2015 AUDI A3 service

Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1
Driving safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Proper occupant seating posit ions . . . 122
Driver and passenger side footwell . . . 126
Pedal area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Stowing luggage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
R eport ing Safety Defects . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Safety belts ... .. ...... .. .. .. . .
General notes ............... .. .. .
Why safety bel ts? ........ .... .. . .
Safety belts ............. .. .. .. . . 131
13
1
13 2
134
Safety belt p re tens ioners . . . . . . . . . . 13 7
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
I mpor tan t th ings to know . . . . . . . . . . 1 40
Fr ont airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 4
M onitoring the Advanced Airbag
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Knee airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Side curta in a irbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Ch ild Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Important things to know . . . . . . . . . . 166
C hi ld safety seats ............ .... . 172
Install ing a chi ld safety seat . . . . . . . . 177
L A TC H L ower ancho rages and tethe rs
fo r ch ild ren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
A ddit io nal Informa tion 184
Driver messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Smart Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
N ot ice about da ta recorded by vehi cle
control mod ules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Electron ic stabilization control (ESC) 185
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Electromechanical steering . . . . . . . . . 189
All whee l drive (quatt ro) . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Energy management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Driving and the environment 193
The first 1,000 miles (1,500 km) and
afterwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
D riving through water on roads . . . . . 194
Cata lytic conve rter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Table of contents 3
P lac ing you r vehicle out of service. . . . 195
Operate yo ur vehicle economically an d
min imize poll ution. .. .. ... .... ... . 195
Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Driving with a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Trai ler tow ing tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Operating instructions ..... .. .
Caring and cleaning .......... .
General information ........... .. .
Car was hes .. .. .. ............... .
Cleaning and care information 201
201
201
201
202
Checking and Filling
. . . . . . . . . . 206
Gasoline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Refueling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
E ngine o il . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
c oolant system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Br ake fluid . ... .. .. .. .. .. .... ... . 219
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Windshie ld washer fluid container . . . 224
Tires and wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Tire pressure monitoring system 243
Do-it-yourself service . . . . . . . . . 246
What do I do now? . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Luggage compartment lid emergency
release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Equ ipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Spare ti re .... ... .. ..... ......... 247
Chang ing a wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Fuses and bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
El ectr ica l fus es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
B ulbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Emergency situations . . . . . . . . . 259
Genera l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Star ting by p ushing o r towing . . . . . . . 259
Star ting with jumpe r cables . . . . . . . . 259
U se o f jumpe r cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
•
•
•

4 Table of contents
Eme rgency towing with comme rcial
tow truck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Lift ing vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Technical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Technical data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Vehicle ident ificat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Dimensions. ... .. ..... ... .. .. .. .. 266
Capacit ies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Gasoline eng ines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Con sum er Inform ation . . . . . . . 2 68
Warranty coverages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Operating your vehicle outside the
U.S.A. o r Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Audi Service Repair Man uals and
L it erature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
M aintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Additional accessories, modifications
and parts replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Declaration of Compliance,
Telecommunication and E lectronic
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Inde x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

In addition to this Owner's Man ual, your Audi
comes with the
- MM I Operating Ins truc tions
- Warranty
& Ma intenance book let.
If you are miss ing one of these publicat ions,
or if you believe that the information is not
complete, contact your authorized Audi dealer
for assistance.
MMI Operating In struction s
contain detailed description of the Audi Mu lti
Media Interface (MMI) including the naviga­
tion system, the sound system and the hand­
held pho ne.
The Warranty & M aintenance booklet
explains how yo u can keep your A udi in top
driving condition by having it serviced regular­
ly and conta ins detai led information about
the warranties covering your Aud i. Always
have the book let with you when you take your
ve hicle to an author ized Audi dealer for serv ­
i ce. Your Audi Servi ce Adviso r will record each
sched uled service and can answe r any q ues­
tions you may have regarding how to ma intain
your vehicle .
In Canada,
the vehicle lite ratu re is also avai lab le in
Fr ench. To obtain a co py, contact your dea le r
or write to:
Au Canada, on peut se p rocure r un exempla ire
e n frarn;ais de ce document aupres du conces­
sionn aire ou de:
Volkswagen Canada Inc.
Client Assistance
Assistance a la Clientele
7 77 Bayly S treet, West,
Ajax, Ontario LlS 7G7
If you sell y our Aud i
all lite rature should be left in the veh icle to
make the Warranty terms as we ll as a ll oper­
ating, safety and ma intenance information
av ail ab le to the next owner.
Vehicle literature 5
If you change your address or if you
bought thi s Audi u sed
be sure to send in a "Notice of Address
Change"/ "Notice of Used Car Purchase" post
card. This card can be found in the Warranty
&
Maintenance booklet or obtained from your
authorized Audi dea ler.
It i s in your own inte rest that we are able to
contact you should the need arise .
•
•
•

mode), then the shift indicator can assist you
when selecting the next gear.
I n order to become familiar with the gearshift
indicator, begin driving as usual.
If the current
gear is not the best one for conserving fuel,
the indicator wi ll display the recommended
gear.
If there is no gearshift recommendation, you
are already driving in the most suitable gear .
The display is only vis ible in tip tronic mode
c::> page 110.
The¢ fig. 6 symbol turns on in the d isplay:
- t Upshifting
(D Note
This indicator can he lp you conserve fuel.
It is not designed to recommend the cor­
rect gear in all driving situations. Only the
driver can decide which gear is correct in
certain driving situations, such as when
passing another vehicle, driving on hills or
towing a trailer .
(D Tips
We recommend placing the selector lever
in
D if you want your vehicle to use less
fue l.
Service interval display
The service interval display detects when your
vehicle is due for service .
Fig. 7 Instrument cluster: serv ice inte rval disp lay (ex ­
ample)
Instruments and indicator lights 13
Fig. 8 Display in t he MMI panel: service interva l disp lay
(example)
The service interval display works in two
stages:
- Inspection or oil change reminder: After a
specified number of miles, a message ap­
pears in the instrument cluster display when
switching the ign ition on or off ¢
fig. 7. The
remaining d ista nce or t ime is displayed
briefly .
-Inspection or oil change due : If your vehicle
is due for an inspect ion or oil change or
both, a message appears briefly in the in­
strument cluster display when sw itching the
ignition on or off:
Inspection due! or Oil
change due! or Oil change and inspection
due!.
Checking service intervals
The remaining distance or t ime to the next oil
change or to the next inspect ion can be
viewed in the MMI
c::>fig. 8. Selectthe ,...IM""" E~ N- u-1
button
> Systems or Car systems > Service &
control > Service intervals.
In new vehicles or after resetting the disp lay,
the display can be viewed after approximately
500 km.
Resetting the display
Your authorized Audi dealer or qualified facili­
ty will reset the service interval display after
the service is performed.
If you perform an oil change yourself to the
Audi specifications, you can reset you service
interval display.
To reset the display, select the !MENUI button
> Systems or Car systems > Service & control Iii-

14 Instruments and indicator lights
> Service intervals > Reset oil change inter­
val.
(D Note
- Only reset the oil change disp lay w hen
you have completed an o il change .
- Maintain ing the service intervals is of vi­
ta l importance for the life and value of
you r vehicle espec ially the engine . Serv­
ice interva ls shou ld not be exceeded,
even by a short distance .
- If the vehicle battery is disconnected,
the timing for the next oil change wi ll be
i nterrupted.
If the vehicle is stationary
for a long time, have all scheduled serv­
ices performed.
- Even if the mileage driven is low, the
maximum period of one year from one
service to the next must not be exceed­
ed.
{!) Tips
Do not reset the disp lay between oil
changes, otherwise the d isplay w ill be in­
correct .
Indicator lights
Descript ion
Fig. 9 Instrument cl uster : example of a display for
vehicles wit h a mo nochrome d isplay.
@ Indicator light
@ Driver message
© Status line:
-• Im, Central indicator light or addi­
tional display for the active system such
as -
• (USA models) /. (Canada mode ls)
electronic parking brake
- II (USA models) Jil (Canada mode ls)
Cruise control system*
-•III active lane assist*
With some indicator lights @ the
central in­
dicator light ©. or
U also appears.
When the central ind icator light © turns on,
pay attention to the additional informat ion in
the instrument cluster display @ and @.
In addition to the indicator lights in the dis­
play, there are others located inside the tach­
ometer and the speedometer. They blink or
turn on to display additional functions or mal­
funct ions. For some indicator lights, dr iver
messages @ also appear briefly. A warning
tone sounds at the same time.
If there is more than one malfunct ion, the in­
dicator lights will tu rn on one after the other
for a short time.
The indicator lights and messages in the dis ­
play can be rep laced by other displays .
If the
indicator light @ is replaced, the central indi­
cator light@remains on until the malfunc­
tion is corrected.
In the driver information system, you can dis­
play the messages again
c:> page 2 7, Opera­
tion.
Overv iew
Some indicator lights turn on briefly as a func­
tion check when you switch the ignition on.
T hese systems are marked with a./ in the fol ­
lowing tables. If one of these indicator lights
does not turn on, there is a malfunction in
that system .
Depending on the vehicle equipment, your ve­
hicle has either a monochrome or multicol-
ored display in the instrument cluster. For
monochrome displays, the ind icator light @ is
only displayed in white
c:> page 14, fig . 9 . To
identify the priority of this indicator light, the
central indicator light© turns on at the same ..,.

18 Instruments and indicator lights
or
/:
or l
ig ht/ rain senso r*
c>page 25
Active lane assist"
c>p age 95
Transmission
c>page 111
Other indicator lights
D
y>))
~------------
Turn s ignals
c> pag e 25
USA models: Cru ise con trol sys ­
tem *
c>page 79
Canada models: Cr uise co ntrol
sys te m*
c>p age 79
Adaptive cruise cont ro l*
c> pag e 84
Adaptive c ruise cont ro l*
c>pag e 84
Adaptive c ruise cont ro l*
c> page 84
Active lane assist*
c> page 95
High beam
c> page 44
Convenie nce key
c>page 75
Electrome chanical pa rking bra ke
c>page 19
Adaptive c ruise cont ro l*
c> page 84
Active lane ass ist*
c>page 95
Aud i side assist *
c>page 100
Transm ission
c>page 111
Elect rome chanical par king b rake
<::>page 19
Rear s afe ty bel t* ,/
c::>page2 5
Rear safety bel t* ,/
c::> p ag e 2 5
BRAKE /(0) Brake system
If the indicator light turns on, t here is a ma l­
funct ion in the brake system .
• (USA models)/. (Canada models)
Please stop vehicle and check brake fluid lev ­
el!
Stop the ve hicle an d check t he b rake fluid lev­
el. See your authorized A udi d ealer or quali ­
fied repair facility, if necessary.
• (USA models). (Canada models)
Warning! Brake servo inoperative!
W he n t he bra king assist anc e ( brak e ass ist s ys­
t em) h as fa ile d, you mu st press the bra ke ped ­
al ha rder to bra ke . See your a uthorized Audi
dealer or qualif ied repair faci lity.
• (USA models)/. (Canada models)
Warning! Fault in brake system . Please con­
tact Service
If t he A BS ind icator light rJ1l;1 (U SA mod els)/
¢oJ ( C an ad a mod els), the ESP in d ic ato r lig ht
Ii) an d t he bra ke sys tem in dicator lig ht
• (US A mo dels)/ . (Can ada models) turn
o n an d th is message ap pears, the ABS, ES P
and braking distr ibutio n are not working
c::> & .
Dr ive to your au thor ized A udi dea ler or qu ali­
fi ed repa ir facility immed ia te ly to h ave the
malfunction corrected
c::> & .
• (USA models)/. (Canada models) Park ­
ing brake system fault! See owner's manual .,.

Drive to yo ur authorized Aud i dea ler or quali ­
fied repair facility immediately. Because the
ve hicle battery is dra ining, turn off all unnec ­
essary electrical eq uipment such as the MMI.
See your authorized Audi dealer or a qualified
repair facility if the battery charge level is too
low.
(•) Low battery charge : Battery will be
charged while dri ving
There may be limited starting ab ility.
If th is message tu rns off after a litt le w hile,
the battery has charged eno ugh whi le dr iving .
I f the message does not turn off, have your
author ized Audi dealer or qua lified workshop
cor rect the malfunc tion.
ii!.(' Safety systems
The fl (USA models)/ EI (Canada mode ls) in ­
dicator light monitors the safety systems .
Safety system
If the fl ( U SA mode ls)/ E,I (Canada models)
i ndicator light t urns on or b links, the re is a
mal func tion in the sa fety system.
D rive to you r autho rized Aud i deale r o r quali­
fied repair fac ility immediately to have t he
mal funct ion cor rected.
_& WARNING
Have the safe ty system checked, othe rwise
there is a risk that the system may act ivate
during an acci dent, which puts lives at r is k!
,{f. Front safety belt
The . indicator light turns on until the safe­
ty belts on the driver's and passenger's side
are buckled. There is a lso a warn ing tone
above a certai n speed.
For addit iona l information on safety be lts,
refer to
<=:> page 131.
Instrument s and indicator ligh ts 21
~ - Electronic steering column lock
• Do not drive vehicle: steering defe ctive
There is an electron ic steering column lock
malfu nction. You cannot turn the ignition on.
Do
not tow yo ur vehicle because it cannot be
steered. See your authorized Audi dealer or
qualified repair facility .
Im Steering lock: system fault! Please con ·
tact Service
T here is an electronic steering column lock
malfunction.
Drive to an au thor ized A udi dealer or qu alifie d
repair fac ility immedia tely to have t he mal­
f unction corrected .
A WARNING
Your vehicle must not be towed in the
event of a malfunction in the electronic
steering column lock. There is a risk of an
accident.
© -I =e Engine start system
-
• Engine start system malfunction! P lease
contact S erv ice
Do not sw itch the ignition off because yo u
may not be able to switch it on again.
Drive to your authorized A udi dealer or quali ­
fied repai r facility immediate ly to have the
malfunction corrected.
Ill/ l3 Engine start system malfunction!
Plea se contact Service
T he re is a malfunction in the eng ine start sys ­
tem .
- Ve hicles w ith an ignition
<=:> page 71, Auto­
matic start malfunction
- Ve hicles a with co nvenience key
<=:> page 73, Automatic start malfunction
Drive to an authorized A udi dealer or qualified
repair fac ility immediately to have the mal ·
funct io n corrected . •

24 Instruments and indicator lights
You may continue driving for the time being .
Check the oil level as soon as possible
¢ page 212.
-If the engine oil level is too low, add engine
oi l
¢ page 215.
-If the engine oil level is correct and the indi­
cator light still turns on, drive at low engine
speed to the nearest authorized Audi dea ler
or qualified repair facility.
_..,. Engine oil sensor
II Oil level sensor: system fault!
The sensor to check the engine oil level has
failed. Drive to an authorized Audi dealer or
qua lified repair faci lity immediately to have
the malfunction corrected.
Q;) Note
Pay attention to the description in the
Owner 's Manual
¢ page 215 and
¢ page 215, Adding engine oil "l::;1:.
Bil Tank system
RD Please refuel
When the indicator light turns first turns on
and this message appears, the tank contains
the following amount of fuel:
- Front wheel drive : approximately 1.8 gal­
lons (7 liters)
- All wheel drive: approximately 2.2 gallons
(8 .5 liters)
RD Fuel tank malfunction! Please contact
Service
If the indicator light turns on and this mes­
sage appears, there is a ma lfunction in the
tank system.
Drive to your authorized Aud i dealer or quali­
fied repair facility immediately to have the
malfunction corrected.
@) For the sake of the environment
Fuel should never enter the sewer system
or come into contact w ith the ground.
(D Tips
More information on refueling is available
on page ¢
page 207.
~ Washer fluid level
m Please add washer fluid
Fill the washer fluid with the ignition switched
off ¢
page 224.
• Windshield wipers
m Windshield wiper: system fault!
There is a malfunction with the windshie ld
wipers .
Drive to your authorized Audi dealer or quali­
fied repair facility immediate ly to have the
malfunction corrected.
~ Defective light bulb warning
Applies to vehicles: wit h drive r info rmatio n system
If the S:i indicator light turns on, a bulb has
failed. The message ind icates the location of
the bulb .
Replace the bulb immediately.
Vehicle lights: system fault!
There is a malfunction in the headlights or
light switch. Drive to an author ized Audi deal­
er or qualified repair facility immediately to
have the malfunction corrected.
_&. WARNING
- Light bulbs are under pressure and can
explode when bu lbs are replaced -risk of
inj ury.
- With gas-discharge lamps* (xenon head­
lights), the high -voltage component
must be hand led appropriate ly. Other­
wise, there is a risk of fatal injury.
-