Trailer towing Driving with a trailer
General information
Your Audi was designed primarily for passen
ger transportation .
If you plan to tow a tra iler, p lease remember
that the addit ional load will affect durab ility,
economy and performance .
T railer 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 driving instructions provided and use
common sense.
Technical requirements
Traile r hitch
Use a weight-carrying hitch conforming 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 t he veh icle's chassis at a
technically sound location . Use only a t railer
h itch w ith a removab le ball moun t. A lways
check with the tr ailer hitch man ufac tur er to
make sure that you are using the correct
hitch.
Do not use a bumper hitch.
T he hitc h must be installed in such a way that
it does not inte rfe re with the impac t-absorb
i ng b umper syst em. No modifica tions should
be made to the vehicle exhaus t and b rake sys
tems . From t ime to time, check that a ll hitch
mo unt ing bolt s remain securely fas tened.
W hen you are not tow ing a trailer, remove the
trai le r hi tch ball moun t. T h is prevents the
hi tch from causing damage sho uld your ve hi
cle be str uck from be hind
¢ &. .
Trailer brakes
If yo ur tra iler is equ ipped w it h a braking sys
tem, check to be su re that it conforms to a ll
r eg ulat io ns.
Trailer towin g 191
The trailer hyd ra ulic bra ke system must not be
direct ly connected to the vehicle's hydraulic
brake system
¢ &. .
Safety chains
Alw ays use s afety chains between your ve hicle
and t he tra ile r.
Trailer lights
Tra ile r lights m ust meet all reg ulations . Be
su re to check w ith your authorized Audi dealer
fo r c orrec t w iri ng, sw itches, and relays.
Mirrors
If you a re unable to see the traffic behind you
u sing the regula r outside m irrors, then you
must insta ll ext ended mir ro rs. It is important
t h at you
always have clea r vis io n to the rear .
.8, WARNING
- If a trailer has elec trica l br ake s plea se
no te th at t hese bra kes are not activat ed
by the fa ctory -fit ted control unit -risk of
accident!
- After removing the t railer hi tch, do no t
s to re it in yo ur vehicle . In case of sudden
brak ing, the hitch could fly fo rward and
in ju re you or yo ur passenge rs .
Operating instructions
Maximum traile r we ight
-
A trai ler for your vehicle is limited to a typical
class 1 or class 2 tra iler.
Trailer load distribution
Be sure the lo ad in the traile r is h eld secure ly
i n p lace to p reven t it from shifting fo rward,
backward or sideways.
Never allow a passenger to ride in a trailer
¢ &. in Driving instru ctions on page 19 2.
Engine cooling system
Towing a t railer ma kes t he engine wor k hard
er . It is impo rta nt that the cooling system's
perfo rman ce is up to the additional load.
Make sure tha t the coo ling sys tem h as enough
f lu id . .,..
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226 Check ing and filling
Never use a fa st charger as a booster to
start the engine . T his 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 e lectr i
cal energy throughout your vehicle
c::>
page 185. The intell igent energy ma nage
ment system w ill keep the engine battery
cha rged bette r then vehicles w it h out th is sys
tem. To make sure t he addi tional e lectrica l en
e rgy is availab le once again after you have
cha nged t he battery, we recommend that you
install batteries of the same type and ma nu
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 Audi dealer must code the battery
in the ene rgy management system to enable
you to use the ene rgy management functions
cor rectly after repla cing t he battery .
If it is not possible to use a battery of this
type, the new battery must have the same ca
pac ity, voltage ( 12-volts), ampe rage, con
s truction and plug sea ling .
When insta lling the battery , make sure the ig
ni tion and all electr ical cons umers are turned
off.
0 Note
Ma ke sure t he vent ilation hose on the s ide
of the batte ry is con nected, ot herwis e
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 au thor
i z ed Audi deale r change the batte ry for you
. Batteries contain sul fur ic acid and
l ead and must a lways be disposed of prop
erly in comp liance with a ll environmental
regulations. Disposing of vehicle batter ies
i mproperly is very dangerous to the envi
ro nment .
Windshield/headlight*
washer container
Fig. 181 En gin e compa rt m en t: Cover o n the wind
s hi eld an d headlig ht• was her fluid conta iner
T he was her fluid co nta iner is mar ked w ith the
symbol
O on its c ap c::> fig. 181, c::> fig . 175.
.,. Before yo u check anything in the engine
compa rtme nt, always read and heed all
WARNINGS c::> &. in Working in the engine
c ompartment on page 212.
.. Lift th e fi ller ca p tongue to ad d washer flu
id . You can f ill the containe r to the top .
.. Press the cap back onto the fi ller neck after
fi lling the container.
You can find the reservo ir
capacity in t he table
in c::>
page 267 .
Clean wa ter should be used when filling up. If
poss ible, use so ft wat er to preven t scaling o n
the washer jets . A lways ad d a glass clea ner
solution (with frost protection in the winter) .
(D Note
Do not m ix eng ine cool ant an tifr eeze o r
any other a ddi tives to fill up the win d
s hi eld washer rese rvoir .
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 operations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
(D Note
Vehicles with an automatic transmission
cannot be started by pushing or towing .
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 jumper cables to start the en
g ine.
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cables of sufficiently
largecross section to carry the starter current
safe ly. Refer to the manufacturer's specifica
tions.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated termi
na l clamps which are distinctly marked:
plus(+) cable in most cases colored red
minus(-) cable
in most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batteries contain electricity, acid, and gas.
Any of these can cause very serious or fatal
injury. Follow the instructions below for
safe handling of your vehicle's battery.
- Always shield your eyes and avoid lean
ing over the battery whenever possible.
Emergency situations 259
-A discharged battery can freeze at tem
peratures just below 32 °F (0 °C). Before
connecting a jumper cable, you must
thaw the frozen battery completely, 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 batter ies generate explosive gas
es. Keep sparks, flame and lighted c iga
rettes away from batteries.
- Do not try to jump start any veh icle w ith
a low ac id level in the battery.
- The voltage 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 diff erent voltage
or substantially different "Ah" rat ing
may cause an exp losion and personal in
jury.
- Never charge a frozen battery. 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 ca pa city (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 all
WARNINGS¢
page 205, Engine com
partment.
(D Note
- App lying a higher voltage booster bat
tery will cause expensive damage to sen
sit ive electronic components, such as
control 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
posit ive(+) terminals are connected. ..,. •
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