2015 AUDI A8 relay

210 Trailer towing
Trailer towing
Driving with a trailer
General information
Your Audi was designed primarily for passen­
ger transportation .
If you plan to tow a trai ler, please remember
that the additional load will affect durability,
economy and performance .
Trailer towing not only places more stress on the vehicle, it also calls for more concentra­
tion from the driver.
For this reason, always follow the operating
and driving instructions provided and use
common sense.
(D Note
If you are going to tow a trai ler, you must
activate the trailer operation mode
i::> page 210, Operating instructions .
Technical requirements
Trailer hitch
Use a weight-carrying hitch conforming to the
gross trailer weight. The hitch must be suita­ ble for your vehicle and trailer and must be
mounted securely on the veh icle 's chassis at a
technically sound location . Use only a trailer
hitch with a removable ball mount. A lways
check with the trai le r hitch manufacturer to
make sure that you are using the cor rect
hitch.
Do not use a bumper hitch.
The hitch must be installed in such a way that
it does not interfere with the impact-absorb­
ing bumper system. No modifications should
be made to the vehicle exhaust and brake sys­
tems. From time to time, check that all hitch
mounting bo lts remain securely fastened.
When you are not towing a trailer, remove the
trailer hitch ball mount. This prevents the
h itch from causing damage should your veh i­
cle be struck from behind~ &.
Trailer brakes
If your trailer is equipped with a brak ing sys­
tem, check to be sure that it conforms to all
regulations.
T he trailer hydraulic brake system must not be
direc tly connected to the vehicle's hydraulic
brake system .
Safety chains
Always use safety chains between your veh icle
and the tra iler.
Trailer lights
Trailer lights must meet all regulations. Be
sure to check with your Audi dealer for correct
wiring, switches and relays.
Mirrors
If you are unable to see the traffic behind you
using the regular outside mirrors, then you
must install extended mirrors. It is important
that you
always have clear v is ion to the rear .
A WARNING ,~ -
After removing the trailer hitch, do not
store it in your vehicl e. In case of sudden
braking, the hitch could fly forward and in­
jure you or your passengers.
Operating instructions
Fig. 189 MMI display : tow ing mode on
Maximum traile r weight
A trai ler for your vehicle is limited to a typical
class 1 or class 2 trailer. .,.

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Fa st charging the b att ery (charging rate
abo ve 14.8 Vo lt s)
Fo r technical reasons do not use a batt ery
charger that uses vo ltage g reater than 14.8
Volts to charge your vehicle's battery.
A WARNING
-
Charging a battery can be dangerous.
- Always follow the operating instructions
provided by the battery charger manu­
facturer when charging your battery.
- Never charge a fro zen battery. It may ex­
plode because of gas trapped in the ice.
Allow a frozen battery to thaw out first .
- Do not reuse batteries which were fro­
zen. The battery housing may have
cracked and weakened when the battery
froze .
- Charge the battery in a well ventilated
area . Keep away from open flame or elec­
trical spark . Do not smoke . Hydrogen gas
gene rated by the battery is exp losive.
- To reduce the danger of explosion , never
co nnect or disconnect cha rger cables
wh ile the charger is operating.
- Fast charg ing a battery is dangerous and
should only be attempted by a compe­
t ent technicia n w ith the proper eq uip­
ment.
- Battery a cid that may spill d uring charg­
ing should be washed off wit h a solution
of warm wa ter and ba king soda to neu ­
tralize the acid .
CD Note
Never use a fast charge r as a booster to
s tart the engine. This will se rio usly d am­
age sensitive elect ronic components, such
as control units, relays, radio, etc., as we ll
as the battery charger .
Checking and fillin g
Battery replacement
The new battery must have the same specifi­
cations and dimensions as the original equip­
ment battery.
In telligen t energy managemen t in your vehi­
cle is responsible for distributing the electri ­
cal ene rgy throughout your vehicle
¢ page 202. The intelligent energy manage­
ment system will keep the engine battery
c h arged better than vehicles without this sys ­
tem. To make sure the additional electrica l en ­
ergy is avai lab le once again afte r yo u have
changed the battery, we recommend that you
insta ll batteries of the same type and m anu­
facture only (the same as those installed at
the time your ve hicle was delivered) . Specif i­
cat ions are listed on the battery housing . Your
authorized dea le r must code the battery in
the energy management system to enab le you
to use the ene rgy manageme nt func tions cor ­
re ct ly afte r replacing the battery.
The new battery must have the same capacity,
vo ltage
( 1 2 volts), amperage, const ruction
and plug seal ing .
When installing the battery, make sure the ig­ nition and a ll elect rical consume rs are switch­
ed off .
CD Note
- Make sure the ventilation hose on the
side of the battery is connected, other­
w ise fumes or battery a cid ca n leak out .
- Veh icles with the Start-Stop-System* are
e quipped with a spec ial cycle-p roof AGM
battery. Install ing a d iffe rent type of
ba ttery c an cause problems in the vehi ­
cle e lectrical system. Whe n replacing the
vehicle battery, always install one w ith
the same specifications as the origina l
battery.
- Battery mounts and clamps must a lways
be sec ured correct ly .
- Read and fo llow the wa rnings under
¢ page 241, Working on the battery be-
fore per forming any work on the battery . ..,_
243
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Emergency situations
General
This chapter i s intended for trained emer­
gency crews and working personnel who have the necessary tools and equipment to
perform these operations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
(D Note
Ve hicles w ith an au tomatic tra nsmission
cannot be started by pus hing o r tow ing.
Starting with jumper
cables
If necessary, the engine can be started by
connecting it to the battery of another vehi­
cle.
If the engine shou ld fail to start because of a
discha rged o r wea k battery, the battery can be
connected to the battery o f
another vehicle,
using a
pair of jumper cables to start the en­
g ine.
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cables of sufficiently la rge
c ross section to carry the starter c urrent safe­
l y. Refer to the man ufacturer's specifications.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated te rm i­
na l clamps wh ic h are d istinctly marked:
plus(+) cable i n mos t cases co lore d red
minu s(-) cable
in most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batterie s contain e lec tricity, ac id, an d gas.
A ny of these can cause ve ry ser io us or fatal
inju ry. Follow the instructions below f or
safe han dling of your veh icle's b attery .
- Alway s shield you r eyes and avoid lean­
ing over the bat te ry whenever possib le.
- A dis ch arged battery c an free ze at tem­
peratures ju st be low 32 °F ( 0 °C ). Befo re
Emergency situations 281
connecting a jumpe r cab le, you must
thaw the fr ozen battery c omp lete ly, ot h­
erwise it could explode.
- Do not allow battery acid to contact eyes
or skin. Fl ush any contacted area with
wate r immediately.
- Improper use of a booster battery to start a vehicle may cause an explosion.
- Vehicle batter ies genera te exp losive gas­
es. Keep spar ks, flame and lighted c iga ­
rettes away from batte ries.
- Do not try to jump start any ve hicle w ith
a low ac id leve l in the battery.
- The vo ltage of the booste r batte ry m ust
a lso have a 12-Vol t rating. T he capacity
(Ah) of the booster battery sho uld not be
lowe r tha n that of the discharged bat­
tery . Use of batte rie s of d iffe ren t voltage
or substantially diffe rent "Ah" rat ing
may c au se an exp losion and persona l in­
JU ry.
- N ever cha rge a fro zen battery. Gas trap­
pe d in the ice may cause a n ex plosion.
- Never cha rge or use a batte ry tha t h as
been fr ozen. T he battery case may have
be weakened.
- Us e of b atter ies of differe nt voltage or
sub stant ia lly diffe ren t ca pa city (Ah) ra t­
i ng may c ause an ex plosion an d injury .
Th e capac ity (Ah) of the booster bat tery
should not be lower than that of the dis ­
charged batte ry .
- Before you chec k any thing in the engine
compa rtment, always read and hee d all
WARNINGS¢
page 22 8.
(D Note
- App lyin g a higher vo ltage booster ba t­
t ery w ill cause expens ive damage to se n­
sit ive e lectronic com ponents, such as
cont ro l units, relays, rad io, etc.
- The re must be no electrical contact be­
tween the vehicles as ot herwise c urrent
co uld a lready start to f low as soon as the
p o sit ive(+) term inals a re connected. ..,. •
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