2015 AUDI A4 checking

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Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Safety belt pretensioners . . . . . . . . . . 142
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Important things to know . . . . . . . . . . 144
Front airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Monitoring the Advanced Airbag
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Side curtain airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Child Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Important things to know . . . . . . . . . . 165
Child safety seats ............ .. ... 171
Installing a child safety seat .. .. .. .. 175
L ATCH Lower anchorages and tether
for child ren. ............. .. .. .. .. 179
Additional Information
183
Vehicle operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Intelligent technology . . . . . . . . 184
Notice about data recorded by the
Event Data Recorder and vehicle
control modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Electronic Stabili zation Control (ESC) . 185
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Electro -mechanical power assist,
dynamic steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Driving with your quattro . . . . . . . . . . 190
Energy management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Driving and environment . . . . . 193
The first 1,000 miles (1,500 km) and
afterwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Avoid damaging the vehicle. . . . . . . . . 193
Driving through water on roads . . . . . 193
Catalytic converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Shutting down vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Operate your vehicle economically and minimize pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
allroad: Driving offroad . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Driving with a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Trailer towing tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Table of contents 3
Vehicle care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
202
Vehicle care and cleaning . . . . . 202
General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Car washes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Cleaning and care information . . . . . . 203
Fuel supply and filling your
fuel tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
207
Gasoline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Fuel tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Checking and filling . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Engine hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Engine compartment ... ......... .. 214
Engine oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Engine cooling system . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Brake fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Battery ... .. .... .. ............. .
222
Windshield/headlight* washer container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Tires and wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Tire pressure monitoring system 257
Do-it-yourself service . . . . . . . . . 260
What do I do now? . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Vehicle tool kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Space-saving spare tire (compact
spare tire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Inflatable spare tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Inflating inflatable spare tire . . . . . . . 262
Changing a wheel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Fuses and bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Fuses..... .... .... .............. 269
Bulbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Emergency situations ... ... .. . 274
General... .... .................. 274
Starting by pushing or towing . . . . . . . 274
Starting with jumper cables . . . . . . . . 274
Use of jumper cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Emergency towing with commercial
tow truck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Lifting vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
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Instrument s and warning /indicator lights 11
A WARNING
- Always observe the warning in
c::> page 212 , before opening the hood
and checking the engine coolant level.
- Never open the engine hood if you see or
hear steam, or if you see engine coolant
dripping from the engine compartment.
You could burn yourself. Let the engine
cool off first so that you cannot hear or
see any steam or engine coolant .
(D Note
-Mounting additional lights or accessories
in front of the air inlets reduces the cool­
ing effect of the rad iator. At high outside
temperatures or high eng ine load , the
engine could overheat.
- The front spoiler has been designed to
properly distribute the cooling air when
the veh icle is moving .
If the spoiler is
damaged , this cou ld reduce the cooling
effect and the engine co uld then over­
heat. Ask your authorized Aud i dealer for
assistance.
Tachometer (engine rev counter)
The tachometer indicates the engine RPM
(revolutions per minutes).
I f engine RPM drops below 1,500, you should
downshift to the next lower gear . T he red area
at the end of the scale indicates maximum
perm issible engine RPM after the break-in pe­
riod. Before reaching this area, move these­
lector lever to position 0/5 or ease your foot
off the accelerator pedal.
@) Note
The tachometer needle@c::> page 10 ,
fig. 3 shou ld only briefly be in the red
zone: you could damage your engine! The
beg inning of the red zone varies depend-
ing on the engine .
@) For the sake of the environment
Upshifting early saves fuel and reduces en­
gine noise.
~ button
Fig. 4 SET button in th e ins trume nt cluster
The !SET ! button performs the following func­
tions:
Switching on time, date, temperature
display and odometer
The display appears for approximate ly 30 sec­
onds when you press the
I S ET ! button c::> fig . 4
with the ignit ion off .
Starting the Auto-Check sequence
The Auto-Check system constantly monitors
certa in individual functions and components
of the vehicle when the ignition is turned on
and when the vehicle is moving .
With the ignition turned on, you can start the "Auto-Check sequence" by pressing the
! SE T!
button . You can perform an Auto-Check se­
quence when the vehicle is stationary and the
ignition is turned on or when the vehicle is
moving slower than 3 mph (5 km/h).
In addition, the number of keys initialised for
your vehicle is displayed.
L2 3 /3 means that
three keys have been initialised . This feature
enables used car buyers to make sure they
have received all of the keys.
If you are given only two keys, for ins tance ,
you should take the vehicle and the ex isting
keys to an authorized Audi dealer to have the
missing key d isabled .
It is also important to
notify your insurance company about the loss.
Setting the speed warning
By pressing the !SET ! button briefly, you can
set threshold 1 of the speed warning wh ile
you are driving
c::> page 90 . By maintaining II>

Instruments and warning/indicator lights 15
Other indicator lights
-------------
Turn signals
¢page 22
USA models: Cru ise control
¢ page 91
Canada models: Cruise control
¢ page 91
Adaptive cruise control*
¢page 104
Adaptive cruise control*
¢page 104
High beam
¢page 50
BRAKE/( ([)) Brake system
The light illuminates when the ignition is
switched on.
It goes out after the eng ine has
been started. This ind icates that the brake
warn ing light is func tioning properly.
If the brake warning light does not light up
when the engine is cranking, there may be a
malfunction in the electrical system. In this
case, contact your authorized Audi dealer.
If the brake system warning/ind icator light
turns on, there is a brake system malfunction.
1111 (USA models) tlll (Canada models)
Stop vehicle and check brake fluid level
If the indicator light turns on and the mes­
sage appears, proceed as follows:
~ Pull off the road.
~ Stop the vehicle .
~ Turnoff the engine.
~ Check the brake fluid level¢ page 221.
~ Contact your nearest authorized repair fa-
c ili ty if necessary .
Warning! Fault in brake system . Contact
dealer
If the ABS indicator light fl1 (USA models)/
ii] (Canada models), the ESC indicator light
G1 and the brake system indicator light
1111 (USA mode ls)/ . (Canada models) turn
on and the message appears, the ABS, ESC
and braking distribution are not working~& .
Carefully drive to your authorized Audi dealer
immediately to have the malfunction correct ­
ed ~& .
1111 (USA models )/. (Canada models)
Parking brake system fault! See owner's
manual
- I f the ind icator light and the message ap­
pear
when stationary or after switching the
ignition on,
check if you can re lease the
parking brake. After releasing the parking
brake, carefully drive to your authorized
Audi dea ler immediately to have the ma l­
function corrected. If you cannot release the
parking brake, seek professional assistance.
- If the indicator light and the message ap­
pear
while driving , the emergency brak ing
function may not be available. It may not be possible to set the parking brake or release
it once it has been set . Seek profess ional as­
sistance .
(USA models): If the warning light
1111 and
the warn ing light
EiJ appear together, imme­
diately contact your authorized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop to have all brake pads in­
spected
~ page 20.
When the light comes on, an aud ible warning
s ignal is also given .
A WARNING
-Always observe the warn ings in
¢
page 212, before opening the hood
and checking the brake flu id.
- Driving with low brake fluid is a safety
hazard. Stop the car and get professiona l
assistance.
- If the
1111 (USA models) tlll (Canada
models) brake system indicator light
turns on together with the ABS and ESC
indicator lights, the ABS/ESC regulating
function may have failed. Functions that
stabilize the vehicle a re no longer avai la-
ble. This could cause the vehicle to .,.

40 Opening and closing
& WARNING
-Never close the rear lid inattentively or
without checking first. Although the
closing force of the rear lid is limited,
you can still seriously injure yourself or
others.
-Always ensure that no one is within
range of the rear lid when it is moving, in
particular close to the hinges and the up­
per and lower edges -fingers or hands
can be pinched.
- To help prevent poisonous exhaust gas
from being drawn into the vehicle, al­
ways keep the rear lid closed while driv­ ing. Never transport objects larger than
those which fit completely into the lug­ gage area, because then the rear lid can­
not be fully closed .
- Never leave your vehicle unattended es­ pecially with the rear lid left open. A
child could crawl into the car through the
luggage compartment and pull the lid
shut, becoming trapped and unable to get out . To reduce the risk of personal in­
jury, never let children play in or around
your vehicle . Always keep the rear lid as
well as the vehicle doors closed when not in use.
- If there is a luggage rack or bicycle rack
mounted on the rear lid, it may not be
able to open completely or an opened rear lid may close by itself because of the
added weight . So the open rear lid must
be supported or the weight must be re­
moved from the luggage rack first .
(D Tips
-When the vehicle is locked, the rear lid
can be unlocked separately by pressing
the button
~ on the master key. When
the rear lid is closed again, it locks auto­
matically .
- The following applies to vehicles equip­
ped with the convenience key* feature: if
the remote control key is left in the lug­
gage compartment, luggage compart­
ment will automatically unlock itself af- ter you
lock the vehicle. This prevents
you from unintentionally locking your
key in the luggage compartment.
- If the vehicle battery charge drops be­
low a certain level, you can still open or
close the rear lid manually, however, you
will need to apply more force to close it.
Sedan: Rear lid emergency release
Applies to vehicles: with fixed rear seat backrest
Fig. 31 Rear ben ch s eat: e merg ency r ele ase ca ble
On vehicles with fixed seat backrest*, the rear
lid can be opened from the rear bench seat us­
ing the emergency release.
.,. Carefully pull the left side of the rear bench
seat out of its retainer until you can reach
the release cable
¢ fig. 31.
.,. Remove the adhesive tape @.
.,. Pull on the loop @ until the rear lid releas­
es.
.,. Tape the release cable back in place and
press the bench seat back into its retainer .
& WARNING
After opening the rear lid using the emer­
gency release in vehicles with a fixed rear
seat backrest, make sure the bracket under
the rear bench seat
qfig. 31 locks securely
into the mounting eyelet again.

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-Do not ride the brakes or press the brake
pedal too often or too long when driving
down a hill. Constant braking causes the
brakes to overheat and substantially re­
duces braking performance, increases
braking distance or causes complete fail­
ure of the brake system.
- To prevent the vehicle from rolling back
when stopping on inclines, always hold it
in place with the brake pedal or parking
brake.
- Never hold the vehicle on an incline with
a slipping clutch. The clutch opens auto­
matically when it becomes too hot from
the overload. An indicator lamp
mJ illu­
minates and a driver message appears
¢ page 99 when the clutch is overload­
ed .
- If the engine must remain running, never
have any driving position engaged when
checking under the hood. Make sure the
selector lever has securely engaged and
is locked in P with the parking brake set
¢ page 212. Otherwise, any increase in
engine speed may set the vehicle in mo­
tion, even with the parking brake ap­ plied .
0 Note
-S tronic- and tiptronic transmission:
When stopping on an incline, do not try
to hold the vehicle in place by pressing
the accelerator pedal while a driving gear
is selected. This can cause the transmis­
sion to overheat and can damage it. Acti­
vate the parking brake or press the brake
pedal to prevent the vehicle from rolling.
- S tronic- and tiptronic transmission: Al­
lowing the vehicle to roll when the en­
gine is stopped and the selector lever is in N will damage the transmission be­
cause it is not lubricated under those cir­
cumstances .
(D Tips
For safety reasons, the parking brake is re­
leased automatically only when the driv ­
er's safety belt is engaged in the buckle.
Transmission 97
Hill descent control
App lies to vehicles : wi th mult itronic/ S tro nic/tiptro nic
The hill descent control system assists the
driver when driving down declines .
Hill descent control is activated when these­
lector lever is in D/S and you press the brake
pedal. The transmission automatically selects
a gear that is suitable for the incline. Hill de­ scent control tries to maintain the speed ach­
ieved at the time of braking, within physical
and technical limitations. It may still be nec­
essary to adjust the speed with the brakes.
Hill descent control switches off once the de­
cline levels out or you press the accelerator
pedal.
On vehicles with the cruise control system*
¢ page 91 , hill descent control is also activat­
ed when the speed is set.
.&_ WARNING
-
Hill descent control cannot overcome
physical limitations, so it may not be able
to maintain a constant speed under all
conditions. Always be ready to apply the brakes .

212 Checking and filling
Checking and filling
Engine hood
Releasing and opening the engine hood
The engine hood is released from inside the
vehicle .
Fig. 180 Driver's side footwe ll: e ngin e hood release
lever
... -- - -=-
Fig. 181 Release lever u nde r the engine hood
Before opening the engine hood, make sure
that the windshield wipers are flat against the
windshield. Otherwise, they could damage the
pa int on the hood.
... With the driver's door open, pull the lever
under the instrument panel in the direction
of the arrow
c> fig . 180.
... Raise the hood slightly c> .&,
... Press the rocker switch under the hood up­
ward
c> fig . 181 . This releases the catch.
... Open the hood.
A WARNING
Hot engine coo lant can burn you.
- T o reduce the risk 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 coo
lant can be seen or heard before care­
fully opening the hood.
Closing the engine hood
... Pull the hood down until the pressure from
the struts is reduced .
... Let the hood
drop down and latch in place.
Do not try to push it shut; it may fail to en­
gage
c> .&, .
A WARNING
-
A hood that is not completely latched
could fly up and b lock your view while driv­
ing.
- When you close the engine hood, check it
to make sure the safety catch has proper­
ly engaged . The hood shou ld be flush
with the surrounding vehicle body parts.
-If you notice while driving that the hood
is not secured properly, stop at once and
close it.
Working in the engine compartment
Be especially careful whenever you work in
the engine compartment.
Whenever you must perform any work in the
engine compartment, for example checking
and filling different fluids , there is a risk of
injury , burns and accidents. To prevent per­
sonal injury always observe the following
WARNINGS. The engine compartment of any
vehicle is a hazardous area
c> ,&..
A WARNING
-To help avoid injury, before you check any-
thing under the hood:
- Turn off the engine.
- Remove the ignition key.
- Apply the parking brake.
- Move selector lever of automatic trans-
mission to "P" (Park); put manual trans­
mission in Neutral.
- Always let the engine cool down. Hot
components will burn skin on contact .

214 Checking and filling
Engine compartment
Engine compartment
These are the most important items that you can check.
Fig. 182 Typical layout for containers and eng ine o il filler cap
(D Eng ine o il filler cap ("1::::r.) . . . . . 216
@ Jump start point(+) under a cov-
er .. .. .... ... ....... .... ..
224, 275
@ Bra ke fluid reservo ir (0)) . . . . . 221
@ Coolant expansion tank (-L) . . . 219
® Jump start point(-) with hex
head sc rew ..... .......... ..
224, 275
® W indshield/headlight* washer
. (" ') container o ....... . ... .. . 225
The pos ition o f the engine o il fi lling hole
¢ fig . 182 (item @) can differ depending on
the eng ine design.
A WARNING
Before yo u check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS
¢ .&. in Working in the engine
compartment on page 212.
-
Engine oil
· Engine oil specifications
The engine oil used must conform to exact
specifications.
The service interval disp lay in the instrument
cluster of your vehicle will inform you when it
is time for a n oil change . We recommend that
you have your oil changed by an authorized
Audi Se rv ice Adv isor.
If you have to top off the o il between o il
changes, use the Audi o il quality standard
specified in the tab le.
Audi oil quality standard
Gasoline
VW 502 00 or
engine vw 504 00

Using the proper engine oil is important for
the functionality and service life of the en­
g ine. Your engine was factory -filled with a
h igh-quality oil which can usually be used
t h roughout the entire year.
Your Limited New Vehicle Warranty does not cover damage or ma lf u nctions due to
fa ilure to follow recommended mainte­
nance and use requirements as set forth in
the Audi Owner's Manual and Warranty
&
Ma intenance booklet .
- Use only a high quality eng ine oil that ex­
pressly complies w ith the Audi o il quality
sta ndard specified for your veh icle's e n­
gine . U sing any other oil can cause seri­
ous eng ine dam age.
- Do not m ix any l ubrica nts o r othe r addi­
tives into the eng ine oi l. Doing so can
ca use eng ine damage.
I f you need to add oil and there is no ne
availab le tha t mee ts the Audi o il qua lity
s t andard your engine requires, yo u may
add a tota l of no more than 0 .5 quart/ liter
of a high -quality "synthetic"oil t hat meets
the following specifications.
- Vehicles with gaso line engine: ACEA A3
or API S M with a viscosity grade of
SAE 0W-30, SAE SW-30 or SA E SW-40.
- For more information abo ut eng ine oil
that has been app roved for your vehicle,
please contact either your a uthori zed
Audi dealer or Audi Customer Relations
at 1 (800) 822 -2834 or visit our web site
at www.a udiusa .com or
www .aud icanada .ca .
Engine oil consumption
The engine in your vehicle depends on an ade ­
quate amount of oil to lubricate and cool all
of its moving parts.
In order to provide effective lubrication and
cooling of inte rnal engine components, all in-
~ ternal combustion eng ines consume a certai n ,....,
Checking and fillin g 215
amoun t of oil. Oil consumpt ion varies from
engine to engine and may change significantly
over the life of the engine . Typically, engines
with a spec ified break-in period (see
¢
page 193) consume more oil during the
break -in period than they consume after o il
consumption has stabilized .
U nder normal cond itions, the rate of oil con ­
sumption depends on the quality and viscos ity
of the oil, the RPM (revolutions per minute) at
which the engine is operated, the ambient
temperature and road conditions. Further fac­
tors are the amount of oil dilut ion from water
condensa tion or fue l resid ue an d the oxida­
t ion level of the o il. As any engine is subject to
wear as mi leage b uilds up, the oil consump ­
tion may increase over time until replacement
of worn components may become necessary.
With a ll these variab les coming into p lay, no
standard rate of oil consumption can be es ­
tablished or specified. There is no alternative
to regular and frequent check ing of the o il lev ­
el, see
Note .
If the yellow engine oil leve l warning symbo l
El in the instrument cl uster lights up, you
sho uld check the oil leve l as soon as possib le
¢
page 216. Top off the oil at your earliest
convenience
¢ page 216.
A WARNING
Before you c heck anythi ng in the engine
compartmen t, always read a nd heed all
WAR NINGS ¢&.
in Working in the engine
c ompar tment on page 212.
(D Note
D riving w it h an insufficient o il level is like ­
l y to cause sever e damage to the e ngine .
(D Tips
- The oil pressure warning display. is
not an indicator of the oil level. Do not
rely on it. Instead, check the oil level in
your engine at regular intervals , pref­
erably ea ch time you r efuel, and alway s
before going on a long trip . .,.
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