2014 AUDI A5 CABRIOLET engine overheat

188 Driving and en vironm ent
8_ WARNING
After driving through water, mud, slush,
etc ., the brakes may be slow to take effect
because of wet brake rotors and pads . Dry
the brakes first by braking carefully to re­
store the full braking effect.
(D Note
Vehicle components such as the engine,
transmiss ion, suspension or electrical sys­
tem can be severely damaged by driving
through wate r.
@ Tips
- Check the depth of the water before dr iv­
i ng through it .
- Do not stop the veh icle, dr ive in reverse
or switc h the engine off when driving
t hr ough water .
- Keep in mind that oncoming vehicles
may c reate waves that raise the water
l evel and make it too deep fo r you r vehi­
cle to dr ive through safely.
-
- Avoid dr iving thro ugh salt water because
i t can ca use corrosion.
Catalytic converter
It is very important that your emission con­
trol system (catalytic conv ert er) is function ­
ing properly to ensure that your vehicle is run­
ning in on env ironm entally sound manner.
,,. Always use lead-free gaso line Q page 201,
Fuel supply .
,,. Never run the tank down a ll th e way to emp ­
ty.
,,. Never put too much moto r oil in your engine
Q page 211 , ~ Adding engine oil .
,,. Never try to push -or tow -start your ve hicle .
T he cata lytic converter is an eff ic ient "clean­
up" device built in to the exhaust system of
the vehicle . The catalytic converter burns
many of the polluta nts in the exhaust gas be ­
fore they are released into the atmosphe re . The exclus
ive use of unleaded f uel is critica lly
important for the life of the catalytic conv ert­
er and p roper funct ion ing of the eng ine .
A WARNING
=
-The temperature of the exhaust system
is high, both when driving and after stop­
p ing the eng ine .
- Never touch the exhaust tail pipes once
they have become hot. This could result
in burns.
- Do not park or operate the vehicle i n
areas where the hot exhaust system may
come in co ntact with dry grass, brush,
fue l spill or other material wh ich can
cause a fire .
- Do not app ly additional undercoating or
r u stp roofing on or nea r the exhaust
manifold, exhaust pipes, cataly tic con­
ver ter or he at s hields. Dur ing driv ing, the
substance used fo r undercoating could
overheat and cause a fire.
CI) Note
- Be aware tha t just o ne tank filling with
leaded fu el w ill alre ady ser io usly de ­
grade the performance of the cata lytic
converter .
- Do not exceed the cor rect engine oil level
Q poge 211.
-Do not drive until the fuel t ank becomes
comple tely empty . The engine cou ld mis ­
fire . Unburned fuel could also get into
the exhaust system and th is co uld cause
the catalytic converter to overheat.
- Do not turn off the ignition while the ve­
hicle is mov ing.
- Do not contin ue to ope rate your veh icle
under these conditions, as otherwise fuel
can reach the catalyt ic converter. Th is
co uld result in overheating of the con­
verter, requir ing its replacement.
- To assure efficient operation of the Emis -
sion Control System: .,..

Tire pressure
When towing a trailer, inflate the tires of your
vehicle to the cold tire pressure listed under
"Full load" on the label located on the driver's
side B-pillar (visible when the door is open).
Inflate trailer tires to trailer and tire manufac­
turers' specifications.
Lights
The headlight settings should be checked with
the trailer attached before driving off. Check
to make sure both vehicle and trailer lights
are working properly.
Safety chains
Be sure trailer safety chains are properly con­
nected from the trailer to the hitch on the ve­
hicle. Leave enough slack in the chains to per­
mit turning corners . When you install safety
chains, make sure they will not drag on the road when you are driving.
The chains should cross under the trailer
tongue to prevent it from dropping in case of
separation from the hitch .
Driving instructions
Driving with a trailer always requires extra
core and consideration.
To obtain the best possible handling of vehicle
and trailer, please note the following:
.,. Do not tow a loaded trailer when your car it­
self is not loaded.
.,. Be especially careful when passing other
vehicles.
.,. Observe speed limits .
.,. Do not drive at the maximum permissible
speed .
.,. Always apply brakes early.
.,. Monitor the temperature gauge.
Weight distribution
Towing a loaded trailer with an empty car re­
sults in a highly unstable distribution of
weight . If this cannot be avoided, drive at very
low speeds only to avoid the risk of losing
steering control.
Trailer towing 193
A "balanced" rig is easier to operate and con­
trol. This means that the tow vehicle should be loaded to the extent possible and permissi­
ble, while keeping the trailer as light as possi­
ble under the circumstances. Whenever possi­
ble, transfer some cargo to the luggage com ­
partment of the tow vehicle while observing
tongue load requirements and vehicle loading
considerations.
Speed
The higher the speed, the more difficult it be­
comes for the driver to control the rig . Do not
drive at the maximum permissible speed . Re­
duce your speed even more if load, weather or
wind conditions are unfavorable -particularly
when going downhill.
Reduce vehicle speed
immediately if the trail­
er shows the slightest sign of swaying .
Do not
try to stop the swaying by accelerating.
Observe speed limits. In some areas, speeds
for vehicles towing trailers are lower than for
regular vehicles .
Always apply brakes early. When driving downhill, shift into a lower gear to use the en ­
gine braking effect to slow the vehicle . Use of
the brakes alone can cause them to overheat
and fail.
Coolant temperature
The coolant temperature gauge<=> page 10
must be observed carefully . If the need le
moves close to the upper end of the scale, re­
duce speed immediately and/or turn off the
air conditioner.
If the coolant temperature warning light •
in the instrument cluster starts flashing, pull
off the road, stop and let the engine
idle for
about two minutes to prevent heat build-up .
A WARNING
Anyone not properly restrained in a mov­
ing vehicle is at a much greater risk in an
accident. Never let anyone ride in your car
who is not properly wearing the restraints
provided by Audi.
-
•
•

Engine cooling system
Coolant
The engine coolant performs two functions: it
keeps the engine from overheating and it pro­ tects the engine from freezing in the winter .
The cooling system is sealed and generally re­
quires little attention.
The cooling system has been filled at the fac­
tory with a permanent coolant which does not
need to be changed. The coolant consists of a
mixture of specially conditioned water and the
manufacturer's glycol-based coolant addi-
tive G13 antifreeze with anticorrosion addi­ tives (50% for USA models; 60% for Canadian models). This mixture both assures the neces­
sary frost protection and protects metal com­
ponents in the engine's cooling system from
corrosion and scaling.
It also raises the boil­
ing point of the coolant.
Do not reduce the concentration of the cool­
ant in the summer by adding plain water.
The
proportion of coolant additive must be at
least 50% but not more than 60%
to main­
tain antifreeze protection and cooling efficien­
cy. If the coolant frost protection is too low,
the coolant could freeze and damage the vehi­ cle heating and engine cooling system.
For year-round driving, antifreeze is added at
the factory for temperatures down to:
- -31°F(-35°C)USA
- -40 °F ( - 40 °C) Canada.
If you must add coolant, use a mixture of wa­
ter and coolant additive. Mixing the coolant
additive with distilled water is recommended.
& WARNING
Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS¢ .&.
in Working in the engine
compartment on page 206.
(D Note
- Before winter sets in, have the coolant
checked to see if the coolant additive in
Checking and filling 213
your vehicle is sufficient to meet the cli­
mate conditions. This is especially impor­
tant if you live in a region where the win­
ter is extremely cold. If necessary, in­
crease the proportion of coolant additive
to 60%.
- When adding coolant additive to your
cooling system, remember:
- We recommend using only coolant ad­
ditive G12++ or G13 for your vehicle.
This coolant additive is available at au­
thorized Audi dealers. Other types of
antifreeze can significantly reduce cor­
rosion protection. The resulting corro­
sion can cause a loss of coolant and se­ rious engine damage.
- Do not add any type of radiator leak seal­
ant to your vehicle's engine coolant.
Adding radiator repair fluid may adverse­
ly affect the function and performance of
your cooling system and could result in
damage not covered by your New Vehicle
Limited Warranty.
Checking the engine coolant level
The engine coolant level can be checked with
a quick glance.
Fig. 178 Eng ine compartment: Cover on the coolant
expansion tank
"' Before you check anything in the engine
compartment,
always read and heed all
WARNINGS ¢ .&, in Working in the engine
compartment on page 206.
"'Park your vehicle on a level surface .
.,. Turn off the ignition.
.,. Read the engine coolant level from the cool­
ant expansion tank ¢
fig. 178, ¢ page 208,
fig. 175.
With a cold engine, the coolant Iii>

214 Check ing and filling
level should be between the "MIN" and
"MAX" markings. When the engine is warm,
the leve l may be slightly above the "MAX"
marking .
The location of the coolant expansion tank
can be seen in the engine compartment illus­
tration
c:> page 208.
To obtain an accurate reading, the engine must be switched
off.
The expansion tank in you r vehicle is equipped
with an e lectric coolant level sensor.
When the coolant level is too low, the warning light in the Auto-Check System
c:> page 17will
b link until you add coo lant and the level has
been restored to no rma l. Even though there is
an electric coolant level sensor, we still rec ­
ommend you check the coolant leve l from
time to time.
Coolant loss
Coolant loss may indicate a leak in t he cool ing
system. In the event of coolant loss, the cool ­
ing system should be inspected immediately
by your authorized A udi dealer.
It is not
enough merely to add coolant.
I n a
sea led system, losses can occur only if
the boiling point of the coolant is exceeded as
a result of overheat ing.
A WARNING
The cooling system is unde r pressure and
can get very hot. Reduce the risk of scald­
ing from hot coolant by following these
steps .
- Turn
off the engine and allow it to cool
dow n.
- Protect yo ur face, hands and arms from
escaping fluid and steam by covering the
cap with a large, thick rag .
- Turn the cap slowly and very carefully in
a counter-clockwise direction wh ile ap­
plying light, downward pressure on the
top of the cap .
- To avoid be ing burned, do not spill ant i­
freeze or coolant on the exhaust system
'
or hot engine parts. Under certa in cond i­
tions, the ethylene glycol in engine coo l­
ant can catch fire.
(D Note
Do not a dd any type of radiator leak sea l­
ant to your veh icle's engine coolant. Add ­
i ng radiator repa ir fl uid may adverse ly af­
fect the funct ion and performance of your
cooling system and could result in damage
not covered by your New Veh icle L imited
War ranty .
Adding coolant
Be very careful when adding engine coolant.
Before you check anyth ing in the eng ine com­
partment,
always read and heed all WARN­
INGS c:> A in Working in the engine compart­
ment on page 206 .
Requirement: There m ust be a res idual
amount of coo lant in the expans ion tank
c:> (]) .
.,.. Turn off the eng ine .
.,.. Let the engin e cool down.
.,.. Place a thick rag over the coo lant expansion
tank
c:> page 213 , fig. 178 and carefully turn
the cap counter-clockwise
c:> .&_ .
.,.. Add coo lant m ixed in the correct rat io
c:> page 213, Coolant up to the MAX ma rk­
ing.
.,.. Mak e s ure t hat the fl uid leve l remains sta-
b le. Add more coo lant if necessary.
.,.. Twist the cap on again
tightly .
Replacement engine coo lant must confo rm to
ex act spec ific at ions
c:> page 213, Coolant.
We recommend using only coolant add it ive
G12 ++, G13 or i n an emergency G 12+. Do
not
use a different add it ive. In an emergen cy use
plain wa ter until yo u can ge t the correct addi­
tive and can restore t he correct ratio. This
sho uld be done as soon as possib le .
If you have los t a cons iderab le amount o f
coolant, the n you sho uld add cold ant ifree ze
and co ld wate r on ly when the engine is cold.
Always use
n ew engine coo la nt w hen refilling . .,.