2013 AUDI A5 CABRIOLET check engine light

212 Checking and filling
Checking and filling
Engine hood
Releasing and opening the engine hood
The engine hood is released from inside the
vehicle .
Fig . 173 D river' s side footwe ll: e ngin e hood re lease
lever
F ig. 1 74 Re lease lever u nde r the eng ine hood
Before openin g the engine hood, ma ke s ure
that the windshie ld w ipers are flat against the
windshield. Otherwise, they co uld damage the
pa int on the hood .
... Pull the release lever on the left under the
inst rument panel in the direction of the ar­
row
c;, fig . 173.
... Raise t he hood s lightly r::;, &,
... Press the rocke r swi tc h under the hood up­
ward
c;, fig . 174 . This re leases the catch .
... Ope n the hood.
A WARNING
Hot engi ne co olan t ca n bur n you .
- T o redu ce the r is k o f being burned, never
op en t he ho od if yo u see or hea r ste am
or cool an t esc aping from the engine
c ompartment. Wait unti l no steam or co
olant can be seen or heard before care ­
fu lly opening the hood.
Closing the engine hood
... Pull the hood down until the pressure from
the struts is reduced .
... Let the hood
drop down and latch in p lace .
Do not try to push it shut; it may fail to en­
gage
r::;, &, .
A WARNING
-
A ho od th at is not co mpletely latched
could fly u p an d block your view while driv­
in g.
- Wh en you cl ose the engi ne ho od, ch ec k it
t o make sure the sa fe ty ca tch has prope r­
ly engaged . The hood s hould be flush
wit h the surroun ding vehicle body pa rts .
-If you notice while driv in g that t he hood
is not secured prope rly, sto p at once and
close it.
Working in the engine compartment
Be especially ca reful whenever you work in
the engine compartment.
Whenever you must perform any work in the
engine compartment, for example checking
and filling different fluid s, there is a ri sk of
injury , burns and accidents . To prevent per­
sonal injury always observe the following
WARNINGS. The engine compartment of any
vehicle is a hazardous area
r::;, ,&. .
A WARNING
-To help avo id injury, before yo u check any-
thing unde r the hoo d:
- Turn off the eng ine.
- Remove the ignition key.
- Ap ply the park ing brake .
- Move selector leve r of automatic t rans -
miss io n to "P" (Par k).
- Alway s le t the eng ine cool d own. Ho t
components w ill bur n skin on contact .

214 Checking and filling
Engine compartment
Engine compartment
These are the most important items that you can check.
Fig. 175 Typical layout for containers and eng ine o il filler cap
(D Eng ine o il filler cap ("1::::r.) . . . . . 21 7
@ Jump start point(+) under a cov-
er .. .. .... ... ....... .... ..
225, 260
@ Bra ke fluid reservo ir (0)) . . . . . 221
@ Coolant expansion tank (-L) . . . 220
® Jump start point(-) with hex
head sc rew ..... .......... ..
225, 260
® W indshield/headlight* washer
. (" ') container o ....... . ... .. . 226
The pos ition o f the engine o il fi lling hole
¢ fig . 175 (item @) can differ depending on
the eng ine design.
A WARNING
Before yo u check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS ¢.&. in Working in the engine
compartment on page 212.
-
Engine oil
· Engine oil specifications
The engine oil used in your Audi needs the
right kind of oil.
The eng ine in your Audi is a sophist icated
power plant that was b uilt to exacting specifi­
cations . Th is engine needs the right k ind of
engi ne oil that meets specifica tions regard ing
quality a nd v iscosity so that it can run
smooth ly and reliab ly. Choosing the rig ht o il
and changing oil within the t ime and mile age
i n tervals prin ted in you r vehicle's Warr anty
&
Maintenance booklet matters a lot more to ­
day tha n it did years ago . Aud i has deve loped
a spec ia l quality standard for engine oil that
will help assure that your vehicle 's engine w ill
get the lubr ication it needs for proper opera-
t ion . ..,_

216 Check ing and filling
temperatures stay below freezing point for
long periods.
Detergent addit ives in the o il w il l make fresh
oil look dark after the eng ine has been run­
ning for a short time . This is norma l and is not
a reason to change the oi l more often than
recommended.
D am age or m alfunc tions du e to lack of
m ainten ance
It
is essential that you change your oil at the
recommended in tervals using only engine o il
that complies with Audi oi l standard
VW 502 00. Your Limited New Vehicle War­
ranty does not cover damage or malfunctions
due to fail ure to fo llow recommended mainte­
nance and use requ irements as set forth in
the Audi Owner's Manual and Warranty
&
Maintenance book let . Your dealer will have to
deny warranty coverage unless you present to
the dea ler proof in the form of Service or Re­
pa ir Orders that all scheduled ma intenance
was performed in a t imely manner.
Eng ine 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 provide effective lubrication and
cool ing of internal engine components, a ll in­
ternal combustion eng ines consume a certa in
amount of oil. O il consumption varies from
engine to engine and may change significantly
over the life of the engine. Typica lly, engines
with a specif ied break-in period (see
¢
page 187) consume more oil during the
break-in period than they consume after oil
consumption has stabilized.
Under norma l conditions, the rate of oil con­
sumption depends on the quality and viscosity
of the oil, the RPM (revolutions per minute) at
which the engine is operated, the ambient
temperature and road condit ions . Further fac­
tors are the amount of oil d ilution from water
condensat ion or fuel residue and the ox ida­
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 play, no
standard rate of oil consumption can be es­
tablished or specified. There is no alternative
to regu lar and frequent check ing of the o il lev ­
el, see
Note .
If
the yellow engine oil leve l warning symbo l
I! in the instrument cluster lights up, you
shou ld check the oil leve l as soon as possib le
¢
page 217. Top off the oil at your earliest
convenience ¢
page 217.
A WARNING '"---
Before you check anythi ng in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS¢
A in Working in the engine
compartment on page 212.
(D Note
Driving w ith an insufficient o il level is like­
ly to cause severe damage to the engine .
(D Tips
-The oil pressu re warn ing display . is
not an indic ator of the oil l evel. Do not
r el y on it . In stea d, check th e oil l eve l in
y our engin e at regular inter val s, pref ­
erably ea ch time you r efu el, and alwa ys
before go ing on a long trip .
-If you have t he impression yo ur engine
consumes excessive amoun ts of o il, we
recommend that you consu lt an author­
ized Aud i dea ler to have the cause of
your concern properly diagnosed. Keep in m ind that the accurate measu rement of
oil consumption requ ires great care and
may take some time. An authorized Aud i
dealer has instructions about how to
measu re oil consumption accurately.
-

Engine cooling system
Coolant
The engine coolant performs two functions: it
keeps the engine from overheating and it pro ­
te cts the engine from freezing in the winter .
The cooling system is sealed and generally re­
qu ires little attention .
The cooling system has been filled at the fac­
tory with a permanent coolant which does not need to be changed. The coolant consists of a
mixture of water and the manufacturer's gly ­
col-based coolant additive G 13 antifreeze with
anticor ros ion add itives (50% for USA mode ls;
60% for Canadian mode ls). This mixtu re both
assures the ne cessa ry frost prote cti on and
p rotec ts metal components in the engine's
coo ling system from cor ros io n an d scaling. It
a lso raises the boiling point of the coolant.
D o not red uce the con cent ration o f th e coo l­
ant in the summe r by adding plain water .
The
proportion of coolant additive must be at least 50% but not more than 60%
to ma in­
tain antifreeze protection and cooling efficien­
cy. If the coolant frost protect ion is too low,
the coolant cou ld freeze and damage the veh i­
cle heating and eng ine cooling system .
For yea r-round driving, antifreeze is added at
the factory for temperatures down to:
- -3 1 °F (-35°C)USA
- -4 0 ° F ( - 40 °C) Canada.
A WARNING
Before yo u check any thing in the engine
compartment, always read and hee d all
W AR NIN GS
¢ .&. in Working in the engine
compartment on page 212.
(D Note
- Before win ter se ts in, have the coolan t
checked to see if t he coolant ad dit ive i n
your vehicle is suffic ient to meet the cli­
mate cond itions . T hi s is especially imp or­
tant if you live in a regi on whe re the w in­
te r is e xtremely cold. If necessary, in -
Checking and fillin g 219
crease the propo rtion of coo lant add itive
to 60%.
- When adding coolant additive to yo ur
coolin g system , remembe r:
- We reco mmend us ing o nly coola nt ad­
d itive G12++ or G13 for your vehicle .
This coolan t ad ditive is availab le at a u­
thor ized Audi dealers. O ther types of
ant ifree ze can s ignific antly red uce cor­
rosion pro tec tion . The result ing corro­
sion can ca use a loss o f coolan t and se ­
rio us en gine damage.
- D o not add any ty pe of rad iator leak seal­
ant to yo ur vehicle 's engine coolan t.
Adding radiator repair fl uid may adverse ­
ly affect the function and performance of
your cooling system and co uld resu lt in
damage not covered by you r New Ve hicle
Limited War ran ty.
Checking the engine coolant level
The engine coolant level can be checked with
a quick glance.
Fig . 1 78 Eng in e co mpa rtm ent : Cover o n the coo la nt
expans io n t an k
-... ;;; ,; a, m
.. Before yo u check anything in the engine
compartment,
always read and heed all
WARNINGS ¢ & in Working in the engine
compartment on page 212 .
"' Park yo ur vehicle on a lev el su rface .
"' Turn off the ignition .
"' Read t he e ngine coolant level from the
coo lant expan sio n ta nk ¢
fig. 178 ,
¢ fig. 175. With a cold engine, the coolant
level sho uld be between the "MIN " and
"MAX" markings . When the engine is warm,
the level may be slightly above the "MAX"
marking.
Iii>

220 Check ing and filling
The location of the coolant expansion tank
can be seen in the engine compartment illus­
tration ¢
page 214 .
To obtain an accurate read ing, the eng ine
must be switched off .
The expans io n tank in you r vehicle is equipped
with an e lectr ic cool ant level sensor.
When the coolant level is too low, the warning light in the A uto-Check System ¢
page 18 will
b link until you add coo lant and the level has
been restored to no rm al. Even though the re is
an e lec tric coolant level sensor, we s till rec ­
ommend you check the coolant leve l from
time to time.
Coolant loss
Coolant loss may indicate a leak in the cooling
system. In the event of coolan t loss, the cool ­
i ng system should be inspected immedia tely
by your authorized A udi dealer. It is not
enough merely to add coolant.
I n a
s e aled system, losses can occur only if
the boiling poin t of the coolant is excee ded as
a result of overheating.
A WARNING
The cooling system is unde r pressure and
can get ve ry hot. Reduce the risk of sca ld­
ing from hot coolant by following these
steps.
- Turn off the engine and allow it to cool
down.
- Protect yo ur face, hands and arms from
escaping fluid and steam by covering the
cap with a large, thick rag.
- Turn the cap slowly and ve ry carefu lly in
a counter-clockwise direction wh ile ap­
plying light, downward pressure on the
top of the cap .
- To avoid being b urned, do not spill ant i­
freeze or coolant on t he exhaust system
or hot eng ine parts. Unde r certain condi­
tions, t he ethy lene g lycol in engine cool­
an t can ca tch fire.
(D Note
Do not ad d any type of radiator leak sea l­
ant to your veh icle's engine coo lant. Add­
i ng radiator repa ir fluid may adverse ly af­
fect the funct ion and performance of your
cooling system and could result in damage not cove red by your New Veh icle L imited
War ran ty .
Adding coolant
Be very careful when adding engine coolant.
Before you check anyth ing in the eng ine com­
partment,
always read and heed all WARN­
INGS c> &. in Working in the engine compart ­
ment on page 212.
.. Turn off the engine.
.. Let the engine cool down.
.. Place a thick rag over the coolant expansion
tank ¢
fig. 178 and carefully turn the cap
co unter-clo ckwise ¢,&. .
.,. Add coo lant.
.. Twis t the cap on aga in
t ightly.
Replacement engine coo lant must confo rm to
exact spec ificat ions
¢ page 219, Coolant. We
re commend using on ly coo la nt additive G 12+
+ , G 13 or in an eme rgen cy G12+. Do
not use a
different additive. In an emergency use plain
water until yo u can get the correct additive
and can restore the correct ratio . This shou ld
be done as soon as possible .
If you have los t a cons iderab le amount o f
coolant , then you sho uld ad d cold antifreeze
and cold wate r on ly w hen the engine is cold.
Always use
new engine coo lant when refilling.
Do not f ill coo lant abov e the "MAX" mark . Ex­
cess coo la nt w ill be fo rced o ut thro ugh the
pressure relief valve in t he cap w hen the en­
gine becomes hot.
A WARNING
-= -
-The cooling system is under pressure and
can get very hot. Reduce the risk of ..,.

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 219 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 221
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. 17 9 En gin e compar tment: Cover o n the brak e flu­
i d reservoi r
Before 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 212 . .,..

222 Check ing and filling
• Read the brake fluid leve l from the brake
fluid reservoir ¢
fig. 179, ¢ fig. 175. The
brake f lu id leve l must be between the "MIN"
and "MAX" markings.
The brake fluid reservoir is located at the rear partition of the engine compartment on the
left side ¢
page 214 .
The fluid 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 . mode ls:
1111 , Canadian
models :. ) will come on
¢ page 15. Do not
continue to operate the vehicle. The complete brake system should be thoroughly checked
by an authorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop and the cause corrected . If the
brake fluid level is too low, the b rake war ning/
i ndicato r light w ill illuminate . Contact an au­
thor ized Audi dealer
imm ediately .
@ Tips
The brake f lu id reservoir is located unde r­
neath the cove r.
Changing brake fluid
Have the brake fluid changed by an experi­
enced technician .
Brake fluid absorbs moisture 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 ye ars. A lways use new b rake fluid
which confo rms to Fede ral Motor Vehicle
S tanda rd "FMVSS 116 DO T 4".
The brake flu id reservoir can be difficult to
r each, therefo re , we recommend that yo u
have the brake fl uid changed by yo ur au tho r­
i z ed
Audi dealer . Your dealer has the co rrec t tools, the
right brake flu id and t he know -how
to do this for you.
A WARNING
'-
- Brake flu id is poisonous. It must be stor-
ed only in the closed or igina l container
out of the reach of children!
- Brake failure can res ult from o ld or inap­
propriate brake f lu id. Observe these pre­
cautions:
- Use only brake f luid that meets SA E
spe cifi cat ion
J 17 03 and conforms to
Federa l Motor Vehi cle Standard 1 16.
Always chec k with yo ur authorized A udi
dealer to make sure yo u are using the
correct brake fluid. The cor rect type of
brake flu id is also ind icated on the
brake f lu id reservoir.
- The brake fluid must be new. Heavy use
of the brakes can cause a vapor lock if
the brake fluid is left i n the system too
long . This can se riously affect the effi­
c iency of the brakes as well as your
safety . T his could result in an accident.
W Note
Brake fluid will damage the pai nt of you r
vehicle .
@ For the sake of the environment
Because of the prob lem of proper disposal
of brake fluid as well as the spec ial too ls
r equired and the necessary expertise, we
r ecommend that yo u have the brake flu id
changed by yo ur autho rized Aud i dea le r.
Battery
General information
U nder normal operat ing cond itions, the bat­
te ry in your Audi does not need any ma inte­
nance. With
high outside temperatu res or
long da ily drives we recommend that you have
the e lectrolyte leve l che cked by an autho riz ed
A udi dealer or qu alified workshop. The elec­
tro ly t e level should also be checked e ach time
the battery is charged
¢ page 225. ...

224 Checking and filling
-Always wear eye protection. Do not let
battery acid or any lead particles get on
your skin or clothing . Shield your eyes .
Explosive gases can cause blindness or
other injury .
- Battery acid contains sulfuric acid . Sulfu­
ric acid can cause blindness and severe
burns .
- Always wear gloves and eye protection.
Do not tilt the battery because acid
could leak out of the ventilation open­
ings.
- If you get battery acid in your eyes or
on your skin, immediately rinse with
cold water for several minutes and get
medical attention .
- If you should ingest any battery acid,
seek medical attention immediately.
- Do not expose the battery to an open
flame, electric sparks or an open light.
- Do not smoke.
- Do not interchange the positive and neg-
ative cables.
= When working on the battery , be sure
not to short-circuit the terminals with
tools or other metal objects. This would cause the battery to heat up very quickly,
which could lead to damage or explosion
and personal injury.
- When a battery is charged, it produces hydrogen gas which is explosive and
could cause personal injury .
- Always keep the battery well out of the
reach of children .
- Before work is done on the electrical sys­ tem, disconnect the negative ground ca­ble.
- Before performing any work on the elec­
trical system, switch
off the engine and
ignition as well as any electrical equip ­
ment . The negative cable on the battery
must be disconnected . If you are just go­
ing to replace a light bulb, then it is
enough to switch
off the lights.
- Before disconnecting the battery, switch
off the anti-theft alarm system! Other­
wise you will set off the alarm. -
When disconnecting the battery, first
disconnect the negative cable and then
the positive cable.
- Before reconnecting the battery, make
sure all electrical consumers are switch­
ed off. Reconnect the positive cable first
and then the negative cable . Never inter ­
change the cables - this could start a fire!
- Never charge a frozen or a thawed-out
battery .
It could explode! If a battery has
frozen, then it must be replaced . A dis­
charged battery can freeze over at 32°F
(QOC).
-Make sure the vent hose is always attach­
ed to the opening on the side of the bat­
tery .
- Never use batteries which are damaged.
There is the danger of an explosion! Al­
ways replace a damaged battery.
A WARNING
California Proposition 6S Warning:
- Battery posts, terminals and related ac­
cessories contain lead and lead com­
pounds, chemicals known to the State of
California to cause cancer and reproduc­
tive problems. Wash hands after han­
dling.
(D Note
- Do not disconnect the vehicle battery
when the ignition is switched on or when the engine is running, otherwise, you will
damage electronic components in the
electrical system.
- If your vehicle is going to stand for a
long period of time without being driven,
protect the battery from "freezing", oth­
erwise it will be damaged and will then
have to be replaced .