2015 AUDI Q7 coolant level

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Instrument s and warning /indicator lights 11
too high, or the coolant level is too low
¢ page 32.
If the needle is well in the upper area of the
ga uge , the coolant temperature is too high.
Stop the vehicle , switch the eng ine off and
allow the engine to cool.
If the warning light
comes on again after driving a short distance,
contact an authorized dealer.
A WARNING
- Always observe the warning in
¢
page 256, 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
dr ipping from the engine compartment.
You could bu rn yourself. Let the engine
cool off first until you can no longer see
or hear steam or coolant escaping.
0 Note
- Mount ing additional lights or accessories
i n front of the a ir inlets reduces the cool­
i ng effect of the radiator. At h igh outside
temperatures or high eng ine load , the
engine could overheat.
- The front spo iler 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 could then over­ heat. Ask your authorized Audi dealer for
ass istance.
Tachometer (engine rev counter)
The tachometer indicates the engine RPM
(revolutions per minutes).
The tachometer @¢ page 10, fig. 3 is the left
of the two large clock-type displays.
The engine turns at a speed 1,000
times the
single digit in the display, e.g . if the needle is
pointing at the "2" the engine is turning at
2,000 RPM.
If engine RPM drops be low 1,500, you should
downshift to the next lower gear. The red area at
the end of the scale indicates maximum
permissible engine RPM after the break-in pe­
riod. Before reaching this area , move these­
lector lever to position D (Drive) or ease your
foot off the accelerator pedal.
(D Note
The tachometer needle should not move
into the red range. If it does, then only for
a very short per iod of t i me. You could
damage your engine by driving at high RPM .
@) For the sake of the environment
Upshifting early saves fuel and reduces en­
gine noise .
Digital clock with date display
Fig. 4 In st ru m en t cluster : time a nd da te
The date, time of day, and time and date for ­
mat can be set in the MMI. You can learn more
about this in the MMI manual.
(D Tips
-When open the driver door, the time,
date and odometer are disp layed for an
add itional 30 seconds.
- You can also call up the display with the
!CHECK I button q page 12 while the ig­
nition is sw itched off.

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For example, the symbol II appears in the
display, indicating low windshield washer flu­
id level. The follow ing message also appears:
Please refill washer fluid
The driver message disappears after a few
seconds. The driver message can be d isp layed
again by briefly pressing the
!CHECK I button.
Red symbols
Fig. 25 Display: engine coolant level warning (prio rity
1)
With a priority 1 malfunction, a large symbol
appears in the center area of the display
¢ fig . 25 . Wh en the symbo l appears, three
warning tones sound in succession. The sym­
bol continues to blink until the malfunct ion
has been repaired.
If there are
more than one priority 1 ma lfunc­
tions, the symbols appear one after the other for about 2 seconds.
An additional driver message can also be dis­
played by briefly pressing the
I CHECK ! button.
The red symbols mean:
Alternator malfunct ion
¢page31
USA models: Brake system
malfunction
¢page32
Canada models: Brake sys­
tem malfunction
¢pa ge32
Engine coolant level too
low/engine coolant temper­
ature too high
¢page32
Driver information display 31
@ Tips
Engine oil pressure too low
¢page 33
Refill Ad Blue*
¢page 252
AdBlue malfunct ion*
c!>page252
Faulty steering
c!>page 33
Faulty ignition switch
¢page 33
-If the warning/indicator light 11111 (USA
models)/ . (Canada models) in the in­
strument cluster flashes, there is a brake
system malfunction. By pressing the
!CHECK I button, you can bring up a driver
message which exp lains the malfunction
in more detail. Please note ¢
page 32.
-Speed warnings threshold 1. (USA
mode ls)/ . (Canada models) and
threshold 2. (USA models) . (Cana­
da models) are a lso shown as red sym ­
bols. The warning is always shown as a
small symbol in the uppe r area of the
display
c!> page 28.
0 Alternator malfunction
If the . symbol in the instrument panel dis­
play flashes, then there is a malfunction in the
alternator o r the vehicle elect ronics. A warn­
ing to the driver will appear, too . The driver
warning goes out after about 5 seconds, but it
can be brought up at any time by pressing the
ICHECK I button aga in.
Usually, you can still drive to the next deale r­
ship . Turn off all but the most necessary elec­
trical consumers, since these drain the vehi­
cle's battery.
([) Note
If the . warning symbo l (coo lant system
malfunction) also lights up on the instru­
ment panel during the trip¢
page 32,
then you have to stop immediately and ..,_

32 Driver in formation d isplay
turn off the eng ine. The coolant pump is
not working anymore -danger of damage
to the eng ine !
BRAKE/(©) Brake system malfunction
A malfunction in the brake system must be
repaired as soon as possible.
I f the warning/indicator light 1111 (USA
models) ;II (Canada mode ls) in the instru ­
ment cluster flashes, there is a brake system
mal function . By pressing the
I CHECK ! button,
you can bring up a dr iver message which ex­
p la ins the ma lfu nction in more detail.
Stop veh icle and check brake fluid level
• Pull off the road.
• Stop the vehicle .
• Turnoff the engine.
• Check the brake fluid level¢
page 265.
• Co ntact your nearest a uthorized Audi dealer
or qualified workshop if necessary .
Warning! Fault in brake system. Contact
workshop
• Drive carefu lly to the nearest a uthorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop and have
the malfunction corrected ¢
&.
If t he ABS system malfunctions, the ABS
warn ing/ indicato r light illum inates together
wi th the brake system malfunction warning/
i ndicato r light ¢& .
A WARNING
-Always obse rve the wa rni ngs in
¢
page 2 56, be fo re opening the hoo d
a nd chec king t he b rake fluid.
- D riving with low b ra ke fluid is a safety
ha zar d. S top the car and get pro fession al
assistance .
-If the 1111 (U SA m odels)/ . (C anad a
mode ls) brake sy stem indica tor ligh t
t ur ns on together with the AB S and E SC
indicator lights, the ABS/ES C reg ulating
f unction may have failed . Fu nctions that
stabilize the ve hicle are no longer availa­
ble. Th is could cause the vehicle to swerve and
inc rease the r is k of slidi ng.
Drive ca re fully to the nea rest authorized
Aud i dealer or other q ualified works hop
a nd have the ma lfu nction co rrected .
-L Engine cooling system malfunction
A malfunction in the engine cooling system
must be repaired as soon as possible.
When the. symbo l in the disp lay blinks,
then either the engine coo lant
temperature is
too high, o r the coolant
level is too low. An
additional driver message can also be dis­
played by p ressing the
ICHECK I button:
Switch off engine and check coolant level
• Pull off t he ro ad.
• Stop the vehicle.
• Tur noff the engi ne .
• Chec k coolant leve l¢
page 263.
• Add coo lant if necessary ¢ page 264.
• Continue dr iv ing on ly after t he engine cool­
ant warning/ind icat or light goes out.
• Contact your authorized Aud i dealer for as-
sis tance if necessa ry.
If the engi ne coo lant level is correct, then the
r adiator fan may be the cause of the malfunc­
t ion.
If the . warning symbol (alternator mal­
funct ion) also lights up on the inst rument
panel
¢ page 31, then the fa n be lt may be
damaged .
A WARNING
- If you r vehicle should bre ak down for
me chanical or other reasons, par k at a
s af e dis tance from mov ing tra ffic, turn
o ff the en gine and tu rn on the haza rd
war ning lights¢
page 63, Emergency
flasher .
-
-Never open the hood if you see o r hear
steam or coo la nt escaping from the en­
g ine compartment -you r is k being scald ­
ed . Wait unt il you can no longer see o r
hear steam o r co olant escap ing.

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-The brake booster and servotronic on ly
work when the engine is running. With
the ignition turned off, you have to apply
more force when steering or braking .
S ince you cannot steer and stop normal­
ly, this can lead to accidents and ser ious
injuries.
- The rad iator fan can continue to run for
up to 10 min utes even after you have
turned off the engine and removed the ign ition key. The radiator fan can also
turn on again if the engine coolant heats
up because of intense sunlight or heat
build -up in the engine compartment.
«I) Note
Do not stop the engine immed iate ly after
hard or extended dr iving. Keep the engine
running for approximately two minutes to
prevent excessive heat build-up .
Starting and stopping
the engine with
Convenience key
Starting the engine with the~
button
App lies to vehicles: with Convenie nce key
This bu tton swi tches on the ign ition and
starts the engine .
Fig. 124 Co nvenie nce k ey: ENG INE START b utton
The I STAR T! button is provided w ith two -sta ge
o p era tion
¢ fig. 124.
Sw itching the ignition on
.. Press the !STAR T I button once to the firs t
stage to switch on only the ign ition .
On th e road 109
Gasoline eng in e: St arting the engine
.. Step on the brake.
.. Move the s elector lever to the P or N posi­
tion ¢.&, .
.. Press th e
r:: 1s =T:--:- A=RT= i button to the secon d
stage to start the engine .
Diesel en gine : Starting the engine
.. Step on the brake.
.. Move the selector lever to the P or N posi­
tion ¢.&, .
.. Press th e
r:: 1s =T A c:--=RT= I button down to the first
level to begin the preheating process . The
glow plug indica tor light
II illum ina tes
when the glow plug sy stem is active .
.. When the ind icator light
II switches off,
press the
I ST ART ! button down to the se c­
ond
level to star t the eng ine .
After a cold engine is started, there may be a br ief period of inc reased no ise because oil
pressure must first build up i n the hydraulic
valve adjuste rs. This is norma l and not a cause
for concern .
If the engine does not start immediately, stop
trying after 10 seconds and then try to restart
the engine abou t 30 seconds later .
Glow plug system*
Die sel engines
are equ ipped with a glow plug
system whose preheating time is controlled
by the coo lant and outs ide temperature . Start
the engine
immediately afte r the glow plug
indicator light
II swi tches off .
The glow plug indicator light will only illumi ­
nate fo r approximate ly 1 second when the en­
gine is warm or the outs ide temperature is
highe r than 46 °F (8 °C) . That means yo u can
start the eng ine
immediately .
WARNING
Never allow the engine to run in confined
spaces -danger of asphyxiation .
(D Note
-Avo id h igh engine rpm, full thrott le and
heavy engine loads until the eng ine has

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Driving off road
Driving in difficult road
conditions and offroad
General information
The operation of the E lectronic Stabilization
Control (ESC) is expanded fo r operation away
from paved roads. In situations where slip or a
differential lock ing funct ion is required, the
offroad mode can be activated
c::;, page 223.
H ill descent control is a lso ava ilable in the off­
road mode, which automat ically brakes the
ve hicl e and thereby keeps speed consta nt
when differe nt w heel speeds a re detected
when descending a hill
¢page 2 2 5. Your A ud i
a lso has permanent a ll-wheel drive in addi­
tion.
H oweve r, your Aud i is no t a pure off road ve hi­
cle. I t was not built for d riving unde r extreme
conditions, e.g. fo r trips that are in the nat ure
of an expedition .
Drive only on road s and offro ad sections
which match the de sign of y our vehicl e and
you r abilitie s as a dri ver. Ne ver t ake ri sks!
Before driving offroad
- Check the eng ine oi l level, t ire pressu re,
coolant level, and the fluid level in the w ind­
shield washe r reservo ir.
- Stow luggage items a nd other objects in the
l uggage compartment, and sec ure t hem
against s lid ing aro und.
After driving offroad
- After trips off road, remove any twigs and
othe r foreign objects from the grill, the un­
derbody and the wheels. Pay spec ia l atten­
t ion to fore ign ob jects (stones) which have
become lodged in t he tire tre ad.
- Clean t he body and the vehicle unders ide,
and inspect the veh icle for possible damage.
- Clean dirty w indows, headlamp lenses, rear
li gh ts, and license plates .
- Perfo rm a brake check (particularly after
t ravell ing throug h water).
Driving off road 235
A WARNING
- Drive especially attentively and plan
ahead in diff icu lt road conditions and
when off road. Excessive speed o r inco r­
rect maneuve rs can cause injuries and
damage to the vehicle.
-
- Always adapt your speed and driving
style to road, offroad, t raff ic, and weath­
e r condition s. D rive e spe cially slowly off­
road when yo ur view is restricted.
- Please be aware that in offroad mode,
pa rti cularly on a smoo th and s lippery
road, the whee ls may have an increased
tendency to spin and the vehicle may
break away -danger of skidding!
- Stability is limited in the offroad mode .
@ For the sake of the environment
Avoid damage to the environment and re­
spect na ture.
@ Tips
Only d rive where it is permitted and stay
on marked roads and paths.
Explanation of some technical terms
T he following data refer to ideal cond itions .
Depend ing on ve hicle load and gro und condi­
tions and the environment, the numbers may
vary .
It is the driver's responsibility to decide
whether a veh icle can overcome a specific s it­
uat ion
c::;, &, .
Gradient angle
The number o f meters in altitude ga ined over
a distance of 109.4 ya rds or 100 meters
(grade) are given as a percentage o r degrees.
Information about the grad ient the vehicle
can climb under its own power (depends in
part on the road surface and engine power).
Max imum perm itted grade : 31
°
Gr ound cle arance
The distance between the road s urface and
the lowest point of the vehicle underbody.
•
•

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If you must add coolant, use a mixture of wa­
ter and coolant additive. Mixing the coolant
addit ive with distilled water is recommended .
.&_ WARNING
Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS
¢ .&. in Working in the engine
compartment on page 256 .
(D Note
-Before winter sets in, have the coolant
checked to see if the coolant additive in
your vehicle is suffic ient to meet the cli ­
mate cond itions . Th is is especially impor­
tant if you live in a region where the w in­
te r is extremely cold. If necessary, in­
crease the proport ion of coolant additive
to 60% .
- When adding coolan t addi tive to you r
cooling system , remember:
- We recommend using only coolant ad­ ditive G12 ++ or G13 for your vehicle.
This coo lant additive is available at au­
thorized Aud i dealers . Other types of
antifreeze can significantly reduce cor­
rosion protection . Th e resu lting co rro­
sion c an cause a loss of coo la nt and se­
r ious engine damage.
- Do not add a ny type of radiator leak sea l­
ant to your veh icle's engine coo lant.
Adding rad iator repair fluid may adverse ­
l y affect the function and performance of
your cooling system and could result in damage not covered by your New Vehicle Limited Warranty.
-
Checkin g and fillin g 263
Checking the engine coolant level
The engine coolant level can be checked with
a quick glance .
F ig . 2 4 6 En gin e compar tmen t: Coolant expan sio n ta nk
Befo re you check anyth ing in the eng ine com ­
partment,
alw ays r ead and he ed all WARN­
INGS ¢ A in Working in the engine comport­
ment on page 256 .
.,.. Park your vehicle on a level su rface.
.,.. Tu rn
off t he ignition .
.,.. Let the engine cool down.
.,.. Plac e a thick rag over the coolant expans ion
tank ¢
fig. 246, ¢ page 258, fig. 242 and
carefull y twist the cap counter-clockwise
¢_&. .
.,.. Read the engine coolant level in the open
coo lant expansion tank. W it h a co ld eng ine,
the coolant leve l should be between the
"min " and "max" markings. W hen the en­
gi ne is wa rm, the level may be slightly above
t he "max" marking.
T he location of the coo lant expansion tank
can be seen in the engi ne compa rtment illus­
trat ion
¢ page 258 .
To obtain an accu rate reading, the engine
must be switched off.
The expansion ta nk in your vehicle i s equ ipped
with an electric coolant level sensor .
When the coolant leve l is too low, the warning
light i n the Auto-Check System¢
page 32 will
blink unti l you add coolant and the level has
been restored to normal. Even though there is
an electric coo lant level senso r, we still rec­
ommend you check the coolant level from
t ime to t ime .

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-Antifreeze is poisonous . Always store an­
t ifreeze in its or iginal container and well
out of the reach of children.
- If you drain the coolant, it must be
caught and safely stored in a proper con­
tainer clearly marked "poison".
(D Note
- Coolant pollutes the environment and
could cause an engine fire. Excess coo l­
ant will be forced out through the pres­
sure re lief va lve in the cap when the en­
gine becomes hot.
- If, in an emergency, only water can be
added, the correct ratio between water
and antifreeze ¢
page 262 must be re­
stored as soon as possib le.
@ For the sake of the environment
Drained coolant should not be reused. Al­
ways dispose of used coolant while observ­ ing all environmental regulations .
Radiator fan
The radiator fan switches on automatically by
itself
The radiator fan is driven by the engine via the
V-belt . The viscous clutch regulates the speed
of the fan accord ing to the temperature of the
coolant .
An auxiliary electric radiator fan* switches on
and off depending on coolant temperature
and other vehicle operating conditions .
After you switch the engine off, the auxilia ry
fan can continue running for up to 10 minutes
- even with the ignition off. It can even switch
on again later by itself¢& , if
- the temperature of the engine coolant rises due to the heat build-up from the engine in
the engine compartment, or
- the engine compartment hea ts up because
the vehicle is parked in intense sunlight .
Checking and fillin g 265
A WARNING
-To reduce the risk of personal injury nev­
er touch the rad iator fan.
- The auxiliary electric fan is temperature
controlled and can switch on suddenly
even when the engine is not running .
- The auxiliary radiator fan switches on au­
tomatically when the engine coolant reaches a certain temperature and will
continue to run until the coo lant temper­
ature drops.
Brake fluid
Checking brake fluid level
The brak e fluid lev el can be check ed with a
quick glance.
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Fi g. 247 En gin e compa rtm en t: cover o n the bra ke fluid
reservoir
Before you check anything in the eng ine com­
partment ,
always read and heed all WARN­
INGS ¢ A in Working in the engine compart­
ment on page 256.
.,. Read the brake fluid level from the brake
fluid reservoir ¢
fig. 247, ¢ page 258,
fig. 242.
The brake fluid level must be be­
tween the "MIN" and "MAX" markings .
The brake fluid reservoir is located at the rear
partition of the eng ine compartment on the
left side ¢
page 258.
The fluid level may drop slightly after some
time due to t he automatic adjustment of the
brake pads. This is not cause for alarm. ..,_

328 Con sumer Inf ormation
-Always make su re the transmission se­
lector l ever (automat ic transmiss ion) is
in P (Park position) an d th e park brake is
firmly applied .
@) For the sake of the environment
-Changing the en gine settin gs wi ll ad­
versely affect em iss ion levels . This is det­
rimental to the enviro nment and incr eas­
es fuel consumption .
- Always observe env ironmental regula­
tions when dispos ing of old engine oil,
used brake fluid, dirty engine coolant,
spent batteries or worn o ut tires.
- Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
s ioners might be classified as Perchlo ­
rate Mate rial -spec ial handling may ap­
ply, see www.dtsc.ca .gov/hazardous­
was te/perch lorate . When the veh icle or
parts of the res traint system in cl uding
airbag modules safety belts wit h preten ­
sioners are scrapped, all applicable laws
and regulations must be observed. Your
authori zed Aud i 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 veh icle incorporates the latest safety de­
sig n featu res ensu ring a high standard of a c­
tive and passive safety .
This safety could be comp romised by non-ap­
proved changes to the ve hicle. For this reason ,
if pa rts have to be replaced , please obse rve
the following points when install ing addition­
a l accessories: Approved Audi accesso
ries and genuine Aud i
parts are available from authorized A udi deal­
ers.
T hese dea le rs a lso have the necessary facili­
ties, tools and tra ined specialists to install the
parts and acc essories proper ly .
A WARNING
-Using the wrong spare pa rts or using non-
approved accessories ca n cause damage to
the veh icle and ser ious persona l injury.
- Use on ly accessories express ly approved
by Audi and ge nuine Audi spare parts
- These parts and accessories have been
specia lly designed to be used on yo ur 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 will increase the
risk of injury if a irbags are triggered in an
accide nt!
- Before you check anything in the engine
compa rtment, always read and heed a ll
WARNI NGS
9 page 256 .
(D Note
-If items other than genu ine Audi spare
par ts, add-on equipmen t and accessory
items are used o r if repair wo rk is not
performed ac co rd ing to specified 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
elsew here, have the vehicle examined by
an authorized A udi dealer as soon as
possible .
- The manufacturer cannot be held liable
for damage wh ic h occ urs due to failure
to comply with these stipu lations.