Trailer towing Driving with a trailer
General information
Your Audi was designed primarily for passen
ger transportation .
If you plan to tow a tra iler, p lease remember
that the addit ional load will affect durab ility,
economy and performance .
T railer towing not on ly places more stress on
the vehicle, it also calls for more concentra
tion from the driver.
F or this reason, a lways fo llow the operating
and driving instructions provided and use
common sense.
Technical requirements
Traile r hitch
Use a weight-carrying hitch conforming to the
gross trailer we ight. The hitch must be suita
b le for your veh icle and trailer and must be
mounted secure ly on t he veh icle's chassis at a
technically sound location . Use only a t railer
h itch w ith a removab le ball moun t. A lways
check with the tr ailer hitch man ufac tur er to
make sure that you are using the correct
hitch.
Do not use a bumper hitch.
T he hitc h must be installed in such a way that
it does not inte rfe re with the impac t-absorb
i ng b umper syst em. No modifica tions should
be made to the vehicle exhaus t and b rake sys
tems . From t ime to time, check that a ll hitch
mo unt ing bolt s remain securely fas tened.
W hen you are not tow ing a trailer, remove the
trai le r hi tch ball moun t. T h is prevents the
hi tch from causing damage sho uld your ve hi
cle be str uck from be hind
¢ &. .
Trailer brakes
If yo ur tra iler is equ ipped w it h a braking sys
tem, check to be su re that it conforms to a ll
r eg ulat io ns.
Trailer towin g 201
The trailer hyd ra ulic bra ke system must not be
direct ly connected to the vehicle's hydraulic
brake system
¢ &. .
Safety chains
Alw ays use s afety chains between your ve hicle
and t he tra ile r.
Trailer lights
Tra ile r lights m ust meet all reg ulations . Be
su re to check w ith your authorized Audi dealer
fo r c orrec t w iri ng, sw itches, and relays.
Mirrors
If you a re unable to see the traffic behind you
u sing the regula r outside m irrors, then you
must insta ll ext ended mir ro rs. It is important
t h at you
always have clea r vis io n to the rear .
.8, WARNING
- If a trai ler has elec trica l br ake s plea se
no te th at t hese bra kes are not activat ed
by the fa ctory -fit ted control unit -risk of
accident!
- After removing the t railer hi tch, do no t
s to re it in yo ur vehicle . In case of sudden
brak ing, the hitch could fly fo rward and
in ju re you or yo ur passenge rs .
Operating instructions
Maximum traile r we ight
-
A trai ler fo r you r vehicle is limited to a typical
class 1 or class 2 tra iler.
Trailer load distribution
B e sure the lo ad in the tra iler is h eld secure ly
i n p lace to p reven t it from shifting fo rward,
backward or sideways.
Never allow a passenger to ride in a trailer
¢ &. in Driving instru ctions on page 20 2.
Engine cooling system
Towing a t railer ma kes t he engine wor k hard
er . It is impo rta nt that the cooling system's
perfo rman ce is up to the additional load.
Make sure tha t the coo ling sys tem h as enough
f lu id . .,..
•
•
228 Check ing and filling
- To r educe the danger of explosion, never
co nnect or disconn ect cha rger cables
wh ile the c harger is operating.
- Fast char ging a battery is dangerous and
shou ld on ly be attempted by a compe
tent technician w ith the proper equip
ment .
- Battery acid that may spill during charg
ing should be washed
off with a solution
of warm water and baking soda to neu
tralize the acid.
(Q) Note
Never use a fast charger as a booster to
start the engine . This will seriously dam
age sensitive electronic components, such
as control units, relays, rad io, etc., as we ll
as the battery charger.
Battery replacement
The new battery must have the same specif/·
cations and dimensions as the original equip
ment battery.
Intell igent energy management in your veh i
cle is respons ible for d istributing the e lectr i
cal energy throughout you r vehicle
~ page 193. The intell igen t energy m anage
men t system w ill keep the engine ba tte ry
charged better then vehicles w ithout this sys
tem . To make sure the additional e lectrica l en
ergy is available once again after you have
changed the battery, we recommend that you install batteries o f the same type and ma nu
facture only (the same as those installed at
the time your vehicle was delivered). Specifi
cations are listed on the battery hous ing. Your
author ized Audi dealer must code the battery
in the ene rgy management system to enable
you to use the ene rgy management functions
correctly after replac ing the battery.
I f it is not poss ible to use a battery of this
type, the new bat tery m ust h ave the s ame ca
pac ity, voltage ( 12-volts), amperage, con
struction and plug sea ling. When installing the battery, make su
re the ig
nition and a ll electrical consumers are turned
off.
(D Note
Make sure the ventilation hose on the side
of the battery is connected, otherwise
fumes or battery acid can leak out .
@ For the sake of the environment
Because o f the p rob lem of p roper disposal
of a battery, we recommend your author
i zed Audi dealer change the battery for
you. Batteries contain sulfur ic acid and
l ead and must always be disposed of prop
erly in comp liance with all environmental
regulations. Dispos ing of veh icle batter ies
i mprope rly is very dange rous to the envi
r o nment .
Windshield/headlight*
washer container
Fig. 188 E ngin e compa rt m en t: Cove r on the w ind·
s h iel d a nd h eadligh t• was her fluid conta in er
.., N
-~ (X) a,
The washer fluid conta iner is marked w ith the
symbol
O on its cap ~ fig . 188, ~page 216,
fig . 182.
.. Before yo u check any thing in the engine
compa rtment,
always read and heed all
WARNINGS q A in Working in the engine
compartm ent on page 214 .
.. Lift the fi ller cap tongue to add washer flu
id. You can f ill the container to the top.
.. Press the cap back onto the filler neck after
fi lling the conta iner .
You can find the reservo ir
capacity in the table
in
q page 273. .,.
266 Emergency situations
Emergency situations
General
This chapter is intended for trained emer
gency crews and working per sonnel who
have the necessary tools and equ ipment to
perform these ope rations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
Q;) Note
Vehicle s with an automati c transmission
cannot be started by pushing or towing .
Starting with jumper
cables
If necessary, the engine can be started by
connecting it to the battery of another vehi
cle.
If the engine should fail to start because of a
discha rged or wea k batte ry, the battery can be
connected to the battery o f
another vehicle,
using a
pair of jumper cables to start the en
g ine .
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cab les of sufficiently
large cross section to carry the starter cur rent
safely. Refer to the manufact urer's spec ifica
ti ons.
Use on ly jumper cables with
insulated te rmi
na l clamps wh ic h are d istinctly mar ked :
plus (+) cable in most c ases co lore d red
minu s (-) cable
in most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batterie s cont ain e lec tricity, a cid, a nd gas.
A ny o f these c an ca use ve ry ser io us or f atal
in ju ry . F ollow the i nstruc tio ns below for
safe ha ndling of your ve hicle's bat tery.
- Alw ay s sh ield yo ur eye s and a vo id le an
ing over the batte ry w henever p ossib le . -
A discharged battery can freeze at tem
pe rat ures just below 32 °F (0 °C). Before
connecting a jumper cable, you must
thaw the fr ozen battery complete ly , ot h
e rwise it cou ld explode.
- Do not allow batte ry acid to contact eyes
or skin . Fl ush any contacted a rea wi th
wate r im media tely.
- Imp roper use of a booster battery to
s tart a vehicle may cause an explosion.
- Vehicle batter ies generate explosive gas
es . Keep sparks, flame and lighted ciga
rettes away from ba tte ries .
- Do not try to jump start a ny ve hicle w ith
a low ac id leve l in the battery .
- The vo ltage of the booster batte ry m ust
a lso have a 12-Vo lt rat ing . The capacity
(A h) of the booster batte ry should not b e
lowe r than that of the discharged bat
tery . U se o f batt erie s of d iffe ren t voltage
or subs tanti ally diffe ren t "Ah" rat ing
may c ause an exp losion and person al in
ju ry .
- N ever ch arge a fr ozen bat te ry. Gas t rap
ped in the ice may ca use an ex plosion .
- N ever ch arge o r use a batt ery th at has
been fro zen. T he battery case may have
be weakened.
- Us e of batt erie s of di ffere nt vo ltag e or
substan tially differen t ca pa city (Ah) rat
i ng may cause an exp losion and injury.
T he capac ity (Ah) of the booster battery
should not be lower than that of the dis
charged batte ry.
- Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed a ll
W ARNI NGS¢
page 214.
(D Note
- App lyi ng a hig her voltage booste r bat
tery wi ll cause expens ive damage to sen
sitive e lectronic components, such as
cont ro l units, relays, rad io, etc.
- There must be no electrical contact be twee n the vehicles as otherwise current
co uld already start to f low as soon as t he
posi tive(+) terminals a re con nected . ..,.