2016 AUDI A3 ABS

,....,
N
0 > co ,...., A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
-Always make sure nothing is in the front air -
bag deployment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates .
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag de­
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use .
-
-Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never attach then to the doors or the wind­
shield; never place them over or near or at­
tach them to the area marked ,,AIRBAG" on
the steering wheel, instrument panel or the
seat backrests; never place them between these areas and you or any other person in
the vehicle .
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such as
accessory GPS navigation units or music players. Such objects could cause serious in­
jury in a collision, especially when the air­ bags inflate .
- Never recline the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side airbags or
the front airbag during breaking or in a sud­ den maneuver. Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerously through the passenger com­
partment and cause injury , particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in­
flate.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­ cially infants and small children, will receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be­
ing too close to the airbag when it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
Airbag system
passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un­
der these special conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy in accordance with the .,low risk" option for 3-
and 6-year-old children under the U.S. Fed­
eral Standard if a child with electrical capac­
itance greater than the combined capaci­
tance of a typical one-year old infant re­
strained in one of the forward facing or rear­
ward-facing child seats with which your ve­
hicle was certified is on the front passenger
seat and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment are met .
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 , as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your vehi­
cle was manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driver's and front passenger 's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags in­
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de­
celeration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety
belts. Rather, it is part of the overall occupant re­
straint system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upright, wearing your safe­
ty belt and wearing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly .,..
189

,....,
N
0 > co ,...., A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat instal­
led on the front passenger seat will be seri­
ously injured and can be killed if the front air­
bag inflates - even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
-Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re­
straint has been installed on the front pas­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely guaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in all con­ ceivable situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against the backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
-Always install rearward-facing child re­ straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptional circumstances and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear­
facing child seat in a rear seating position and have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possible, before installing the for­
ward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upright position.
Airbag system
-Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The presence of addi­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it should
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is different from the way it would have worked without the object on the seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lot
of very important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System in it . These parts include the capacitive
passenger detection system, wiring, brackets,
and more. The control unit monitors the system
on the front passenger seat when the ignition is
switched on and turns the airbag indicator light
on when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detected
¢ page 196. Because
the front passenger seat contains important
parts of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to prevent it from being damaged.
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced
Airbag System for the front passenger seat from
doing its job in a crash.
The front Advanced Airbag System consists
of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash.
- An electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
control unit "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors. The control unit also "de­
cides" whether the safety belt pretensioners
should be activated.
111-
191

Airbag syste m
must be performed by qualified workshops
only. Make sure that any airbag service ac­
tion is entered in your Aud i Warranty
&
Maintena nce booklet under AIRBAG RE­
PLACEMENT RECORD.
- For safety reasons in severe accidents, the
alternator and starter are separated from
the vehicle battery with a pyrotechn ic circuit
in terrupter.
- Work on the pyrotechnic circuit interrupt­
er must only be performed by a qualified
technicians who have the experience, in­
formation and special tools necessary to
perform the work safely.
- If the vehicle or the circuit interrupter is
scrapped, all applicab le safety precautions
must be followed .
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modu les and pretension ­
ers might be classified as Perch lorate Materi­
al -special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo­ rate . When the veh icle o r parts of the re­
stra int system including airbag modules and
safety belts w it h pretensioners are scrapped,
all applicable laws and regu lations must be
observed. Your authorized Audi dealer is fa­
m iliar with these requirements and we recom ­
mend that you have your dealer perform this
serv ice for you.
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
Changing the vehicle's suspension system can
change the way that the Advanced A irbag System
pe rforms in a crash. For e xamp le, using t ire -r im
comb inations no t approved by Audi, lowering t he
veh icle, chang ing the stiffness o f the suspe nsio n,
i n cluding the springs, suspension struts, shock
absorbers etc . can change the forces that are
measured by the airbag sensors and sent to the
electronic contro l unit . Some suspens ion changes
can, for example, increase the force levels meas­
ured by the sensors and make the airbag system
deploy in c rashes in w hich it would not deploy if
the changes had not been made. Other ki nds of
200
changes may reduce the force levels measured by
the sensors and prevent the airbag from deploy­
i ng when it should .
_& WARNING
Changing the vehicle's suspension including
use of unapproved tire-rim comb inations can
change Advanced Airbag performance and in­
crease the r isk of serious personal injury in a
crash .
- Never install suspension components that do not have the same performance charac­
ter istics as the components origina lly instal­
led on your vehicle.
- Never use tire-r im combinations that have
not been approved by Aud i.
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
Applies to vehicles: with knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supplemen­
tal protection to properly restrained front seat
occupants .
Fig . 16 7 D river 's knee a irbag
The driver knee airbag is in the instrument panel
u nderneath the s teer ing whee l¢
fig. 167, the
airbag fo r the passenger is at about the same
height in the i nstr ument panel underneath the
glove compa rtment.
The knee airbag offers add itiona l protect ion to
the d river's and passenge r's knees and uppe r and
l ower thigh areas a nd sup plements the p rotec­
t ion prov ided by the safety belts .
If the front airbags deploy, the knee a irbags also
deploy in fron tal coll is ions when t he deployment ..,_

Child safety
airbag system inspected by your authorized
Audi dealer.
- Take the child restraint off the front passen­
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on .
Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats con help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and 80
lbs. (18 kg and 36 kg) who ore less than 4
ft. 9
in . (57 inches/1 .45 meters) toll .
Fig. 177 Rear seat: c hil d p rop erly restrain ed in a booster
seat
"' ,...
i i
The vehicle's safety belts alone will not fit most
children until they are at least 4
ft. 9 in . (57 in­
ches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about 80 lbs .
(36 kg). Booster seats raise these chi ldren up so
that the safety belt will pass properly over the
stronger parts of their bodies and the safety bel t
can help protect them in a crash.
• Do not use the convertible locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety bel t to rest rain
a chi ld on a boos ter seat.
• The shoulder be lt must lie as close to the cen­
ter of the child's collar bone as possible and
must lie flat and snug on the upper body. It
must never lie across the throat or neck. The
lap belt must lie across the pelv is and never
across the stomach or abdomen . Make sure the
belt lies flat and snug. Pull on the belt to tight­
en if necessary .
• If you must transpo rt an older child in a boos­
ter seat on the front passenger seat, you can
use the safety belt he ight adjustment to help
adjust the shoulder portion properly .
218
• Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
r=;, page 214 .
Children up to at least 8 years o ld (over 40 lbs or
18 kg) are best protected in child safety seats de­
signed for their age and weight. Experts say that
the skeletal structure, particularly the pelvis, of
these children is not fully developed, and they
must not use the vehicle safety belts without a
su itable child restraint.
It is usually best to put these chi ldren in appro ­
priate booster seats. Be sure the booster seat
meets all applicable safety standards.
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
chi ld and reposition both the lap and shoulder
parts of the safety belt so that they pass across
the child 's body in the right places. The routing of
the belt over the ch ild's body is very important
for the child's p rotection, whether or not a boos­
te r seat is used. Children age 12 and under must
always ride in the rear seat.
Children who are at least 4
ft . 9 in . (57 inches/
1.45 meters) tall can generally use the vehicle's
three point lap and shoulder belts. Never use the
l ap belt portion of the veh icle's safety belt a lone
to restrain any child, regard less of how big the
child is. Always remember that children do not
have the pronounced pelvic structure required for
the proper function of lap be lt portion of the ve ­
hicle's three point lap and shoulder belts. The
child's safety abso lutely requires that a lap belt
portion of the safety belt be fastened snugly and
as low as possible around the pelvis . Never let
the lap belt portion of the safety belt pass over
the chi ld's stomach or abdomen .
In a crash, airbags must inflate with in a blink of
an eye and with considerab le force . In order to do
its job, the airbag needs room to inflate so that it
will be there to protect the occupant as the occu­
pant moves forwa rd into the airbag .
A vehicle occupant who is out of pos it ion and too
close to the a irbag gets in the way of an inflating
a irbag . When an occupant is too close, he or she
will be struck violent ly and will rece ive serious or
possibly even fata l injury. ..,.

Checking and Filling
cont inue driving. See an authorized Audi deal ­
er or authorized Audi Service Facility for assis­
tance .
Radiator fan
The radiator fan switches on outomotico/ly by it­
self.
An auxiliary elect ric radiator fan sw itches on and
off depend ing on coolant temperature and other
vehicle operating conditions.
After you switch the engine off, the auxiliary fa n
can cont inue runn ing fo r up to 10 minutes -even
with the ignition off . It ca n even switch on again
later by itself¢.&. , if
- the temperature of the engine coolant r ises due
to the heat bu ild -up from the engine in the e n­
gine compartment, or
- the engine compartment heats up because the
vehicle is parked in intense sunlight .
A WARNING
-To reduce the risk of pe rsonal injury never
touch the radiator fan .
- The auxiliary electric fan is temperature
controlled and can switch on suddenly even
when the eng ine is not running.
- The auxiliary radiator fan switches on auto­
matically when the engine coo lant reaches a
certain tempe rature and w ill cont inue to run
until the coolant temperature drops.
Brake fluid
Checking brake fluid level
F ig . 19 9 Engine co mpar tment: cove r o n t he b rake fluid
r e servo ir (example)
246
-
Before yo u check any thing in the engine compart ­
ment,
always read and heed all WARNINGS
¢ page 236, Working in the engine comport­
ment .
.,. Read the brake fluid level from the brake f luid
reservoir ¢
fig. 199, ¢ page 239, fig. 193 (ga­
soil engine) or ¢
page 240, fig. 194 (diesel en­
gine). The brake fluid level must be between
the "MIN" and "MAX" markings .
The location of the brake fl u id reservoir can be
seen in the engine compartment i llustration
q page239.
The fluid level may drop slightly after some time
due to t he automatic adjustment of the brake
pads. This is not ca use for a larm.
If t he brake fluid level falls considerably below
the "M IN" mark, the brake warning/indicator
li ght ~ (U.S. models)
I. (Canadian models)
will come on
q page 18 . Do not continue to oper­
ate the vehicle . The complete brake system
shou ld be thorough ly checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or other qualified fac ility and the
cause corrected .
If the brake fl uid level is too
l ow, the bra ke war ning/ indicato r light w ill illumi­
na te. Cont act an a uthor ized Audi dealer
immedi­
atel y.
Changing brake fluid
Have the brake fluid changed by an experienced
technician.
B rake fl uid abso rbs moistu re from the air. If the
wa ter con ten t in the brake fluid is too high, cor­
r osion in the bra ke system may res ult after ape­
riod of time. The boi ling po int of the brake fluid
will a lso decrease considerably and decrease
bra king performance.
Therefore, the bra ke fluid m ust be changed
every
two year s. Always use new brake f luid which con­
forms to Federa l Motor Vehicle Standard " FMVSS
116 DO T 4" .
The brake fluid reservoir can be diffic ult to reac h,
the refore, we recommend that you have t he
brake fluid changed by your author ized
Audi
dealer .
Your dealer has the correct tools, the

,....,
N
0 > co ,...., right brake fluid and the know-how to do this for
you.
A WARNING
- Brake fluid is poisonous. It must be stored
only in the closed original container out of
the reach of chi ldren!
- Brake failure can resu lt from old or inappro­
priate brake fluid. Observe these precau­
t ions:
- Use only brake flu id that meets SA E speci­
fication
J 1703 and conforms to Federal
Motor Vehicle Standard 116. Always check
with your authorized Audi dealer to make
sure you are using the correct brake fluid.
The correct type of brake fluid is also indi­
cated on the brake flu id reservoir.
- The brake fluid must be new. Heavy use of
the brakes can cause a vapor lock if the
brake fluid is left in the system too long.
This can ser iously affect the efficiency of
the brakes as well as your safety. This
could result in an acc ident.
(D Note
Brake fluid w ill damage the pa int of your vehi­
cle.
For the sake of the environment
Because of the prob lem of proper disposal of
brake flu id as well as the special tools re­
quired and the necessary expertise, we rec­
ommend that you have the brake fluid
changed by your author ized Audi dealer.
Battery
General information
All work on the battery requires expert knowl­
edge.
Read and foll ow t he WARNING S before check­
ing anything in the engine compartment
¢ page 236, Working in the engine comport ­
ment.
Ch eck ing and Filling
Plug -in hybrid drive* : you can find important in ­
formation about the high -vo ltage battery under
¢ page 98.
The battery in yo ur Audi does not need any ma in­
tenance under
normal operating conditions . Audi
recommends having the electrolyte level check
by an authorized Audi dealer or author ized Audi
Service Facility when there are
high outside tem­
peratures or when dr iving all day. The e lectrolyte
level should also be checked each time the bat ­
tery is charged¢
page 249.
Have the battery checked when you bring your ve­
hicle in for an inspection. It is a good idea to re­
place the battery if it is more than 5 years old.
D uring certa in types of a irbag deployments, the
battery is d isconnected from the veh icle electri­
cal system for safety reasons¢
& in Repair, core
and disposal of the airbags on page 199.
Di sco nnecting the battery te rminal s
The battery should not be disconnected. Several
vehicle functions (power windows, for example)
will be lost when the battery is disconnected. The
funct ions must be reprogrammed after connect­
ing the battery. To avoid this, the battery should
only be disconnected from the vehicle electrical
system when it is absolutely necessary.
To reprogram the functions, proceed as follows:
Function Reprogramming
Power window one-¢ page 44, Correcting
touch up/down func-power window molfunc-
tion tions
Remote control key or
If the vehicle does not
Convenience key react to the key, it must
be synchronized
¢page 37
Dig ita l clock ¢page 10
ESC indicator light The indicator light goes
out after driving a few
meters
247

different tire speeds. For this rea­son, in case of emergency, only
use a spare tire* that is the same
circumference as the regular
tires.
&_ WARNING -
-Only use tire/rim combina­ tions and suitable wheel bolts
that have been approved by
Audi. Otherwise, damage to
the vehicle and an accident could result.
-For technical reasons, it is not possible to use tires from oth­
er vehicles - in some cases,
you cannot even use tires from
the same vehicle model.
-Make sure that the tires you
select have enough clearance
to the vehicle . Replacement
tires should not be chosen
simply based on the nominal
size, because tires with a dif­
ferent construction can differ
greatly even if they are the
same size. If there is not
enough clearance, the tires or
the vehicle can be damaged and this can reduce driving
safety and increase the risk of
an accident.
Tires and wheels
-Only use tires that are more
than 6 years old when abso­ lutely necessary and drive
carefully when doing so.
-Do not use run-flat tires on
your vehicle. Using them when
not permitted can lead to ve­
hicle damage or accidents.
-If you install wheel covers on the vehicle, make sure they al­low enough air circulation to
cool the brake system. If they
do not, this could increase the
risk of an accident.
Tire wear/damage
Fig. 203 Tire profile: tread wear indica ­
tor
Tire wear
Check the tires regularly for wear .
- Inflation pressure that is too low
or high can increase tire wear
considerably.
-Driving quickly through curves, rapid acceleration and heavy
braking increase tire wear. ..
261

Tires and wheels
the vehicle placard or tire inflation pressure la­
bel, you should determine the proper tire
inflation pressure for those tires).
As an added safety feature, your vehicle has been
equipped with a tire pressure monitoring system
(TPMS) that illuminates a low tire pressure tell­
tale when one or more of your tires 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
sponsibility to maintain correct tire pressure,
even if under-inflation has not reached the level
to trigger illumination of the TPMS low tire pres­
sure telltale.
Your vehicle has also been equipped with a TPMS
malfunction indicator to indicate when the sys­
tem is not operating properly. The TPMS mal­
function indicator is combined with the low tire
pressure telltale. When the system detects a
malfunction, the telltale will flash for approxi­
mately one minute and then remain continuously
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
may occur for a variety of reasons, including the
installation of replacement or alternate tires or
wheels on the vehicle 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
wheels allow the TPMS to continue to function
properly .
272
· If the Tire Pressure Monitoring System
indicator appears
Applies to vehicles: with tire pressure monitoring 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. 206 Instrument cl uster: i ndic ator lig ht with message
Using the ABS sensors, the tire pressure monitor­
ing system compares the tire tread circumfer­
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 indicator light
Rt] and a message
¢fig. 206. If only one tire is affected, the loca­
tion of that tire will be indicated. The message
turns off after a few minutes. You can display the
message again¢
page 30.
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
¢ page 273. The tire pressure monitor­
ing system only 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¢
page 263.
Tire tread circumference and vibration character­
istics can change and cause a tire pressure warn­
ing if:
- If the tire pressure in one or more tires is too
low,
- the tire has structural damage,
- The tire was replaced or the tire pressure
changed and it was not stored again
¢page 273.
-the spare tire is installed.