2016 AUDI A3 CABRIOLET maintenance

Checking and Filling
"'Never put too much motor oil in your engine
¢ page 193 , Checking the engin e oil lev el and
adding oil.
"'Never try to push- or tow-star t your vehicle.
The catalytic converter is an efficient "clean-up"
device built into the exhaust system of the v ehi­
cle. The catalytic converter burns many of the pollutants in the exhaust gas before they are re­
leased into the atmosphere .
The exclusive use of unleaded fuel is critically im­
portant for the life of the catalytic converter and
proper functioning of the engine.
A WARNING
The temperature of the exhaust system is
high, both when driving and after stopping
the engine.
-
- Never touch the exhaust tail pipes once they
have become hot . This could result in burns .
- Do not park or operate the vehicle in areas
where the hot exhaust system may come in
contact with dry grass, brush , fuel spill or
other material which can cause a fire.
- Do not apply additional undercoating or
rustproofing on or near the exhaust mani­
fold, exhaust pipes, catalytic converter or heat shields. During driving, the substance
used for undercoating could overheat and
cause a fire.
(D Note
- Be aware that just one tank filling with
leaded fuel will already seriously degrade
the performance of the catalytic converter.
- Do not exceed the correct engine oil level
¢page 193.
-Do not drive until the fuel tank becomes
completely empty. The engine could mis­
fire. Unburned fuel could also get into the
exhaust system and this could cause the
catalytic converter to overheat.
- Do not switch off the ignition while the vehi­
cle is moving.
- Do not continue to operate your vehicle un­
der these conditions, as otherwise fuel can reach the catalytic converter. This could re-
188
sult in overheating of the converter, requir­
ing its replacement.
- To assure efficient operation of the Emis­
sion Control System:
- Have your vehicle maintained properly and
in accordance with the service recommen­
dations in your Warranty
& Maintenance
booklet.
- Lack of proper maintenance as well as im­
proper use of the vehicle will impair the
function of the emission control system
and could lead to damage.
@ For the sake of the environment
Even when the Emission Control System is op­
erating properly, the exhaust gas can have a
sulfur-like exhaust gas smell under some op­
erating states. This depends on the sulfur
content of the fuel being used. Using a differ­
ent brand of fuel may help, or filling the tank
with lead-free super grade gasoline.
Engine compartment
Working in the engine compartment
Special care is required if you are working in the
engine compartment
For work in the engine compartment, such as
checking and filling fluids, there is a risk of in­
jury, scalding, accidents, and burns. For this
reason, follow all the following listed warnings
and general safety precautions. The engine
compartment is a dangerous area.
£:=? &. -
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injuries, complete the
following steps before opening the hood:
- Turn the engine off.
- Switch the ignition off.
- Set the parking brake.
- Place the selector lever in the P position .
- Let the engine cool down .
- Never open the hood when you see that
steam or coolant drips from the engine
compartment- there is a danger of burns!
Wait until no steam or coolant flows out .
-

Check ing and F illing
Audi oil quality standard
Gas olin e
VW 502 00 or
engi ne vw 50400
A udi reco mmend s
~Castrol I jgl[J,'fE{g ?r,w.:..~J ri, '.IA!,
Audi rec ommends Longlif e high perform ance
engi ne oil from Au di Genuin e Parts
Using the proper engine oil is important for the
functionality and service life of the engine. Your
engine was factory-filled with a h igh-quality oil
which can usually be used throughout the entire
yea r.
(D Note
Your Limited New Vehicle Warranty does not
cover damage or malfunctions due to failure
to follow recommended maintenance and use
requirements as set forth in the Audi Owner's
Manual and Warranty & Maintenance booklet .
- Use only a high qual ity eng ine oil that ex-
pressly complies with the Audi oil quality
standard specified for your vehicle's engine .
Using any other oil can cause serious engine
damage.
- Do not mix any lubricants or other additives into the engine oil. Doing so can cause en­
gine damage.
@ Tips
If you need to add oil and there is none availa ­
ble that meets the Audi oil quality standard
your engine requires, you may add a total of
no more than 0.5 quart/liter of a h igh-quality
"synthet ic"oil that meets the following speci­
fications.
- Vehicles w ith gasoline eng ine: ACEA A3 or
API SM with a viscosity grade of SAE OW-30,
SAE 5W-30 or SAE 5W-40.
- For more information about engine o il that
has been approved for your vehicle, please
contact either your authorized Audi dea ler
or Aud i Custome r Relat ions at
1 (800) 822- 2834 or visit ou r web site at
www.audiusa.com or www .aud icanada.ca.
192
· Eng ine oil consumption
The engine in your vehicle depends on an ade­
quate amount of oil to lubricate and cool all of
its moving parts.
In order to provide effect ive lubricat ion and cool­
i ng of internal engine components, all internal
combust ion eng ines consume a certa in amount
of oil. Oil consumption var ies from engine to en­
gine and may change sign ificantly over the life of
the engine . T ypically, engines w ith a specified
break -in period (see¢
page 65) consume more
oi l during the break-in period than they consume
after oil consumption has stabilized.
U nder normal cond itions, the rate of oil con­
sumption depends on the quality and viscosity o f
the oil , the RPM (revo lutions per minute) at
which the engine is operated, the ambient tem­ perature and road conditions. Further factors are
the amount of o il dilution from water condensa­
tion or fuel residue and the oxidation level of the
o il. As any engine is subject to wear as mileage
builds up, the o il consumption may increase over
ti me unt il replacement of wo rn compo nents may
become necessary.
With all these variables coming into play, no standard rate of o il consumption can be estab­
li shed or spec ified . T he re is no alte rnative to reg­
u la r and freq uent checki ng of the oi l level, see
Note.
If the yellow engine oil level warning symbo l II
in the instrument cluster lights up, you sho uld
chec k the o il level as soon as possible
¢
page 193. Top off the o il at your earlies t con­
venience
¢ page 193.
A WARNING
Before you check anything in the engine com­
partment, always read and heed all WARN­
INGS
¢page 188.
(D Note
Driving with an insufficient oil level is likely to
cause severe damage to the engine.
IJII,

Check ing and F illing
@ For the sake of the environment
Because of the prob lem of proper disposal of
brake fluid as we ll as the special tools re­
quired and the necessary expertise, we rec­
ommend that you have the b rake fluid
changed by your author ized Audi dealer .
Battery ( 12 V)
General information
All work on the battery requires expert knowl­
edge .
Read and follow the WARNINGS
before check­
i n g a nyth ing in the engine compartment
c::> page 188, Working in the engine compart­
ment.
The batte ry in you r Aud i does not need any main­
tena nce unde r
normal operating cond itions. A udi
re commends hav ing the e lectro lyte level check
by an au thor ized A udi dealer or au thori ze d Audi
Serv ice Facility when there a re
high outs ide tem ­
peratures or when driving a ll day. The elect rolyte
level sho uld a lso be checked each time the bat­
tery is charged
c::> page 200.
Have the battery checked when you bring your ve ­
hicle in for an inspection. It is a good idea to re­
p lace the battery if it is more than 5 years old .
T he batte ry is located in the eng ine compar tment
and is practically
maintenance-free .
Disconnecting the battery terminals
The battery shou ld not be d isconnected. Severa l
veh icle functions (power w indows, for example)
w ill be lost w hen the b attery is disconne cted. The
f u nctions mus t be reprog rammed after connect­
in g the battery. To avo id th is, the battery shou ld
only be disconn ecte d from the vehicle e lectrica l
system when it is abso lutely necessary.
T o reprogram the func tions, proceed as follows:
198
Function Reprogramming
Power window one-c::> page 35, Correcting
touch up/down func-power window malfunc-
tion tions
Remote control key o r If the vehicle does no t
Convenience key react to the key, it must
be synchronized
c::> page29
Dig ita l cl ock c::>page 10
ESC indicator light The ind icator light goes
o ut after driving a few
meters
Not running the vehicle for long period s of
time
If you do not drive your vehicle for severa l days o r
weeks, electrical components are gradually re­ d u ced or switched off . This reduces energy con­
s u mp tion and mai ntain s the vehicle's ability to
st art over a long perio d of time
c::> page 1 21.
Some conven ien ce f unctions, such as inter ior
li ght ing o r power seats* may not wor k. T hese
convenience functions will be availab le aga in
once you sw itch the ignition on and start the en­
gine.
Winter operation
D ur ing the winte r mon ths, it is common for the
batte ry capac ity to decrease as the temperatures
become lower . This is because more power is
needed to start the vehicle and components such
as the headlights and the rear window defogger
a re used more freque ntly .
Avoid using power unnecessa rily, espec ia lly in
c ity dr iving o r on short t rips. Have your author­
i z ed Audi dealer or author iz ed Audi Se rvice Facili­
ty check the battery capacity be fore the start of
winter
c::> page 200 . A well -cha rged battery will
not only reduce sta rting prob lems in cold wea th­
e r, bu t it will a lso l ast longer.
.&_ WARNING
- W ork on the b attery requires e xper t knowl­
e d ge. Con tact an a uthor ized Audi dealer or
author ized Audi Se rvice Facility for info rma ­
tion rega rding the vehicle batte ry. There is a
-
ris k for chemical burns or e xplosions . ..,.

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disconnected. If the vehicle is not driven for
a long period of time, check the mainte­ nance schedule so that you can follow the
maintenance intervals.
Checking and Filling
203

Tires and wheels
Tire pressure monitoring
indicator
CD General notes
Applies to: ve hicles w ith tire p ressu re monitoring system
Each tire, including the spare (if provided),
should be checked monthly when cold and inflat­
ed to the inflation pressure recommended by the
vehicle manufacturer on the vehicle placard or tire inflation pressure label. (If your vehicle has
tires of a different size than the size indicated on
the vehicle placard or tire inflation pressure la­
bel, you should determine the proper tire infla­
tion pressure for those tires) .
As an added safety feature, your vehicle has been
equipped w ith a tire pressure monitoring system
(TPMS) that illuminates a low tire pressure tell­
tale when one or more of your t ires is significant­
ly under-inflated. Accordingly, when the low tire
pressure telltale illuminates, you should stop and
check your tires as soon as possible , and inflate
them to the proper pressure. Driving on a signifi­
cantly under-inflated tire causes the tire to over­
heat and can lead to tire failure. Under-inflation
also reduces fuel efficiency and tire tread life,
and may affect the vehicle's handling and stop ­
ping ability .
Please note that the TPMS is not a substitute for
proper tire maintenance, and it is the driver's re­
sponsib ility to ma intain correct tire pressure,
even if under-inflation has not reached the level
to tr igger illum inat ion of the TPMS low tire pres­
sure telltale.
Your veh icle has also been equipped w ith a TPMS
malfunct ion indicator to indicate when the sys­
tem is not operat ing properly. The TPMS mal­
function indicator is combined w ith the low tire
pressure telltale. When the system detects a
malfunction, the telltale will flash for approxi­
mately one minute and then remain continuous ly
illuminated. This sequence will continue upon
subsequent vehicle start-ups as long as the mal­
function exists .
When the malfunction indicator is illuminated,
the system may not be able to detect or signal low tire pressure as intended . TPMS malfunctions
222
may occur for a variety of reasons, including the
installation of replacement or alternate tires or
wheels on the veh icle that prevent the TPMS
from functioning properly. Always check the
TPMS malfunction telltale after replacing one or more tires or wheels on your vehicle to ensure
that the replacement or alternate tires and
whee ls allow the TPMS to continue to function
properly.
If the Tire Pressure Monitoring System
indicator appears
Appl ies to: vehicles wit h Tire Pressure Mo nito rin g System in­
dica tor
The tire pressure indicator in the instrument
cluster informs you if the tire pressure is too low
or if there is a system malfunction.
Using the ABS sensors, the tire pressure monitor­
i ng system compares the tire tread c ircumfer­
ence and vibration characteristics of the individu­
al tires. If the pressure changes in one or more
tires , this is indicated in the instrument cluster
display with an
Ii] indicator light and a message.
If only one tire is affected, the location of that
tire will be indicated. The message turns
off after
a few minutes. You can display the message
again
,=;, page 25.
The tire pressures must be stored in the menu
display again each time the pressures change
(switching between partial and full load pres­
sure) or after changing or replacing a tire on your
vehicle
c;, page 223. The tire pressure mon itor­
ing system on ly monitors the tire pressure you
have stored . You can find the recommended tire
pressures for your vehicle on the label on the
driver's door pillar
q page 214 .
Tire tread circumference and vibrat ion character­
i stics can change and cause a tire pressure warn­
i ng if:
-If the tire pressure in one or more t ires is too
low,
- the tire has structural damage,
- The tire was replaced or the tire pressure
changed and it was not stored again
,=;, page 223.
- the spare tire is installed.

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corrosion protection, maintenance and storage procedures . Also follow the information about
the battery
~ page 198.
Care and cleaning
229

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Sheet metal and bulb holders can have sharp
edges that can cause serious cuts, and parts must be correctly taken apart and then proper ly
put back together to help prevent breakage of
parts and long term damage from water that can
enter housings that have not been properly re ­
sealed.
For your safety, we recommend that you have
your authorized Audi dealer replace any bulbs for
you, since your dealer has the proper tools, the
correct bulbs and the expert ise.
Gas discharge lamps (Xenon lights):
Due to the high electrical voltage, have the bulbs
replaced by a qualified technician . Headlights
with Xenon light can be identif ied by the high
voltage sticker.
LE D headlights* require no maintenance. Please
contact your authorized Audi dealer if a bulb
needs to be replaced.
A WARNING
Contact w ith high-voltage components of the
electrical system and improper replacement
of gas discharge (Xenon) headlight bulbs can
cause serious personal injury and death.
- Xenon bulbs are pressurized and can ex­
plode when be ing changed.
- Changing Xenon lamps requires the special
training, instructions and equipment .
- Only an authori zed Audi dea ler or other
qualified workshop should change the bulbs
in gas discharge lamps .
A WARNING
There are parts with sharp edges on the open ­
ings and on the bulb holders that can cause
ser ious cuts.
- If you are uncerta in about what to do, have
the work performed by an authorized Audi
dealer or other qualified workshop . Serious
personal injury may resul t from improperly
performed work .
(D Tips
-If you still prefer to rep lace the light bu lbs
you rself , be aware that the engine compart-
Fuses and bulbs
ment is a hazardous area to work in
¢ page 188¢ &.
-It is best to ask your authorized Audi dealer
whenever you need to change a bulb.
243

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Consumer information
Warranty coverages
Y our Audi is co vered b y the foll owing war ran­
tie s:
- New Vehicle Limited Warranty
- Limited Warranty Against Corrosion Perfora-
tion
- Emissions Control System Warranty
- Emissions Performance Warranty
- California Emissions Control Warranty (USA
vehicles only)
- California Emissions Performance Warranty
(USA vehicles only)
Detailed information regard ing your warranties
can be found in yo ur
W arranty & M ainten ance
bookl et.
Operating your vehicle
outside the U.S.A. or
Canada
Government reg ulations in the Un ited States and
Canada require that automobiles meet specific
emission regulations and safety standards.
Therefore, vehicles built for the U .S.A. and Cana­
da differ from vehicles sold in other countries.
I f you p lan to take your vehicle outside the conti­
nenta l limits of the United States or Canada,
there is the poss ibility that:
- u nleaded fue ls for vehicles with cata lytic con­
verter may not be available;
- fuel may have a considerably lower octane rat­
i ng . Imprope r fuel may ca use engine damage;
- service may be inadequate due to lack of p roper
service facilities, tools or testing eq uipment;
- r eplacement parts may not be readily ava ilable.
- Navigation systems for veh icles built for the
U .S .A . and Canada will not necessa rily work in
E urope, and may not wo rk in other countries
outside No rth Ame rica.
Con sumer inf ormation
(D Note
Audi cannot be respons ible for mechanical
damage that could resu lt from inadequate
fuel, service or parts ava ilability.
Audi Service Repair
Manuals and Literature
Audi Official Factory Service Manuals and L itera ­
ture are published as soon as poss ible after mod­
el introduction. Service ma nuals and literature
are avai lab le to order from the Audi Tec hni cal Lit ­
erature Ordering Center at :
www.audi .t e chlit eratur e.com
Maintenance
General
Your vehicle has been designed to he lp keep
maintenance requirements to a min imum. How­
ever, a certain amount of regular maintenance is
still necessary to assure your veh icle's safety,
economy and reliab ility . For detailed vehicle
maintenance consult your Wa rranty
& Mainte­
nance book let .
Und er diff icult op erating condition s, for exam­
ple at extremely low outside temperatures, in
very dusty regions, when towing a trai le r very fre­
quently, etc., some service work shou ld be per­
fo rmed between the in terv als specified. This ap ­
plies particularly to:
- oil changes , and
- cleaning or replacing the a ir filter .
(® For the sake of the environment
By regularly maintain ing your vehicle, you
help make sure that emiss ion standards are
maintai ned, thus min imizing adverse effects
on the environment .
Important considerations for you and your
vehicle
The increasing use of electronics, sophisticated
fuel injection and emission control systems, and
the generally increas ing technica l complexity of ""'
253