2015 Seat Alhambra engine oil

Care and maintenance
CAUTION
● Never raise the vehicle at the engine oil
sump, the gearbox or the rear or front axles.
● Always use an intermediate rubber support
to prevent damage to the vehicle underbody. Check that the arms of the lifting platform are
able to move with obstruction.
● The arms should not come into contact with
the side running boards or other parts of the
vehicle. Care and cleaning the vehicle
exterior
Introduction Regular maintenance and washing help to
maintain the value
of the vehicle. This may
also be one of the requirements for acknowl-
edging warranty claims in the event of body-
work corrosion or paint defects.
Products suitable for the care of your vehicle
are available at any technical service. WARNING
Car-care products may be toxic and hazard-
ous. If car care products are not suitable or
are used inappropriately, this could result in
accident, serious injury, burns or intoxica-
tion. ●
Car care products must always be stored in
the original container which should be kept
closed.
● Observe information provided by the manu-
facturer.
● To prevent confusion, never store car care
products in empty food cans, bottles or other
containers.
● Keep all care products out of reach of chil-
dren.
● Harmful vapours may be produced when us-
ing car care products. Therefore, care prod-
ucts should only be used in well-ventilated
spaces or in the open air.
● Never use fuel, turpentine, engine oil, ace-
tone or any other volatile liquid to wash,
clean or care for the vehicle. These are toxic
and highly flammable. WARNING
Inappropriate care and cleaning of vehicle
components may effect the vehicle safety
equipment, increasing the risk of severe in-
jury.
● Vehicle components should only be
cleaned and maintained in accordance with
the manufacturer's instructions.
● Only use approved or recommended care
products. CAUTION
Cleaning products which contain solvents will
damage the material. For the sake of the environment
● Only wash the vehicle in areas allocated for
this purpose, to prevent dirty water which
may be contaminated by oil, grease or fuel,
from entering the drains. In some places,
washing it outside the planned areas is even
banned.
● Where possible, always use products which
respect the environment.
● The remains of car care products should not
be disposed of with ordinary household
waste. Observe information provided by the
manufacturer. Washing the vehicle
The longer substances such as insects, bird
droppings, resinous tree sap, road dirt, in-
dustrial deposits, tar, soot or road salt and
other aggressive materials remain on the ve-
hicle, the more damage they do to the paint-
work. High temperatures (for instance due to
strong sunlight) further intensify the corro-
sive effect. The vehicle
undercarriage should
also be thoroughly washed at regular inter-
vals. »
195Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety

Advice
Protection of vehicle undercarriage The vehicle underbody is coated to protect it
from chemical and mechanical damage. The
protective coat on the undercarriage may
wear from use while driving. Therefore, SEAT
recommends that the protective coating on
the undercarriage and on the running gear
should be regularly checked, and repaired if
necessary.
WARNING
Additional underseal or anti-corrosion prod-
ucts could catch fire due to the high tempera-
tures reached by the exhaust gas system and
other engine components.
● Do not apply additional underseal or anti-
corrosion products to the exhaust pipes, cat-
alytic converters, heat shields or other parts
of the vehicle which reach high temperatures. Cleaning the engine compartment
The engine compartment of any motor vehi-
cle is a potentially hazardous area
››› page 214 .
The en gine c
ompartment should only be
cleaned by qualified personnel. If it is not
correctly cleaned, the anti-corrosion coating
and consequently electrical components may
be damaged. Moreover, water may filter di- rectly into the vehicle interior through the wa-
ter chamber
››› .
If the engine compartment is very dirty, al-
ways take the vehicle to a specialised work-
shop for professional cleaning. SEAT recom-
mends taking your car in for technical serv-
ice.
Water box
The water box is in the engine compartment,
between the windscreen and the engine, and
beneath a perforated cover. Air is taken in
through the water box from outside to the ve-
hicle interior via the heating and air condi-
tioner.
Leaves and other loose objects should be
regularly cleaned away from the water box ei-
ther by hand or with a vacuum. WARNING
When working on the engine or in the engine
compartment, there is a risk of injury, burns,
accident or fire.
● Before starting work, please ensure you are
familiar with the required procedure and the
safety precautions ››› page 214.
● SEAT recommends getting a specialised
workshop to do these jobs. CAUTION
If water is manually poured into the water box
(e.g. using a high pressure cleaning appli-
ance), this could cause significant damage to
the vehicle. For the sake of the environment
Only wash the engine compartment in areas
allocated for this purpose, to prevent dirty
water which may be contaminated by oil,
grease or fuel, from entering the drains. In
some places, washing this compartment out-
side the planned areas is even banned. Caring for and cleaning the
vehicle interior
Introduction The dye used in many modern garments, for
example dark jeans, is not always sufficiently
colour-fast. Seat upholstery (material and
leather), especially when light-coloured, may
visibly discolour if the dye comes out of
clothing (even when used correctly). This is
not an upholstery defect but indicates that
the dye in the item of clothing is not suffi-
ciently colour-fast.
The longer stains or dirt remain on the vehi-
cle surfaces, especially the fabrics covering
the padded upholstery, the more difficult it
200

Care and maintenance
becomes to clean and maintain them. If
stains and dirt are left for a long time, it may
be that they are impossible to remove. WARNING
Car-care products may be toxic and hazard-
ous. Using unsuitable car-care products or,
using them in the wrong way, may cause acci-
dents, serious injury, burns or intoxication.
● Keep your car-care products in their origi-
nal containers.
● Read the instructions.
● Never keep car-care products in empty food
containers, bottles or other similar contain-
ers. Other people may confuse them.
● Keep all car-care products out of the reach
of children.
● Some products may give off harmful va-
pours during use. Therefore, they should be
used outdoors in well-ventilated places.
● Never use fuel, turpentine, engine oil, nail-
varnish remover or any other volatile product
for washing, maintenance or cleaning. These
are toxic and highly flammable. WARNING
Unsuitable maintenance and cleaning of vehi-
cle components may impair proper operation
of safety equipment and cause serious injury.
● Maintain and clean vehicle components ac-
cording to the manufacturer's instructions. ●
Only use approved or recommended clean-
ing products. CAUTION
● Cleaning products which contain solvents
have a corrosive effect and may damage the
material irreparably.
● Stains and dirt containing aggressive sub-
stances or solvents attack the material and
may damage it irreparably, even when they
are cleaned quickly.
● Dirt and stains should not be allowed to dry
and should be cleaned as quickly as possible.
● In the case of stubborn stains, take the ve-
hicle to a specialised workshop to avoid dam-
age. Treating your upholstery
To treat and maintain your seat upholstery,
keep the following in mind
››› :
● Before entering the vehicle, close any Vel-
cro fasteners that might snag on the uphols-
tery or trim fabric. Any open Velcro fasteners
may damage the trim or upholstery fabrics.
● To prevent damage, avoid direct contact
between sharp decorative objects and the
upholstery and trim fabrics. Decorative ob-
jects include zips, rivets and rhinestones on
clothing and belts. ●
From time to time, clean the dust that gath-
ers in the perforations, folds and seams so
that the surfaces of the seats are not dam-
aged by its abrasive effect.
● Make sure clothes are colour-fast to avoid
them running and staining the upholstery.
This is especially important if the upholstery
is light in colour. CAUTION
If you ignore this advice, which is important
for maintaining your seat upholstery, the fab-
ric may be damaged or stained. Note
SEAT recommends you take the vehicle to a
specialised workshop to treat any stains on
the upholstery caused by the discolouration
of clothing. How to clean the upholstery, trim
fabrics and Alcantara
® Cleaning the fabric on heated seats and
electrically adjustable seats or seats with
airbag components
It is possible that there are important airbag
components and electrical connections in-
side the driver seat, passenger seat and pos-
sibly the outer rear seats. If these seats and
seat backrests are damaged, or are cleaned
»
201Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety

Checking and refilling levels
●
Never enter the vehicle while refuelling. If it
is absolutely necessary to enter, close the
door and touch a metal surface before touch-
ing the filler nozzle again. This will prevent
the generation of static electricity. Sparks
could cause a fire when refuelling.
● Never handle fuel close to flames, sparks or
objects with slow combustion (e.g. ciga-
rettes).
● Avoid static electricity and electro-magnet-
ic radiation when refuelling.
● Observe the safety regulations of the serv-
ice station.
● Never spill fuel on the vehicle or in the lug-
gage compartment. WARNING
For safety reasons, SEAT does not recommend
carrying a spare fuel canister in the vehicle.
Fuel could be spilled and catch fire, above all
in case of an accident and this applies to a
full container as well as empty containers.
This could lead to explosions, fires and inju-
ries.
● Observe the following if you exceptionally
have to carry fuel in a canister:
–Never place a fuel container to fill it in-
side the vehicle or on the vehicle, for ex-
ample, in the boot or on the hatch. Filling
in these circumstances could create an
electrostatic charge and spark that could
ignite fuel fumes. –
Always place the canister on the ground
to fill it.
– Insert the fuel nozzle into the neck of the
canister as far as possible.
– If you are using a metal fuel canister, the
nozzle must always touch the canister
while it is being filled to avoid static elec-
tricity.
– Follow the legal requirements for the use,
storage and transport of spare fuel canis-
ters.
– Insure that the fuel container complies
with manufacturing standards, for exam-
ple, ANSI or ASTM F852-86. CAUTION
● Always remove any fuel spilled on the vehi-
cle paintwork immediately to avoid damage
to the wheel housing, the tyre and vehicle
paintwork.
● Refuelling a petrol engine with diesel or a
diesel engine with petrol can cause serious
engine and fuel system damage; the resulting
malfunctions are not covered by the SEAT
warranty. If you refuel with the wrong type of
fuel, never start the engine. This applies to
even the smallest amount of the wrong fuel.
Seek specialist assistance. With the engine
running, the composition of the wrong fuel
could significantly damage the fuel system
and the engine itself.
● In vehicles with a diesel engine, under no
circumstances should you refuel or drive with petrol, kerosene, heating oil or any other
type of different fuel. Other types of fuels
could cause serious damage to the engine
and to the fuel supply system and the result-
ing problems are not covered by the SEAT
warranty.
For the sake of the environment
Fuels can contaminate the environment. Col-
lect any spilt service fluids and allow a pro-
fessional to dispose of them. Note
There is no emergency mechanism for the
manual release of the tank flap. If necessary,
request assistance from specialised person-
nel. 207Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety

Checking and refilling levels
A cold diesel engine makes more noise dur-
ing winter temperatures than summer tem-
peratures. Furthermore, the exhaust gases
may turn slightly bluish while the engine is
heating. The quantity of exhaust gases will
depend on the outside temperature.
Filter pre-heater
Vehicles with a diesel engine are fitted with a
fuel filter pre-heating system. This ensures
that the fuel system remains operational to
approx. -24 °C (-11.2 °F), provided you use
winter-grade diesel which is safe to -15 °C
(+5.0 °F).
However, if the fuel has waxed to such an ex-
tent that the engine will not start at tempera-
tures of under -24 °C (-11.2 °F), simply place
the vehicle in a warm garage or workshop for
a while to heat up.
Auxiliary heater
Vehicles with a diesel engine may be fitted
with an auxiliary heater. The heater runs off
the fuel from the fuel tank. On doing so,
smells and steam may be noticed outside the
vehicle for a short period. This is normal and
it is not an indication of a fault in the vehicle.
Whenever there is little fuel in the tank (re-
serve), the auxiliary heater automatically
switches off. WARNING
Never use start boosters. An aerosol start
booster could explode or cause a sudden rise
in engine speed leading to engine damage
and serious injury. CAUTION
● The vehicle is not prepared for the use of
biodiesel. Never, under any circumstances re-
fuel with biodiesel. It could damage the fuel
system and subsequently lead to engine
faults!
● The addition of biodiesel to diesel by the
diesel producer according to Standard EN 590
or other equivalent (DIN 51628 in Germany,
for example) is authorised and causes no
type of damage to the engine or the fuel sys-
tem.
● The diesel engine has been designed for to
use diesel fuel exclusively. Therefore, never
use petrol, fuel oil or other unsuitable fuels.
The composition of these fuels may signifi-
cantly damage the fuel system and the en-
gine.
● The use of diesel fuels with a high sulphur
percentage could considerably reduce the
service life of the diesel particulate filter.
Your technical service centre will be able to
tell you which countries have diesel with a
high sulphur content. Information on fuel consumption
The consumption and emission values indi-
cated do not refer to one specific vehicle.
They are only to be used to compare the val-
ues of the different vehicle versions. The fuel
consumption and CO
2 emissions of a vehicle
not only depend on the effective use of fuel.
They also depend on your driving style and
other non-technical factors.
Calculation of fuel consumption
Fuel consumption and emission values are
determined according to the current version
of the 715/2007/EC or 80/1268/EEC regula-
tion and are valid for the vehicle kerb weight.
The specifications do not
refer to an individu-
al
vehicle. Two measuring cycles are carried
out on a rolling road test bed to calculate fuel
consumption. The test criteria are as follows:
Urban cy-
cleMeasurement of the urban cycle starts
with an engine cold start. City driving is si-
mulated below at between 0 and 50 km/h
(31 mph).
Road cycle
In the road cycle simulation, the car under-
goes frequent acceleration and braking in
all gears, as in normal everyday driving.
The road speed ranges from 0 to
120 km/h (0 and 75 mph).
Combined
The average combined consumption is cal-
culated with a weighting of around 37 %
for the urban cycle and 63 % for the road
cycle.
» 211
Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety

Advice
risk from rotating parts, such as the drive
belts, alternator, radiator fan, etc., as well as
from the high-voltage ignition system. Al-
ways work with the utmost caution.
– Always make sure that no parts of your
body, jewellery, ties, loose clothing and
long hair can be trapped by the rotating
parts of the engine. Before any work, re-
move ties and jewellery (necklaces, etc),
tie long hair back and tie all items of
loose clothing to your body to make sure
that they cannot be trapped by engine
components.
– Take extreme caution when operating the
accelerator and remain attentive. The ve-
hicle could move, even with the electron-
ic parking brake activated.
● Always make sure you have not left any ob-
jects, such as cleaning cloths and tools, in
the engine compartment. If any object is left
in the engine compartment, this could cause
malfunctions, engine faults and even a fire. WARNING
Refill liquids and certain materials can catch
fire easily in the engine compartment, caus-
ing a fire and serious injury!
● Never smoke.
● Never work close to places exposed to
flames or sparks.
● Never pour service fluids over the engine.
These fluid may ignite hot engine parts and
cause injuries. ●
If it is necessary to work on the fuel system
or the electrical system, please follow the in-
structions below:
–Always disconnect the vehicle battery.
When disconnecting the battery, ensure
that the vehicle is unlocked otherwise
the anti-theft alarm will be triggered.
– Never work close to heaters, heat sources
or places exposed to flames or sparks.
● Always keep a recently serviced and per-
fectly working fire extinguisher close by.
● Never cover the engine with additional in-
sulating materials such as a blanket. Risk of
fire! CAUTION
When refilling or changing service liquids,
ensure that you put the liquids into the right
tank. Making a mistake when refilling could
cause serious malfunctions and damage the
engine! For the sake of the environment
Service fluids leaks are harmful to the envi-
ronment. For this reason you should make
regular checks on the ground underneath
your vehicle. Take the vehicle to a specialised
workshop to be checked if you see stains, oil
or other fluids on the ground. Collect any
spilt service fluids and allow a professional to
dispose of them. Opening and closing the bonnet
Fig. 162
In the footwell on the driver side:
Lever for unlocking the bonnet Fig. 163
Release lever to open the bonnet in
the radiator grille Opening the bonnet
The lever to open the bonnet can only be
used if the driver door is open.
216

Checking and refilling levels
● Before opening the bonnet, make sure that
the windscreen wiper arms are in place
against the windscreen ››› .
● Open the driver door.
● Pull the release lever ››› Fig. 162 in the di-
r ection of
the arrow. The bonnet is released
from the lock carrier by a spring mechanism
››› .
● Lift the bonnet using the release lever
››› Fig. 163 (arrow) and open the bonnet fully.
The bonnet i

s held open thanks to the gas
strut.
Closing the bonnet
● To close the bonnet, pull it down to over-
come the gas strut pressure ››› .
● Allow the bonnet to fall into the lock carrier.
Do not press down.
If the bonnet is not correctly closed, open it
once again and close it correctly.
The bonnet is correctly closed when it is flush
with the corresponding parts on the body-
work. WARNING
If the bonnet is not correctly closed, it could
suddenly open while driving leaving the driv-
er without visibility. This could result in a se-
rious accident.
● After closing the bonnet, always check that
it is properly secured by the locking mecha- nism in the lock carrier. The bonnet must be
flush with the surrounding body panels.
●
While driving, if you notice that the bonnet
is not correctly closed then stop immediately
and close it correctly.
● Only open and close the bonnet when there
is nobody within its range. CAUTION
● To avoid damage to the bonnet and to the
windscreen wiper arms, only open it when
the windscreen wipers are in place against
the windscreen.
● Before driving, always lower the wiper
arms. Checking fluid levels
Fig. 164
Diagram for the location of the vari-
ous elements. From time to time, the levels of the different
fluids in the vehicle must be checked. Never
fill with incorrect fluids, otherwise serious
damage to the engine may be caused.
Coolant fluid deposit
Engine oil dipstick
Oil filler neck
Brake fluid reservoir
Vehicle battery (underneath a cover)
Windscreen washer fluid reservoir »
1 2
3
4
5
6
217
Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety

Advice
The checking and refilling of service fluids
are carried out on the components men-
tioned above. These operations are descri-
bed in ››› page 214 .
Ov er
view
Further explanations, instructions and restric-
tions on the technical data are contained as
of ››› page 274
Engine oil Introduction WARNING
Incorrectly handling engine oil can cause in-
jury and serious burns.
● Always protect your eyes when handling
engine oil.
● Oil is toxic and must be kept out of the
reach of children.
● Engine oil should only be kept in its origi-
nal packaging; the same goes for used oil un-
til it is disposed of.
● Never store engine oil in empty food con-
tainers or bottles as other people may acci-
dentally drink it.
● Regular contact with engine oil can be bad
for the skin. If you come into contact with en-
gine oil, wash your skin with soap and water. ●
With the engine running, the engine oil
gets extremely hot and can cause severe skin
burns. Always wait until the engine has fully
cooled. For the sake of the environment
Similar to the other service liquids, spilled
engine oil can be bad for the environment.
Collect these liquids in suitable containers
and dispose of them while respecting the en-
vironment. Warning and control lamps
It lights
upPossible causeSolution 
Insufficient engine
oil.Switch the ignition
off. Check the en-
gine oil level
››› page 219.
FlashesPossible causeSolution 
Engine oil pres-
sure too low. 
Stop the vehicle!
Switch off the en-
gine. Check the en-
gine oil level.
- If the warning lamp
flashes although the
oil level is correct,
do not continue driv-
ing or leave the en-
gine running. Other-
wise, the engine
could be damaged.
Seek specialist as-
sistance. 
Engine oil sensor
faulty.Contact a special-
ised workshop. Have
the engine oil sensor
checked.
WARNING
Observe the safety warnings ››› in Control
and warning lamps on page 47. Engine oil specifications
Replacement engine oil must strictly comply
with the specifications.
The correct oil must be used to ensure the
correct operation and long service life of the
engine. The engine comes with a high-quality
multigrade oil that can generally be used all
year round.
218