2013 Seat Altea sensor

197
Intelligent technology
Electronic Stability Control (ESC)*
The ESC reduces the risk of skidding by braking the wheels individually.
The system uses the steering wheel angle and road speed to calculate the
changes of direction desired by the driver, and constantly compares them
with the actual behaviour of the vehicle. When irregularities occur, for exam-
ple, if the vehicle begins to skid, the ESC brakes the appropriate wheel au-
tomatically.
The forces acting on the braked wheel bring the vehicle back to a stable
condition. If the vehicle tends to oversteer, the system will act on the front
wheel on the outside of the turn.
Steering manoeuvre recommendations
This is a complementary safety function included in the ESC. This function
aids the driver to better stabilize the vehicle in a critical situation. For exam-
ple, in case of sudden braking surface with varied adherence, the vehicle
will tend to destabilise its trajectory to the right or to the left. In this case,
the ESC recognises the situation and assists the driver with a counter steer-
ing manoeuvre from the power steering.
This function simply provides the driver with a recommended manoeuvre in
critical situations.
The vehicle does not steer itself with this function, the driver has full control
of the vehicle at all times.
WARNING
● Remember that not even the ESC can defy the laws of physics. This
should be kept in mind, particularly on slippery and wet roads and when
towing a trailer.
● Always adapt your driving style to suit the condition of the roads and
the traffic situation. The greater safety provided by the ESC should not
encourage you to run any risks.
CAUTION
● To ensure that the ESC works correctly, all four wheels must be fitted
with the same tyres. Any differences in the rolling radius of the tyres can
cause the system to reduce engine power when this is not desired.
● Any modifications made to the vehicle (for example, to the engine,
brake system, running gear or to the combination of wheels and tyres) may
affect the operation of the ABS, EDL, ESC and ASR. 
Anti-lock brake system (ABS)
The anti-lock brake system prevents the wheels locking during braking
⇒ page 195. 
Electronic differential lock (EDL)*
The electronic differential lock helps prevent the loss of trac-
tion caused if one of the driven wheels starts spinning.
EDL helps the vehicle to start moving, accelerate and climb a gradient in
slippery conditions where this may otherwise be difficult or even impossi-
ble.
The system will control the revolutions of the driven wheels using the ABS
sensors (in case of an EDL fault the warning lamp for ABS lights up)
⇒ page 84.
At speeds of up to approximately 80 km/h, it is able to balance out differen-
ces in the speed of the driven wheels of approximately 100 rpm caused by a
slippery road surface on one side of the vehicle. It does this by braking the
wheel which has lost traction and distributing more driving force to the oth-
er driven wheel via the differential. 
Safety FirstOperating InstructionsPractical TipsTechnical Specifications

251
Wheels and tyres
2. The tyre pressures should only be checked when the tyres are cold. The slightly raised pressures of warm tyres must not be re-
duced.
3. Adjust the tyre pressure to the load you are carrying.
Tyre pressure
The correct tyre pressure is especially important at high speeds. The pres-
sure should therefore be checked at least once a month and before starting
a journey.
The sticker with the tyre pressure values can be found on the inside of the
fuel tank flap. The tyre pressure values given are for cold tyres. Do not re-
duce the slightly raised pressures of warm tyres ⇒ 
.
WARNING
● Check the tyre pressure at least once per month. Checking the tyre
pressure is very important. If the tyre pressure is too high or too low,
there is an increased danger of accidents - particularly at high speeds.
● A tyre can easily burst if the pressure is too low, causing an accident!
● At continuously high speeds, a tyre with insufficient pressure flexes
more. In this way it becomes too hot, and this can cause tread separation
and tyre blow-out. Always observe the recommended tyre pressures.
● If the tyre pressure is too low or too high, the tyres will wear prema-
turely and the vehicle will not handle well. Risk of accident!
For the sake of the environment
Under-inflated tyres will increase fuel consumption. Tyre pressure monitoring
The tyre pressure monitoring system constantly checks the
pressure of the tyres.
The system uses the speed sensors of the ABS wheels. It operates by analy-
sing the speed and frequency spectrum of each wheel.
For optimum performance, use genuine SEAT tyres. In addition, check and
adjust tyre pressures regularly.
Whenever the tyre pressures are changed or one or more tyres are changed,
the system should be Reset by pressing the SET switch on the centre con-
sole.
The system warns the driver in the event of a loss of pressure by means of
symbols and messages in the instrument panel display. The system oper-
ates via the ESC ⇒ page 196.
Note that tyre pressure also depends on tyre temperature. Tyre pressure in-
creases about 0.1 bar for each 10 °C in tyre temperature increase. The tyre
heats up while the vehicle is being driven and the tyre pressure will rise ac-
cordingly. For this reason, you should only adjust the tyre pressures when
they are cold (i.e. approximately at ambient temperature).
To ensure that the tyre pressure monitoring system works reliably, you
should check and, if necessary, adjust the tyre pressures at regular intervals
and store the correct pressures (reference values) in the system.
A tyre pressure information label is attached to the inside of the fuel tank
flap. 
Safety FirstOperating InstructionsPractical TipsTechnical Specifications

270If and when
Fuses on left side of dash panel
Fuses
NumberConsumerAmps1Vacant 2Vacant 3Vacant 4Vacant 5Vacant 6Vacant 7Vacant 8Vacant 9Airbag510RSE input (roof screen)1011Vacant 12Left xenon headlight10
13Instrument panel (oil level)/Switchboard wiring
(BCM)/Heater / ABS, ESC / Park Pilot/ Gateway/
Flow meter5
14Gearbox/ Power steering/ Brake light sensor/
Trailer/ ABS, ESC/ Haldex/ Light switch10
15Heated windscreen / Instrument lighting / Diag-
nosis switchboard/Engine management/Addi-
tional heating/AFS headlights/Park Pilot10
16Right xenon headlight10
17Engine management/RSE system with START-
STOP10
18Kombi/levers with START-STOP519Navigation/Radio with START-STOP15
20Park Pilot (parking aid) / Gear lever/ ESC switch-
board10
NumberConsumerAmps21Vacant 22Volumetric alarm sensor/ Alarm horn523Diagnosis / Rain sensor / Light switch1024Trailer hook pre-installation assistant1525Vacant 26Vacuum pump2027RSE supply (Ceiling display) without START-STOP1028Rear window wiper motor2029Vacant 30Cigarette lighter/power socket2031Vacant 32Vacant 33Heater4034Vacant 35Vacant 36Vacant 37Vacant 38Vacant 39Trailer control unit (coupling)15
40Trailer control unit (turn signals, brakes and left
side)20
41Trailer control unit (fog light, reverse light and
right side)20
42BCM wiring switchboard2043Trailer pre-installation4044Heated rear window2545Electric windows (front)3046Rear electric windows3047Engine (Fuel control unit, petrol relay)15

271
If and when
NumberConsumerAmps48Convenience controls2049Heating controls4050Heated seats3051Sunroof2052Headlight washer system2053Trailer hook pre-installation assistant2054Taxi (taximeter power supply)555Trailer hook pre-installation assistant2056Taxi (transmitter power supply)1557Telephone power supply with START-STOP1058Central locking control unit30
Some of the electrical items listed in the table are only fitted on certain
models or are optional extras.
Please note that the above list, while correct at the time of printing, is sub-
ject to alterations. If discrepancies should occur, please refer to the sticker
on the inside of the fuse cover for the correct information for your model. 
Fuses layout, engine compartment, left part
Fuses
NumberConsumerAmps1Windscreen wipers202DQ200 gearbox303Cable control unit54ABS205AQ gearbox156Instrument panel/Steering column5
NumberConsumerAmps7Ignition key408Radio159Telephone/TomTom Navigator5
10Engine management5Engine management1011Vacant 12Electronic control unit5
13Petrol injection module supply15Diesel injection module supply3014Coil20
15Engine management5Pump relay1016Right lighting3017Horn1518Vacant 19Clean30
20Water pump10Pressure sensor pump for 1.8 engine2021 a)Lambda probe1522Brake pedal, speed sensor5
23a)Engine management5Engine management10Engine management1524AKF, gearbox valve1025a)ABS pump4026Left lighting30
27a)Engine management40Engine management5028Vacant

Safety FirstOperating InstructionsPractical TipsTechnical Specifications

N
Number of seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
O Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Octane number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Oil change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Oil properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
One-touch opening and closing Electric windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Opening and locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Outside temperature indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Overview control lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Control lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Dash panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
warning lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Warning lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
P Paintwork Polishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Parking aid acoustic system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Parking lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Parking system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Parking system plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Passenger
see Correct sitting position . . . . . . . 10, 11, 12
Pedals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Petrol additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Physical principles of a frontal collision . . . . . . 21
Plastic parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Plastic parts cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Pollen filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Pollution filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Power steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Products for vehicle maintenance . . . . . . . . . . 212
R Radio frequency remote control . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Changing the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Radio navigation controls on the steering wheel
Audio + telephone version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Rain sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Rear cup holder Armrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Rear fog light control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82, 116
Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Rear interior lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Rear lid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Emergency opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Rear reading lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Rear seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Rear shelf
Storage compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Rear window automatic wiper/washer . . . . . . 131
Rear window wiper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Recommended gear display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Refuelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Registration light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Remote control key Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Synchronising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Removing and fitting the wheel . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Repairs Airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Replacement keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Replacement of parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Rev counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Reverse gear Manual gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Roll-back function Sliding/tilting sunroof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Roof aerial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Roof rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Roof storage compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Rubber seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Run-flat tyres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Running in Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
308 Index

T
Tail lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Tank Fuel level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Reserve indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Tank capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Technical modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
The danger of not using the seat belt . . . . . . . . 22
Tightening torque of wheel bolts . . . . . . . . . . 290
Tilting sunroof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Top Tether system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Tow-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Towing a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Towing bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Towing bracket, fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Towline anchorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Towline anchorages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Tow starting General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Traction control system (ASR) control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Trailer Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Trailer turn signals control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Trailer weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Turn signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83, 123
Tyre-Mobility-System (Tyre repair kit) . . . . . . . 266 Tyre Mobility-System (Tyre repair kit) . . . . . . . 260
Tyre pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Tyre pressure control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Tyre pressure monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Tyre pressures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Tyre repair kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260, 266
Tyres and wheels Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Tyres tread depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Tyres useful life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Tyres with directional tread pattern . . . . . . . . 250
U
Underbody protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Unlocking and locking Personalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Upholstery Treating your upholstery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
V
Vehicle battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Vehicle data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Vehicle identification data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Vehicle identification number . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Vehicle maintenance electrically adjustable seats . . . . . . . . . . . 220
heated seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
natural leather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
non-electrically adjustable seats . . . . . . . 220 seats with airbag components . . . . . . . . . 220
seats without airbag components . . . . . . 220
synthetic leather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Treating your upholstery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
trim fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
unheated seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Vehicle modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Vehicle paintwork Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Products for vehicle maintenance . . . . . . . 212
Vehicle tools Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Vehicle washing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Ventilation slits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Volumetric sensor Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Deactivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
W Warning lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Warning messages Red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 80
Yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 80
Warning messages in the display . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Warning symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Warning triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Washer fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Washing by hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Washing the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Washing with high pressure cleaners . . . . . . . 214
310 Index