2012 Seat Altea oil dipstick

234Checking and refilling levels
Vehicles with diesel particulate filter*
The “Maintenance Programme” states whether your vehicle is fitted with a
diesel particulate filter.
Only VW 507 00 engine oil, with reduced ash formation, may be used in die-
sel engines equipped with particulate filter. Using other types of oil will
cause a higher soot concentration and reduce the life of the DPF. Therefore:
● Avoid mixing this oil with other engine oils.
● Only in exceptional circumstances, if the engine oil level is too low
⇒  page 234 and you cannot obtain the oil specified for your vehicle, you
can use a small quantity of oil (once) conforming to the VW 506 00,
VW 506 01, VW 505 00, VW 505 01 or ACEA B3 / ACEA B4 specification. (up
to 0.5 l). 
Oil properties
Engine typeSpecificationPetrol without flexible service in-
tervalVW 502 00/ VW 504 00
Petrol with flexible service inter-
val (LongLife)VW 504 00
Diesel. Engines without Particu-
late filter (DPF)VW 505 01 / VW 506 01 / VW 507 00
Diesel. Engines with particulate
filter (DPF)
With or without flexible service in-
terval (with or without LongLife) a)VW 507 00
a)
Only use recommended oils, otherwise you may damage the engine.
Engine oil additives
No type of additive should be mixed with the engine oil. The deterioration
caused by these additives is not covered by the warranty.
Note
Before a long trip, we recommend finding an engine oil that conforms to the
corresponding VW specifications and keeping it in the vehicle. This way, the
correct engine oil will always be available for a top-up if needed. 
Checking the engine oil level
The engine oil dipstick indicates the level of the oil.
Fig. 163 Engine oil dip-
stick
Checking oil level
– Park the vehicle in a horizontal position.
– Briefly run the engine at idle speed until the service tempera-
ture is reached and stop.
– Wait two minutes. 

235
Checking and refilling levels
– Pull out the dipstick. Wipe the dipstick with a clean cloth and
insert it again, pushing it in as far as it will go.
– Then pull it out once more and check the oil level ⇒ fig. 163.
Top up with engine oil if necessary.
Oil level in area A
Do not add oil.
Oil level in area B
Oil
can be topped up. The indicated oil level should be after in zone A
Oil level in area COil
must be topped up. The indicated oil level should be after in zone
A
Depending on how you drive and the conditions in which the vehicle is
used, oil consumption can be up to 0.5 l/1000 km. Oil consumption is likely
to be higher for the first 5000 km. For this reason the engine oil level must
be checked at regular intervals, preferably when filling the tank and before
a journey.
WARNING
Any work carried out in the engine compartment or on the engine must
be carried out cautiously.
● When working in the engine compartment, always observe the safety
warnings ⇒ page 230.
CAUTION
If the oil level is above the area A do not start the engine. This could result
in damage to the engine and catalytic converter. Contact an Authorised
Service Centre. 
–
–
–
Topping up engine oil

Top up gradually with small quantities of oil.
Fig. 164 In the engine
compartment: Engine oil
filler cap
Before opening the bonnet, read and observe the warnings ⇒ 
in
Safety instructions on working in the engine compartment on
page 230.
– Unscrew cap from oil filler opening ⇒ fig. 164.
– Top-up oil in small amounts, using the correct oil.
– To avoid over-filling with engine oil, you should top-up using
small quantities, wait a while and check the oil level before
adding any more oil.
– As soon as the oil level is in area B
, carefully close the cap.
The position of the oil filler opening is shown in the corresponding engine
compartment illustration ⇒ page 287. 
Safety FirstOperating InstructionsPractical TipsTechnical Specifications

287
Technical specifications
Technical specifications
Checking fluid levels
From time to time, the levels of the different fluids in the ve-
hicle must be checked. Never fill with incorrect fluids, other-
wise serious damage to the engine may be caused.
Fig. 207 Diagram for the
location of the various el-
ements
Coolant expansion tank
Windscreen washer fluid reservoir
Engine oil filler cap
Engine oil dipstick
Brake fluid reservoir
Vehicle battery (underneath the cover)
The checking and refilling of service fluids are carried out on the compo-
nents mentioned above. These operations are described in the ⇒ page 230.
1
23456
Overview
You will find further explanations, instructions and restrictions on the tech-
nical specifications as of
⇒ page 283. 
Safety FirstOperating InstructionsPractical TipsTechnical Specifications

Engine oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Checking engine oil level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Oil properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Topping up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Engine oil dipstick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Engine oil pressure Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 87
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Environmental friendliness . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Environmentally friendly driving . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Environmental tip Avoiding pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
ESC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89, 170, 196 see also Electronic Stability Control . . . . . 170
ESP see ESC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89, 170, 196
Example of menu use Program a speed limit warning . . . . . . . . . . 69
To activate and deactivate the speed limitwarning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Example of the use of the menus Open the Configuration menu with the MFIlever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Open the Configuration menu with the steering wheel controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Examples of menu use Open the main menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Open the winter tyres menu . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
To close the winter tyres menu . . . . . . . . . . 69
Exhaust gas purification system . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 F
Fabric trim cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Fastening rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Fire extinguisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
First-aid kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Flexible service interval display . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Floor mats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fog lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Fog lights with cornering function . . . . . . . . . 121
Folding table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Folding the seat backrests down . . . . . . . . . . 141
Front airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Front drinks holders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Front passenger airbag deactivation . . . . . . . . 44
Front reading lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Front seat adjustment Lumbar support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Fuel Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Fuel consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Fuel level Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Fuel reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Warning message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Fuel tank see Fuel reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Fuel Tank
Opening the fuel tank flap . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Fuel: save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
G
G 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Gear shift pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
General overview of the engine compartment 287
Glove compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Glow plug system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
H Handbrake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Hazard warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
HBA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Headlight flashers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Headlight range control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Headlights Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Fog lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Headlight washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Head restraints Adjusting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136, 137
Adjustment of the head restraint angle . . 137
Removing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Heated front seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
304 Index