Advice
Diesel Diesel* Diesel fuel
must conform to DIN EN 590 (EN =
“European Standard”). It must have a cetane
number (CN) of at least 51. The cetane num-
ber indicates the ignition quality of the diesel
fuel.
Notes on refuelling ››› page 158.
Biodiesel* CAUTION
● Your vehicle is not designed to use biodie-
sel fuel. Never, under any circumstances re-
fuel with biodiesel. The use of biodiesel fuel
could damage the engine and the fuel sys-
tem. The addition of biodiesel to diesel fuel
by the diesel manufacturer in accordance
with standard EN 590 or DIN 51628 is author-
ised and will not cause damage to the engine
or the fuel system.
● The diesel engine has been designed to be
used exclusively with diesel fuel conforming
to standard EN 590. Never refuel or use pet-
rol, kerosene, fuel oil or any other type of
fuel. If you accidentally fill up the vehicle
with the wrong type of fuel, do not start the
engine. Seek assistance from specialised per-
sonnel. The composition of these fuels may
severely damage the fuel system and the en-
gine. Winter operation
Winter-grade diesel
When using “summer-grade diesel fuel”, dif-
ficulties may be experienced at temperatures
below 0 °C (+32 °F) because the fuel thickens
due to wax separation. For this reason, “win-
ter-grade diesel fuel” is available in some
countries during the cold months. It can be
used at temperatures as low as -22 °C (-8 °F).
In countries with different climatic conditions
the diesel fuel generally sold has different
temperature characteristics. Check with the
Technical Services or filling stations in the
country concerned regarding the type of die-
sel fuels available.
Filter pre-heater
Your vehicle is fitted with a fuel filter glow
plug system, making it well equipped for op-
eration in winter. This ensures that the fuel
system remains operational to approx. -24 °C
(-11 °F), provided you use winter-grade diesel
which is safe to -15 °C (+5 °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 °F), simply leave
the vehicle in a heated area for a while.
CAUTION
Do not mix fuel additives, the so-called “thin-
ners”, or similar additives with diesel fuel. LPG system (Liquefied
petroleum gas)*
Refuelling with LPG 3 Applies to the model: ALTEA / ALTEA XL
Fig. 140
Fuel tank open with LPG filler neck
and adapter 160
Checking and refilling levels
Fixed service intervals*
If your vehicle does not have the “LongLife
service interval” or it has been disabled (by
request), you may use oils for fixed service
intervals , which also appear in
›
› › page 167,
Oil properties . In this case, your vehicle must
be serviced after a fixed interval of 1
year/15 000 km (10 000 miles)(whatever
comes first) ››› Booklet Maintenance Pro-
gramme.
● In ex
ceptional circumstances, if the engine
oil level is too low ››› page 167 and you can-
not o
btain the oil specified for your vehicle,
you can put in a small quantity of oil con-
forming to the specification ACEA A2 or
ACEA A3 (petrol engines) or ACEA B3 or
ACEA B4 (diesel engines) (up to 0.5 l).
Vehicles with a diesel particulate filter*
The Maintenance Programme states whether
your vehicle is fitted with a diesel particulate
filter.
Only VW 507 00 engine oil, with reduced ash
formation, may be used in diesel engines
equipped with particulate filter. Using other
types of oil will cause a higher soot concen-
tration and reduce the life of the DPF. There-
fore:
● Avoid mixing this oil with other engine oils.
● Only in exceptional circumstances, if the
engine oil level is too low ››› page 167 and you cannot obtain the oil specified for your
vehicle, you can use a small quantity of oil
(once) conforming to the VW 506 00,
VW 506 01, VW 505 00, VW 505 01 or
ACEA B3/ACEA B4 specification. (up to 0.5 l).
Oil properties
Engine typeSpecification
Petrol without flexible
service intervalVW 502 00/VW 504 00
Petrol with flexible serv-
ice interval (LongLife)VW 504 00
Diesel. Engines without
Particulate filter (DPF)VW 505 01/VW 506 01/VW
507 00
Diesel. Particulate Filter
Engines (DPF).
With or without flexible
service interval (with
and without LongLife) a)VW 507 00
a)
Only use recommended oils, otherwise you may damage the
engine.
Engine oil additives
No type of additive should be mixed with the
engine oil. The deterioration caused by these
additives is not covered by the warranty. Note
Before a long trip, we recommend finding an
engine oil that conforms to the correspond-
ing VW specifications and recommend keep-
ing it in the vehicle. This way, the correct en-
gine oil will always be available for a top-up if
needed. Checking the engine oil level
Fig. 147
Engine oil dipstick. The engine oil dipstick indicates the level of
the oil.
Checking oil level
– Park the vehicle in a horizontal position.
– Briefly run the engine at idle speed until
the operating temperature is reached and
then stop.
– Wait for about two minutes.
»
167
Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety
Checking and refilling levels
Changing engine oil The engine oil must be changed at the inter-
vals given in the service schedule.
We recommend that you have the engine oil
changed by a Technical Service.
The oil change intervals are shown in the
Maintenance Programme.
WARNING
Only change the engine oil yourself if you
have the specialist knowledge required!
● Before opening the bonnet, read and ob-
serve the warnings ››› page 163, Safety in-
structions on working in the engine compart-
ment.
● Wait
for the engine to cool down. Hot oil
may cause burn injuries.
● Wear eye protection to avoid injuries, such
as acid burns, caused by splashes of oil.
● When removing the oil drain plug with your
fingers, keep your arm horizontal to help pre-
vent oil from running down your arm.
● Wash your skin thoroughly if it comes into
contact with engine oil.
● Engine oil is poisonous! Used oil must be
stored in a safe place out of the reach of chil-
dren. CAUTION
No additives should be used with engine oil.
This could result in engine damage. Any dam-
age caused by the use of such additives
would not be covered by the factory warranty. For the sake of the environment
● Because of disposal problems and the spe-
cial tools and specialist knowledge required,
we recommend that you have the engine oil
and filter changed by a Technical Service.
● Never pour oil down drains or into the
ground.
● Use a suitable container when draining the
used oil. It must be large enough to hold all
the engine oil. Cooling system
Engine coolant specifications The engine cooling system is supplied from
the factory with a specially treated mixture of
water and, at least, 40 % of the additive
G 13
(TLVW 774 J). The engine coolant additive is
recognisable by its purple colour. This mix-
ture of water and additive gives the necessa-
ry frost protection down to -25°C (-13 F) and
protects the light alloy parts of the cooling
system against corrosion. It also prevents scaling and considerably raises the boiling
point of the coolant.
To protect the engine cooling system, the
percentage of additive must
always be at
l e
ast 40 %, even in warm climates where an-
ti-freeze protection is not required.
If greater frost protection is required in very
cold climates, the proportion of additive can
be increased. However, the percentage of ad-
ditive should not exceed 60%, as this would
reduce frost protection and, in turn, decrease
cooling capacity.
When the coolant is topped up, use a mixture
of distilled water and, at least, 40 % of the G
13 or G 12 plu
s-plus (TL-VW 774 G) additive
(both are purple) to obtain an optimum anti-
corrosion protection ››› . The mixture of G
13 with G 12 plus (TL-VW 774 F), G 12 (red) or
G 11 (green-blue) engine coolants will signifi-
cantly reduce the anticorrosion protection
and should, therefore be avoided ››› .
WARNING
If there is not enough anti-freeze in the cool-
ant system, the engine may fail leading to se-
rious damage.
● Please make sure that the percentage of
additive is correct with respect to the lowest
expected ambient temperature in the zone
where the vehicle is to be used.
● When the outside temperature is very low,
the coolant could freeze and the vehicle » 169
Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety
Index
Loading the luggage compartment . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Locking gear in Tiptronic mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
LPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33, 118, 160
LPG system Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Refuelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
LPG System filler neck Filler neck adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Luggage compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 see also Loading the luggage compartment . 101
L ug
gage compartment net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
M Main beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75, 77
Main beam headlights control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Main headlight bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Maintenance and cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Manual gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Manual mode 2C-Climatronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
MEDIA-IN connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Mirrors Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Interior rear vision mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Vanity mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Mobile phones and two-way radios . . . . . . . . . . 148
Multi-purpose mobile storage compartment Closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
N
Number of seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 O
Octane number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Oil change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Oil properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
One-touch opening and closing Electric windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Opening and closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Outside temperature indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 control lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Control lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Dash panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
warning lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Warning lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
P Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Parking aid acoustic system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Parking lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Parking system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Parking System Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Passenger see Correct sitting position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 8
Ped
als . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 journeys abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Petrol additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Plastic parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Pollen filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Pollution filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Power sockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Power steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Products for vehicle maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Puncture repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
R Rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Radio frequency remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Changing the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Radio navigation controls on the steering wheel Audio + telephone version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Rain sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Raising the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Rear cup holder Armrests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Rear fog light control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40, 76
Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Rear interior lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Rear reading lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Rear seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Rear shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Storage compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Rear window automatic wiper/washer . . . . . . . . . 85
Rear window wiper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Recommended gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Recommended gear display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Refuelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Registration light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Remote control key Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Synchronising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Removing and fitting the wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Replacement keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Replacement of parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Rev counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Reverse gear Manual gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
227