2012 AUDI Q7 ignition

Ignition lock and ignition switch
Ignition key positions
The engine con be started or turned off with
the ignition key.
Fig. 119 Igni tion switch pos it io n s
Position @
The ignition key can be inserted into the igni ­
tion switch in this position . This automatically
unlocks the steering column lock . When the
ignition key is removed, the steering column
lock is automatically locked
Q .&. .
Switching the ignition on/preheating (D
Turn the ignition key to this position and re­
lease it. On vehicles with a d iesel engine*, the
system can preheat in this position .
Starting the engine@
The engine starts with the key in this position.
Major electrical loads are temporarily turned
off.
Ignition off@
Turn the ignition key to this position and re­
lease it.
A WARNING ,~ ~
- Never remove the key from the ign ition
lock whi le the vehicle is moving. The
steering wheel will lock, causing loss of
control.
- If you have to leave your vehicle, even for
just a minute, always remove the ignition key and take it with you. This is especially
important if you are going to leave chil-
On the road 105
dren unattended in the vehicle. The chil­
dren could start the engine or use other
vehicle controls. Unsupervised use of ve­
hicle controls (for example, power win­
dows) can cause ser ious personal inju­
ries.
(D Note
- If the I symbol in the display blinks,
there is a malfunction in the electronic
steering column lock . Follow the instruc­
tions in
Q page 33, i Steering malfunc­
tion .
-If the . symbol in the display blinks,
there is a malfunction in the electronic
ignition lock . Fol low the instructions in
Q page 34, .Pe Ignition lock malfunction.
a) Tips
-If you release the ignition key in position
@, the key automatically returns to posi­
tion (!).
- If you open the driver's door when the ig­
nition is sw itched on, a buzzer sounds
and the message
Ignition is on appears
in the instrument cluster display. Please
switch the ignition off.
- T o prevent malfunctions in the ign ition
lock, remove any dirt or deposits from
the key bit so that they do not enter the
ignition lock.
Ignition key safety lock
The ignition key con only be removed when
the selector lever is in the "P" (Pork) position.
After turning off the ignition, the ignition key
can only be removed from the ignition lock
when the selector lever is in the "P" (Park) po­
sition. After you have removed the key, these­ lector lever is locked and cannot be moved.

106 On the road
Starting and stopping
the engine
Starting the engine
The engine can only be started with your orig­
inal Audi key.
Fig. 120 I gni tion key positio ns
Vehicles with gasoline engine:
.. Step on the brake .
.. Move the selector lever into P or N
¢ A.
.. Tu rn the ignition key to position @
9 fig. 120 -do not depress the gas pedal
when starting the engine.
Vehicles with diesel engine:
.. Step on the brake.
.. Move the selector lever into P or N
¢ &.
.. Turn the ignition key to position ©- the
glow plug indicator light
m illuminates
when the glow plug system is act ive .
.,. When the indicator light
&J switches off,
turn the ignition key to pos it ion @ but do
not press the accelerator pedal.
.. Re lease the ignition key once the engine
sta rts. The starter must not continue run­
ning.
A cold engine may sound loud after it has
been started . This is due to the hydraulic
va lves building up oil pressure. This is normal
and is not a need for concern.
If the engine does not start immediately, stop
trying after 10 seconds and then try to restart
the engine about 30 seconds Later.
Glow plug system*
Diesel engines are equipped with a glow plug
system whose preheating t ime is controlled by the coo
lant and outs ide temperature . Start
the engine
immediately after the glow plug
indicator light
m switches off .
The glow plug indicator light will only illumi­
nate for approximate ly 1 second when the en­
gine is warm or the outside temperature is
higher than 46 °F (8 °C). That means you can
start the engine
immediately .
A WARNING
-Never start or let the engine run in a con-
fined or enclosed area. Exhaust fumes
from the engine contain carbon monoxide,
a colorless and odorless gas . Carbon mon­
oxide can be fatal if in haled.
- Never leave the engine idling unattend­
ed. An unattended veh icle w ith a runn ing
engine poses a danger of personal injury
or theft .
(D Note
- Avo id high engine speeds, fast accelera­
tion or heavy engine loads while the en­ gine is still cold. This could damage the
eng ine .
- Th e engine cannot be started by pushing
or towing the vehicle .
@ For the sake of the environment
To avoid unnecessary engine wear and to
reduce exhaust emissions, do not let your
vehicle stand and warm up. Be ready to
drive off immediately after starting your
vehicle. Maintain moderate speed until the
engine is completely warm . Remember,
the engine performs best at operating
temperature.
· Stopping the engine
.,. Turn the ignition key to position @
¢page 106, fig . 120 .
A WARNING
-
-Never turn off the engine until the vehi-
cle has come to a complete stop.

-The brake booster and servotronic only
work when the engine is running. With
the ignition turned off, you have to apply
more force when steering or braking .
S ince you cannot steer and stop normal­
ly, this can lead to accidents and ser ious
injuries.
- The rad iator fan can continue to run for
up to 10 min utes even after you have
turned off the engine and removed the ign ition key. The radiator fan can also
turn on again if the engine coolant heats
up because of intense sunlight or heat
build -up in the engine compartment.
«I) Note
Do not stop the engine immed iate ly after
hard or extended dr iving. Keep the engine
running for approximately two minutes to
prevent excessive heat build-up .
Starting and stopping
the engine with
Convenience key
Starting the engine with the~
button
App lies to vehicles: with Convenie nce key
This bu tton swi tches on the ign ition and
starts the engine .
Fig. 121 Co nvenie nce k ey: ENG INE START b utton
The I S TAR T! button is provided w ith two -sta ge
o p era tion
¢ fig. 121.
Switching the ignition on
.. Press the !START I button once to the fir st
stage to switch on only the ign ition .
On th e road 107
Gasoline eng in e: St arting th e engine
.. Step on the brake.
.. Move the se lector lever to the P or N posi ­
tion ¢,&. .
.. Press the
r::1s=Tc:- A=RT =I button to th e seco nd
stage to start the engine .
Diesel en gine : Starting the engine
.. Step on the brake.
.. Mov e the selector lever to the P or N posi­
tion ¢,&. .
.. Press the
r::1s=TAc:-=R T=I button down to the fi rst
level to begin the preheating process . The
glow plug indica tor light &; illuminates
when the glow plug sy stem is active .
.. When the indicator light
m;J switches off,
press the
I S TA RT ! button down to the se c­
ond
level to start the eng ine .
After a cold engine is started, there may be a br ief period of increased no ise because oil
pressure must first build up in the hydraulic
valve adjuste rs. This is norma l and not a cause
for concern .
If the engine does not start immediately, stop
trying after 10 seconds and then try to restart
the engine abou t 30 seconds later .
Glow plug system *
Di ese l engine s
are equ ipped with a glow plug
system whose preheating time is controlled
by the coo lant and outs ide temperature . Start
the engine
immediately afte r the glow plug
indicator light
m switches off.
The glow plug indicator light will only illumi ­
nate fo r approximate ly 1 second when the en­
gine is warm or the outs ide temperature is
higher than 46 °F (8 °C) . That means yo u can
star t the eng ine
immediately .
WARNING
Never allow the engine to run in confined
spaces -danger of asphyxiation .
(D Note
-Avo id h igh engine rpm, full thrott le and
heavy engine loads until the eng ine has

108 On the road
reached operating temperat ure -other ­
wise yo u risk engine damage.
- The eng ine cannot be sta rted by pushing
or towing the vehicle.
@ For the sake of the environment
Do not allow the engine to warm up with
t he vehicle stationary. Start driving righ t
away . In th is way you avoid unnecessa ry
emissio ns.
@ Tips
If you open the drive r's door when the ig ­
nition is switched o n, a buzze r sounds and
the message
Ignition is on appears i n the
instrument cluster disp lay. Please switch
the ignition off.
Switching engine off with the~
button
App lies to vehicles: with Convenience key
Fig. 122 Convenience key: ENGINE STOP butto n
.. Bring your vehicle to a complete stop.
.. Move the selector lever to the P or N posi-
t ion.
.. Pressthe !STOP !button
¢fig.122.
Press ing the I STOP I button once switches off
the engine and the ignition. If you press the
ISTOPI button again for more than 1 second,
the steering is locked, provided that the selec­
tor lever is in t he P pos it ion
¢ & .
Emergency OFF function
If necessary, the engine can be switched off
with the selector lever in the
R, Dor S posi­
tions . To do so, step on the brake peda l and press and ho
ld the !STOP ! b utton (vehicle
speed must be less than 6 mph/ 10 km/ h.
.&_ WARNING
-
-Never turn off the engine until the vehi-
cle has come to a complete stop.
- The brake booster and servotronic only
work when the engine is running. With
the ignition turned off, you have to apply mo re force when steeri ng or brak ing.
Since you cannot steer and stop normal­
ly, t his can lead to acc idents and se rious
. . . in Juries.
- For safety reasons, you sho uld a lways
pa rk your vehi cle wit h the selector lever
i n P. O therwise, the vehicle could inad­
ver ten tly roll aw ay.
- Afte r the eng ine has been switch ed off,
t he r adi at or f an can co ntinu e to run f or
up to 10 minu tes -even with the igni tion
switched off . It can also switch on again
after some t ime if the coolant tem pera ­
ture rises as the resu lt of a heat b uildup
or if the engine is hot and the engine
compa rtment is additionally heated by
the sun's rays.
(D Note
If the engine has been under heavy load
for an extended pe rio d, heat b uilds up in
the engine compartment after the engi ne
i s sw itched off -there is a r isk of damag ing
the e ng in e. A llow th e engi ne to run a t id le
fo r abo ut 2 minutes befor e switching it
off .
Driver messages in the instrument
cluster display
Applies to vehicles: with Co nvenience key
If a func tion is not present, a driver message
appears .
No key identified
This message appears when t he I STAR T I but-
ton is pr essed if there is no master key ins id e
the vehi cle or if t he system does not recogn ize
IJ,-

it. For example, the master key cannot be rec­
ognized if it is covered by an object (e.g. alu­
minum brief case) which
screens the radio s ig­
nal. Electronic devices such as cell phones can
also interfere with the radio signal.
Press brake pedal to start engine
This message appears if you press the I START !
button to start the engine and do not depress
the brake pedal. The engine can only be start­
ed if the brake pedal is depressed .
Engage Nor P to start engine
This message appears when the engine is
started if the selector lever for the automatic
transmission is not in the P or N position. The
engine can only be started with the selector in
these posit ions.
!I Key not in vehicle
This message appears along with the !! sym­
bol if the master key is removed from the ve­
hicle w ith the engine running .
It is intended
to remind you (e.g. when changing drivers) not to continue the journey without the mas­
ter key .
If the master key is no longer in the vehicle,
you cannot switch off the ignition after stop­ ping the engine and you also cannot start the
engine again. Moreover, you cannot lock the
veh icle from the outside with the key.
Shift to P otherwise vehicle can roll away.
Doors do not lock if you are not in P.
This message appears for safety reasons
along w ith a warning buzzer if the selector
lever for the automatic transmission is not in
the P pos ition when the ignit ion is switched
off with the
ISTOPI button and the dr iver's
door is opened. Move the se lector lever to the
P position, otherwise the vehicle is not se ­
cured against rolling away. You a lso cannot
lock the vehicle using the lock ing button on
the door hand le or using the remote key.
On the road 109
To engage steering lock, press and hold
STOP button
This message appears for safety reasons if the
engine and the ignition have been switched
off by pressing the
I STOPI button once, and
then the driver's door is opened. In this in­
stance, the steering is not locked . The steer ­
ing is locked:
- If you press the
IS TOPI button again for
more than 1 second.
- If you close the driver's door and lock your
veh icle from the outside.
Parking brake
Operation
The parking brake replaces the handbrake .
Fig. 123 Section of inst rument clust er: Pa rking brake
Applying parking brake
.,. Press the pedal down forcefully~ fig. 123
@ in the direction of the arrow.
Releasing parking brake
.,. Pull the hand le to the rear @ in the direc-
tion of the arrow
~ _&. .
If you should drive off with the parking brake
still set, a warning tone will sound and the
fo llow ing will appear in the instrument clus­
te r to remind you to release the parking
brake:
Parking brake is applied
The park ing brake warning comes on only af­
ter you have dr iven for longer than 3 seconds
and faster than 5 mph (5 km/h) . .,._

110 On the road
The parking brake warning light. (USA)/ .
(CON) illuminates when the parking brake is
set and you switch on the ignition.
_& WARNING
-
Always release the parking brake com­
pletely. A partially engaged brake will
overheat the rear brakes, reduce their ef­
fectiveness and cause excessive wear. This could lead to brake failure and an accident .
(D Note
Only after the vehicle has come to com­ plete stop, should you firmly set the park­
ing brake and move the selector lever into
"P".
Parking
To prevent a parked vehicle from rolling
away, there are a few things you should do .
When you park your vehicle, do the
following
• Stop the vehicle using the brake pedal.
• Apply the parking brake firmly .
• Move the selector lever into the
P position
~ &.
• Switch off the engine and remove the igni-
tion key from the ignition lock.
When you park your vehicle on hills, do
the following
• Stop the vehicle using the brake pedal.
• Apply the parking brake firmly.
• If you are parking headed downhill, turn
the front wheels
toward the curb.
• If you are parking headed uphill, turn the
front wheels
away from the curb.
• Move the selector lever into the
P position.
• Switch off the engine and remove the igni­
tion key from the ignition lock.
_& WARNING
This is how you can reduce the risk of in­
jury when leaving your vehicle. -
Never park the vehicle where it can come
in contact with dry grass, spilled fuel or
any other flammable materials.
- When parking on hills, always turn the
wheels so that the front wheels will first
roll into the curb, if the vehicle should
start to roll.
- Never allow anyone - especially small
children - to remain in the vehicle when
it is locked. locked doors make it more
difficult for rescuers to access the pas­
senger compartment in the event of an
emergency. Danger to life!
- Never leave children unsupervised in the
vehicle. Children could release the park­
ing brake or move the gearshift lever out
of gear. The vehicle could start to roll
away and cause an accident.
- No matter what the season is, the tem­
perature in a parked vehicle can reach
dangerous levels.
@ Note
-Please exercise care when you park your
vehicle in parking areas with parking bar­
riers or curbs. Parking barriers and curbs
vary in height and could damage your
bumper and related components as the
front of your vehicle moves over a barrier or curb that is too high, as you park or as
you back out of a parking spot. In order to be sure that no such damage can oc­
cur, you may wish to stop short of having
the front tires of your car touch the park­
ing barrier or curb.
- Please also exercise exceptional care
when you drive up or down steep ramps
or drive over curbs or other obstacles, for
which the vehicle is not designed, be­
cause components of the vehicle close to
the ground, such as bumper covers, spoilers and suspension and exhaust sys­
tem components, may become dam­ aged.
Starting on hills
Hill Hold makes it easier to start on hills.

The system is activated when the brake pedal
is depressed
for a few seconds. For this, the
veh icle must be standing in uphill driving di­
rection .
After releasing the brake pedal, the brake
power is held for a
brief moment to prevent
the vehicle from rolling back when starting. At
this time, you can easily begin to move your
vehicle.
A WARNING
- If you did not begin moving immediately
after releasing the brake pedal, under
certain circumstances, the vehicle would
begin to roll backward. Depress the
brake pedal immediately or engage the
parking brake.
- Should the engine stall, depress the
brake pedal immediately or engage the
parking brake.
- In order to prevent the vehicle from roll­ ing back unintentionally when starting in
stop-and -go traffic, keep the brake pedal
depressed for a few seconds before driv­
ing
off.
- When you leave the vehicle -even if only
briefly -, switch
off the ignition and
make sure to remove the ignition key. Al­
so engage the
parking brake to prevent
your vehicle from rolling unintentionally. This particularly applies if ch ildren are
left in the veh icle -danger of acc ident!
On the road 111
Cruise control
Switching the system on
The cruise control system makes it possible to
drive at a constant speed starting at 20 mph (30 km/h) .
®-
Fig. 124 Co ntro l l ever w ith set bu tton
Fig. 125 Disp lay : Se lected speed
.. Pull the lever to position @<=:> fig. 124 to
sw itch the system on .
.. Drive at the speed you wish to set.
.. Press button @to set that speed.
T he display
c::> fig . 125 will show the set speed.
The display may vary depending on the type of
display in your vehicle. The indicator light
tB;m~1~ (US model)/ . (Canadian model) will
also light up in the instrument cluster .
A WARNING
-Always pay attention to traffic even when
the cruise control is switched on . You are
always responsible for your speed and
the distance between your vehicle and
other veh icles.
- For safety reasons, the cruise control
should not be used in the city, in stop­
and-go traffic, on twisting roads and
when road conditions are poor (such as

112 On the road
ice, fog, grave l, heavy rai n and hydro­
planing) -risk of accident.
- Turn off the cruise control temporari ly
when entering turn lanes, highway exit
lanes or in construction zones.
- Please note that inadvertent ly "resting"
yo ur foot on the accelerator peda l causes
the cruise control not to brake. Th is is
because the cruise control is overridden
by the driver's accelerat ion .
- Never use the cru ise control when dr iv ing
off-road or on unpaved roads . The Cruise
control is intended for use on ly when the
vehicle is be ing operated on paved roads,
and is not suitable fo r use off-road o r on
unpaved roads.
({) Tips
The cruise control cannot mainta in a con­
stant speed when driving dow nhill. The ve­
hicle will acce le rate under its own we ight.
Downshift to a lower gea r or use the
brakes to slow down.
Changing speed
.,. Press lever in the 0 or 0 direction
Q page 111, fig. 124 to increase or decrease
yo ur speed.
.,. Re lease the lever to save that speed.
Change speed in increments of 1 mph (1 km/
h) by light ly pressing the lever. If you keep the
lever pressed down, you will alter your speed
i n 5 mph (10 km/h) increments.
You can a lso press the accelerato r peda l down
to increase your speed, e.g. if yo u want to
pass someone. The speed you saved earlier
will resume as soon as you release the acceler­
ator pedal.
If, however, you exceed your saved speed by 5 mph (10 km/h) for longer than 5 minutes,
the cruise contro l will turn off temporarily .
The symbol will go out but the saved speed
will be retained.
Presetting your speed
You can preset your desired speed while the
vehicle is not moving.
.,. Turn on the ign ition .
.,. Pull lever into position
(D Q page 111,
fig . 124.
.,. Press the leve r in the
0 or 0 direction to
increase or decrease your speed.
.,. Release the leve r to save tha t speed .
This function makes it poss ible, for example,
to save the speed you want before dr iving on
the highway. Once on the h ighway, act ivate
the cr uise con trol by pulling the lever toward
(D .
Switching the system off
Temporary d eactivat ion
.,. Press the b rake peda l, or
.,. Press the lever into position @(not clicked
into p lace) Qpage 111, fig. 124, or
.,. Drive for longer than 5 min utes at more
than 5 mph (10 km/h) above the stored speed .
Switching off complete ly
.,. Press lever into position @(clicked into
p lace), or
.,. Switch the ignit ion off.
The system retains the saved speed if you de ­
activate the cruise control temporarily . To re­
sume the saved speed, re lease the brake ped­
al and pull the lever to pos it ion
(D .
Switching the ignition off erases the saved
speed.
__& WARNING "'---
You sho uld only ret urn to the saved speed
if it is not too fast for the c urrent traffic
conditions -risk of an accident!