2015 AUDI A3 coolant level

10 Instruments and indicator lights
Instruments and indicator lights
Instruments
Instrument cluster overview
The instrument cluster is the information center for the driver.
Fig. 3 Instrument cl uster overv iew
(D Tachometer with ind icator lights
@ Engine coolant temperature
gauge ............... .... . .
® Turn signal indicator lights
© Display
- Indicator lights or ......... .
- Driver information system .. . 12
14
26
- Date and time . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
- Odometer display . . . . . . . . . . 11
- Serv ice interval display . . . . .
13
® Speedometer with ind icator
lights
® Fuel level 11
0 Display for: Central indicator
light or system display ...... .
14
@ Reset button for trip odometer
10.01 .. .... ........... .. .. . 11
(!) Tips
When the ignition is switched on, the nee­
dles in the instrument cluster illuminate.
The dials also illuminate when the lights
are switched on. The instrument illumina­
tion decreases automat ically as the
amount of light decreases . This funct ion reminds the
driver to turn the headlights
on at the appropriate time.
Setting the time/date
Fig. 4 Instrument cluster: time and date
The date, the time and the format of the date
and t ime can be set in the
MMI. Refer to the
MMI owner's manual for instructions.
@ Tips
-When you switch off the ignition or open
the driver's door, the date and time are
displayed for approximately
30 seconds.
- You can also call up the display with the
!O.O l button while the ign ition is switch­
ed
offc::;,page 10, fig. 3 .

12 Instrum ent s and indicator ligh ts
bottom LED illuminates red and the indicator
light
ti appears ¢ page 24 . The bottom
LED blinks red when the fuel level is very low.
The poss ible range based on the current fue l
leve l is shown in the on-board computer
¢ page 2 7, On-board computer display .
The fuel tank capacity of your veh icle is in the
techn ica l data ¢
page 266.
(1) Note
Never drive with the tan k completely emp­
ty. An irregu la r fuel supp ly can ca use the
eng ine to misfire. This leads to uncom­
busted fuel in the exhaust system. This
can cause overheating and damage to the
catalyt ic converter.
Engine coolant temperature gauge
The engine coolant temperature gauge@
¢
page 10 , fig . 3 only functions when the ig­
n ition is switched on . To prevent engine dam ­
age, observe the follow ing important points
concerning the temperature ranges.
Cold r ange
If only the LEDs at the bottom of the gauge
turn on, the engine has not reached operat ing
temperature yet . Avoid high eng ine speed, full
throttle, and heavy eng ine load.
Norm al ra nge
The engine has reached its operating temper­
ature once the LEDs up to the center of the
gauge turn on under normal driving condi­
tions . The LEDs higher up may turn on when
the eng ine is under heavy load or the exter ior
temperature is high . Thi s is not a cause for
concern as long as the. indicator light in
the disp lay does not turn on .
Hot range
If the LEDs in the upper area of the display
and the. indicator light in the instrument
cluster display turn on, the coolant tempera­
ture is too h igh ¢
page 20.
A WARNING
-Always observe the warn ing in
¢
page 210 before opening the hood
a nd checking the engine coolant level.
- Never open the eng ine hood if you see or
hear steam, or if you see engine coolant
dripping from the engine compartment .
You could bur n yourself. Let the engine
coo l off first u ntil yo u can no longer see
or hear steam or coolant escaping.
([) Note
-Add itional headlights and other compo­
nents in front of the a ir intake reduces
affect of the eff iciency of the coolant. At
hig h ou tside air temperat ures and wi th
heavy eng ine load, there is a ris k of the
eng ine overheating .
- T he front spoiler ensures the correct dis­
tribution of cooling air while driving . If
the spoi ler is damaged, the effect of the
coolant can be reduced and there is a risk
of the engine overheating. See your au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified repair
facility .
Shift indicator
Applies to veh icles: w ith shift indicator
This indicator can help conserve fuel.
Fig. 6 Inst rume nt cl uster: shift recommendat ions in
t ip tronic mode (a utomatic transmission)
N
"' s > o:> tD
When the selector lever is in D/S, the S tronic
transmission shifts up or down automat ica lly.
If you wish to shift the gears manually
¢ page 110, Shifting manually (tiptronic

20 Instruments and indicator lights
When this message a ppears, first press the
b rake peda l and then release the parking
b rake .
113 (USA models)/K@'A ing brake malfunction! Anti-towing alarm
blocked
Ill ( USA models) t6] (Canada model s) Park­
ing brake: not applied!
113 ( USA models) t6J (Canada models) Cau­
tion : Vehicle parked too steep
113 (USA models) t6] ( Canada models ) Park­
ing brake is applied
When th is message appears, first press the
b rake pedal and then release the parking
brake if necessary .
(D Tips
More information on the pa rking brake
c::;,page 76.
- l Cooling system
• Switch off engine and check coolant lev­
el!
The coolant leve l is too low or the coolant
temperature is t oo high .
D o not cont inue driving and turn off t he en­
g ine. Check the coolant leve l
c::;, page 216 .
-If the coolant leve l is too low, add coo lan t
c::;, page 217 . Only continue driv ing if the in­
dicato r light tur ns off .
- If the coolant leve l is co rrect, then the mal ­
function may be caused by fai lure of the
coolant fan. Do not continue dr iv ing. See
yo ur authorized Aud i dea le r or qualified re ­
pair fac ility .
• Coolant temperature too high! Let engine
run with vehicle stationary
L et the eng ine run at idl e for a few minu tes to
coo l down .
A WARNING
-Never open the eng ine hood if y ou see or
hear steam, or if you see engine coo la nt
d ripping from t he e ngine compartment .
You could bur n yourse lf . What until you
ca nno t see or hea r any coolant co min g
ou t.
- T he engi ne compa rtment o f eve ry ve hicl e
is a dange rou s ar ea . B efo re perfo rmin g
wo rk in t he eng ine com par tmen t, tur n
t he eng ine off and let i t co ol d own. A l­
ways follow t he i nfo rmat ion foun d in
c::;, page 210 , Working in the engine
compartment .
(D Note
Do n ot con tinue dr iv ing whe n the . indi­
cator light turns on . There is a ris k of dam ­
a g ing t he engine .
• Switch off engine! Oil pressure too low
Turn off the en gine and do not co nti nu e dr iv­
ing. Check the eng ine oil level
c::;, page 21 5.
- If the en gin e o il level is too low, ad d eng in e
oil
c::;, page 212 . Only cont inue drivin g if the
in di cator light tu rns off.
- If the en gine oil level is co rrec t and the in d i­
ca to r lig ht still turns on, tu rn t he engine off
an d do not cont inue driv ing . See your au ­
thorized A udi deale r or qualifie d repair fa ­
cility.
(D Tips
The oi l press ure warn ing is not an oil level
i ndicato r. For this reas on, chec k th e o il lev­
e l reg ularly .
D Alternator/battery
• Alternator fault: The battery is not being
charged
There is a malfunction in the al ternator or the
vehicle e lectr ica l system .

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 spec ia lly conditioned water and the
manufacturer's glycol-based coolant addi-
tive Gl3 antifreeze with anticorros ion addi ­
tives (50% fo r USA models; 60% for Canadian
models) . This mixture both assures th e neces­
sary frost protect ion a nd p rotects me tal com ­
ponents in the engine 's coo ling system from
corrosion and scaling.
It al so raises the boil­
ing po int o f the coo lant .
D o no t reduce the concentration of t he coo l­
an t in the summer by ad ding plain w ate r.
The
proportion of coolant additive must be at
lea st 50 % but not more than 60%
to main­
tain ant ifreeze protection and cooling efficien­
cy. If the coolant frost protect ion is too low ,
the coolant cou ld free ze and damage the veh i­
cle heating and eng ine cooling system.
F or yea r-round driv ing, antifreeze is added at
the facto ry for temperatures down to:
- -3 1 °F ( -3 5°C) USA
- -4 0°F ( -4 0°C) Canada.
If you must add coolant, use a m ixture of wa ­
ter and coolant addit ive. M ixing the coolant
addi tive wi th dist illed wate r is recom mend ed.
_& WARNING
Bef ore yo u check any thing in the e ngine
comp artme nt, alw ays re ad and hee d all
WARN INGS
¢page 210.
(D Note
- B efo re winter sets in, have the coolant
c hec ked to see if the c oolan t ad dit ive i n
you r vehi cle is su fficient t o mee t the cl i­
mate cond itions. This is especially impor ­
tant if yo u live in a region whe re the win­
ter is extremely cold. If necessary, in ­
crease the proport ion of coolant additive
to 60%.
- W hen addi ng coolant additive to your
cooling system, remember:
- We recommend using only coolant ad­
ditive Gl2 ++ o r Gl3 ( check t he label)
-
Che cking and Fillin g 21 7
for you r vehi cle. This coolan t additive is
avai lab le at authorize d Audi dea le rs .
Ot her types of antifreeze ca n sig nifi­
cantly reduce corros io n protection. The
res ulting corrosion can cause a loss of
coolant and serio us e ngine da mage .
- Do not add any type of rad iator leak seal­
ant to you r vehicle's engine coolant .
Add ing radiator repair flu id may adverse ­
ly affect t he function and performanc e of
yo ur cooling sys tem and co uld resu lt i n
damage not covered by yo ur New Ve hicle
L imi ted W arranty.
Adding coolant
Fi g. 152 En gine co mpa rtment: markin gs on t he coo l­
an t e xpan sio n t ank
Befo re you check a nyt hing in the eng ine com ­
partment ,
alway s read and heed all WARN­
INGS ¢ page 210.
Checking the engine coolant level
.,. Park yo ur vehicle o n a level su rf a ce .
.,. Switch t he ignition off.
.,. Read t he coolant leve l on the coo lant expan­
sion tank ¢
fig. 152. The coolant leve l must
be between the markings when the engine
in cold. When the engine is warm it can be
slightly above the upper mark ing .
Adding coolant
Req uirement : There m ust be a res idual
amount of coo lant in the expansion tank
c::> Q) .
.,. Le t the engine cool down.
.,. Place a clot h over the coo lant expans ion
tank cap a nd u nscrew the cap co unterclock-
wise
c::> _& . ..,.

218 Check ing and F illin g
• Add coolant mixed in the correct ratio
¢page 216 up to the upper marking.
• Make sure that the fluid level rema ins sta-
ble. Add more coolant if necessary.
• Clove the cap securely.
A coo lant loss suggests a leak. Immediately
drive your vehicle to an authorized repair fa­
cility and have the coolant system inspected.
If the coolant system is not leaking, a loss can
come from the coolant cooking through over­
heat ing and being pushed out of the coolant
system.
.8, WARNING
The cool ing system is under pressure and
can get very hot. Reduce the risk of scald­
ing from hot coolant by following these
steps .
- Do not open the coo lant expansion tank
cap with the engine hot . There is a risk of
burns.
- T urn off the engine and allow it to cool
down .
- Protect your face, hands and arms from
escaping fluid and steam by covering the
cap with a large, thick rag.
- T urn the cap slowly and ve ry carefu lly in
a counter-clockwise direction wh ile ap­
plying light, downward pressure on the
top of the cap.
- To avoid being b urned, do not spill anti­
freeze or coo lant on the exhaust system
or hot eng ine parts. Under certain condi­
t ions, the ethylene g lycol in engine cool­
ant can catch fire.
- The coo lant add itive and the coolant can
be dange rous to your hea lth. For th is
reason, keep the coolant in the or ig inal
conta iner away from children. There is a
risk of poisoning.
- Whe n work ing in the engine compart­
ment, remembe r that the radiator fan
can swit ch on even if the ignition is
switched off, wh ic h increases the risk of
persona l inju ry .
(D Note
Do not add coo lant if the expansion tank is
empty. Air cou ld enter the cooling system
and damage the engine. If this is the case,
do not continue dr iving. See your author­
i zed Audi dealer or qualified repair fac ility .
Radiator fan
The radiator fan switches on automatically by
itself
An a uxiliary electric radiator fan switches on
and off depending on coolant temperature
and other vehicle operat ing condit ions.
After you switch the engine off, the auxi liary
fan can continue running for up to 10 m inutes
- even w ith the ignition off.
It can even switch
on again later by itself¢.&. , if
- the temperature of the engine coo lant rises
due to the heat build- up from the engine in
the engine compartment, or
- the engine compartment heats up because
the vehicle is parked in intense sunlight.
.8, WARNING ,-
- To reduce the risk of personal injury nev-
er touch the radiator fan.
- The a uxiliary electric fan is temperat ure
controlled and can sw itch on suddenly
even when the engine is not ru nning.
- The auxiliary radiator fan sw itches on a u­
tomatically when the engine coo lant
reaches a certain temperature and will
continue to run until the coolant temper­
ature drops.

2 70 Con sum er Inf ormation
in P (Park position) and the park brake is
applied.
@) For the sake of the environment
- Changing the engine settings wi ll ad ­
versely affect emission levels . This is det­
rimental to the environment and increas­
es fue l consumption .
- Always observe env ironmental regula­
tions when disposing of old engine oil,
used brake fluid, dirty engine coolant,
spent batteries or worn out tires.
- Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classif ied as Perchlo­
rate Material -spec ial handling may ap­
ply, see www .dtsc .ca .gov/hazardous ­
waste/perch lorate . When the veh icle o r
parts of the restraint system including
airbag modules safety belts wit h preten­
s ioners are scrapped, all appl icable laws
and regulations must be observed. Your
a utho rized Audi dea ler is familiar with
these requirements and we recommend
that you have your dealer perform this
serv ice for you .
Additional accessories,
modifications and
parts replacement
Additional accessories and parts
replacement
Always consult an authorized Audi dealer be­
fore purchasing accessories .
Your vehicle incorporates the latest safety de ­
sig n features ensuring a high standard of ac­
tive and passive safety .
This safety could be compromised by non-ap­ proved changes to the veh icle. For this reason ,
if parts have to be replaced, p lease observe
the following points when installing addition­
a l accessories:
Approved Audi accessor ies and genuine Audi
parts a re ava ilable from authorized Aud i deal­
e rs. These dea
lers a lso have the necessary facili­
ties, tools and trained specialists to install the
parts and accessories proper ly .
A WARNING
=
Using the wrong spare parts or using non-
approved accessories can cause damage to
the veh icle and ser ious perso na l injury .
- Use on ly accessories express ly approved
by Audi and genuine Audi spare parts
- These parts and accessories have been
specia lly designed to be used on your ve­
h icle.
- Never install accessor ies such as tele­
phone crad les or beverage ho lders on a ir­
bag covers or within the airbag deploy ­
ment zones . Do ing so wi ll increase the
ris k of injury if a irbags are triggered in an
accident!
- Before you check anything in the engine
compa rtment, always read and heed a ll
WARNINGS
c:::> page 210 .
(D Note
-If items other than genu ine Audi spare
parts, add-on equipment and accessory
items are used o r if repair wo rk is not
performed ac cord ing to spe cified meth­
ods, this c an resu lt in seve re damage to
yo ur vehicle's eng ine and body (such as
co rrosion) and adversely affect yo ur vehi­
cle's warranty.
- If emergency repairs must be performe d
elsewhere , have the vehicle examined by
an authorized Audi dealer as soon as
possible.
- The manufacturer cannot be held liable
for damage wh ich occ urs due to failure
to comply with these stipu lations.
Technical Modifications
Our guidelines must be complied with when
t echnical modifica tions are made.
Always consult an authorized Audi dealer be-
fore start ing work on any modifications. ll>-

276 Index
E
ECO mode (automatic climate control sys -
tem) . ..... .. ................ ..... .. 67
EDL
refer to Electronic differentia l lock . .. . 185
Efficiency program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Description . ...... .......... ... .. .. 28
Fuel economy messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Other equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Electrical accessories
refer to Socket ............. .. .... .. 56
Electromechanical parking brake
refer to Parking brake ............... 76
Electromechanical steering .. .. .. .. .. . 189
I ndicator lights .......... .. .. .... . 189
Electronic differential lock ... .... .... . 185
Indicator light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Electronic immobilizer ....... ... .... .. 36
also refer to Immobilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
E lect ronic interaxle differential lock .... 185
Electronic speed limiter ..... .. .. .. .. . . 30
Electronic stabilization control (ESC)
Indicator light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Electronic Stabilization Control (ESC) ... 185
Emergency assistance .......... .... . 246
Emergency flasher .......... ... .... .. 43
Emergency flashers
I ndicator light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Emergency operation Emergency braking function .. .. .. .. . . 78
Front passenger's door/rear doors . . . . . 3 7
L uggage compartment lid ........ .. . 246
Panorama sunroof ........ .. .. ...... 41
with conven ience key .... .. .. .. .. .. . . 75
Emergency release Fuel filler door .............. ... ... 209
Selector lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Emergency starting ........ .. .. .. .. . 259
Emergency towing ......... .. .. .. .. . 261
Energy management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Indicator light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Engine Coolant .. .. ..................... . 216
Starting with jumper cables .... .... . 259
starting (button) . .. ...... .. .. .. .. . . 73 Starting (driver messages with conven-
ience key) ..... .. ................ .. 75
starting (key) . ... ................ .. 70
stopping (button) ............. ..... 74
stopping (key) ................ ..... 72
Engine compartment
Closing the hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Opening the hood ................ . 211
Overview .. .... .. ... .......... .... 212
Safety precautions ............... .. 210
Engine control (indicator light) . . . . . . . . . 23
Engine coolant .. .. .......... ... .. .. 216
Radiator fan ... .. ... .......... .... 218
Engine oil .. ................... .... 212
adding . .. .. .. .. ... .......... .... 215
Changing . ...... ... ......... ... .. 216
Checking the oil level ... ..... ... .. .. 215
Dipstick... .. .. .. .... .... .... 212, 215
Indicator light .................... . 20
Oil consumpt ion .. ............. .. .. 214
Oil grades ..... .. ............. .... 212
Specification and viscosity ........ ... 212
Use ..... ..... .. .. .............. . 215
Engine speed limitation ( indicator light) . 23
Environment Break -in per iod . .. ... ....... ... .. .. 193
Catalytic converter ....... ...... .. .. 194
Disposing of your vehicle battery ..... 223
Driving at high speeds .......... .... 195
Driving to minimize pollution and noise 195
Fuel economy .... ................ . 195
Letting the vehicle stand and warm up . 196
Proper disposal of drained brake fluid . 219
Proper disposal of drained engine oil .. 216
Unleaded fuel .... ... .......... .... 206
What should I do with an old battery? . 223
EPC (engine control) ................ .. 23
ESC Electronic stabilization control ... .. .. 185
Post-coll is ion brake assist ..... .. .. .. 186
Sport mode ... .. ................ . 187
ESP
refer to ESC ... .. ..... ..... ... .. .. 185
Event Data Recorder (EDR) ............ 185
Exhaust tail pipes cleaning ........... 202
Exterior lighting ... ..... ..... ... .. .. . 42