
208 Trailer towing
Always apply brakes early. When driving
downhill, shift into a lower gear to use the en
g ine 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 11
must be observed carefully. The coolant tem
perature can increase if you drive on long in
clines in a low gear at high engine speeds. Re
duce your speed immediately if the LEDs in
the top part of the display turn on .
For more information about indicator lights,
refer to.
¢ page 17 .
A WARNING
Anyone not properly restrained in a mov
ing vehicle is at a much greater risk in an
accident . Never let anyone r ide in your car
who is not properly wear ing the restraints
provided by Aud i.
Trailer towing tips
Important to know
Your vehicle handles differently when towing
a trailer because of the additional weight and
different weight distribution . Safety, perform
ance and economy w ill greatly depend on how
carefully you load your trailer and operate
your rig .
Before you actually tow your trailer, practice
turn ing, stopp ing and back ing up in an area
away from traffic. Keep practicing until you
have become comp lete ly familiar with the way
your ve hicle-trai ler comb ination behaves and
responds.
Backing up is difficult and requires practice .
Backing up with a tra iler generally requi res
steering act ion opposite to that when backing
up your vehicle without a trailer.
Maintain a greater distance between your ve
hicle and the one in front of you. You will need
more room to stop. To compensate for the trailer, you wi
ll need a larger than normal
turning radius.
When passing, remember that you cannot ac
celerate as fast as you norma lly would be
cause of the added load. Make sure you have
enough room to pass . After passing, a llow
plenty of room for your trailer before chang
ing lanes again.
Avoid jerky starts , sharp turns or rapid lane
changes.
(D Tips
- Do not tow a trailer during the break-in
period of your vehicle.
- If you tow a trailer, your Audi may re
quire more frequent maintenance due to
the extra load ¢
page 283.
Parking on a slope
Do not park on o slope with a trailer. If it can
not be avoided, do so only after doing the fol
lowing:
When parking:
.,. App ly the foot brake .
.. Have someone place chocks under both the
vehicle and the trailer wheels.
.. With chocks in place, slowly release the
brakes until the wheel chocks absorb the
load .
.. Turn the wheels towards the curb.
.. Apply the parking brake.
.. Select the P selector lever position .
When restarting after parking:
.. Apply the foot brake.
.. Start the engine.
.. Select the D/S selector lever position .
.. Release the parking brake and slowly pull
out and away from the wheel chocks .
.,. Stop and have someone retr ieve the wheel
chocks .
Ill-

@ For the sake of the environment
-Before changing your oil, first make sure
you know where you can properly dispose
of the used o il.
- Always dispose of used engine oil proper
l y. Do not dump it on garden soi l, wood
ed areas, into open streams or down
sewage dra ins.
- Recycle used engine oil by taking it to a
used engine oil collection facility in your
area, or contact a service station .
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 sea led and generally re
q uir es lit tle atten tion .
The cooling system has been filled at the fac
tory with a pe rmanent coo lant which does not
need to be c hanged. The coolant consists of a
mixture o f spec ial ly conditioned water and the
manuf acturer 's glyco l-based cool ant ad di-
tiv e G13 antifreeze with ant icorros ion addi
tives (50% for USA models ; 60% for Canadian
mod els) . This mixture both assures the neces
sary frost protection and p rotect s metal com
ponents in the engine's coo ling system from
corrosion and scaling . It a lso raises the boil
i ng point of the coolant .
Do not reduce the concentration o f the coo l
ant in the summer by adding plain water.
The
proportion of coolant add it ive must be at
l e a st 50 % but not mor e than 60 %
to main
tain antifreeze protection and coo ling efficien
cy .
If the coolant frost protect io n is too low,
the coolant cou ld free ze and dam age the veh i
cle heating and eng ine cooling system.
For yea r-round driving, antifreeze is added at
the fac to ry for tempera tures down to:
-- 31°F( -35°C)USA
- -40 °F ( -40 °C) Canada.
Checkin g and fillin g 231
If you must add coo lant, use a mixture of wa
ter and coolant additive . Mix ing the coo lant
additive with distilled water is recommended.
_& WARNING
Before you c heck anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed a ll
WARNINGS
c> .& in Working in the engine
comportment on page 224.
Q) Note
- Before winter sets in, have the coo lant
checked to see if the coolant additive in
your vehicle is sufficient to meet the cli mate condi tions. This is especi ally impor
tan t if you live i n a region wher e th e win
ter is ex treme ly co ld. If necessary, i n
crease t he p ropo rtion of coo lant add itive
to 60% .
- Whe n ad ding coolant additive t o yo ur
c ooling sys tem, reme mbe r:
- We recommend using on ly coolant ad
d itive G12++ or G13 (check the labe l)
fo r your vehicle . This coolant additive is
ava ilable at autho rized Aud i dea le rs .
Ot he r ty pes of antifree ze can sign ifi
cantly reduce corros io n protection. The
r es ult ing co rrosion can ca use a loss of
coolan t and serious e ng ine damage.
- Do not add any ty pe of rad iator leak seal
a nt to yo ur vehicle 's engine c oolant .
A dd ing radia tor repair fl uid may adverse
ly affect the f unction and pe rformance of
your cooling system and co uld resu lt in
damage not covered by your New Ve hicle
L imited Warranty.
-
•
•

232 Check ing and filling
Checking the engine coolant level
The engine coolant level can be checked with
a quick glance .
Fig . 191 Eng ine compartment: cover on the coolant
expa nsion tank
Before you check anything in the engine com
partment,
a lwa ys re ad and h eed a ll WA RN
INGS o .A in Working in the engine compart
ment on page 224 .
., Park your vehicle on a level surface.
., Switch
off the ignit io n.
., Read the eng ine coolant level from the cool
ant expans ion tank
o fig . 191, o page 226,
fig. 188. With a cold eng ine, the coolant
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 exp ans ion tank
can be seen in the engine compartment illus
tration
o page 226.
To obtain an accurate read ing, the engine
must be switched
off.
The expans ion tank in your 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
o page 17 will
illum inate unt il you add coolant and the level
has been restored to normal. Even though
there is an electric coolant level senso r, we
still recommend you check the coolant leve l
from time to time.
Coolant loss
Coolant loss may indicate a leak in the cool ing
system. In the event of coolant loss, the cool- ing system shou
ld be inspected immediately
by your authorized Audi dea ler . It is not
enough mere ly to add coolant .
In a
sea le d system, losses can occur on ly if
the boiling point of the coo lant is exceeded as
a resu lt of overheating.
A WARNING
-The cooling system is under pressure and
can get very hot . Red uce the risk of scald
i ng from hot coolant by fo llow ing these
steps.
- Turn
off the engine and allow it to cool
down.
- Protect your face, hands and arms from
escaping flu id and steam by covering the
cap with a large, th ick rag .
- Turn the cap slowly and very carefully in
a counter-clockwise d irect ion while ap
plying light, downward pressure on the
top of the cap .
- To avo id being burned, do not sp ill anti
freeze or coolant on the exhaust system
or hot engine parts . Under certa in cond i
tions, the ethylene glycol in engine cool
ant can catch fire.
0 Note
Do not add any type of radiator leak seal
ant to your veh icle's engine coolant . Add
i ng radiator repa ir fluid may adverse ly af
fe ct the funct io n and performance of your
cooling system and could result in damage not covered by your New Vehicle Limited
Warranty.
Adding coolant
Be very careful when adding engine coolant .
Befo re you check anyth ing in the eng ine com
partment ,
alway s re ad and h eed all WARN
IN GS o .A in Working in the engine compart
ment on page 224.
., Tu rn
off the engi ne.
., Let the eng ine cool down.