -and-go traffic con­
ditions, or have you r vehicle where tempera ­
tures remain below freezing for extended pe­
riods .
Dete rgent additives in the oil will make fres h
o il look dar k after t he engine has been run ­
ning for a sho rt time. T his is normal a nd is not
a reason to change the oil more often t han
recommended.
Because of the prob lem of p roper disposal,
along with the specia l tools and necessary ex­
pertise req uired, we strongly recommend that
you have your oil changed by an authorized
Audi dealer or a qualified service station.
If you choo se to change your oil your self ,
please note the fo llowing important informa ­
tion:
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of personal injury if you must change the eng ine oil in your vehicle
yourself:
- Wear eye protect ion.
- To reduce the risk of burns from hot en-
gine oil, let the engine cool down to the
touch.
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General information Explanation of
technical data
Som e of t he technical data listed in this man ­
ual requires further explanation .
The technical data for your vehicle is listed in
the charts starting on
Q page 257. This sec ­
tion provides general information, notes and
r estr ictions wh ich app ly to this data.
Vehicle identification
The key data a re given on the vehicle identifi­
c a tion number ( VIN) pla te and the vehicle da­
ta sticker.
F ig. 201 Veh icle Ident ific atio n Num ber (VIN) p late: lo ­
cation o n dri ver"s s ide das h pa nel
Fi g. 2 02 The ve hicle iden tifi cat ion label -inside the
l u ggage co mpartme nt
The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
is located on the d river's side so tha t it is v is i­
b le from the o utside throug h the windshield -
see
c!) fig. 201.
The vehicle identification label
i s located in the luggage compartment in t he
sp are wheel well. General inform
ation 255
The labe l
Q fig. 202 shows the fo llow ing vehi ­
cle data :
(D Product io n cont ro l no.
@ Vehicle identification no .
@ Type code number
@ Type designat ion/engine o utp ut in K ilo-
watts
® Engine and t ransm ission code letter
@ Pa in t no./ In te rior
(J) Optional equipment no.'s
Vehicle data 2 to 7 are a lso fo und in your W ar­
ranty
& Maintenance booklet .
The safety compliance sticker
is your assurance that your new vehicle com­
plies wi th a ll applicab le Fede ral Mot or Vehicle
S afety S tand ards which were in effect at the
time the ve hicle was ma nufactured. You can
find this sticke r on the left doo r jamb. It
shows the mo nth and yea r of prod uction and
the vehicle identificat ion number of yo ur vehi­
cle (perforation) as well as the Gross Vehicle
Weight Rating (GVWR) a nd the Gross Axle
Weight Rating (GAWR) .
The high voltage warning label
is located on the lock carrie r.
The spark ignition system complies with
the Canadian standard ICES-002.
Weights
Gr oss Vehicle Weight Rating
The Gross Vehicle Weight Rat ing (GVWR), and
the G ross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) for
front and rear are listed on a sticker on the left door jamb.
The Gross Vehicle Weight Rat ing includes the
weight of the bas ic vehicle plus fu ll fuel tank,
o il and coo lant, plus maximum load, which in­
cludes passenger we ight (150 lbs/68 kg per
designated seating position) and luggage
weight .

Consumer Information
Warranty coverages
Your Audi is covered by the following war­
ranties :
- New Vehicle Limited Warranty
- Limited Warranty Against Corrosion Perfo-
ration
- Emissions Control System Warranty
- Emissions Performance Warranty
- California Emissions Control Warranty (USA
vehicles only)
- California Emissions Performance Warranty
(USA vehicles only)
Detailed information regarding your warran ­
ties can be found in your
Warranty & Mainte­
nance Booklet .
Operating your vehicle
outside the U.S.A. or
Canada
Government regulations in the United States
and Canada require that automobiles meet
specific emission regulations and safety
standards. Therefore, veh icles built for the
U.S.A. and Canada differ from vehicles sold in
other countries .
If you p lan to take your vehicle outside the
continental limits of the United States or Can­
ada, there is the possibility that
- unleaded fuels for vehicles with cata lytic
converter may not be available;
- fuel may have a considerably lower octane
rating. Improper fuel may cause engine
damage;
- service may be inadequate due to lack of
proper service facilities, tools or testing
equipment;
- replacement parts may not be readily availa­
ble.
- Navigation systems for vehicles built for the
U.S.A. and Canada will not necessari ly work
in Europe, and may not work in other coun­
tries outside of North America.
Consumer Information 259
Audi cannot be re sponsible for mechanical
damage that could result from inadequate
fuel, service or parts availability.
Q) Note
Audi cannot be responsible for mechanical
damage that could result from inadequate
fuel, serv ice or parts availab ility.
Audi Service Repair
Manuals and Literature
Audi Offic ial Factory Service Manuals and Lit­
erature are published as soon as possible after
model introduction. Service manuals and lit­
erature are available to o rder from the Audi
T echnical Literature Ordering Center at:
www.audi.techliterature.com
Maintenance
General
Your vehicle has been designed to help keep
maintenance requirements to a minimum.
However, a certain amount of regu lar mainte­
nance is still necessary to assure your vehicle's
safety, economy and re liability .
For detailed vehicle maintenance consult your
Warranty
& Maintenance booklet.
Under difficult operating conditions, for ex­
amp le at extreme ly low outside temperatures,
in very dusty regions , when towing a trailer
very frequently, etc., some service work
shou ld be performed between the intervals
specified. This applies particularly to:
- oil changes, and
- cleaning or rep lacing the air fi lter.
@ For the sake of the environment
By regularly maintaining your veh icle, you
help make sure that emission standards
are maintained, thus minimizing adverse
effects on the environment.
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260 Consumer Inf ormation
Important considerations for you and
your vehicle
The increasing use of e lectronics, sophisticat­
ed fue l injection and emission control sys­
tems, and the generally increasing technical
comp lexity of today's automob iles, have
steadi ly reduced the scope of maintenance
and repairs which can be carried out by vehicle
owners .
Also , safet y and en vironm ental con­
cerns p lace very strict lim its on the nature of
repairs and adjustments to eng ine and t rans­
miss ion parts which an owner can pe rform .
Ma intenance, adjustments and repa irs usually
require special tools, testing dev ices and oth­
e r equipment avai lab le to specia lly t ra ined
workshop personne l in order to assure prope r
pe rformance, reliab ility and safety of the vehi­
cle and its many systems.
I mp roper ma intenance, adjus tments and re­
pa irs can impai r the operation and reliab ility
of your vehicle and even void you r vehicle war­
ranty . There fore, proof of servicing in accord­
ance wit h the ma intenance sched ule may be a
condition for upholding a poss ible warranty
claim made within the warranty period.
Above all, operational safety can be adversely
affected, c reating unnecessary risks for you
and your passengers .
I f in do ubt about any serv icing, have it done
by your authorized A udi dealer or any other
p roperly equipped and qualified workshop .
We strong ly urge you to give yo ur authorized
Aud i dealer the opportunity to perform all
schedu led maintenance and necessary repairs.
Your dea le r has the facilities, or iginal parts
and trained spec ialists to keep your vehicle
running prope rly .
Performing lim ited maintenance yourself
The follow ing pages describe a limited num­
ber of procedures which can be performed on
your ve hicle w ith ordi nary too ls, should the
need a rise and trained pe rsonnel be unavaila­
b le. Before perfo rming any of these proce­
du res, always tho roughly read a ll of the app li­
cab le text and ca re fully follow the instruc - tions given
. Always r igo ro usly observe the
WARNINGS provided.
Bef ore you che ck anything in the engine
compartment , alway s read and h eed all
WARNINGS
¢ & and ¢ & in Working in the
engine comportment on page 194 .
A WARNING
--Ser ious persona l in ju ry may occur as a re -
sult of improperly performed mainte­ nance, ad justments or repa irs.
-Always be extremely care ful when work­
ing on the vehicle. Always follow com­
mo nly accepted safety pract ices and gen­
era l common sense. Never r isk personal
in jur y.
- Do not attempt any of the mainte nance,
checks or repairs descr ibed o n the fol­
lowing pages if you are not fu lly fam iliar
wit h these or ot her procedures with re­
spect to the ve hicl e, or are uncerta in how
to procee d.
- D o not do a ny work wi thou t the prope r
tools and equipment . Have the necessary
work done by your author ized A udi deal ­
er or anothe r properly equipped and
qualified wor kshop.
- The engine compa rtment o f any motor
vehicle is a potentially hazardous area.
N ever reach into the area aro und or
touch the rad iator fan. It is temperature
control led and can sw itch on suddenly -
even when the engine is off and th e igni­
tion key has been removed. The ra diator
fan switc hes on automat ica lly w hen the
coo la nt re aches a certai n tempera tu re
a nd will cont inue to ru n until the coo lant
tempera ture drops .
- Always remove the ig nition key befo re
an yone gets unde r the veh icle.
- Always suppor t your ve hicle with safety
s tands i f it is ne cessary to work under­
neath the vehicle. The jack s upplied with
the vehicle is not adequate for this p ur­
pose and co uld co llapse causing serio us
personal injury.

Lifting jack .... .... .... ... .. .. .. ... 239
Lifting po ints ...................... 253
Light coming/leaving home ............... 48
Exterior lighting .......... .......... 48
Light/ra in sensor defective . ... .. .. .. .. 22
Lights .. .. ..... ........... ...... ... 47
E mergency flasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SO
Fr ont fog l igh ts .......... .... .. .. .. 49
H eadlig hts ... .... .... ... .. .. .. .... 47
High beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47, 50
Instrument panel i llum ination . ... .. .. 49
Side marker lights ........ ...... .... 47
Turn signals .. ........... .. .. .. .... 50
Xeno n headlights ................... 47
L oading the l uggage compartment . ... . 109
L oading the roof rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Locking Manual back-up .......... .. .. .. .. .. 41
Power locking switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Rear lid .. ..... ........... ...... ... 40
Remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 7
Using the fo ld-out key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Lower universa l anchorage bars (Canada) 155
L ower universa l anchorages (Canada) 155
L uggage
Stowing . .. ..... ....... .... ... .. . 109
Luggage compartment
Cargo net .. ............. .... .. .... 69
Fasten ing eyes .................. ... 68
Increasing size ... .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. 67
L ight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Re tractable cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Ski sack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
also refer to Loading the l uggage com ­
partment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
L umbar support ..................... 64
M
Maintenance ............... ...... .. 259
M alfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) . . 1 9, 25
M anual tra nsmission ................. 96
G ea rshift lever ........... .. .. .. .. .. 96
Master key . ................ ...... ... 35
Battery replacement ................ 35
Master key remote control ... .. .. .. .. .. 35
Inde x 271
Menu bu tton . ..... .. . .. .. ..... ... .. . 28
Menu display Drive r Infor mation Display ........... 27
Mirrors Activating the dig ital compass ........ 59
Adjus ting the exterior m irrors . . . . . . . . . 53
dimming ........ .. ................ 54
Monitoring the Advanced Airbag System 133
Mo unti ng hoo ks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
N
Natura l leather .. .. .. ..... .......... 185
New t ires and wheels ................ 223
N HT SA
Co ntacting . ... .... . ... ...... ... .. 111
Number of sea ts ... .. ............... 113
0
Occupant seating positions .......... . 104
Octane rating ....... . .. .. ..... ... .. 189
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Oil Wha t kind of oil should I put in my en-
gine? ........ ... .. ............... 197
also refer to Engine o il ... ... ..... .. 197
On-Board D iagnost ic System ........... 25
E lectronic speed limiter .............. 2S
Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) ..... 25
On-Boa rd Diagnostic System (OBD) ... .. . 24
Data Link Connector ( DLC) .... ... .. .. . 24
Open door o r fron t lid wa rn ing ......... 23
Operate your vehicle economically and
minimize pollution ... . .. .... ...... .. 171
Optional eq uipment
Marked with an asterisk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
O ther equ ipment (e fficiency program) ... 29
Out lets ............................ 75
Outside ai r poll ution
How to prevent from entering the vehi-
cle ............................... 83
Outs ide mir ro rs
refer to E xterio r mi rro rs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Outs ide temperature disp lay ......... .. 23
Owner's manual How the Owner 's Manual is organ ized ... 6
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