2012 AUDI A8 brake light

Checking and filling Engine hood
Releasing the engine hood
The engine hood is released from inside the
vehicle .
Fig. 172 Dr iver footwell: release lever
AUD I
Fig. 173 Rocker switch under the hood
Make sure the wiper arms are not raised up
from the w indshield. Otherw ise the paint
could be damaged.
.. Pull the lever under the instrument panel in
the d irect ion of the arrow
<=> fig. 172.
.. Raise the hood slightly<=> _&.
.. Press the rocke r switc h under the hood up­
ward
<=> fig. 173. This re leases the catch .
.. Open the hood .
A WARNING
Hot engine coo lant can burn you.
- To reduce the r isk 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.
Checkin g and fillin g 219
Working in the engine compartment
Be especially careful whenever you work in
the engine compartment.
Wh ene ve r y ou must perform an y wo rk in the
eng ine com pa rtm ent , for e xample checking
a nd filling diff ere nt fluids, th ere is a risk of
inju ry, burn s and accid ent s. To pr event per­
so nal injury alwa ys observe the foll owing
WARNING S. The engin e compartment of an y
v e hicle i s a h az a rdou s are a
<=> ,&.
_&. WARNING
To help avoid injury, be fore yo u check any ­
thing under the hood:
- Turn off the engine .
- Sw itch off the ignition.
- Apply the parki ng brake.
- Move selector leve r to "P" (Park).
- Always let the engine cool down. Hot
components w ill burn skin on contact .
- To reduce the risk of being burned, never
open the hood if you see or hear steam
or coo la nt escaping from the engine
compa rtment. Wait unt il no steam or
coolant can be seen o r heard before care­
fu lly opening the hood.
- Keep ch ildren away from the engine com­
pa rtment.
- Never sp ill fluids on hot engine compo­
nents . They can cause a fire .
- Never touch the rad iator fan. The auxili­
ary electric fan is temperat ure controlled
a nd can sw itch on suddenly .
- Never open the coolant reservoir cap
when the engine is still warm. The cool­
a nt system is p ressu rized and hot cool­
a nt cou ld spray o ut.
- Protect your face, hands and arm from
steam or hot engine coolant by plac ing a
thick rag ove r the cap when you open the
coo lant rese rvoir.
- If work on the fue l system o r the elec tri­
cal system is necessary:
- Always disconnect the battery.

222 Check ing and filling
(D Windshield/headlight washer
t . (
PP. ) con ainer ""' .......... ... . 234
@ Jump start point( -) with hex
head screw . .. .......... ... . 233 , 270
@ Jump start point( +) under a cov-
er . ..... .............. ... . 233, 270
© Eng ine oil filler cap(~) . . . . . 225
® Brake fluid reservo ir ((0)) . . . . . 229
® Coolant expansion tank (-L) . . . 227
0 Power steering reservoir . . . . . . 191
@ Oil dipstick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
The engine oil filler neck (item@) may be lo­
cated in a different area depend ing on the ver­
sion of the engine .
& WARNING
Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS¢ .&.
in Working in the engine
compartment on page 219.
Engine oil
Engine oil specifications
The engine oil used in your Audi needs the
right kind of oil.
-
The engine in your Audi is a sophisticated
powerp lant that was built to exacting specifi­
cations . This engine needs the r ight kind of
engine o il that meets spec ificat ions regarding
qua lity and viscos ity so that it can run
smoothly and reliably . Choos ing the righ t oi l
and changing oil within the time and mileage
interva ls printed in your vehicle 's Warranty
&
Maintenance book let matters a lot more to­
day than it did years ago. Audi has developed
a special quality standard for engine oil that
will help assure that your veh icle's eng ine will
get the lubrication it needs for proper opera­
tion.
Modern engine lubrication has taken a quan­
tum leap in the last few years. Many synthetic
oils ava ilable today provide better engine lu­
brication that can outlast trad itional petrole -u
m -based oils, making them a smart choice
for use throughout the life of your Audi.
Whether you use synthet ic o r petro le um­
based eng ine oil, the oi l that you use m ust
conform to Audi's oi l quality standard
VW 502 00 to help keep your vehicle's engine runn ing smooth ly and help prevent the for­
mation of harmfu l deposits, sometimes called
"sludge," that over time can lead to expensive
repairs.
At the time of printing, engine oils ava ilable in
the U.S. and Canada that meet the exacting
specifications of Audi oil standard VW 502 00
are synthet ic eng ine oils . Th is does not mean,
howeve r, that every synthetic engine oil will
meet Audi o il standard VW 502 00 . So always
be su re that you use an approved oil.
To help prevent the formation of harmfu l de ­
pos its use only o il w ith the following specifi­
cations pr inted on the o il conta iner:
Audi oil standard VW 502 00
Oil container labels may carry the specifica­
tion sing ly or in combination with other desig ­
nations and oil quality standards.
V is cos ity
Engine o ils are graded a ccord ing to their vis­
cosity . The proper vis cos ity grade oil fo r yo ur
engine depends on climactic or seasona l con­
ditions where you drive. You can use oil with a
viscosity grade of SAE 5W40 across a ll tem­
perature ranges for norma l driving conditions.
However, if engine oil v iscosity g rade SA E
SW40 is not available , you can also use viscos ­
ity grade SAE SW-30 or SAE OW-40 as long as
it meets Audi oil qua lity standard VW 502 00
specifications.
Beca use engine oi l that meets the Audi oil
standard may not be availab le everywhere
when you need it, we strong ly recommend
that you a lways carry with you an extra quart
( li ter) of oil that express ly conforms to the
VW 502 00 spec ificat ion, in case you have to
top off the o il while o n the road . ..,_

scalding from hot coo lant by following
these steps.
- Turn
off the engi ne and a llow it to cool
down.
- Protect your face, hands and arms from
escapi ng fl uid and steam by cover ing
the cap with a large, thick rag .
- Turn the cap slowly and very ca refully
i n a cou nte r-clockw ise dir ect ion while
a pply ing lig ht, downwa rd p ress ure on
the top of the cap.
- T o avo id being burned, do no t sp ill an­
tifree ze o r coolan t on t he exh aust sys­
tem or ho t engine parts . Un der certain
conditions, the ethylene glyco l in en­
gine coolant can catch fire .
- Antifree ze is poisono us. Always store an­
tifreeze in its or iginal co ntainer and we ll
o ut o f the reac h of children.
- If you drain the coolant , it must be
caught and safely stored in a p roper con ­
tainer clear ly marked "poison".
(D Note
- Coolant po llutes the env ironment and
could ca use a n engine fire . Excess coo l­
ant wi ll be forced out through the pres ­
sure re lief va lve 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¢
page 22 7 must be re­
stored as soon as possib le .
@ For the sake of the environment
Drained coolant should not be re used . Al­
ways dispose of used c oolant while observ­
ing all envir onmental regulations .
Radiator fan
The radiator fan switches on automa tically by
itself
T he radiator fan is driven by the engine via the
V-be lt. The viscous clutch regulates the speed
of the fan according to the temperature of the
coolant .
Checkin g and fillin g 229
An auxiliary electric radiato r fan* sw itches on
and
off depending on coolant temperature
and othe r vehicle ope rat ing con ditions.
After yo u switc h the engi ne off, the aux iliary
f an can con tinue r unning for up to 10 minutes
- even with the ignition off. It can even switch
on again later by itself¢ & , if
- t he temperatu re of the engine coo lant rises
due to the heat b uild -up from the en gine in
the engi ne compartment, or
- the engine compartment heats up be cause
the vehicle is parked in intense sunlight.
A WARNING
- To reduce the risk of personal in jury nev­
er touch the radiator fan.
- The a uxiliary electric fan is temperat ure
contro lled and can switch on sud denly
even when the engine is not running.
- The a uxiliary radiator fa n switches on a u­
tomatically when the engine coo lant
reaches a certain temperature and will
continue to run until the coo lant temper­
ature drops .
Brake fluid
Checking brake fluid level
The brake fluid level can be checked with a
qui ck glance.
Fig. 180 En gin e compar tment: cov er o n th e bra ke fluid
r ese rvoir
Befo re you check anyth ing in the eng ine com­
partment ,
always re ad and heed all WARN­
INGS c::> ,& in Working in the engine compar t-
ment on page 219 . .,..

230 Check ing and filling
• Read the brake fluid level from the brake
fluid reservoi r¢
fig. 180, ¢ page 221. The
brake f lu id leve l must be between the "MIN"
and "MAX" markings.
The location of the brake fluid reservoir can be
seen in the engine compartment illustration
co page 221.
The fl uid level may drop slightly after some
time due to the automatic adjustment of the brake pads . This is not cause for alarm .
I f the brake fluid level falls
considerably be­
l ow the "MIN" mark, the brake wa rning/indi ­
cator light- (U.S.
models) ;II (Canadian
models) will come on ¢
page 14. Do not con­
tinue to operate the vehicle. The comp lete
brake system should be thoroughly checked
by an authorized Audi dealer or other quali­
fied fac ility and the cause corrected. If the
brake fluid level is too low, the brake war ning/
in dicato r light w ill illuminate . Contact an au­
thor ized A udi dealer
immediately .
Changing brake fluid
Have the brake fluid changed by an experi­
enced technician .
Brake fluid absorbs moistu re from the a ir . If
the water content in the brake fluid is too
h igh, corrosion in the brake system may result
after a per iod of t ime . The bo iling po int of the
b rake fluid w ill also decrease considerably and
dec rease braking per formance.
Therefore, the brake flu id must be changed
e ver y two yea rs. A lways use new b rake fluid
which confo rms to Fede ral Motor Vehicle
Standard "FMVSS 1 16 DO T 4".
The brake flu id rese rvoi r ca n be difficult to
r ea ch, therefo re , we re commend that yo u
have the brake fl uid changed by yo ur a utho r­
ized
Audi dealer. Your dea ler has the correct
too ls, the right brake fluid and the know-how
to do this for you .
A WARNING
-Brake flu id is poisonous. It must be stor­
ed only in the closed or iginal conta iner
out of the reach of children!
- Brake failure can resu lt from o ld or inap­
prop riate brake flu id . Obse rve these pre ­
cautions:
- Use only brake fluid that meets SA E
specification
J 1703 and conforms to
Federa l Moto r Ve hicle Standard 1 16 .
A lways check with your authorized A udi
dealer to make sure you are using the
correct brake fluid . The cor rect type of
brake flu id is also ind icated on the
brake flu id rese rvoir .
- The brake fluid must be new . Heavy use
of the brakes can cause a vapo r lock if
the b ra ke fluid is left i n the system too
l o ng. This can se riously affect the effi ­
c iency of the br akes as well as your
sa fety. This co uld resu lt in an accident.
(D Note
Brake fluid will damage the pai nt of you r
vehicle.
@ For the sake of the environment
Because of the p rob lem of proper disposal
of b ra ke fluid as well as the spec ial too ls
r equired and the nece ssary expe rti se, we
r ecommend that yo u have the brake fl uid
changed by yo ur authorized Aud i dea ler.
Battery
General information
U nder normal operat ing cond itions, the bat­
te ry in yo ur Audi does not need any ma inte­
nance . With
high outside temperatures or
l o ng da ily d rives we recommend that you have
the e lec trolyte leve l checked by a serv ice fa­
c ility. The electrolyte leve l should also be
checked each time the battery is cha rged
¢ page 233. .,..

266 Fuses and bulbs
Fuse panel @ (brown)
No. Equipment
1 Headlight control switch
2 Emergency start coil (key
identification)
3 Rear door
control module
(driver's side)
5 Horn
6 Interior lights
(headliner)
Steering column lever, mul-
8
tifunction steering wheel
controls, steering wheel
I heating
10 Power steering column ad-
justment
11 Driver door control module
12 Diagnost
ic connector, light/
rain sensor
14 Power steering column ad-
justment
15 Power
steering, AC compres-
sor
16 Brake booster
Fuse panel © (black)
No. Equipment
1 Front seat heating
2 Windshield wiper
3 Front exterior lighting
4 Sun roof
5 Driver power window
6 Driver seat (pneumatic)
7 Panoramic
sunroof
8 Dynamic steering
9 Front exterior lighting
10 Windshield/headlight
wash-
er system
11 Rear power window (driver's
side)
Panoramic sunroof
Amps
5
5
7,5 15
7,5
10/5
5
7,5 10
25
20 15
Amps
30
30
30 20
30 15
20
35
30
35
30
40
Front passenger side cockpit fuse
assignment
Fig. 206 Front passe nger side cockpit: fuse pane l with
plastic bracket
Fuse panel ® (black)
No. Equipment Amps
1 Anti-theft alarm system
5
2 T
ransmission control mod-
15
ule
3 Front climate control fan 40
4 Engine supply 35
6 Engine
control module
5
7 Front passenger door con-
7,5
trol module
8 Front passenger
power win-
30
dow
9 ESC control module 10
10 E5C control modu le 25
11 Right rear power window
30
12 Front
passenger seat (pneu -
15
matics)

Fuse s and bulb s 267
Luggage compartment fuse assignment
Fig. 207 Luggage compartment: fuse pa nel with plastic bracket
Fuse panel @ (black ) Fuse panel @ (b la ck)
No . Equi pment Amps No. Equipment Amps
[ru button, data logger, diag-
11 Dynamic
steering
5
l nostic connector, BCM -1,
5
Selector lever, BCM-2 5
adaptive light ing system
Audi side assist
5
2 Networking gateway 5
Engine control module 5
3 adaptive air suspension
5
Starter 40
4 Parking system 5
Left headlight/Headlight
16 10/5
5 Steer
ing column lever
5
range control system
Suspension control system
6 5 Fuse panel @ (red ) sensor
Belt tensioners, airbag con-
No. Equipment Amps
7
trol module 5 1 Left
reversible be lt tens ione r
25
Heated washer fluid nozzles, 2 Right reversible belt ten-
25
Homelink (garage door sioner
8 opener), night vision system
5 3 Starter diagnosis 5
control module, sport differ- 4 DC/DC converter
7,5
ential, ioni zer
5 Adaptive cruise contro l 7,5
9
Electromechan ica l parking
5 Right headlight (headlight
brake contro l modu le
6 with adaptive light) 10 -
10 Rear seat heating, cooler, in-
5 7 ESC co ntrol modu le 5 ... terior rearview mirror

268 Fuses and bulbs
Fuse panel
® (red)
No. Equipment
=
I a
Sound actuator, AEM control module
9 Adaptive cruise control
Transmission control mod-
10 ule
---11 Climate control system sen-
sors
Fuse panel © (brown)
No. Equipment
1 Electromechanical parking
brake
2 Suspension control system
sensor
3 Right rear door control mod-
ule
4 Smart modul tank
5 Front cl
imate control system
controls
6
Rear climate control system
controls
-
7 Networking gateway
8 Cooler
9
Interface for specia l func-
tions
10 Cell phone adapter, Blue-
tooth handset
11 AEM contro l module
12 Selector lever
13 Ambient
lighting
14 Rear exterior lighting
15 Fue
l pump
1 16 Electromechanical
parking
brake
Fuse panel @ (black )
Equipment
3 Rear sockets adaptive air suspension
115-V socket
Amps
s
10
s
s
=
Amps
5
s
7,5
s
15
10
5
15
5
5
15
10
10
20
25
-
30
Amps
20 15
25
Fuse panel @ (black)
No. Equipment
7
Electromechanical parking
brake
8 Rear seat heating
9 Rear exterior lighting
10 Rear climate control system
blower
Rear sun shade, closing aid,
11 luggage compartment lock,
keyless go/entry, fuel filler
door
12 Luggage compartment
lid
control module
Fuse panel © (red)
No. Equipment
1 Rear seat adjustment but-
tons
3 Left rear seat (pneumatics)
5 Tra
iler hitch control module*
6 Left rear seat
7 Right rear seat
8 Trailer hitch control module *
9 Tra iler hitch control module*
10 Right rear seat (pneumatics)
Fuse panel
® (brown)
No. Equipment
1 Radio
receiver/sound ampli-
fier
2 Sound amplifier
3 Rear Seat
Entertainment, ra -
dio receiver/sound amplifier
Automatic dimming interior
s rearview mirror
6 DVD changer
T V tuner
MMI unit/drives
Instrument cluster, analog
9 clock
10 MMI Display
Amps
30
25
20
20
20
30
Amps
5
7,5
20
30
30
20 15
7,5
Amps
30
30
10
5
s
5
7,5 5
5

@ Tips
- The discharged battery must be properly
connected to the vehicle's electrical sys­
tem. When jump start ing or charging the
battery, never connect the negative
ground cable to the battery negative post because the battery manager sys­
tem must be able to detect the battery's
state of cha rge. A lways connect the neg­
ative g round cab le to the negative
gro und post o f the battery manage r con­
trol uni t.
Use of jumper cables
Make sure to connect the jumper coble
clomps in exactly the order described below!
Fig. 2 08 Engine compartment: connecto rs for jump
start cables and charger
Fi g. 209 Jump start ing w ith the battery of another ve ­
hicle: @-booste r batte ry, @ -discharged vehicle bat ­
te ry
The procedure described below fo r connecting
jumper cab les is intended to provide a jump
start for your veh icle.
Vehicle with discharged batt ery:
.. Turn off lights and acc esso ries, move leve r
of automat ic t ransm ission to N (Neutral) o r
P (Park) and set pa rking brake .
Emergenc y situ ation s 2 71
Connect POSI TIVE(+) to POSITIVE (+ )
(red )
.. Open the red cover on the positive terminal
¢fig. 208.
1. Connect one end of the red positive cable
on the
jump sta rt bolt ¢ fig. 209 (D (bolt
under the red cover = "positive") of the ve­
hicle to be started @.
2. Co nnect th e other end to the pos itive ter-
mina l@ of the booster battery @.
Connect NEGATIVE( -) to NEGATIVE(-)
(black )
3. Connect one end of the black negative ca­ ble to the negat ive termina l@ of the
booster b attery @.
4 . Connect the othe r end to the
jump start
pin @ (bolts with hex head bolt = "nega­
tive") of the vehicle to be started @.
Starting the engine .. Sta rt the engine of the veh icle w ith the
booste r ba ttery @. Ru n the engine at a
moderate speed .
.. Start engine wit h discha rged vehicle battery
@ in the usual manner .
.. If the eng ine fails to start, do not keep the
starter cranking for longer than 10 seconds.
Wait for about 30 seco nds a nd the n try
aga in .
.. With engi ne runni ng, remove j umper cab les
from both vehicles in the exact
reverse o r­
de r .
.. Close the red cover on the positive term inal.
T he battery is vented to th e outside to p revent
gases from en ter ing the veh icle in ter io r. Ma ke
s ur e th at the j umper clamps are well connec t­
ed with their meta l parts in full con ta ct w ith
the battery term inals.
A WARNING
To avoid se rious personal injury and dam­
age to the veh icle, heed all warnings and
instructions of the jumper cable man ufac­
turer. If in doubt, call for road service .
- J umper cables m ust be long enough so
that the veh icles d o not touch.
-