2013 Seat Alhambra air condition

272Checking and refilling levels
● If, in exceptional circumstances, petrol with a lower octane rating to that
recommended is used, only use moderate engine speeds and a light throt-
tle. Avoid using full throttle and overloading the engine. Otherwise you may
damage the engine. Fill up with fuel of a suitable octane rating as soon as
possible.
● Do not refuel if the filler indicates that the fuel contains metal. LRP (lead
replacement petrol) fuels also contain high concentrations of metal addi-
tives. This could damage the engine!
● Just one full tank of leaded fuel would seriously impair the efficiency of
the catalytic converter and could damage it. 
Diesel
Diesel fuel
Diesel fuel must correspond to European standard EN 590 (In Germany,
EN 590 or DIN 51628).
The use of diesel fuel with a high sulphur percentage requires shorter serv-
ice intervals ⇒ Booklet Maintenance Programme ⇒ 
. Your Technical Serv-
ice will be able to tell you which countries have diesel with a high sulphur
content.
Do not mix fuel additives (thinners, or similar additives) with diesel fuel.
Winter-grade diesel
When using “summer-grade diesel fuel”, difficulties may be experienced at
temperatures below 0 °C (+32 °F) because the fuel thickens due to wax sep-
aration. For this reason, “winter-grade diesel fuel” is available in Germany,
for example, during the cold months. It can be used at temperatures as low
as -20 °C (-4 °F).
In countries with different climatic conditions, other types of diesel fuel are
available that are suitable to local temperatures. Technical Services and fill-
ing stations in the country concerned will inform you on the type of diesel
fuels available. A cold diesel engine makes more noise during winter temperatures than
summer temperatures. Furthermore, the exhaust gases may turn slightly
bluish while the engine is heating. The quantity of exhaust gases will de-
pend on the outside temperature.
Filter pre-heater
Vehicles with a diesel engine are fitted with a fuel filter pre-heating system.
This ensures that the fuel system remains operational to approx. -24 °C
(-11.2 °F), provided you use winter-grade diesel which is safe to -15 °C
(+5 °F).
However, if the fuel has waxed to such an extent that the engine will not
start at temperatures of under -24 °C (-11.2 °F), simply place the vehicle in a
warm garage or workshop for a while to heat up.
Auxiliary heater
Vehicles with a diesel engine may be fitted with an auxiliary heater. The
heater runs off the fuel from the fuel tank. On doing so, smells and steam
may be noticed outside the vehicle for a short period. This is normal and it
is not an indication of a fault in the vehicle.
Whenever there is little fuel in the tank (reserve), the auxiliary heater auto-
matically switches off.
WARNING
Never use start boosters. An aerosol start booster could explode or cause
a sudden rise in engine speed leading to engine damage and serious in-
jury. 

298Wheels and tyres
● Replace damaged or worn tyres as soon as possible ⇒ page 302.
● Regularly check tyres for non-visible damage ⇒ page 302.
● Never exceed the maximum permitted speed or loads specified for the
type of tyre fitted on your vehicle ⇒ page 305.
● Do not allow tyres to come into contact with aggressive substances,
grease, oil, fuel or brake fluid ⇒ 
.
● Lost valve caps should be replaced immediately.
Tyres with directional tread pattern
Tyres with directional tread pattern have been designed to operate best
when rotating in only one direction. An arrow on the tyre sidewall indicates
the direction of rotation on tyres with directional tread ⇒ page 305. Always
observe the direction of rotation indicated when mounting the wheel. This
guarantees optimum grip and helps to avoid aquaplaning, excessive noise
and wear.
If the tyre is mounted in the opposite direction of rotation, drive with ex-
treme caution, as the tyre is no longer being used correctly. This is of partic-
ular importance when the road surface is wet. Change the tyre as soon as
possible or remount it with the correct direction of rotation.
Interchanging tyres
To ensure that the wear is equal on all tyres the wheels should be changed
round from time to time according to the system ⇒ Fig. 177. The useful life
of all the tyres will then be about the same time.
SEAT recommends you take the vehicle to a specialised workshop to have
the tyres changed.
Tyres that are over 6 years old
Tyres are subject to an ageing process as a result of physical and chemical
processes. This may affect their performance. Tyres which are stored for
long periods of time without being used, harden and become more fragile
than tyres which are in constant use.
SEAT recommends that tyres over six years old are replaced with new tyres.
This also applies to tyres which appear to be in perfect condition on the out- side and which have a tread depth within the values stipulated by the Law
⇒ 
.
The date of manufacture, part of the tyre identification number (TIN), indi-
cates the age of the tyre ⇒ page 305.
Storing tyres
Mark tyres when you remove them to indicate the direction of rotation (left,
right, forwards, backwards). This ensures you will be able to mount them
correctly when you replace them. When removed, the wheels and/or tyres
should be stored in a cool, dry and preferably dark location. Do not place
tyres mounted on the wheel in a vertical position.
Protect tyres not mounted on wheels from dirt by storing them in suitable
bags and standing them on the ground on their tread.
WARNING
Aggressive fluids or substances could result in visible or invisible dam-
age with the consequent risks.
● Always ensure that tyres do not come into contact with chemical
products, oil, grease, fuel, brake fluid or other aggressive substances.
WARNING
Old tyres, even if they have never been used, may lose air or burst unex-
pectedly while driving, resulting in serious accident or damage.
● If tyres are over six years old, they should only be used in an emer-
gency and with extreme caution.
For the sake of the environment
Old tyres must be disposed of by qualified personnel according to the laws
in the country concerned. 

305
Wheels and tyres
WARNING
The use of unsuitable or incorrectly fitted chains could lead to serious ac-
cidents and damage.
● Always the appropriate snow chains.
● Observe the fitting instructions provided by the snow chain manufac-
turer.
● Never exceed the maximum permitted speeds when driving with snow
chains.
CAUTION
● Remove the snow chains to drive on roads without snow. Otherwise they
will impair handling, damage the tyres and wear out very quickly.
● Wheel rims may be damaged or scratched if the chains come into direct
contact with them. SEAT recommends the use of covered snow chains.
Note
Snow chains are available in different sizes according to the vehicle type. Tyre codeFig. 180 Universal code on tyres
Radial
Rim diameter code
Load index & speed rating
DOT tyre identification number
Severe snow conditions
Tyre ply composition and materials used
Max. load rating
Treadwear, traction and temperature grades
Max. permissible inflation pressure
Passenger car tyre
Nominal width of tyre in millimetres
Ratio of height to width (aspect ratio) 
1
23456789101112
Safety FirstOperating instructionsPractical tipsTechnical Specifications

Index
A
AbroadExtended stay abroad with your vehicle . . 258
Sale of vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
ABS See "Brake assist systems" . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Acoustic warnings Headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Adaptive headlights Dynamic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
AdBlue Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Minimum quantity for a refill . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Refilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Tank filling capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Additional equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Additional heater See "Auxiliary heater" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Adjusting passenger exterior mirror . . . . . . . . 112
Adjustment Correct sitting position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Electric front seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Head restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Mechanical front seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Rear seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Seat with position memory . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Steering wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Adjustments Folding the seat backrest of the front pas-senger seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Headlight range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Aerial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Aerial built into the window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
AFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 32 Cleaning dash panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Curtain airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Deactivating the front passenger front air-bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Deactivating using the key switch . . . . . . . . 36
Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Differences between front passenger front airbag systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Faults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Front airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Knee airbag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Locking the vehicle after airbag deploy- ment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Repairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Use of child seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Vehicle care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 Air conditioner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Air recirculation mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Air vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Climatronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Electronic manual air conditioning . . . . . . 158
Faults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Indirect ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Things to note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
User instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Air conditioning see "Air conditioner" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Air recirculation mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Air vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Alarm system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Alcantara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
All-wheel drive Snow chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
Winter tyres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Alternator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Ambient lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Anodized surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Anti-lock brake system (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Anti-theft alarm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Anti-theft alarm system Anti-tow system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
False alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Interior monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
367
Index

Check listPreparations for changing a wheel . . . . . . 309
Raising the vehicle with the jack . . . . . . . . 313
Checklist Refilling precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Seat belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Seat upholstery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Transporting children in the vehicle . . . . . . 41
Child safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Child safety seat Securing with seat belt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Child seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Integrated child seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
ISOFIX child seat on rear seats . . . . . . . . . . 44
Mounting child seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Mounting systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
On rear seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
On the front passenger seat . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Securing using a Top Tether retaining strap 46
Securing using ISOFIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Securing using LATCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Transporting children in the vehicle . . . . . . 41
Weight categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Child seats Disabling the front passenger front airbag 36
Cigarette lighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151, 152
Cleaning dash panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Engine compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Seat belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
See "Care of your vehicle" . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Windscreen wiper blades . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Cleaning chrome parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Cleaning the vehicle Folding exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Climatronic see "Air conditioner" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Closing Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Electric sliding door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Electric windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Panoramic sliding sunroof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Rear lid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
See "Locking" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Sliding doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Sun blind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Coat hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Cockpit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Code number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Collection of end-of-life vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Combined weight rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Coming Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Compartment Glove compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Compartments Card compartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Centre console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Drawers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Folding table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Front central armrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Instrument panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Other storage compartments . . . . . . . . . . 148 Portable waste bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Rear footwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Roof console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Spectacle case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Connectors Faults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Consumer disconnection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Consumption How it is determined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Control lamp AdBlue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Brake pad wear indication . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Brake system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Catalytic converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Changing bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Changing gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Checking the engine oil level . . . . . . . . . . 282
Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Cruise control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Diesel particulate filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Engine management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Engine oil sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
ESC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Exhaust gas purification system . . . . . . . . 231
Filling the tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Fuel level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Lane assist system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Pressing the brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Steering column lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
370 Index

G 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Refilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Engine fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Engine management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Engine oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Checking the oil level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Dipstick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Filler neck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Topping up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
ESC See "Brake assist systems" . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Event Data Recorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Exhaust gas purification system . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Exterior aerial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Automatically folding exterior mirrors . . . 112
Controlling function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Synchronised mirror adjustment . . . . . . . . 112
Vehicle care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Extinguisher Driving with a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
F
Fastening rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Fault
Electric windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Park assist system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Parking sensor system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Rear assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Fault memory Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Faults Air conditioner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Panoramic sliding sunroof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Filling capacity AdBlue tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Filling the tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Fuel gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Refilling precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Filter pre-heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Fire extinguisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Fire extinguishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
First-aid kit Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
First aid kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Fitting Tow hitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Floor mats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Fog light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Folding down rear seats Load space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Folding in exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Folding table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Folding the seat backrest of the front passen-
ger seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Front airbags See "Airbag system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Front passenger front airbag Deactivating using the key switch . . . . . . . . 36
See "Airbag system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Depending on the engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Filling the tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Information on consumption . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Type of fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Fuel consumption Economic driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Why does fuel consumption increase? . . . 232
Fuel gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Fuel tank flap Closure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Function control Tow hitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 Fuse box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Identification using colours . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Identifying blown fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Preparation before replacing . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
373
Index