2015 AUDI A3 radiator cap

210 Check ing and F illin g
Only pull on the loop until you fee l resist ­
ance. You will not hear it release . Other­
w ise you could damage the emergency re­
lease mechanism .
Hood
Working in the engine compartment
Special care is required if you are working in
the engine compartment
F o r w ork in th e engine co mpartm ent such as
c h ec king an d filling fluids, there i s a ri sk of
inj ury, sca lding, a ccid ent s, and b urn s. For
t hi s re ason , fo llow all th e followin g lis te d
warn in gs a nd ge neral safe ty pr eca utions.
Th e e ngine compartment is a d ange rous
area .¢ .& .
&_ WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury, before you
check anyth ing under the hood:
- Turn the engine off.
- Set the parking brake.
- Place the selector leve r in the P position.
- Remove the ignit io n key .
- Let the engine coo l down.
- To reduce the r isk of being burned, never
open the hood if you see or hear steam
or coolant escaping from the engine
compartment . Wait until no steam or
coolant can be seen or hea rd before ca re­
fully opening the hood.
- Keep chi ldren away from the engine com­
partment .
- Never spill flu ids on a hot engine. These
fluids (such as the freeze protection con­
tained in the coolant) can catch fi re.
- Avoid short circuits in the electrical sys­
tem, especially the battery.
- When working in the engine compart­
ment, remembe r that the radiator fan
can switch on even if the ignition is
switched off, which increases the risk of
persona l injury . -
Never open the cap on the coolant ex­
pans ion tank when the eng ine is warm.
The coolant system is under pressure.
- To protect your face, hands, and arms
from hot steam or coolant, cover the cap
with a large cloth when opening.
- Do not remove the engine cover under
any circumstances . This increases the
risk of burns .
- If tests need to be performed with the
engine runn ing , there is add itional dan­
ger due to moving components (such as
the ribbed belt, generator and radiator
fan) and from the high voltage ignit ion
system.
- Never touch the rad iator fan . The auxili­
ary electric fan is temperature controlled
and can switch on suddenly.
- Pay attention to the fo llow ing warnings
listed when wo rk on the fuel system or
on the e lectr ica l equipment is req uired.
-A lways disconnect the vehicle battery
from the vehicle electr ical system
- Do not smoke
- Never work near open flames
- Always have a wo rk ing fire exting uisher
nearby
- To avo id e lectr ica l sho ck and pe rsonal in­
jury whi le the engine is running or being
started, never touch:
- Ign it ion cables
- Other components of the high voltage
electronic ignition system.
- If you must perform a check or repair
with the eng ine running:
- First, fully app ly the parking brake,
move selector lever to P (Park).
- Always use extreme caut io n to prevent
cl othing, jewelry, or long hair from get­
ting caught in the radiator fan, V-be lts
o r other moving parts, o r from contact­
ing hot parts. Tie back hair before
starting, and do not wear clothing that
will hang or droop into the engine.
- Minimize exposure to emission and
chemical hazards¢,& . ..,.

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.