2015 AUDI S4 maintenance

Trailer towing tips
Important to know
Your vehicle hand les different ly when tow ing
a trailer because o f the addit ional weight and
d iffe ren t weight distribution . Safety, pe rform ­
ance and economy w ill greatly depend on how
caref ully you load your trailer and operate
your rig.
B efore you actua lly tow your trailer, pr actice
turning, stopp ing and bac king up in an area
away from traffic. Keep practicing until you have become comp lete ly fam iliar with the way
your veh icle-trailer comb ination behaves and
responds.
Backing up is d ifficu lt a nd requires practice .
Backing up with a tra iler genera lly requires
steer ing action opposite to that when backing
up your vehicle without a trailer.
M aintain a g reater distance betwee n your ve­
h icle and the one in front o f you . You will need
mo re room to stop. To compensate for the
trailer, you will need a larger than normal
turning radius .
W hen pass ing, remember that yo u cannot ac ­
celerate as fast as yo u normally wo uld be­
cause of the added load. Ma ke s ure you have
e nough room to pass . After passing , allow
p lenty o f room fo r your tra iler before chang­
in g la nes aga in .
Avoid jerky starts, sharp turns or rap id lane
changes.
(D Tips
- Do not tow a tra iler during the break-in
period of you r vehicle.
- If you tow a trailer, your A udi may re­
quire more frequent maintenance due to
the extra load
o page 283.
Trailer towin g 201
Parking on a slope
Do not park on a slope with a trailer . If it can­
not be avoided, do so only after doing the fol­ lowing:
When parking:
.. App ly the foot brake.
.. Have someone p lace chocks under both the
veh icle and the tra iler wheels .
.,. With chocks in place, slowly release t he
bra kes unt il t he whee l choc ks absorb the
load .
.. Tu rn the whee ls towards the curb.
.,. App ly the par king b rake .
.. Place an a utomatic transm ission* in P, re ­
spectively a manual transmission in first or
reverse gear.
When restarting after parking:
.,. App ly th e foot br ake .
.. Start t he en gine.
.. Move the selector lever to D/S , respect ively
a man ual transmiss ion in first gea r.
.. Release the parking bra ke and s low ly pull
out and away from the wheel chocks .
.. Stop and have someone retr ieve the wheel
chocks.
@ Tips
If you move the selector leve r of the auto­
matic transmissio n* to P before applying
the pa rking brake and before blocking the
whee ls, you may hav e to use mor e forc e
l ater to m ove the le ver out of the P posi­
tion.
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level appears, contact your authorized
A udi dealer or qualified workshop to
have excess oil ext racted if necessary.
- Audi does not recommend the use of oil
additi ves. They may damage the engine
and ad ve rsely affect your New Vehicle
Warranty.
@) For the sake of the environment
- Under no circ umstances ca n the o il come
i n contact with the sewage network or
the soil.
- Observe and fo llow lega l regu lations
when disposing of empty oil containers.
Changing the engine oil
We recommend thot hove your oil changed by
an authori zed Audi dealer or a qualified serv­
ice station .
Before you c hec k anything in the engine com ­
pa rtment,
always read and heed all WARN ­
INGS
c:> A in Working in the engine compart­
ment on page 212.
The engine oil must be changed according to the intervals specified in your Warra nty
&
Maintenance book let . This is very important
beca use the l ubricating properties of oil di­
minish gradua lly dur ing normal veh icle use .
Unde r some c irc umstances the engine o il
should be changed more frequently . Change
oil more often if you drive m ost ly short dis­
tances, operate the vehicle in dusty areas or
u nder predominantly stop-and-go t raff ic con­
d it ions, or have your veh icle w her e tempera­
tures rema in below free zing fo r ex tended pe­
rio ds.
Detergent add itives in the o il w ill mak e fresh
oil look da rk after the eng ine has been run­
ni ng fo r a shor t time. This is norma l and is not
a reason to ch an ge the oi l mo re often th an
recommended.
B ecause of the prob lem of prope r dispos al,
a long w ith the spe cial tools and necessary ex­
pe rti se require d, we strong ly recommend tha t
Checkin g and fillin g 217
you have your oil changed by an a uthorized
Audi deale r or a qualified service station.
If you choo se to change your oil your self ,
please note the fo llow ing important info rma­
t ion :
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of pe rsonal i njury if you
must change the eng ine oil in yo ur vehicle
yourself:
- Wear eye protect ion .
- To reduce t he risk of burns from hot en -
gine oil, let the engine coo l down to the
touch .
- W hen removi ng the oil dra in plug with
your fingers, stay as fa r away as possib le .
A lways keep your fo rearm parallel to the
groun d to help p revent hot o il from run­
ning down you r arm .
- Dra in the oil into a c ontaine r designed
for this purpose, one large enough to hold at least the tota l amount of oi l in
your engin e.
- Eng ine oil is poison ous. Keep it we ll out
of the reach of childre n.
- Continu ous contact wit h used eng ine oi l
is harmful to yo ur sk in. Always protect
your skin by washi ng oil off tho ro ughly
w it h soap and wate r.
(J) Note
Neve r mix oil additives with yo ur engine
oi l. These additives can damage your en­
g in e and adversely affect you r Aud i Limit­
ed New Veh icle Warranty.
@ For the sake of the environment
-Before changi ng your oil, first make su re
you know where you ca n prope rly dispose
of the us ed oil.
- Always disp ose of used eng ine o il proper­
ly . D o not dump it on garde n soil, wood­
e d ar eas, into op en st reams o r down
sewage drain s.
- Recycle used engi ne oil by taking it to a
used eng ine oil collect io n facility in you r
a rea, or contact a service sta tio n.
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258 Tires and wheels
Accordingly, when the low tire pressure tell­
tale illuminates, you should stop and check
your tires as soon as possible, and inf late
them to the proper pressure. Driving on a sig­ nificantly under-inflated tire causes the tire to
overheat and can lead to tire failure. Under-in­
flation also reduces fuel efficiency and tire
tread life, and may affect the vehicle's han­
dling and stopp ing ability.
Please note that the TPMS is not a subst itute
for proper tire maintenance, and it is the driv­
er's responsib ility to ma inta in correct tire
pressu re, even if under- inflation has not
reached the level to trigger illumination of the
TPMS low tire pressure telltale.
Your veh icle has also been equ ipped with a
TPMS malfunction indicator to indicate when
the system is not operating properly. The
TPMS malfunction indicator is combined with
the low tire pressure telltale . When the sys­
tem detects a malfunction, the te lltale will
f lash for approximately one minute and then
remain cont inuous ly illuminated. This se­
quence will continue upon subsequent vehicle
start-ups as long as the ma lfunction ex ists .
When the malfunct ion indicator is illuminat­
ed, the system may not be able to detect or
signal low t ire pressure as intended. TPMS
malfunctions may occur for a variety of rea­
sons, includ ing the installat ion of replace­
ment or a lternate tires or whee ls on the veh i­
cle that prevent the TPMS from functioning
p rop erly. Always check the TPM S malf unct ion
tellta le after replacing one o r more t ires or
wheels on your vehicle to ensure that the re­ p lacement or a lternate tires and wheels allow
the TPMS to continue to function properly. Tire pressure indicator appears
App lies to vehicles : wi th tire p ress ure mo nito rin g system
The tire pressure indicator in the instrument
cluster informs you if the tire pressure is too
low or if there is a system malfunction .
Fig. 194 Display: u nde rinfla tion warning
Using the ABS sensors, the tire pressure moni­
toring system compares the tire tread circum­
ference and vibration characteristics of the in­
dividua l tires.
If the pressure decreases in one
or more t ires, this is indicated in the instru­
ment cluster with a
RI] war ning symbol and a
message¢
fig . 194 . The driver message in the
display goes out afte r 5 seconds . The driver
message can be displayed again by pressing
the
ISETI button. If o nly one tire is affec ted,
the display will ind icate its position.
The tire pressure monitoring system must be
reset via rad io or MMI* each time the pres­
sures are adjusted (e.g. when switching be­
tween partial and full load pressure) or after
changing or replacing a tire on your ve hicle
¢
page 259. The TPMS indicator only moni ­
tors the tire pressure that you have previous ly
stored. You can find the recommended tire
pressures for your vehicle on the label on driv­
er's side 8-pillar ¢
page 234.
Tire tread circumference and vibration charac­
teristics can change and cause a tire pressure
warning if:
- the tire pressure in one or more tires is too
low,
- the tir e has structural damage,
- the tir e pressure was changed, wheels rotat-
ed or rep laced but the TPMS was not reset
¢page 259, ..,_

280 Technical Dat a
Technical Data
Vehicle identification
F ig. 220 Vehicle I dent ifica tion Num be r (VlN) pla te: lo·
cat ion on driver 's side dash pane l
XXXXX XX · X -XXXX XXX
r,"\__l f~ -11!111 · NII. ~ V!Hlll -llllll . NO.
xx
XXXXXXXX XX X XXXXXXXX
XXX XXX IYP IT'fl'E
XX XXXXXXX XX X X XX
XXX
KW XXX
®i ~~:f :l~~ XXXX XXX XXX
@+ ~~r= XXXX I XXXX XXX I XX M ,. AIIISl./ lflllllS
EOA 7D5 4 UB 6XM SSG 5RW
2E H JDZ llB l AS lBA
3FC 5MU 7Xl
FO A
9G3 OG7 O
YH OJF
TL6 3
KA BEH
UlA X9B QZ 7
l XW
8Q3 9Q8 82 4 020
7T6 CV 7 7KO 4X3 2K2
3L4 4 KC 3YO 4I3 502
lS A 7GB Q1A 4GQ
XX X
XX X XX X XXXX
Fig. 221 Th e ve hicle identi ficat ion labe l: ins ide the lu g ­
gage compart men t
Vehicle Identification Number (VlN )
The Ve hicle Identific ation Number is located
in different p laces :
- under the w indshield on the dr iver's s ide
~fig . 220.
- in the rad io or in the MM !": Select: I CAR !
func tion button >
Vehicle ID number (VIN)
or se lect: ICAR !f unct ion button> Car sys­
tems* control button > Servicing & check s >
VIN number .
-on the veh icle identific ation label.
Vehicle identification label
T he veh icle identification label is lo cate d in
the luggage compartment near the ba ttery .
T he labe l~
fig. 221 shows the fo llowing vehi­
cl e dat a:
(D Vehicle Identificat ion Number (VIN)
@ Vehicle type, engine o utp ut, transmission
@ Engine and transm iss ion code
@ Pa int number and inte rior
® Optional equipment numbers
T he information of the veh icle identification
l a bel ca n also be fou nd i n your War ran ty
&
Maintenance booklet .
Safety compliance sticker
The safety compliance sticker is you r assur­
ance that yo ur new ve hicle complies with all
applicable Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety
S tan dards which we re in effect at the t ime the
vehicle was manufactured . You can find this
sticker on the door jamb on the driver's side .
It shows the month and year of production
and the vehicle ident ificat ion number of your
vehicle (perforation) as well as th e Gross Veh i­
cle Weight Rating (GVWR) and the Gross A xle
Weight Rating (GAWR) .
High vo ltage warning label
The high voltage warning label is located in
the engine compartment next to the engine
hood release. The spark ignition system com­
plies with the Ca nadian standard ICES-002 .
Weights
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR), and
the Gross Axle Weight Rat ing (GAWR) for
front and rear are listed on a sticker on the
doo r jamb on the driver 's side .
The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating includes the
weight of the basic vehicle plus fu ll fuel ta nk,
o il and coolant, plus max imum load, which in­
cludes passenger weight (150 lbs/68 kg per
designated seating posi tion) and luggage
we ight~ _&.

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Consumer Information
Warranty coverages
Your Audi is covered by the following war­
ranties :
- New Vehicle Limited Warranty
- Limited Warranty Against Corrosion Perfo-
ration
- Emissions Control System Warranty
- Emissions Performance Warranty
- California Emissions Control Warranty (USA
vehicles only)
- California Emissions Performance Warranty
(USA vehicles only)
Detailed information regarding yo ur warran ­
ties can be found in your
Warranty & Mainte­
nance booklet .
Operating your vehicle
outside the U.S.A. or
Canada
Government regulations in the United States
and Canada require that automobiles meet
specific emission regulations and safety
standards. Therefore, veh icles built for the
U.S.A. and Canada differ from vehicles sold in
other countries .
I f you p lan to take your vehicle outside the
continental limits of the United States or Can­
ada, there is the possibility that:
- unleaded fuels for vehicles with cata lytic
converter may not be available;
- fuel may have a considerably lower octane
rating . Improper fuel may cause engine
damage;
- service may be inadequate due to lack of
proper service facilities, tools or testing
equipment;
- replacement parts may not be readily availa­
ble.
- Navigation systems for vehicles built for the
U.S.A. and Canada will not necessari ly work
in Europe, and may not work in other coun­
tries outside of North America.
Consumer Information 283
@ Note
Audi cannot be responsible for mechanical
damage that could result from inadequate
fuel, serv ice or parts availab ility.
Audi Service Repair
Manuals and Literature
Audi Offic ial Factory Service Manuals and Lit ­
erature are published as soon as possible after
model introduct ion. Service manuals and lit­
erat ure are available to order from the Audi
T echnical Literature Ordering Center at:
www.audi.techliterature.com
Maintenance
' General
Your vehicle has been designed to help keep
maintenance requirements to a m inimum.
However, a certain amount of regular mainte­
nance is still necessary to assure your vehicle's
safety, economy and reliability . For detailed
vehicle maintenance consult your Warranty
&
Maintenance booklet.
Under difficult operating conditions , for ex­
ample at extremely low outside temperatures,
in very dusty regions, when towing a trailer
very frequently, etc., some serv ice work
shou ld be pe rformed between the intervals
specified. This applies particularly to:
- oil changes, and
- cleaning or replacing the air filter.
® For the sake of the environment
By regularly maintaining your veh icle, you
help make sure that emission standards
are maintained, thus min imiz ing adverse
effects on the environment .
Important considerations for you and
your vehicle
The increasing use of electronics, sophistica t­
ed fuel injection and emission contro l sys-
tems, and the genera lly increasing technica l ..,_
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28 4 Con sum er Inf ormation
comp lexity of today's automobi les, have
steadi ly reduced the scope of maintenance
and repairs which can be carried out by vehicle
owners.
Also, s afety an d e nvir onm ent al con­
cerns place very strict limits on the nature of repairs and adjustments to engine and trans ­
miss ion pa rts which an owner can perform .
Maintenance, adjustments and repa irs usua lly
require special tools, testing devices and oth­
er equipment avai lab le to specially trained
workshop personnel in order to assure proper
performance, reliab ility and safety of the vehi­
cle and its many systems .
Improper ma intenance, adjustments and re ­
pa irs can impair the operation and reliab ility
of your vehicle and even void your vehicle war­ ranty. Therefo re , proof of servici ng in accord­
ance w it h the ma intenance sched ule may be a
condition for upholding a possible warranty
claim made within the warran ty period.
Above all, operational safety can be adve rsely
affected, c reating unnecessary risks for you
and your passengers.
If in doubt about any serv icing, have it done
by your author ized Audi dealer or any properly
equ ipped and qu alified workshop. We strong­
l y urge you to give your authorized Audi dea ler
the opportunity to perform all scheduled maintenance and necessary repairs . Your deal­
er has the facilities, or iginal parts and trained
specialists to keep your veh icle running prop­
erly.
Performing lim it e d m aint en anc e y ourself
The following pages describe a limited num­
ber of procedures which can be performed on
you r vehicle with ordinary tools, should the
need arise and trained personnel be unavaila­
ble. Before performing any of these proce­
dures, always thoroughly read all of the app li­
cable text and ca refully follow the instruc­
tions given. Always rigorously obse rve the
WARNINGS p rovided .
Before you ch eck anything in th e engine
compartm ent, alw ays read an d hee d all WARNINGS
¢ & a
nd ¢ & in Working in the
engine comportment on page 212 .
A WARNING
--Serious personal in jury may occur as a re-
sult of improperly performed mainte­ nance, adjustments or repa irs.
- Always be extremely careful when work­
ing on the vehicle. Always follow com­
monly accepted safety pract ices and gen­
eral common sense. Never r isk personal
in jur y.
- Do not attempt any of the maintenance,
checks or repairs descr ibed o n the fol­
lowing pages if you are not fu lly fam iliar
with these or other procedures with re­ spect to the ve hicl e, or are uncerta in how
to proceed .
- Do not do any work withou t the proper
too ls and equipment . Have the necessary
work done by your authorized A udi deal ­
er or any properly equipped and q ualified
workshop.
- The engine compar tment o f any motor
vehicle is a potentially hazardous area. Never reach into the area around or
touch the rad iator fan. It is temperature
control led and can sw itch on suddenly -
even when the engine is off and the igni­
tion key has been removed. The rad iator
fan switches on automatically when the coo lant reaches a certain tempera ture
and will cont inue to run until the coo lant
temperature drops .
- Always remove the ign ition key befo re
a nyone gets under the veh icle.
- Always suppor t your veh icle with safety
s tands if it is necessary to work under­
neath the vehicle. The jack s upplied with
the vehicle is not adequate for this pur ­
pose and co uld co llapse causing serio us
personal injury.
- If you must work unde rneath the vehicle
with the wheels on the ground, a lways
make sure the vehicle is on leve l ground,
that the wheels are always securely blocked and that the engine cannot be
started.

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------------------------------~I~ n~ d~ e~x~ 295
Loading .... .. .... .... ... .. .. .. ... 132
Partition net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72, 73
Pass-thro ugh ... ...... ... .. .. .. .. .. 75
Revers ible mat ........... .... .. .... 75
Secur ing attachments ............... 75
Ski sack ........................... 75
Tie-downs .. ... .. .. ... ... .. .. .
74, 133
Valet park ing ................... ... 45
Lumbar support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61, 62
M
Maintenance ... .... .... ... .. .. .. ... 283
M alf unct io n I ndicator Lamp (MIL) . . 20, 29
Manual transmission ................. 93
Matte fin ish pa int cleaning . ... .. .. .. . 20 2
Mechanical key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 33
Memory funct ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Mil eage
Average .. .. ............. .. .. .. .. ..
24
Instantaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
M irrors
Ad justing the exte rior mi rrors . .. .. .. .. 52
Compass . .. .... ......... .... .. .. .. 58
d' . 1mming ... .... ......... .. .. .. .. .. 53
Vanity mirrors . ... .... ... .. .. .. .. . .
Mon itoring the Advanced Airbag System
multitronic
. . .. ........... .. .. .. ....
54
154
93
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL) . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Driving .. .. .. .. ............ ... .. .. 95
Emergency mode ................... 99
Manual s hift program ......... .. .. .. 98
Selecto r leve r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
N
Natural leather
C l ·
eaning ... ... .. .. ... ... .. .. .. .. . 205
Net .. .. ... . .... ............. .. .. ..
68
New tires and w heels
NHTSA 248
Contact ing ..................... .. 134
Number of seats .................... 136
0
Occupant seating positions
Octane rating 127
207
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Offroad .......... .. ............... 197
OFF (automatic climate control) . . . . . . . . 79
Oil
refer to Eng ine oi l . . . . . . . . . . . . 214, 216
Oil consumpt ion .... ................ 216
On-Board D iagnost ic System (OBD)
Data Link Connector (DLC) ............
29
Electronic speed limiter .............. 30
Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) ..... 29
Open door or front lid warning . ... .. .. . 23
Opening
Power w indows ...... ............. .
42
Rear li d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39, 40 , 41
Slid ing/ti lting s unroof .. ..... ... .. .. . 43
Sunshade ....... .. . .. .. ..... ... .. . 43
Sun shades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 55
Open ing/closing
at the lock cy linder ................. .
37
by remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
with the ce ntra l locking sw itch ... .. .. . 35
with the convenience key ..... ... .. .. . 35
Operate yo ur vehicle e conomi cally and
min imize poll ution . ............... ..
195
Optional equipment
Marked w ith an aster isk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Other equipment (efficiency program)
27
Outs ide mir ro rs
refer to E xterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Outs ide temperature disp lay . . . . . . . . . . .
23
Owner's manual
How the Owner's Manual is organ ized ... 6
p
Paint damage 204
Pa int No ........................... 280
Parcel shelf ... .. .. .. .. ........... .. . 76
Pa rk assist . . .. .. .... .. .. ...... ... .. 118
Cleaning sensors/came ra lenses .. .. .. 203
Pa rking ................. ........... 88
A ut oma tic transm iss ion ........ .. .. .
95
Vale t parking .. .. .. ........... .... . 45
Parking brake ... .. .. . .. .... ...... .. .
87
also refer to Electromechanical parking
brake ........ .... .................
87
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