2012 AUDI A8 relay

Trailer towing Driving with a trailer
General information
Your Audi was designed primarily for passen­
ger transportation .
If you plan to tow a trai ler, p lease remember
that the addit ional load will affect durab ility,
economy and performance .
Trailer towing not on ly places more stress on
the vehicle, it also calls for more concentra­
tion from the driver.
F or this reason, a lways fo llow the operating
and d riving instr uctions provided and use
common sense.
(D Note
If you are going to tow a trai ler, you must
activate the trailer operat ion mode
~ page 199, Operating instructions.
Technical requirements
Trailer hitch
Use a weight-carrying hitc h co nforming to the
gross trailer we ight. The hitch must be suita­
b le for your veh icle and trailer and must be
mounted secure ly on the veh icle's chassis at a
technically sound location . Use only a trailer
hi tch wit h a removab le ball moun t. A lways
check with t he trail er hitch ma nufactur er to
make sure tha t you are using the corre ct
hi tch.
Do not use a bumper hitch.
The hitc h must be installed in such a way that
i t does not interfere with the impac t-absorb­
i ng bumpe r sys tem. No mod ifica tio ns should
be made to the vehicle exh aust a nd brake sys­
tems . From time to time, check that a ll hitch
mo unt ing bolts remain securely fastened.
W hen you are not towing a trail er, remove the
traile r hitch ball mount. Th is prevents the
hi tch from causing damage sho uld your ve hi­
cle be str uck from behind ¢& .
Trailer towin g 199
Trailer brakes
If your trailer is equippe d wi th a br akin g sys ­
tem, check to be s ure that i t conforms to all
r egulations .
T he trailer hy draul ic brak e sys tem mus t not be
direc tly connec ted to the vehi cle' s h ydraulic
brake system .
Safety chains
Always use safety chains between your veh icle
and the tra ile r.
Trailer lights
Trai ler lights must meet all regu lations. Be
su re to check with your Audi dealer for cor rect
wir ing, swi tches and relays .
Mirrors
If you are unable to see the traffic behind you
us ing the reg ular o utside mirrors, then you
must insta ll extended mirrors. It is imp ortant
that you
always have clea r v is ion to the rear.
A WARNING ...__ -
Afte r removing the trailer hitch, do not
stor e it i n yo ur v ehicl e. In cas e o f sudden
b ra king, the hitch co uld fly forwar d and in­
ju re you or your p ass en ger s.
Operating instructions
Fi g. 168 MM I dis pl ay: tow ing mode on
Ma ximum trailer weight
A trai ler fo r you r vehicle is limited to a typical
class 1 or class 2 tra iler.
ll>

234 Check ing and filling
Never use a fast charger as a booster to
start the engine. This will seriously dam­
age sensitive electronic components, such
as control units, relays, rad io, etc ., as well
as the battery charger.
Battery replacement
The new bat tery must have the same specifi­
cations and dimensions as the original equip­
ment battery .
Intelligent energy man agement in your veh i­
cle is respons ible for d istributing the electr i­
cal energy throughout your vehicle
c::> page 192. The intell igent energy manage­
ment system w ill keep the engine battery
cha rged bette r than vehicles w ithout t his sys­
tem. To make sure the additional e lectrica l en­
e rgy is availab le once again after you have
changed the battery, we recommend that you install batteries of the same type and manu ­
facture only (the same as those installed at
the time your vehicle was delivered). Specifi­
cations are listed on the battery hous ing. Your
author ized dealer must code the battery in
the energy management system to enable you
to use the energy management funct ions cor­
rectly after replac ing the battery .
The new battery must have the same capacity ,
voltage (12 volts), amperage, construct ion
and plug sealing.
When installing the ba ttery, make sure the ig­
n ition and all e lectr ica l consumers are sw itch ­
ed off .
{[) Note
Make sure the venti lation hose on the s ide
of the battery is connected, otherwise
fumes or battery ac id can leak out .
@ For the sake of the environment
Because of the problem of proper d isposa l
of a battery, we recommend your author ­
ized Aud i dealer change the battery for
you . Batter ies contain su lfuric ac id and l
ead and must a lways be disposed o f prop­
erly in compliance with a ll environmental
regulations. Disposing of vehicle batter ies
i mproperly is very dangerous to the envi­
ronment .
Windshield/headlight
washer container
Fig . 1 82 Eng in e compar tmen t: cov er on the w inds hield
washe r flu id rese rvoir
T he washer fluid co nta iner is marked w ith the
symbol~ on its cap
c::> fig. 182, c::>page 221.
.. Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS c::> _& in Working in the engine
compartment on page 219.
.,. Lift the fil le r cap tongue to add washer flu­
id. You can fi ll the container to the top.
.. Press the cap back onto the fi ller neck after
fi lling the container .
You can find the reservo ir
ca pacit y in the table
in
c::> pag e 278 .
Clean water should be used when filling up. If
poss ible, use soft water to prevent scaling on
washe r jets . Always add a g lass cle aner solu­
tion (with frost protection in the winter).
(D Note
Do not mix engine coolant a ntifreeze or
any other addi tives to fill up the wind­
shield washer reservoir .

2 70 Emergency situations
Emergency situations
General
This chapter is intended for trained emer­
gency crews and working personnel who
have the necessary tools and equipment to
perform these ope rations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
Q;) Note
Vehicles w ith an automatic transmission
cannot be started by pus hing o r tow ing.
Starting with jumper
cables
If necessary, the engine can be started by
connecting it to the battery of another vehi­
cle.
If the engine should fail to start because of a
discharged or weak battery, the battery can be
connected to the battery of
another vehicle,
using a
pair of jumpe r cables to start the en­
g ine .
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cables of sufficiently large
cross section to carry the starter current safe­
ly. Refer to the manufacturer's specif ications.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated termi­
na l clamps which are distinctly marked:
plus(+) cable in most cases colored red
minu s(-) cable
in most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batteries contain electricity, acid, and gas.
Any of these can cause very serious or fatal
inju ry. Follow the instructions below for
safe handling of your veh icle's battery.
- Always shield you r eyes and avoid lean­
ing over the battery whenever possible.
- A discharged battery can freeze at tem­
peratures just be low 32 °F (0 °C). Before connecting a
jumper cable, you must
thaw the frozen battery complete ly, oth­
erwise it could explode.
- Do not allow battery acid to contact eyes
or skin . Flush any contacted area with
water immediately .
- Improper use of a booster battery to start a vehicle may cause an explosion.
- Vehicle batteries generate explosive gas­
es. Keep sparks, flame and lighted ciga­
rettes away from batteries.
- Do not try to jump start any vehicle with a low acid level in the battery.
- The vo ltage of the booster battery must
also have a 12-Volt rating. The capacity
(Ah) of the booster battery should not be
lower than that of the discharged bat­
tery . Use of batteries of d ifferent voltage
or substantially different "Ah" rating
may cause an exp losion and personal in­
jury.
- Never charge a frozen batte ry. Gas trap­
ped in the ice may cause an explosion.
- Never charge or use a battery that has
been frozen. The battery case may have
be weakened.
- Use of batter ies of different voltage or
substantially different capacity (Ah) rat­
ing may cause an exp losion and injury.
The capacity (Ah) of the booster battery
should not be lower than that of the dis ­
charged battery.
- Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed a ll
WARNINGS¢
page 213, Engine com­
partment.
«I) Note
-Applying a higher voltage booster bat­
tery will cause expensive damage to sen­
sitive electronic components, such as
contro l units, relays, rad io, etc .
- There must be no electrical contact be­
tween the vehicles as otherwise current
could already start to flow as soon as the
positive(+) terminals are connected. ..,_