2013 AUDI A6 AUX

Engine compartment
Be especially careful when cleaning the en­
gine compartment.
A lw ays s witch off the ign ition befor e clean ­
ing the eng in e
c:> & .
Plenum panel
Remove leaves from the plenum pane l in front
of the windshield under the engine compart­
ment. This prevents the water drain ho les
from becoming blocked, and it prevents de­
bris from entering the veh icle inter ior through
the heating and ventilation ducts .
Corro sion protecti on
The engine compartment and transmission
have been corrosion-protected at the factory.
Good anti-corrosion treatment is very impor ­
tant, particular ly in the winter . If the vehicle
is frequent ly driven on salt treated roads, the
entire engine compartment and plenum panel
should be thoroughly cleaned at the end of
winter and retreated to prevent sa lt damage.
At the same time, the underside of the vehicle
should be washed as we ll.
If the engine compartment is cleaned at any
time with grease removing solut ions
1>, or if
you have the engine washed, the anti-corro­
sion treatment is a lmost always removed as
well.
It is therefore essential to have a long­
lasting co rrosion protection reapp lied to a ll
surfaces, seams, joints and components in the
engine compartment.
A WARNING
Be aware: The engine compa rtment of any
motor vehicle is a potentially hazardous
area.
- Before working in the engine compart­
ment, be s ure to read the in format ion
c:> page 225.
- Before reaching into the front pane l, al­
ways switch off the ignition. Otherwise,
l ) Use only the correct cleaning sol utions. Never use gas­
oline or diesel fuel.
Cleaning and protec tion 219
the windshield wiper system could unin­
tentionally be switched on, possibly
causing personal injury from the moving
wiper linkage.
- Never reach into the area around or
touch the radiator fan. The aux iliary fan
is temperature controlled and can sw itch
on suddenly - even when the ignition is
off.
- Do not wash, wax o r dry the eng ine with
the engine running. Moving or hot parts could injure you.
- Do not clean the underside of the chas­
sis, fenders, wheel covers, or other ha rd
to reach parts without protect ing your
hands and arms. You may cut yourself on
sharp-edged metal parts .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
o ther info rmation
c:> page 208.
•
•

Checking and filling Engine hood
Releasing the engine hood
The engine hood is released from inside the
vehicle .
Fig. 182 Dr iver footwell: release leve r
Fig. 183 Rocker switch under the hood
Make sure the wiper arms are not raised up
from the w indshield. Otherw ise the paint
could be damaged.
.. Pull the lever under the instrument panel in
the d irect ion of the arrow
<=> fig. 182.
.. Raise the hood slightly <=>_& .
.. Press the rocke r switc h under the hood up­
ward
<=> fig. 183 . This re leases the catch .
.. Open the hood .
A WARNING
Hot engine coo lant can burn you.
- To reduce the r isk of being burned, never
open the hood if you see or hear steam
or coolant escaping from the engine
compartment . Wait until no steam or
coolant can be seen or heard before care­
fully opening the hood.
Checkin g and fillin g 225
Working in the engine compartment
Be especially careful whenever you work in
the engine compartment.
Wh ene ve r y ou must perform an y wo rk in the
eng ine com pa rtm ent , for e xample checking
a nd filling diff ere nt fluids, th ere is a risk of
inju ry, burn s and accid ent s. To pr event per­
so nal injury alwa ys observe the foll owing
WARNING S. The engin e compartment of an y
v e hicle i s a h az a rdou s are a
<=> ,&.
h WARNING
To help avoid injury, be fore yo u check any ­
thing under the hood:
- Turn off the engine .
- Sw itch off the ignition .
- Apply the parki ng brake.
- Move selector leve r to P (Park) .
- Always let the engine cool down. Hot
components w ill burn skin on contact .
- To reduce the risk of being burned, never
open the hood if you see or hear steam
or coo la nt escaping from the engine
compa rtment. Wait unt il no steam or
coolant can be seen o r heard before care­
fu lly opening the hood.
- Keep ch ildren away from the engine com­
pa rtment.
- Never sp ill fluids on hot engine compo­
nents . They can cause a fire .
- Never touch the rad iator fan. The auxili­
ary electric fan is temperat ure controlled
a nd can sw itch on suddenly .
- Never open the coolant reservoir cap
when the engine is still warm . The cool­
a nt system is p ressu rized and hot cool­
a nt cou ld spray o ut.
- Protect your face, hands and arm from
steam or hot engine coolant by plac ing a
thick rag ove r the cap when you open the
coo lant rese rvoir.
- Do not remove the engine cover under
any circumstances. This inc reases the
ris k of burns.
- If work on the fue l system o r the elec tri ­
cal system is necessary:

234 Checking and filling
scalding from hot coolant by following
these steps .
- Turn off the eng ine and a llow it to cool
down.
- Protect your face, hands and arms from escaping flu id and steam by cover ing
the cap with a large, thick rag .
- Turn the cap slowly and very carefully
i n a counter-clockwise direction while
apply ing l ight, downwa rd p ress ure on
the top of the cap .
- To avo id being burned, do not sp ill an­
tifreeze or coolant on the exhaust sys­
tem or hot engine parts . Under certain
conditions, the ethylene glyco l in en­
gine coolant can catch f ire .
- Antifreeze is poisonous . Always store an­
tifreeze in its or iginal container and we ll
out of the reach of children .
- If you drain the coolant, it must be
caught and safely stored in a proper con­
tainer clear ly marked "poison".
@ Note
- Coolant po llutes the env ironment and
could cause an engine fire . Excess coo l­
ant will be forced out through the pres­
sure re lief valve in the cap when the en­
gine becomes hot.
- If, in an emergency, on ly water can be
added, the correct ratio between water
and antifreeze
c::> page 232 must be re­
stored as soon as possible .
@ For the sake of the environment
Drained coolant should not be re used. Al­
ways dispose of used coolant while observ­
ing all environmental regulat ions .
Radiator fan
The radiator fan switches on automatically by
itself
An auxiliary e lectr ic radiator fan switches on
and off depending on coolant temperature
and other vehicle operating cond itions. After you switch the engine off, the aux
iliary
fan can cont inue running for up to 10 minutes
- even w it h the ignition off. It can even switc h
on again later by itself
c::> .&. , if
- the temperatu re of the engine coo lant rises
due to the heat build-up from the engine in
the engine compartment, or
- the engine compartment heats up because
the vehicle is parked in intense sunlight.
A WARNING
-- To reduce the risk of persona l injury nev-
er touch the radiator fan.
- The a uxiliary electric fan is temperat ure
contro lled and can sw itch on suddenly
even when the engine is not running.
- The auxiliary radiator fan switches on a u­
tomatically when the engine coo lant
reaches a certain temperature and will
continue to run until the coolant temper­
ature drops .
Brake fluid
Checking brake fluid level
Fig. 1 88 En gin e compa rtme nt: cove r on t he brake fluid
reservoi r
Before you check anything in the engine com­
partment,
always read and heed all WARN­
INGS c:> A in Working in the engine compart­
ment on page 225.
.,. Read the brake fluid level from the brake
fluid reservoir
c::> fig. 188, c:> fig . 184. The
brake fluid level must be between the "MIN"
and "MAX" markings.
IJ>