2013 AUDI A7 catalytic converter

Error messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Trailer hitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Homelink ® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 8
Universal remote control . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Safety fir st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Driving Safely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Gene ral notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Proper occupant seating posit ions . . . 131
Driver and passenger side footwell . . . 135
Pedal area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Stowing luggage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Report ing Safety Defects . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Ge neral notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 40
Why safety be lts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 43
Safety bel t pre tens io ners . . . . . . . . . . 147
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 9
I mpo rtan t th ings to know . . . . . . . . . . 1 49
Fr ont airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 53
M on itoring the Advanced Airbag
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
K nee airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Side curta in a irbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Child Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Important things to know . . . . . . . . . . 17 5
C hi ld safety seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Install ing a child safety seat . . . . . . . . 186
L ATC H Lower ancho rages and tethe rs
for ch ild ren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Addit ional Information 193
Audi pre sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
P reven tat ive passenger p rotection 194
Vehicle operat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Intelligent technology . . . . . . . . 196
N ot ice about da ta re cor ded by veh icle
control mod ules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Elec tronic Stabilization Control (ESC) . 196
Rear spoiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Table of contents 3
El ectro -mechan ica l powe r ass ist . . . . . 201
Driving with your q uattro ® . . . . . . . . . 201
Energy management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Driving and environment . . . . . 20 4
The first 1,000 miles (1,500 km) and
afterwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Catalytic converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Avoid damaging the vehicle . . . . . . . . . 205
Drivi ng throug h wate r on roads . . . . . 206
Operate your vehicle economically and
min imize poll ution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
D rivi ng wit h a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
T rai le r tow ing tips .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 211
Vehicle care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Cleaning and protection . . . . . . 213
General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Care of ex terior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Care of inte rior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Fuel supply and filling your
fuel tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
225
Gasoline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Fuel tan k. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Checking and filling . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Engine hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Engine compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Engine o il . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
E n gine cooling system . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Brake fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Windsh ie ld/headlight washer
co nta iner . .. .. .. .. .. ........... . 244
Tires and wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
T ires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
T ire pressu re mo nitor ing system 264
Do -it-yourself service . . . . . . . . . 26 7
What do I do now? . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
E mergency warn ing triangle . . . . . . . . 267
Vehicle tool kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Changing a wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
•
•

12 Instrum ent s and w arn ing /indic ato r light s
-Never open the engine hood if you see or
hear steam, or if you see engine coolant
dripping from the engine compartment.
You could burn yourself . Let the engine
cool off first until you can no longer see
o r hear steam or coo lant escaping.
@ Note
- Mounting additional lights or accessories
i n front of the a ir inlets reduces the cool­
i ng effect of the rad iator . At h igh outside
temperatures or high eng ine load, the
engine could overheat.
- The front spo iler has been designed to
proper ly distribute the cooling air when
t h e ve hicle is moving.
If the spoiler is
dam aged, th is co uld red uce the cooling
effect and the engine co uld then over­
heat . Ask your authorized Audi dea ler for
assistance .
Tachometer (engine rev counter)
The tachometer indicates the engine RPM
(revolutions per minutes).
If engine RP M drops be low 1,500, yo u should
downshift to the next lower gear. The red a rea
at the end of the sca le indicates maximum
perm iss ib le engine RPM after the break-in pe­
riod. Before reaching this area, move these­
lector lever to position D/S (Drive) or ease
your foot off the accelerator pedal.
(D Note
The tachometer needle should on ly br iefly
be in the red zone: you could damage your
engine! The beginn ing of the red zone var­
ies depending on the engine .
@ For the sake of the environment
Upshifting early saves fuel and reduces en­
gine noise.
Fuel gauge
The fuel gauge only works when the ignition is
on .
If the fuel level d rops below 2 . 6 ga llons (10 liters), the bottom LED turns red and the
indicator light
Em turns on
¢ page 22. The
bottom LED blinks red when the fuel level is
very low.
T he possible range based on the current fuel
level is shown in tab@<=>
fig. 4.
(D Note
Never run the tank completely dry. An ir ­
r egular supply of f uel can cause engine
misfiring and fuel could enter the ex haust
system . The catalytic converter could then
overheat and be damaged.
Warning/indicator lights
Description
The ind icator lights in the instrument cluster
blink or turn on. They indicate funct ions or
malfunc tions <=>,& .
Messages may appear with some indicato r
lights. A warning signal will sound at the
same t ime. The indicator lights and messages
in the center of the displays may be rep laced
by other d isplays . To show them again, select
the tab for ind icator lights and messages us­
i ng the multifunction steering wheel
Q page 23. If t here are several malfunc­
t ions, you can display them one at a time us­
ing the thumbwheel.
Some indicato rs lights in the d isplay can tu rn
o n in severa l co lors.
A WARNING
- F ailure to heed w arning l igh ts and other
important vehicle in forma tion may res ult
in ser io us personal inj ury or vehicle dam­
age .
- Whenever stalled or stopped for repair, move the vehicle a safe d istance off the
road, stop the engine, and turn on the
emergency flasher<=>
page 44.
-The engine compartment of any motor
veh icle is a potentially hazardous area.
Before you chec k anything in the engine

110 Automatic Transmission
brakes applied ¢ & in Driving the automatic
transmission on page
112.
When the veh icle is stationary or at speeds
be low 1 mph (2 km/h), you must always apply
the footbrake before and while moving the
lever out of N.
D/S -Normal position for driving forward
In the D/S position, the transmiss io n can be
operated e ither in the normal mode Dor in
the sport mode S. To select the sport mode S,
pull the se lector lever back briefly . Pulling the
lever back again will select the normal mode
D. The instrument cluster display shows the
selected driving mode.
In the
normal mode D, the transmission auto­
matica lly selects the suitab le gear ratio. It de­
pends on engine load, vehicle speed and driv­
ing style.
Select the
spo rt mode S for sporty driving.
The vehicle makes fu ll use of the engine's
power. Shifting may become noticeable when
accelerating.
When the vehicle is stationary or at speeds
be low 1 mph (2 km/h), you must always apply
the foot brake before and while moving the lever to D/S out of N.
A WARNING
Read and follow all WARNINGS¢ & in
Driving the automatic transmission on
page
112.
d) Note
-
Coasting downhill with the transmission in
N and the engine not running w ill result in
damage to the automatic transmission
and possibly the catalytic converter.
@ Tips
- Audi drive select: you can adjust the
sporty sh ift characteristics in the
Dy­
namic driving mode.Swill appear in the
i nst rument cluste r d isplay instead of D.
-If you accidentally select N while driv ing,
take your foot off the acce lerator pedal immediately and wait
for the engine to
slow down to idle before selecting D/S.
-If there is a power failure, the selector
lever will not move out of the P position.
The emergency release can be used if
this happens
¢page 115.
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL)
Applies to vehicles : wit h S t ronic/tipt ro ni c
The Automatic Shift Lock safeguards you
against accidentally shifting into a forward or
the reverse gear and causing the vehicle to
move unintentionally.
( )
Fig. 116 Shi ft gate: selector leve r loc k pos it ions and
r e lease button highlighted
The selector lever lock is released as follows:
.,. Tu rn the ignition on.
.,. Step on the brake pedal.
At the same time
press and hold the release button on the
side of the gear selector knob
¢ fig. 116
with your thumb until you have moved the
selector lever to the desired position.
Automatic selector lever lock
The selector lever is locked in the P and N po­
s itions when the ignit ion is tu rned on. You
must press the brake pedal and the re lease
button to select another position . As a re­
minder to the driver, the following warning
appears in the instrument cluster display
when the selector is in P and N:
When stationary apply brake pedal while se­
lecting gear
T he Automatic Shift Lock only functions when
the vehicle is stationary or at speeds be low
1 mph (2 km/h).

Catalytic converter
It is very important that your emission con­trol system (catalytic converter) is function­
ing properly to ensure that your vehicle is run­
ning in an environmentally sound manner .
.. Always use lead-free gasoline¢ page 225,
Fuel supply.
.,. Never run the tank down all the way to
empty.
.,. Never put too much motor oil in your en-
gine
¢ page 235, Adding engine oil~-
.,. Never try to push- or tow-start your veh icle.
The catalytic converter is an eff icient "clean­
up" device built into the exhaust system of
the vehicle . The catalytic converter burns
many of the pollutants in the exhaust gas be ­
fore they are released into the atmosphere.
The exclusive use of unleaded fuel is critically
importa nt for the life of the cata lytic convert­
e r and proper functioning of the engine.
A WARNING
-
- Do not park or operate the vehicle in
areas where the hot exhaust system may
come in contact with dry grass, brush,
fuel spill or other material which can cause a fire.
- Do not apply additional undercoating or
rustproofing on or near the exhaust
man ifold, exhaust pipes, catalytic con­
verter or heat shields. During driving, the
substance used for undercoating cou ld
overheat and cause a fire.
0 Note
- Be aware that just one tank filling with
leaded fuel will already seriously de­
grade the performance of the catalytic
converter.
- Do not exceed the correct engine oil level
¢ page 235.
-Do not drive until the fuel tank becomes
completely empty. The eng ine could mis­
fire . U nburned fuel could a lso get i nto
Dri vin g and en vironm ent 205
the exhaust system and this cou ld cause
the catalytic converter to overheat .
- Do not switch off the ignit ion while the
vehicle is mov ing.
- Do not continue to ope rate your veh icle
unde r these conditions, as othe rwise fuel
can reach the catalytic converter. This
co uld result in overheating of the con­
verter, requir ing its replacement .
- To assure efficient operation of the Emis ­
sion Control System:
- H ave your vehicle maintained prope rly
and in accordance w ith the se rv ice rec­
ommendat ions in you r Warranty &
M aintenance boo klet.
- L ack of prope r maintenance as we ll as
improper use of the vehi cle w il l impair
the function of the em ission contro l
system and could lead to damage .
@ For the sake of the environment
Even when the Emiss ion Control System is
operat ing properly, the exha ust gas can
have a sul fur -li ke exhaust gas smell under
some operating states . This depends on
the sulfur content of the fuel being used .
Using a different brand of fue l may help,
or filling the tank with lead-free super
grade gasoline .
Avoid damaging the
vehicle
When you are drivi ng on poo r roads, or over
c ur bs, s teep ramps, etc., ma ke certai n that
low -lying parts s uch as spoilers and exhaust
system pa rts do not bottom o ut and get dam­
aged.
T h is is espec ially true for veh icles w ith low­
s lung chassis (spor ts chassis)* and fully load­
ed vehicles. •
•

208 Driving and environment
and other important vehicle compo­
nents.
Fewer short trips
Fuel consumption will always be relatively
high on short trips.
,.. Try to avoid driving short distances with a
cold engine.
The engine and catalytic converter have to
reach their optimal
operating temperature to
reduce fuel consumption and noxious emis­
sions effectively.
Just after starting, a cold engine in a mid-size
car only achieves a fuel economy of 6-8 miles per gallon (30-40 l/100 km). After about a
half a mile, fuel economy climbs to 12 mpg
(20 l/100 km). After about
2.5 miles (4 km),
the engine is at its proper operating tempera­
ture and fuel economy has reached a normal level. So you can see that you should avoid
short trips whenever possible.
The
outside temperature is also critical in this
regard. Your car consumes more fuel in the
winter than in the summer.

Index 295 ____________________________ ...:.:..:.=.:::.::.:
Automatic climate control
Air vents ... ................ ... .... 72
Automatic recirculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Operation ................... .. ....
71
Setup ... ..................... .... 73
synchronizing . ........ ... ... ... ... . 72
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL) ... ... .. .. .
110
A t t· t . .
u oma 1c ransm1ss1on ....... .. .. .. . 109
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL) . .. .. .. .. . 110
Driving .. .. ............. .. .. .. .. . 111
Emergency mode ............ ... .. . 114
Emergency release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Kick-down . ................. ... ... 113
Manual shift program ..... .. .. .. .. . 113
Selector lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Automatic wipers ................ .... 47
Auto Safety Hotline ......... ... ... ..
138
Average consumption ....... .. .. .. .. .. 25
Average speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Avoid damaging the vehicle ...... ... .. 205
B
Bag hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Brake system
Anti-lock braking system .............
20
Brake assist system ................ 196
Brake booster .. .. ................. 200
Brake fluid .. .. .. .... ............. 239
Brake fluid specifications for refill and re ­
placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
240
Brake light defective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Brake pads .... .. .. . ..............
204
Electromechanical parking brake ... .. . 78
Fluid reservoir ... .. ...............
239
How does moisture or road salt affect the
brakes? ....... .... ...............
199
Warning/indicator lights ........ .... . 15
Worn brake pads symbol ............ . 21
braking guard
Settings ... ... .... ................
93
Braking guard ..... .. ................ 86
Messages . .. .. .. .... ........... .. . 93
Break-in period .. .. .. ............... 204
Brake pads .. .. .. .... ... .... .... .. 204
Tires
Bulbs
....... ..... .. ...............
204
278
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
240 C
Charging ... ................ ... ... 243
Important warnings ......... ... .. . 241
Jump starting ..................... 279
Location . .. ............. .... .. ...
241
low . .. ... . .... ............. .. .. . 202
Replacing the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
State of charge .............. .... .. 202
Winter operation ............ .... .. 240
Working on the battery .... .. .. .. .. . 241
Before driving .. ........... .. .. .. ... 130
Blended gasoline ................... 225
Blower (automatic climate control) . . . . . . 72
Blower (climate control) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
69
Body cavity sealing ......... .. .. .. .. . 219
Booster seats ..... .. ...... .. .. .. .. . 184
Brake fluid
Changing the brake fluid ........... .
240
Checking the brake fluid level . .. .. .. . 239
What is the correct brake fluid level? .. 239
What should I do if the brake fluid warn-
ing light comes on? .......... .. ....
239
California Proposition 65 Warning ..... 231
Battery specific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Capacities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Engine oil ... .. .. .................
232
Car care .... .. .. .. ................. 213
Exterior ......... .. ..... .......... 213
Interior ... .. .. .. .. . .. .... ........ 219
Car carrier
Transporting your vehicle ....... .. .. 283
Cargo area ... ..... .. ...............
136
Cargo net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Catalytic converter ... .............. . 205
Center armrest
Cockpit ... .. .. .. ................. .
54
Central locking .. .... ... ....... ...... 34
Emergency locking .. ... ....... .... .. 38
Certification .. .. .. .................
292
Changi ng a wheel .. .... ......... .... 269
Changing engine oil .. ... ....... .... .
236
Chassis (undercoating) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
•
•