2015 Seat Altea tow

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Safe driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Safety first! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Advice about driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Proper sitting position for occupants . . . . . . . . 6
Pedal area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Seat belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The reason why we should wear seat belts . . . 11
How to properly adjust your seatbelt . . . . . . . . 14
Seat belt tensioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Brief introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Airbag overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Deactivating airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Transporting children safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Safety for children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Child seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Dash panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Warning lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Digital instrument panel display . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Instrument panel menus* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Steering wheel controls* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Audio system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Radio navigation system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Opening and closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Central locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Radio frequency remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Anti-theft alarm system* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Boot hatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Electric windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Sliding/tilting sunroof* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Lights and visibility
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Interior lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Windscreen wiper and rear window wiper
systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Rear vision mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Seats and head restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Adjusting the seat and head restraints . . . . . . 88
Seat functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Rear seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Transport and practical equipment . . . . . . . . . 93
Compartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Multi-purpose mobile storage compartment* . 96
Ashtray*, cigarette lighter* and power sockets 98
First-aid kit, warning triangle, fire extinguisher 100
Luggage compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Roof carrier/rack system* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Air conditioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Climatic* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
2C-Climatronic* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Power steering (servotronic*) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
All-wheel drive* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Driving with LPG* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Journeys abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Ignition lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Braking and parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Manual gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Automatic gearbox/DSG automatic gearbox* . 127
Run-in and economical driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Driver assistance systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Braking and stability systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Start-Stop System* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Parking aid acoustic system* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Cruise speed* (cruise control system - CCS) . . . 142
Towing bracket device
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Care and maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Accessories and technical modifications . . . . . 147
Care and cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Care of the vehicle exterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Caring for the vehicle interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Checking and refilling levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
LPG system (Liquefied petroleum gas)* . . . . . . 160
Working in the engine compartment . . . . . . . . 163
Engine oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Cooling system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Windscreen washer reservoir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Brake fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Vehicle battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Wheels and tyres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Winter service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Emergencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Vehicle tools, spare wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Wheel change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Tyre repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Jump-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Towing and tow-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Emergency locking and unlocking . . . . . . . . . . 193
Changing the wiper blades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Fuses and bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Changing the lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
3

Table of Contents
Technical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Technical features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Important information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Information on fuel consumption . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Towing a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Engine specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Dimensions and capacities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
4

Safe driving
the chest and the centre of the steering
wheel
››› Fig. 1. If you are sitting closer than
25 c m, the airb
ag system cannot protect you
properly.
● If your physical constitution prevents you
from maintaining the minimum distance of 25
cm, contact a specialised workshop. The
workshop will help you decide if special spe-
cific modifications are necessary.
● When driving, always hold the steering
wheel with both hands on the outside of the
ring at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions.
This reduces the risk of injury when the driver
airbag is triggered.
● Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position, or in any other manner (e.g.
in the centre of the steering wheel). In such
cases, if the airbag is triggered, you may sus-
tain injuries to the arms, hands and head.
● To reduce the risk of injury to the driver
during sudden braking manoeuvres or an ac-
cident, never drive with the backrest tilted far
back! The airbag system and seat belts can
only provide optimal protection when the
backrest is in an upright position and the
driver is wearing his or her seat belt correct-
ly.
● Adjust the head restraint properly to ach-
ieve optimal protection. Adjusting the steering wheel position
Fig. 3
Adjusting the steering wheel position. The height and reach of the steering wheel
can be freely adjusted to suit the driver.
– Adjust the driver seat to the correct posi-
tion.
– Push the lever under the steering column
››› Fig. 3 down
›
›› .
– Adjust the steering wheel until the correct
position is set ››› Fig. 1.
– Then push the lever up again firmly ››› .
WARNING
● Incorrect use of the steering column adjust-
ment function and an incorrect seating posi-
tion can result in serious injury. ●
To avoid accidents, the steering column
should be adjusted only when the vehicle is
stationary.
● Adjust the driver seat or steering wheel so
that there is a distance of at least 25 cm be-
tween the steering wheel and your chest
››› Fig. 1. If you fail to observe the minimum
di s

tance, the airbag will not protect you. Risk
of fatal injury.
● If your physical constitution does not allow
you to maintain the minimum distance of
25 cm, contact a Technical Service. The Tech-
nical Service will help you to decide if certain
specific modifications are necessary.
● If you adjust the steering wheel so that it
points towards your face, the driver airbag
will not protect you properly in the event of
an accident. Make sure that the steering
wheel points towards your chest.
● When driving, always hold the steering
wheel with both hands on the outside of the
ring at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions.
Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position, or in any other manner (e.g.
in the centre of the steering wheel, or on the
inside of the rim). In such cases, if the airbag
is triggered, you may sustain injuries to your
arms, hands and head. 7Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety

Seat belts
Safety instructions on using seat
belts –
Always wear the seat belt as described in
this section.
– Ensure that the seat belts can be fastened
at all times and are not damaged. WARNING
● If the seat belts are worn incorrectly or not
at all, the risk of severe or fatal injuries in-
creases. The optimal protection from seat
belts can be achieved only if you use them
properly.
● Fasten your seat belt before every trip -
even when driving in town. The other vehicle
occupants must also wear the seat belts at all
times, otherwise they run the risk of being in-
jured.
● The seat belt cannot offer its full protection
if the seat belt is not positioned correctly.
● Never allow two passengers (even children)
to share the same seat belt.
● Always keep both feet in the footwell in
front of your seat as long as the vehicle is in
motion.
● Never unbuckle a seat belt while the vehi-
cle is in motion. Risk of fatal injury.
● The seat belt must never be twisted while it
is being worn.
● The seat belt should never lie on hard or
fragile objects (such as glasses or pens, etc.) because this could cause injuries in the case
of an accident.
●
Do not allow the seat belt to be damaged or
jammed, or to rub on any sharp edges.
● Never wear the seat belt under the arm or
in any other incorrect position.
● Loose, bulky clothing (such as an overcoat
over a jacket) impairs the proper fit and func-
tion of the seat belts, reducing their capacity
to protect.
● The slot in the seat belt buckle must not be
blocked with paper or other objects, as this
can prevent the latch plate from engaging se-
curely.
● Never use seat belt clips, fastening rings or
similar items to alter the position of the belt
webbing.
● Frayed or torn seat belts or damage to the
connections, belt retractors or parts of the
buckle could cause severe injuries in the
event of an accident. Therefore, you must
check the condition of all seat belts at regular
intervals.
● Seat belts which have been worn in an acci-
dent and stretched must be replaced by a
specialised workshop. Renewal may be nec-
essary even if there is no apparent damage.
The belt anchorage should also be checked.
● Do not attempt to repair a damaged seat
belt yourself. The seat belts must not be re-
moved or modified in any way.
● The belts must be kept clean, otherwise the
retractors may not work properly
››› page 157. Head-on collisions and the laws of
physics
Fig. 8
A driver not wearing a seat belt is
thrown forward violently Fig. 9
The unbelted passenger in the rear
seat is thrown forward violently, hitting the
driver wearing a seat belt. It is easy to explain how the laws of physics
work in the case of a head-on collision: When
a vehicle starts moving, a type of energy
»
13Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety

Dash panel
Cruise speed (cruise control)*  The warning lamp 
comes on when the
c
ruise control system is switched on. For fur-
ther information on the cruise control system,
see ››› page 142
.
Indicator for open doors or boot*  This warning lamp lights up if one of the
doors is open.
The warning light
 should go off when all
the doors are closed correctly.
The system also works when the ignition is
switched off. It should disappear approxi-
mately 15 seconds after the vehicle has been
locked.
Electromechanical steering*  For vehicles with power steering, the level of
steering assistance depends on the vehicle's
speed and on the steering angle.
The warning lamp should light up for a few
seconds when the ignition is switched on. It
should go out once the engine is started.
If the battery is disconnected, the indicator
remains lit, even with the engine running. The warning light only goes off after a dis-
tance of approx. 50 m.
There is a fault in the electromechanical
steering system if the lamp does not go out
or lights up while the vehicle is in motion.
The warning lamp may appear in two differ-
ent colours to indicate faults. If the light is
yellow, it indicates a minor fault. If the light is
red, seek assistance from a specialised work-
shop immediately, as the power steering is
not working; in this case you should not keep
driving. Stop the vehicle and seek technical
assistance. The power steering does not work
if the battery is flat or if the engine is off (e.g.
for towing). You should take into account that
you will need considerably more power than
normal to steer the vehicle if the power steer-
ing is not working correctly or at all.
For those vehicles fitted with ESC*, the
“Steering manoeuvre recommendation”
››› page 134 function is included.
Emi s

sion control system*  Control lamp
 flashes:
When there is misfiring that can damage the
catalytic converter. Reduce speed and drive
carefully to the nearest specialised workshop
to have the engine checked. The instrument panel displays the following
message
1)
: EXHAUST GAS SEE WORKSHOP
.
The c ontr

ol lamp 
lights up:
If a fault has developed during driving which
has reduced the quality of the exhaust gas
(e.g. lambda probe fault). Reduce speed and
drive carefully to the nearest specialised
workshop to have the engine checked.
The instrument panel displays the following
message:
EXHAUST GAS SEE WORKSHOP .
Electronic Stability Control (ESC)*
 /. There are two control lamps for the electronic
stability control. The lamp
 provides infor-
mation concerning function and  disconnec-
tion status.
Both warning lamps light up together when
the ignition is switched on and should turn
off after approximately 2 seconds. This is the
time taken for the function check.
This programme includes the ABS, EDL and
ASR. This also includes the brake assistance
system (BAS), automatic cleaning of the
brake discs and the trailer stability pro-
gramme (TSP). »1)
Depending on the version of the model.
45
Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety

Operation
“Safe” security system* This is an anti-theft device which consists of
a double lock for the door locks and a deacti-
vation function for the boot in order to pre-
vent forced entry.
Activating the “deadlock”
– Press once the locking button  on the re-
mote control. or
– Turn the k
ey once in the driver door lock to
lock. A w

arning lamp in the driver door
flashes to indicate the “deadlock” is work-
ing. The warning lamp flashes for approx. 2
seconds at short intervals and then more
slowly.
Deactivating the “deadlock” when the
vehicle is locked
– Press the lock button  on the remote con-
trol twice within 2 seconds. The vehicle is
loc k

ed without activating the “deadlock”.
The driver door warning lamp flashes for
approx. 2 seconds and then goes out. It
flashes again after around 30 seconds.
The doors can be unlocked and opened from
the inside if the “deadlock” has not been ac-
tivated. You will have to pull the door release
lever once. When the “deadlock” is off, the
anti-theft alarm* ›››
page 68 remains active.
The v

ehicle interior monitoring system* and
the anti-tow system are deactivated*. WARNING
Nobody should remain in the vehicle if the
“deadlock” system mechanism has been acti-
vated. It is not possible to open the doors
from the inside. Locked doors could delay as-
sistance in an emergency. People could be-
come trapped inside in an emergency. Selective unlocking system*
This system allows to unlock either just the
driver door or all the vehicle.
Using the remote control, press the unlock
button on the remote
 once. The “Safe”
system for all the vehicle is deactivated, only
the driver door is unlocked and both the
alarm and the warning lamp are also turned
off.
Unlocking all doors and the luggage
compartment
The unlock button on the remote control
must be pressed twice  so that all doors
and the luggage compartment can be
opened.
Press twice within 2 seconds to deactivate
the “Safe” system for all vehicle, to unlock all
doors and to use the luggage compartment.
The warning lamp and the alarm (only vehi-
cles fitted with one) are turned off. Automatic speed-dependent locking
and unlocking system* This is a safety system which prevents access
to the vehicle from the outside when it is run-
ning (e.g. when stopped at a traffic light).
Locking
The doors and boot will lock automatically if
the speed of 15 km/h (9 mph) is exceeded.
If the vehicle is stopped and one of the doors
is opened, when the vehicle moves off again
and exceeds a speed of 15 km/h (9 mph),
the unlocked door(s) will lock once more.
Unlocking
The driver door automatically unlocks when
the key is removed from the ignition.
Each door can be unlocked and opened inde-
pendently from the inside (for example, when
a passenger gets out). To do it, simply oper-
ate the lever inside the door.
WARNING
The door handles must not be operated when
the vehicle is running: the door would open. 64

Operation
Switching on front fog lights* – Pull the switch out of position  or
 to
the first stop. The symbol  of the light
control lights up.
Switching on the rear fog lights (vehicles
with front fog lights) – Pull the switch out of position  or 
to
the second stop ››› . A control lamp lights
up on the dash panel.
Switching on the rear fog lights (vehicles
with no front fog lights) – Pull the light switch from position  to the
last stop. A control lamp lights up in the
dash panel. WARNING
Never drive with just the side lights on. Risk
of accident. The side lights are not bright
enough to illuminate the road ahead and to
ensure that other road users are able to see
you. Always use your dipped beam head-
lights if it is dark or if visibility is poor. Note
● The dipped beam headlights will only work
with the ignition on. The side lights come on
automatically when the ignition is turned off.
● If the lights are left on after the key has
been taken out of the ignition lock, an audi-
ble warning will sound while the driver door remains open. This is a reminder to switch
the lights off.
● The rear fog light is so bright that it can
dazzle drivers behind you. You should use
the rear fog light only when visibility is very
poor.
● If you are towing a trailer equipped with a
rear fog light on a vehicle with a factory-fitted
towing bracket, the rear fog light on the vehi-
c l
e will automatically be switched off.
● The use of the lighting described here is
subject to the relevant statutory require-
ments.
● Depending on weather conditions (very
cold or wet), the front and rear lights and the
indicators may be temporarily misted. This
has no influence on the useful life of the
lighting system. The lights will soon demist
when they are switched on. Automatic lighting*
Fig. 59
Automatic lighting. Activation
– Rotate the switch to the position. It will
light up.
Deactivation – Turn the light switch to .
Automatic lighting
If automatic headlight control is switched on,
dipped beam headlights are automatically
switched on by a photosensor if you drive in-
to a tunnel, for example.
The rain sensor switches on the dipped beam
headlights when the windscreen wipers have
been operating continuously for a few sec-
onds and it switches the lights off when the
continuous or interval wipe is switched off for
some minutes ››› page 84.
76

Lights and visibility
When the automatic dipped beam headlight
control is on but the dipped beam headlights
are off, the warning lamp  lights up on
the light control ››› Fig. 59. If the automatic
control switches on the dipped lights, the in-
strument and control lighting is also switch-
ed on. WARNING
● Even if the automatic headlight control is
switched on, the dipped beam headlights will
not be switched on with fog. Therefore, the
dipped beam must be switched on manually. Note
● For those vehicles with the automatic head-
light system, when the key is removed from
the ignition, the audible warning will only
sound if the light control is in the position 
or  if the vehicle is not fitted with the com-
in g home f
unction.
● If the daylight driving automatic light func-
tion is switched on, the front fog lights or
rear fog light cannot be switched on in addi-
tion.
● The use of the lighting described here is
subject to the relevant statutory require-
ments.
● Do not put stickers on the windscreen in
front of the sensor. This may cause disrup-
tions or faults in the automatic lighting sys-
tem. ●
To avoid damage to the tail lights, the
lights mounted on the rear lid go off when the
rear lid is opened (depending on the country). Turn signal and main beam headlight
lever
Fig. 60
Turn signal and main beam lever The turn signal and main beam headlight lev-
er has the following functions:
Switching on the turn signals
– Move the lever all the way up ››› Fig. 60 1 to indicate
right
, and all the way down 2 to indicate
left
.
Sign

alling a lane change
– Push the lever up 1 or down
2 to the
point where you incur resistance and then
release it. The turn signal will flash several times. The corresponding control lamp will
also flash.
Switching main beam on and off – If the dipped lights are on, push the lever
forward ››› Fig. 60 3 to switch on the main
beam headlights.
– Push the lever towards the steering wheel
››› Fig. 60 4 to switch off the main beam.
Headlight flashers
– Pull the lever towards the steering wheel
4 to operate the flasher.
Switching on parking lights 
– Switch the ignition off and remove the key
from the lock.
– Move the turn signal lever up or down to
turn the right or left-hand parking lights on,
respectively. WARNING
The main beam can dazzle other drivers. Risk
of accident! Never use the main beam head-
lights or the headlight flasher if they could
dazzle other drivers. Note
● The turn signals only
work when the igni-
tion is switched on. The corresponding warn-
ing lamp  or  flashes in the instrument
» 77
Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety