2017 Seat Ateca warning

Operation
SEAT recommends that towing brackets be
r etr
ofitted at a specialised workshop. For ex-
ample, it may very well be necessary to ad-
just the cooling system or mount thermal pro-
tection plates. SEAT recommends visiting a
SEAT dealership for this.
If a towing bracket is retrofitted, the distance
specifications should always be kept in
mind. The distance between the centre of the
spherical head and the road ››› Fig. 219 D must never be less than that indicated. This
al
so ap

plies when the vehicle is fully loaded,
including the technically permissible maxi-
mum vertical load on the coupling device.
Distance specifications ››› Fig. 219:
Attachment points
932.5 mm
65 mm min.
350-420 mm
220 mm
615.5 mm
1,043 mm WARNING
If the cables are improperly or incorrectly
c onnect

ed, this may lead to malfunctions in
the entire vehicle electronic system, as well
as to accidents and serious injuries.
● Never connect the trailer's electric system
to the el
ectrical connections of the tail lights A
B
C
D
E
F
G or any other unsuitable power sources. Only
u
se s

uitable connectors to connect the trail-
er.
● The towing bracket should be retrofitted
only
at a specialised workshop. WARNING
If the towing bracket is badly fitted or unsuit-
ab l

e, the trailer may separate from the vehi-
cle while driving. This could cause serious ac-
cidents and fatal injuries. Note
Only use towing brackets that have been ap-
pr o

ved by SEAT for the model in question.264

Care and maintenance
Advice
C ar
e and maintenance
Accessories and modifications to the vehicle
Accessories, replacement parts and
repair work Always ask your dealer or specialist retailer
f
or a

dvice before purchasing accessories and
replacement parts.
Your vehicle is designed to offer a high
standard of active and passive safety. For this
reason, we recommend that you ask a SEAT
Official Service for advice before fitting ac-
cessories or replacement parts. Your SEAT Of-
ficial Service has the latest information from
the manufacturer and can recommend acces-
sories and replacement parts which are suita-
ble for your requirements. They can also an-
swer any questions you might have regarding
official regulations.
We recommend you to use only SEAT acces-
sories and Genuine SEAT parts ®
. SEAT has
tested these parts and accessories for suita-
bility, reliability and safety. SEAT Official
Services have the necessary experience and
facilities to ensure that the parts are installed
correctly and professionally. Any
retro-fitted equipment which has a direct
eff
ect on the vehicle and/or the way it is driv-
en, such as a cruise control system or elec-
tronically-controlled suspension, must be
approved for use in your vehicle and bear the
e mark (the European Union's authorisation
symbol).
If any additional electrical devices are fitted
which do not serve to control the vehicle it-
self (for instance a refrigerator box, laptop or
ventilator fan, etc.), they must bear the 
sign (manufacturer conformity declaration in
the European Union). WARNING
Accessories, for example telephone holders
or c up ho

lders, should never be fitted on the
covers, or within the working range of the air-
bags. Otherwise, there is a danger of injury if
the airbag is triggered in an accident. Modifications
Modifications must always be carried out ac-
c
or

ding to our specifications.
Unauthorised modifications to the electronic
components, software, wiring or data transfer
in the vehicle may cause malfunctioning. Due
to the way the electronic components are
linked together in networks, other indirect
systems may be affected by the faults. This
can seriously impair safety, lead to excessive wear of components, and also invalidate your
vehic

le registration documents.
You will appreciate that your SEAT dealership
cannot be held liable for any damage caused
by modifications and/or work performed in-
correctly.
We therefore recommend that all work should
be performed by a SEAT Official Service using
genuine SEAT parts ®
. WARNING
Incorrectly performed modifications or other
w ork

on your vehicle can lead to malfunctions
and cause accidents. Radio transmitters and office equip-
ment
Radio transmitters (fixed installation)
An
y

retrofit installations of radio transmitters
in the vehicle require prior approval. SEAT
generally authorises in-vehicle installations
of approved types of radio transmitters provi-
ded that:
● The aerial is installed correctly.
● The aerial is installed on the exterior of the
vehic
le (and shielded cables are used togeth-
er with non-reflective aerial trimming).
● The effective transmitting power does not
ex
ceed 10 Watts at the aerial base. »
265
Technical data
Advice
Operation
Emergencies
Safety

Advice
A SEAT Official Service and specialised work-
shop w i
ll be able to inform you about options
for installing and operating radio transmitters
with a higher transmitting power.
Mobile radio transmitters
Commercial mobile telephones or radio
equipment might interfere with the electron-
ics of your vehicle and cause malfunctions.
This may be due to:
● No external aerial.
● External aerial incorrectly installed.
● Transmitting power more than 10 W.
You mu
st, therefore, do not operate portable
mobile telephones or radio equipment inside
the vehicle without a properly installed exter-
nal aerial ››› .
Pl e

ase note also that the maximum range of
the equipment can only be achieved with an
external aerial.
Business equipment
Retrofit installation of business or private
equipment in the vehicle is permitted, provi-
ded the equipment cannot interfere with the
driver's immediate control of the vehicle and
that any such equipment carries the  mark.
Any retrofit equipment that could influence
the driver's control of the vehicle must have a
type approval for your vehicle and must carry
the e mark. WARNING
Mobile telephones or radio equipment which
i s

operated inside the vehicle without a prop-
erly installed external aerial can create exces-
sive magnetic fields that could cause a health
hazard. Note
● The po s

terior fitting of electric and elec-
tronic equipment in this vehicle affects its li-
cence and could lead to the withdrawal of the
vehicle registration document under certain
circumstances.
● Please use the mobile telephone/radio op-
eratin
g instructions. Care and cleaning
Gener a

l information Regular and careful care helps to
maint

ain
the value of the vehicle. This may also be one
of the requirements for upholding any war-
ranty claims in the event of corrosion or paint
defects.
SEAT Official Services and specialist retailers
carry stocks of suitable car care materials.
Please follow the instructions for use on the
packaging. WARNING
● Cl

eaning products and other materials used
for car care can be damaging to your health if
misused.
● Always keep care products in a safe place,
out of
the reach of children. Failure to comply
could result in poisoning. For the sake of the environment
● If po

ssible, use environmentally friendly
products.
● The remains of car care products should not
be dis
posed of with ordinary household
waste. Vehicle exterior care
W a

shing the vehicle The longer substances such as insects, bird
dr
op

pings, resinous tree sap, road dirt, in-
dustrial deposits, tar, soot or road salt and
other aggressive materials remain on the ve-
hicle, the more damage they do to the paint-
work. High temperatures (for instance due to
strong sunlight) further intensify the corro-
sive effect.
After the period when salt is put on the roads
it is important to have the underside of the
vehicle washed thoroughly.
266

Care and maintenance
Automatic car washes
B ef
ore going through a car wash, be sure to
take the usual precautions such as closing
the windows and roof. If the vehicle has spe-
cial accessories such as spoilers or a roof
rack or two-way radio aerial, etc., it is advisa-
ble to consult the car wash tunnel operator.
It is best to use a car wash without revolving
bristles if possible.
Washing the vehicle with a high pressure
cleaner
When washing the vehicle with a high-pres-
sure cleaner, always follow the operating in-
structions for the equipment. This applies
particularly to the operating pressure and the
spraying distance. Do not hold the nozzle too
close to soft materials such as rubber hoses
or seals. The same applies to the parking aid
sensors*, which are located in the rear bump-
er.
Do not use a nozzle that sprays the water out
in a direct stream or one that has a rotating
jet for forcing off dirt.
Washing the car by hand
When washing the car by hand, use plenty of
water to soften the dirt first, and rinse off as
well as possible.
Then clean the vehicle with a soft sponge,
glove or brush using only slight pressure.
You should start on the roof and work down. Special car
soap should only be used for very
persistent dirt.
Rinse the sponge or glove thoroughly and of-
ten.
Wheels, sills and similar should be cleaned
last. Use a second sponge for this. WARNING
● The v

ehicle should only be washed with the
ignition switched off. Failure to follow this in-
struction could result in an accident.
● Do not clean the underside of chassis, the
ins
ide of wheel arches or wheel trims without
protecting your hands and arms. You may cut
yourself on sharp-edged metal parts. Other-
wise, there is a risk of sustaining cuts.
● When washing the car during the winter
sea
son: water and ice in the brake system
can reduce braking effectiveness: risk of acci-
dent! CAUTION
● Do not w

ash the vehicle in direct sunlight –
otherwise the paint can be damaged.
● Do not use sponges, abrasive household
spon
ges or similar to clean insect remains.
This could damage the surface.
● Clean off stubborn dirt (insects, etc.) from
the hea
dlights at regular intervals, for in-
stance when filling the fuel tank. The head-
lights should only be washed with water, do not wipe them with a dry cloth or sponge. It
i
s

best to use soapy water.
● Never wash tyres with a jet that sprays the
wat
er out in a direct stream. This could dam-
age the tyres even if the spray is kept at a
distance and only used for a very short time.
● Before washing the vehicle in an automatic
car w
ash, please make sure to retract the ex-
terior mirrors to prevent them from being
damaged. Electrically retractable exterior
mirrors must not be folded in or out by hand,
always use the electrical power control. CAUTION
● Bef

ore washing the vehicle in an automatic
car wash, please proceed as follows to lock
the wiper arms so that they are not moved to-
wards the top of the windscreen:
–the bonnet must be closed.
– switch the ignition on and off.
– press the windscreen wiper lever forward
briefly (windscreen washer function).
This will lock the wiper arms. For the sake of the environment
The car should only be washed in special
w a

sh bays. These areas are prepared to pre-
vent oily water from getting into the public
drains. In some places, washing vehicles out-
side the areas intended for this purpose is
prohibited. 267
Technical data
Advice
Operation
Emergencies
Safety

Care and maintenance
Carbon parts The carbon parts on your vehicle have a pain-
t
ed s
urface. They do not need any special
care and are cleaned just like any other pain-
ted part ››› page 266.
Paint damage Minor damage to the paint, such as scratches
or s
t

one chips, should be touched up without
delay before the metal starts to corrode. Suit-
able touch-up brushes or sprays for your car
can be obtained from a SEAT Official Service.
The number of the original paint finish on the
vehicle is given on the data sticker
››› page 301.
If corrosion is already visible it must be thor-
oughly removed by a specialised workshop.
Windows Clear vision is an essential safety factor.
The w
ind

screen must not be cleaned with in-
sect remover or wax, otherwise the wind-
screen wipers will not function properly (jud-
dering).
Traces of rubber, oil, grease or silicone can
be removed with a window cleaning solution
or a silicone remover. Wax residue can only be removed with a special cleaner. Your SEAT
Offic

ial Service will be able to provide you
with more detailed information.
The windows should also be cleaned on the
inside at regular intervals.
Use a separate cloth or chamois to dry the
windows. Cloths used for waxing and polish-
ing contain residues that will cause smears
on the glass. WARNING
Do not use water-repellent coatings on the
w ind

screen. In bad visibility conditions (e.g.
in the rain, dark or with a low sun), these
coatings may cause dazzle: risk of accident!
Such coatings can also cause the windscreen
wiper blades to make noise. CAUTION
● Remo

ve snow and ice from windows and ex-
terior mirrors with a plastic scraper only. To
avoid scratches caused by dirt on the glass,
the scraper should only be pushed in one di-
rection and not moved to and fro.
● The heating element for the rear window is
locat
ed on the inner side of the window. To
avoid damaging them, do not apply stickers
to these heating elements.
● Never use warm or hot water to remove
sno
w and ice from windows and mirrors. This
could cause the glass to crack! Wheels
The wheels require regular attention to pre-
ser
v

e their appearance. It is important to re-
move road salt and brake dust by washing
the wheels at regular intervals, otherwise the
finish will be impaired.
After washing, the wheels should only be
cleaned with an "acid-free" cleaning agent
for alloy wheels. This is available from SEAT
Official Services and specialist retailers. Nev-
er leave the cleaning agent on the rims for
any longer than specified in the instructions
before rinsing it off. If the wheel cleaner fluid
contains acid it can attack the surfaces of the
wheel bolts.
Car polish or other abrasive agents should
not be used for maintaining the rims. If the
protective coating is damaged, e.g. by flying
stones, the damaged area should be re-
paired immediately. WARNING
Please note when cleaning the wheels that
w at

er, ice and road salt can impair the effec-
tiveness of the brakes; this can cause an acci-
dent. Exhaust tail pipe
It is important to remove road salt and brake
du
s

t by washing the wheels at regular »
269
Technical data
Advice
Operation
Emergencies
Safety

Intelligent technology
The retract function may not operate properly
in v
ery dirty belts. Make sure that the inertia
reel seat belts are completely dry before al-
lowing them to retract. CAUTION
● Do not r

emove the seat belts from the vehi-
cle to clean them.
● Do not use chemical cleaning agents on the
seat
belts, as this can damage the webbing.
Ensure that the seat belts do not come into
contact with corrosive fluids.
● If you find any damage to the belt webbing,
belt fittin
gs, the belt retractor or the buckle,
the belt in question must be replaced by a
specialised workshop. Intelligent technology
El ectr

omechanical steering Electro-mechanical power steering assists
the driv
er when s

teering.
Electro-mechanical power steering adapts
electronically to the speed of the car, torque
and turning angle.
If the power steering should fail at any time
or the engine is switched off (for instance
when being towed), the car can still be
steered. However, more effort than normal
will be required to turn the steering wheel.
Driver warning lamps and messages  (in red) Faulty steering! To
park the vehicle
If the warning lamp remains on and the driver
indication appears, the power steering could
be faulty.
Do not continue driving. Seek specialist as-
sistance.  (in yellow) Steering: System
fault! You may continue driving.
If the warning lamp comes on, the steering
could react with more difficultly or more sen-
sitivity than normal. In addition, when driving
in a straight line the steering wheel may be
off-centre. Drive slowly to a specialised workshop and
h
av

e the fault repaired.
 (in yellow) Steering lock:
fault! Go to an Official Service
The electronic steering lock is malfunction-
ing.
Go to a specialised workshop as soon as
possible and have the fault repaired. WARNING
Take it immediately to a specialised work-
shop and h av

e the fault repaired: risk of acci-
dent! Note
If the lamp  (in red) or el
se  (in yellow)
lights up briefly, you may continue driving. Four-wheel drive
3
V
alid for vehicles: with four-wheel drive
On four-wheel drive models, the engine pow-
er is distributed to all four wheels
General notes
On four-wheel drive vehicles, the engine
power is distributed to all four wheels. The
distribution of power is controlled automati-
cally according to your driving style and the
road conditions. Also see ›››
page 173. »
273
Technical data
Advice
Operation
Emergencies
Safety

Advice
The four-wheel drive is specially designed to
c omp
lement the superior engine power. This
combination gives the vehicle exceptional
handling and performance capabilities, both
on normal roads and in more difficult condi-
tions, such as snow and ice. Even so (or per-
haps especially for this reason), it is impor-
tant to observe certain safety points ››› .
W int

er tyres
Thanks to four-wheel drive, your vehicle will
have plenty of traction in winter conditions,
even with the standard tyres. Nevertheless,
we still recommend that winter tyres or all-
season tyres be fitted on all four wheels to
give even better braking response.
Snow chains
On roads where snow chains are mandatory,
this also applies to cars with four-wheel drive
›››  page 56.
Changing tyres
On vehicles with four-wheel drive, all four
tyres must have the same rolling circumfer-
ence. Also avoid using tyres with varying
tread depths ››› page 293.
Off-roader?
Your SEAT is not an off-road vehicle: it does
not have enough ground clearance to be
used as such. It is therefore best to avoid rough tracks and uneven terrain as much as
pos

sible. WARNING
● Ev

en with four-wheel drive, you should al-
ways adjust your speed to suit the condi-
tions. Do not let the extra safety features
tempt you into taking any risks when driving.
Risk of accident!
● The braking capability of your vehicle is
limited b
y the tyres' grip. It is therefore no
different from a car without four-wheel drive.
So do not be tempted to drive too fast on firm
or slippery roads just because the vehicle
still has good acceleration in these condi-
tions. Risk of accident!
● On wet roads bear in mind that the front
wheels
may start to “aquaplane” and lose
contact with the road if the car is driven too
fast. If this should happen, there will be no
sudden increase in engine speed to warn the
driver, as occurs with a front-wheel drive car.
For this reason you should always choose a
driving speed suitable for the road condi-
tions. Risk of accident! Power Management
Thi s

system helps to ensure reliable
starting The power management controls the distribu-
tion of
el

ectrical energy and thus helps to en- sure that there is always enough power avail-
abl

e to start the engine.
If a vehicle with a conventional electrical sys-
tem is left parked for a long time, the battery
will gradually lose its charge because certain
electrical devices, such as the electronic
gearbox lock continues to draw current even
when the ignition is off. In some cases there
may not be enough power available to start
the engine.
Your vehicle is equipped with an intelligent
power management system to control the
distribution of electrical energy. This signifi-
cantly improves reliability when starting the
engine, and also prolongs the useful life of
the battery.
The main functions incorporated in the power
management system are battery diagnosis,
residual current management and dynamic
power management.
Battery diagnosis
The battery diagnosis function constantly
registers the condition of the battery. Sen-
sors detect the battery voltage, battery cur-
rent and battery temperature. This enables
the system to calculate the current power lev-
el and charge condition of the battery.
Residual current management
The residual current management reduces
power consumption while the vehicle is
274

Intelligent technology
parked. It controls the supply of power to the
v ariou
s electrical devices while the ignition is
switched off. The system takes the battery di-
agnosis data into consideration.
Depending on the power level of the battery,
switch off the individual electrical devices
one after the other to prevent the battery
from losing too much charge and to ensure
that the engine can be started reliably.
Dynamic power management
While the vehicle is moving, this function dis-
tributes the available power to the various
electrical devices and systems according to
their requirements. The power management
ensures that on-board systems do not con-
sume more electrical power than the alterna-
tor can supply, and thus maintains the maxi-
mum possible battery power level. Note
● Neither i s

the power management system
able to overcome the given physical limits.
Please remember that the power and useful
life of the battery are limited.
● When there is a risk that the vehicle will
not s
tart, the alternator power failure or low
battery charge level warning lamp will be
shown  ››› page 106. Flat battery
Starting ability has first priority.
Shor
t

trips, city traffic and low temperatures
all place a heavy load on the battery. In these
conditions a large amount of power is con-
sumed, but only a small amount is supplied.
The situation is also critical if electrical devi-
ces are in use when the engine is not run-
ning. In this case power is consumed when
none is being generated.
In these situations you will be aware that the
power management system is intervening to
control the distribution of electrical power.
When the vehicle is parked for long periods
If you do not drive your vehicle for a period of
several days or weeks, the power manage-
ment will gradually shut off the electrical de-
vices one by one or reduce the amount of cur-
rent they are using. This limits the amount of
power consumed and helps to ensure relia-
ble starting even after a long period. Some
convenience functions, such as remote vehi-
cle opening, may not be available under cer-
tain circumstances. These functions will be
restored when you switch on the ignition and
start the engine. With the engine switched off
F
or e

xample, if you listen to the sound sys-
tem with the engine switched off the battery
will run down.
If the energy consumption means there is a
risk that the engine will not start, a text will
appear in vehicles with a driver information
system*.
This driver indicator tells you that you must
start the engine so that the battery can re-
charge.
When the engine is running
Although the alternator generates electrical
power, the battery can still become dis-
charged while the vehicle is being driven.
This can occur when a lot of power is being
consumed but only a small amount supplied,
especially if the battery is not fully charged
initially.
To restore the necessary energy balance, the
system will then temporarily shut off the elec-
trical devices that are using a lot of power, or
reduce the current they are consuming. Heat-
ing systems in particular use a large amount
of electrical power. If you notice, for instance,
that the seat heating* or the rear window
heater is not working, they may have been
temporarily switched off or regulated to a
lower heat output. These systems will be
available again as soon as sufficient electri-
cal power is available. »
275
Technical data
Advice
Operation
Emergencies
Safety