
Checking and Filling
-Do not remove the engine cover under any
circumstances . This increases the risk of
burns.
- If work on the fuel system or the electrical
system is necessary:
- Always disconnect the battery.
- Never smoke or work near heaters or open
flames . Fluids in the engine compartment
could start a fire.
- Keep an approved fire extinguisher imme
diately available .
- To avoid electrical shock and personal injury
while the engine is running or being started,
never touch:
- Ignition cables
- Other components of the high voltage
electronic ignition system.
- If you must perform a check or repair with
the engine running:
- First, fully apply the parking brake, move
selector lever to P (Park) .
- Always use extreme caution to prevent
clothing, jewelry, or long hair from get
ting caught in the radiator fan, V -belts or
other moving parts, or from contacting
hot parts. Tie back hair before starting,
and do not wear clothing that will hang or
droop into the engine.
- Minimize exposure to emission and chemi
cal hazards
,=:, .&. -
A WARNING
California Proposition 65 Warning:
- Engine exhaust, some of its constituents,
and certain vehicle components contain or
emit chemicals known to the State of Cali
fornia to cause cancer and birth defects and
reproductive harm. In addition, certain flu
ids contained in vehicles and certain prod
ucts of component wear contain or emit
204
chemicals known to the State of California
to cause cancer and birth defects or other
reproductive harm .
- Battery posts, terminals and related acces
sories contain lead and lead compounds,
chemicals known to the State of California
to cause cancer and reproductive harms .
Wash hands after handling.
(D Note
When adding fluids, always make sure that
they are poured into the proper container or
filler opening, otherwise serious damage to
vehicle systems will occur.
@ For the sake of the environment
To detect leaks in time, inspect the vehicle
floor pan from underneath regularly . If you
see spots from oil or other vehicle fluids, have
your vehicle inspected by an authorized Audi
dealer.
Closing the engine hood
.,. Pull the hood down until the pressure from the
struts is reduced.
.,. Let the hood
drop down and latch in place. Do
not try to push it shut;
it may fail to engage
¢ _& .
A WARNING
A hood that is not completely latched could
fly up and block your view while driving .
- When you close the engine hood, check it to
make sure the safety catch has properly en
gaged . The hood should be flush with the
surrounding vehicle body parts.
- If you notice while driving that the hood is
not secured properly, stop at once and close it .
-

Checking and Filling
"' Read the brake fluid level from the brake fluid
reservoir
¢ fig. 187, ¢page 205, fig. 183. The
brake fluid level must be between the "MIN"
and "MAX" markings.
The location of the brake fluid reservoir can be
seen in the engine compartment illustration
c>page205.
The fluid level may drop slightly after some time
due to the automatic adjustment of the brake
pads. This is not cause for alarm.
If the brake fluid level falls considerably below
the "MIN" mark, the brake warning/indicator
light
1111 (U.S. models)/ . (Canadian models)
will come on¢
page 14. Do not continue to oper
ate the vehicle. The complete brake system
should be thoroughly checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or other qualified facility and the
cause corrected . If the brake fluid level is too
low, the brake warning/indicator light will illumi
nate. Contact an authorized Audi dealer
immedi
ately.
Changing brake fluid
Have the brake fluid changed by an experienced
technician.
Brake fluid absorbs moisture from the air . If the
water content in the brake fluid is too high , cor
rosion in the brake system may result after a pe
riod of time. The boiling point of the brake fluid
will also decrease considerably and decrease
braking performance.
Therefore, the brake fluid must be changed
every
two years.
Always use new brake fluid which con
forms to Federal Motor Vehicle Standard "FMVSS
116 DOT 4".
The brake fluid reservoir can be difficult to reach,
therefore, we recommend that you have the
brake fluid changed by your authorized
Audi
dealer.
Your dealer has the correct tools, the
right brake fluid and the know-how to do this for
you.
212
A WARNING
-
- Brake fluid is poisonous. It must be stored
only in the closed original container out of
the reach of children!
- Brake failure can result from old or inappro
priate brake fluid. Observe these precau
tions:
- Use only brake fluid that meets SAE 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 fluid 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 seriously affect the efficiency of
the brakes as well as your safety. This
could result in an accident.
(D Note
Brake fluid will damage the paint of your vehi
cle.
@ For the sake of the environment
Because of the problem of proper disposal of
brake fluid as well as the special tools re
quired and the necessary expertise, we rec
ommend that you have the brake fluid
changed by your authorized Audi dealer .
Battery
General information
Under normal operating conditions, the battery
in your Audi does not need any maintenance.
With
high outside temperatures or long daily
drives we recommend that you have the electro
lyte level checked by a service facility. The elec
trolyte level should also be checked each time
the battery is charged ¢
page 214.
Have the battery checked when you take your ve
hicle in for service. You are well advised to re
place a battery that is older than S years.

With certain types o f air bag dep loyment, the
battery is disconnected from the vehicle electri
cal system for safety reasons¢&.
in Repair, care
and disposal of the airbags on page 150 .
Disconnecting the battery terminals
Some vehicle func tions (power w indow re gula
t ors, for example) are lost i f th e battery termi
na ls are d isconnected . These functions have to be
relearned a fter the battery termina ls are con
nected aga in. To prevent th is, the batte ry s hou ld
only be disco nnected from the vehicle e lectr ica l
system w hen abso lut ely necessa ry for repairs.
Veh icles not driven for long periods
If yo u do not drive you r vehicle over a period of
seve ral days or weeks, e lectrical components a re
g radually c ut back or sw itched off. This reduces
e n ergy consumption and ma inta ins starting ca
pability over a longer period ¢
page 186. Some
of the co nvenience funct io ns m ay not o perate,
such as the i nter io r li ghts or powe r seat adjust
men t. T he conve nie nce func tions w ill be av aila ble
ag ain whe n you swi tch on the igni tion and start
the eng ine .
Winter operation
During the win ter mo nth s, ba ttery capaci ty te nds
to decr ease as temperatu res drop . T his is be
c a use more power i s als o c ons umed w hile s tar t
i ng, and t he he adlights, rear w indow de fogge r,
etc., a re used more o ften .
Avoi d unn ecess ary power consu mption, part icu
larl y in cit y tr affic or when traveling on ly sho rt
d is tan ces. Let yo ur au thori ze d Aud i d ealer che ck
the cap aci ty of the vehicle battery before w inte r
sets in ¢
pa ge 214 . A well charge d battery w ill
n ot on ly prevent start ing p roblems w hen the
weather is cold, but will also last longer .
(D Tips
If your ve hicle is left stand ing fo r severa l
weeks at extremely low tem peratures, the ve
hicle batte ry s hould be removed an d sto red
where it will not freeze. This will preve nt it
fro m being damaged an d hav ing to be re
placed.
Checking and Filling
Working on the battery
Be especially careful when working on or near
th e battery.
The battery is located in the luggage compart
ment under the floor. Befo re yo u check anything
i n the luggage compart ment ,
read and heed all
WARNINGS ¢&_ .
Always heed the safety warnings , when wor king
o n the veh icle batte ry or t he ve hicle elec trical
system to prevent in ju ry .
The following WARNINGS are very important
when working on the battery :
Always heed the following WARNING SYM-
BOLS and safety precautions when working on the battery.
®
Always wear eye protection .
~
Battery acid contains sulfuric acid . Al-
ways wear gloves and eye protection .
@
No
- sparks
- flames
· smoking .
~
When a battery is charged, it produces
hydrogen gas which is explosive and
could cause personal injury.
®
Always keep the battery well out of
reach of children .
A WARNING
=
Whenever working on t he battery or on the
e lectr ica l system, the re is the r isk of injury,
accide nt a nd eve n fire. Read and he ed the fol
l ow ing W AR NIN GS:
- Always wear eye prot ection. Do not let bat·
tery acid or any l ead particles g et on you r
skin o r clothing. Shield yo ur ey es. E xplosiv e
g ases can ca use b lindne ss or o ther in jury.
- Ba tte ry acid contai ns sulfur ic acid . Su lfu ric
acid can ca u se blindness and s evere burns.
- Always wea r gloves and eye protection . Do
n ot tilt t he batte ry because aci d could lea k
-
out of the ventilation openings. ""
213

Checking and Filling
-If you get battery acid in your eyes or on
your skin, immediately rinse with cold wa
ter for several minutes and get medical at
tention .
- If you should ingest any battery acid, seek
medical attention immediately.
- Do not expose the battery to an open flame,
electric sparks or an open light .
- Do not smoke.
- Do not interchange the positive and nega-
tive cables.
- When working on the battery, be sure not to
short-circuit the terminals with tools or oth
er metal objects. This would cause the bat
tery to heat up very quickly, which could lead to damage or explosion and personal
injury.
- When a battery is charged, it produces hy
drogen gas which is explosive and could
cause personal injury.
- Always keep the battery well out of the
reach of children.
- Before work is done on the electrical sys
tem, disconnect the negative ground cable.
- Before performing any work on the electri
cal system, switch off the engine and igni
tion as well as any electrical equipment. The negative cable on the battery must be dis
connected. If you are just going to replace a
light bulb, then it is enough to switch off
the lights.
- Before disconnecting the battery, switch off
the anti-theft alarm system! Otherwise you
will set off the alarm.
- When disconnecting the battery, first dis
connect the negative cable and then the
positive cable.
- Before reconnecting the battery, make sure
all electrical consumers are switched off.
Reconnect the positive cable first and then
the negative cable. Never interchange the
cables - this could start a fire!
- Never charge a frozen or a thawed-out bat
tery. It could explode! If a battery has fro
zen, then it must be replaced. A discharged
battery can freeze over at 32 °F (0 °C).
- Make sure the vent hose is always attached
to the opening on the side of the battery.
214
- Never use batteries which are damaged .
There is the danger of an explosion! Always
replace a damaged battery.
A WARNING
California Proposition 65 Warning:
- Battery posts, terminals and related acces
sories contain lead and lead compounds,
chemicals known to the State of California
to cause cancer and reproductive problems.
Wash hands after handling.
(D Note
- Do not disconnect the vehicle battery when
the ignition is on or when the engine is run
ning, otherwise, you will damage electronic
components in the electrical system.
- If your vehicle is going to stand for a long
period of time without being driven, protect
the battery from "freezing", otherwise it
will be damaged and will then have to be re
placed .
- When opening the doors, the windows low
er approximately 10 mm automatically. This
function is not available when the battery is
disconnected, which means there is a risk
that the door seal or the window could be
damaged.
Battery charging
Starting the engine requires a well charged bat tery.
Fig . 188 En g in e compartment: con nectors fo r a charger
and jump start cab les

Always r ead and h eed all W ARNING S below
~ A. and
¢A. in Working on the battery on
page 213.
.,. Switch off the ignition and all electrica l con
sumers .
.,. Make sure the area is well venti lated when you
charge the battery.
.,. Open the engine hood
¢page 203.
.,. Open the red cover on the positive pole
¢fig . 188 .
.,. Connect the charger co nnectors according to
the instructions to the
j ump start bo lt s. (Bolts
under the red cover= "positive", Bolts with hex
head
= "negat ive") .
.,. Only now plug the mains lead for the charging
equipment into the wall outlet and turn it on
¢&_ .
.,. M ake s ure th e char ging rate is not o ver
30 amp s/14.8 Volt.
.,. When the battery is fully charged: Turn the
charg ing equipment off and remove the mains
lead from the wall outlet.
.,. Now remove the clamps for the charging equ ip-
ment.
.,. Close the red cover on the positive pole.
.,. Close the hood
¢ page 204.
A discharged battery can fre eze at temperatures
of only 32 F
0 (0 °C). A llow a frozen battery to
thaw comp lete ly before attempt ing to charge it
¢ ,&. However, we recommend not using a
thawed battery again because the battery casing
can be cracked due to ice formation and can leak
battery acid.
Battery chargin g (Ma ximum cha rging rate of
30 amp s/14 .8 Volt )
When charging at low voltages (e.g. with a trick
le cha rger ),
the battery cables do not have to be
d isconnected first. The battery caps should
not
be opened when charging a battery .
It is not necessary to remove the battery from
the luggage compartment, and it is also not nec
essary to disconnect the cables.
Check ing and Filling
Fast charging the batt ery (charging rate
ab ove 14.8 Volt )
For technical reasons do not use a battery charg
er that uses vo ltage greater than 14.8 Volt to
charge your vehicle's battery.
A WARNING
=
Charging a battery can be dangerous .
-Always follow the operating instructions
provided by the battery charger manufactur
er when charging your battery .
- Never charge a frozen battery. It may ex
plode because of gas trapped in the ice. Al
low a froze n battery to thaw out first .
- Do not reuse batter ies which were frozen.
The battery hous ing may have cracked and
weakened when the battery froze .
- Charge the battery in a well ventilated area.
Keep away from open flame or electrical
spark. Do not smoke . Hydrogen gas generat
ed by the battery is explos ive.
- To reduce the danger of explosion, never connect or d isconnect charge r cables while
the charger is ope rating .
- Fast charg ing a battery is dangerous and
should only be attempted by a competent
technicia n w ith the prope r equipment.
- Batte ry acid that may spill during charging
should be washed off w ith a so lution of
warm water and baking soda to neutra lize
t he acid .
{[) Note
Never use a fast charger as a booster to start
the e ngine. This will se riously damage sensi
tive electronic components, such as control
units, re lays, radio, etc., as well as the bat tery
charge r.
Battery replacement
The new battery must have the same specifica
tions and dimensions as the original equipment
battery .
Intelligent ene rgy manageme nt in yo ur vehicle is
responsib le for distr ib uting the electrica l energy
Iii>-
215

Check ing and F illing
througho ut your vehicle ¢ page 186 . The intelli
gent energy management system wi ll keep the
engine battery charged better than veh icles with
out this system . To make sure the addit ional
electrical energy is avai lab le once again after you
have changed the battery, we recommend that
you install batter ies of t he same type and manu
facture on ly (the same as those insta lled at the
time your veh icle was delive red). Spec ificat ions
are listed on t he b attery housing. Your author
i z ed dealer must code the battery in the energy
management system to enable you to use the en
ergy manag ement functions correctly after re
p lacing the battery.
The new battery must have the same capac ity,
voltage (12 -vo lt), amperage, const ruction and
p lug sealing .
W hen insta lling the ba tte ry, make sure the igni
tion and all elec trical consumers are sw itched
off .
(D Note
Mak e sure the ve ntila tio n hose on t he side of
the batte ry is connecte d, othe rw ise f umes o r
battery acid can lea k out .
@) For the sake of the environment
Because of the prob lem of pr oper disposal of
a ba ttery, we recommen d your au thor ized
Audi dea le r change the battery fo r you. Bat
teries contain su lf u ric acid and lea d and must
always be disposed o f prope rly in comp liance
w ith all environmental regulations. D isposing
of vehicle batteries improperly is very danger
ous to the e nvironment.
216
Windshield washer
system
Fi g. 189 En gin e compar tm en t: was her flui d rese rvoir cap
.., N
-N ~ a, m
The w indshield washer reservoir O contains the
cleaning so lution for the windshie ld and the
headlight washer system *
9 page 205, fig. 183.
The reservoir capacity is found in 9 page 260 .
To reduce the risk of lime scale depos its on the
spray nozzles, use clean water with low amo unts
of calcium. Always add w indow cleaner to the wa
ter. When the outside temperatures are cold, an anti-freez ing agent shou ld be added to the water
so that it does not freeze .
(D Note
-The concentration of ant i-f reez ing agent
must be adjusted to the ve hicle operat ing
conditions i n the respective cl imate . A con
cen tration t hat is too high can lead to vehi
cle damage.
- Never ad d radia tor an ti-freeze or other addi
t ives to the washer fluid .
- Do not use a glass cleaner t hat contains
paint so lvents, because th is could damage
the pain t.
Service interval display
The service interval display detects when your ve
hicle is due for service .
The service interval d isplay wo rks i n two stages:
- Inspection or oil change rem inder: after a cer-
tain distance drive n, a message appears in the
instrument cluster display each t ime t he igni
tion is switched on o r off . The remaining d is-
t ance o r time is disp layed b riefly. .,..

-Inspection or oil change due: If your vehicle
has reached an inspection or oi l change interval
or both intervals at the same time, the mes
sage
Inspection due! or Oil change due! or Oil
change and inspection due!
appears briefly af
ter switching the ignition on/off .
Checking service intervals
You can check the remaining distance or time un
til the next oil change or next inspection in the
Car menu. To do this, select: the
ICARI function
button
> (Car)* Systems control button > Service
& control > Service intervals.
Resetting the indicator
Your authorized Audi dealer or authorized Audi
Service Facility will reset the service interval dis
p lay after performing service.
I f you have changed the oil you rself, you must re
set the oil change interval.
To reset the indicator, select: the
ICARI funct ion
button
> (Car)* Systems control button > Service
& control > Service intervals. Turn the contro l
knob downward to
Reset oil change interval and
press the control knob.
@ Note
-Only reset the oil change indicator if the oil
was changed .
- Following the service inte rvals is critical to
maintain ing the service life and va lue of
your vehicle, especially the engine . Even if
the mileage on the vehicle is low, do not ex
ceed the time for the next serv ice.
- Calcu lating the time to the next o il change
i s interrupted when the vehicle battery is
disconnected. If the veh icle is not driven for
a long period of time, check the ma inte
nance schedule so that you can follow the
maintenance intervals.
Checking and Filling
217

Wheels
(a) Curb weight
(b) Accessory weight
(c) Vehicle capacity weight, and
(d) Production options weight
Maximum (permissible )
inflation pressure
means the maximum cold infla
tion pressure to which a tire may be inflated. Also called "maxi
mum inflation pressure ."
Normal occupant weight
means 150 lbs . (68 kilograms)
times the number of occupants
seated in the vehicle up to the to
ta l seating capacity of your vehi
c le .
Occupant distribution
means distribut ion of occupan ts
in a vehic le .
Outer diameter
means the overall diamete r of an
inflated new tire.
Overall width
means the l inear distance be
tween the exter iors of the side
walls of an infla ted tire , including
elevations due to labeling , deco
rations, or protective bands or
r ibs.
222
Ply
means a layer of rubber -coated
pa rallel cords.
Production options weight
means t he comb ined we ight of
those insta lled regular production
options weighing over 5 lbs . (2 .3
kg) in excess of those standard
items which they replace , not pre
viously considered in curb weight or accessory weight, inc luding
heavy duty brakes, ride levelers,
roof rack, heavy duty battery, and
special trim.
Radial ply tire
means a pneumatic tire in which
the ply co rds that extend to the
beads are laid at subs tantially 90
deg rees to the centerline o f the
tread .
Recommended inflation
pressure
see~ page 221, Cold tire infla
tion pressure.
Reinforced tire
means a tire designed to operate
at highe r loads and at h igher in
flat ion pressures than t he corre
spond ing standa rd tire . R ein
forced tires may be identified as .,.