tow AUDI A7 2015 Service Manual

Make sure that the cooling system has enough
fluid.
Tire pressure
When towing a trailer, inflate the tires of your
vehicle to the cold tire pressure listed under
"Full load" on the label located on the driver's
side B-pillar (visible when the door is open).
Inflate trailer tires to trailer and tire manufac­
turers' specifications.
Lights
Check to make sure both vehicle and trailer
lights are working properly.
Safety chains
Be sure trailer safety chains are properly con­
nected from the trailer to the hitch on the ve­
hicle. Leave enough slack in the chains to per­
mit turning corners . When you install safety
chains, make sure they will not drag on the
road when you are driving.
The chains should cross under the trailer
tongue to prevent it from dropping in case of
separation from the hitch.
Adjusting the Audi drive select
Make sure the vehicle is on a level surface be­
fore hitching up the trailer and before adjust­
ing the tongue weight. The vehicle must be in
auto or comfort driving mode and not raised
qpage 102, ~CD .
Make sure that the vehicle is lowered. In Info­
tainment, select:
ICARI function button> Low­
er
control button.
If you must drive under poor road conditions,
you can raise the vehicle
after coupling the
trailer or
after adjusting the tongue weight
qpage 104.
- Changes in temperature or load can af­
fect the height of the vehicle .
- Always select
auto or comfort mode.
Otherwise, the tongue load specified for
your vehicle will no longer be applicable.
Trailer towing
Driving instructions
Driving with a trailer always requires extra
care and consideration .
To obtain the best possible handling of vehicle
and trailer, please note the following:
... Do not tow a loaded trailer when your car it­
self is not loaded.
... Be especially careful when passing other
vehicles.
... Observe speed limits .
... Do not drive at the maximum permissible
speed.
... Always apply brakes early .
... Monitor the temperature gauge.
Weight distribution
Towing a loaded trailer with an empty car re­
sults in a highly unstable distribution of
weight. If this cannot be avoided, drive at very
low speeds only to avoid the risk of losing
steering control.
A "balanced" rig is easier to operate and con­
trol. This means that the tow vehicle should
be loaded to the extent possible and permissi­
ble, while keeping the trailer as light as possi­
ble under the circumstances. Whenever possi­
ble, transfer some cargo to the luggage com­
partment of the tow vehicle while observing
tongue load requirements and vehicle loading
considerations.
Speed
The higher the speed, the more difficult it be­
comes for the driver to control the rig. Do not
drive at the maximum permissible speed. Re­
duce your speed even more if load, weather or
wind conditions are unfavorable -particularly
when going downhill .
Reduce vehicle speed
immediately if the trail­
er shows the slightest sign of swaying .
Do not
try to stop the swaying by accelerating.
Observe speed limits. In some areas, speeds
for vehicles towing trailers are lower than for
regular vehicles . ..,..
209
•
•

210 Trailer towing
A lways apply brakes early. When driving
downhill, shift into a lower gear to use the en­
g ine braking effect to slow the vehicle . Use of
the brakes alone can cause them to overheat
and fail.
Air su spen sion *
When driving with a trai ler, activate the trailer
mode of the air suspension. Switch the air
suspension trailer mode on when you are tow­
ing a trailer. This will limit the regulation by
the air suspens ion while driving. Select in the
MMI:
! CARI function button> (C ar)* sys te m s
control button > Vehicl e se tting s> Air s usp .:
t o wing > On .
Coolant t emperatur e
The coolant temperature gauge¢ page 11
must be observed carefully. The coolant tem­
perature can increase if you drive on long in­
clines in a low gear at high engine speeds. Re­
duce your speed immed iate ly if the LEDs in
the top pa rt of the display turn on.
For more information about indicator lights,
refer to. ¢ page 16 .
A WARNING
Anyone not properly restrained in a mov­
ing veh icle is at a much greater risk in an
accident. Never let anyone r ide in your car
who is not prope rly wearing the restraints
provided by Audi .
Trailer towing tips
Important to know
Your vehicle handles differently when tow ing
-
a trailer because of the addit ional weight and
d ifferent weight dist ribution. Safety, perform­
ance and economy w ill greatly depend on how
carefu lly you load your trailer and operate
your rig.
Before you actually tow your trailer, practice
turn ing, stopp ing and back ing up in an area
away from traffic. Keep practicing until you
have become comp letely familiar with the way your vehicle
-trailer combination behaves and
responds .
Backi ng up is diffic ult and requi res p ractice.
Backing up w ith a trailer generally req uires
steering action opposite to that when backing
up your vehicle without a trailer.
Maintai n a greater d ista nce between yo ur ve­
hicle and the one in fron t of yo u. You w ill need
more room to stop. To compensate for the
trailer, you will need a larger than normal
turning radius.
When passing, remember that you cannot ac­ ce le rate as fast as you norma lly would be­
ca use of the added load. Make sure you have
enough room to pass . After passing, allow
plenty of room for your trailer before chang­
ing lanes again.
Avoid jerky starts, sharp tu rns o r rapid lane
changes.
(D Tips
- Do not tow a trailer during the break-in
period of your vehicle.
- If you tow a trailer, your Audi may re­
quire more frequent maintenance due to
the extra load ¢
page 294.
Parking on a slope
Do not park on a slope with a trailer. If it can­
not be avoided, do so only after doing the fol­
lowing:
When parking:
.,. App ly the foot brake .
.,. Have someone place choc ks unde r both the
vehicle and the trailer wheels.
.,. With chocks in place, slowly release the
brakes unt il the whee l chocks absorb the
load .
.,. Turn the whee ls towards the curb.
.,. Apply the parking brake.
.,. Select the P selector lever posit ion.
When re sta rting after p ark in g :
.,. App ly the foot brake .
.,. Start the engine.

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~ Select the D/S se lecto r lever posit ion .
~ Release the parking b rake and slow ly pull
o ut and away from the whee l chocks.
~ Stop and have someone retrieve the wheel
chocks.
(D Tips
I f you move the selector lever of the a uto­
mat ic transm ission to P before app lying
the parking b rake and befo re blocking the
wheels, you may have to use mo re force
la ter to move th e lever out of the P posi­
tion.
Trailer towin g 211
•
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256 Tires and wheels
load. The maximum load in­
cludes the number of passen­
gers that the vehicle is intend­
ed to carry ("seating capacity")
with an assumed weight of
150 lbs (68 kg) for each pas­
senger at a designated seating
position and the total weight of
any Luggage in the vehicle . If
you tow a trailer, the weight of
the trailer hitch and the tongue
weight of the loaded trailer
must be included as part of the
vehicle load .
The
Gr oss Axle Weight Rating
("GAWR") is the maximum load
that can be applied at each of
the vehicle's two axles.
The Gross Vehicle Weight Rat ­
ing and the Gross Axle Weight Rating are listed on the safety
compliance sticker label locat­
ed on the driver's side 8-pillar .
Your Audi has 4 seating posi ­
tions, 2 in the front and 2 in the rear for total seating capacity
of 4. In some vehicles there are
5 seating positions, 2 in the
front and 3 in the rear for total seating capacity of 5. Each seat­
ing position has a safety belt
¢ page 138, Safety belts.
The fact that there is an upper limit to your vehicle's Gross Ve­
hicle Weight Rating means that
the total weight of whatever is being carried in the vehicle (in ­
cluding the weight of a trailer
hitch and the tongue weight of
the loaded trailer) is limited .
The more passengers in the ve­ hicle or passengers who are
heavier than the standard
weights assumed mean that less weight can be carried as
luggage.
The tire pressure label on your
Audi also lists the maximum
combined weight of all of the
occupants and luggage or other
cargo that the vehicle can carry. For the Location of the label
¢ page 247, fig . 200 .
_& WARN ING -
Overloading a vehicle can
cause Loss of vehicle control,
a crash or other accident, se­
rious personal injury, and
even death.
-Carrying more weight than your vehicle was designed to carry will prevent the ve­
hicle from handling properly
~

258 Tires and wheels
being loaded on the vehicle.
That weight may not safely
exceed the available cargo
and luggage load capacity
calculated in Step 4.
6. If your vehicle will be towing
a trailer, load from your trail­
er will be transferred to your
vehicle. Consult this manual
to determine how this re­ duces the available cargo
and luggage load capacity of
your vehicle.
.,.Check the tire sidewall
(¢ page 260, fig. 204) to de­
termine the designated load
rating for a specific tire.
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends
on a lot of different things in­
cluding proper installation and
balancing, correct tire pressure
and driving style.
Fig. 202 Tire tread: tread wear indi­
cators (TWI)
Fig. 203 Rotating tires for more even
wear
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The original tires on your vehi­
cle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm)
high "wear indicators"
¢ fig. 202 running across the
tread. Depending on the make,
there will be six to eight of
them evenly placed around the
tire. Marks on the tire sidewall (for example "TWI" or other
symbols) indicate the positions
of the tread wear indicators.
Worn tires must be replaced. Different figures may apply in
other countries
¢ .&. .
Tire pressure
Incorrect tire pressure causes
premature wear and can cause
sudden tire blow-out. For this
reason, tire press ure must be
checked at least once a month
¢page 252.

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What do I do now? Emergency warning
triangle
App lies to vehicles: with emerge ncy warning triangle
The warning triangle is located on the inside
of the trunk lid .
D -
!I l
Fig. 207 Trunk lid: Warn ing triang le
.,. To open the cover, turn the locking mecha­
nism and pull the cover downward .
"' M ~
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.,. Remove the warning triangle from its hold ­
er .
The rear lid is only designed to hold the warn­
ing triangle offered by the original accessories
program. If you would like to retrofit your ve­
hicle with a warning triangle, please contact
your authori zed Audi dealer.
Vehicle tool kit
Vehicle tool kit and jack
The vehicle tool kit is located in the luggage
compartment under the cargo floor cover.
Fig. 208 Luggag e compa rtm en t: ca rgo floo r cov er
fol ded upwa rd /spa re tir e
What do I do now? 273
Fig . 209 Tru nk l id: Ve hicle too l kit
.,. Fold the floor to the seatback with the help
of the handle .
.,. Turn the handwheel counter-clockwise
q fig. 208 and remove the spare tire to
reach the vehicle tool kit.
T he onboard tool kit includes:
- Hooks to remove the whee l covers*
- Plastic hook to remove wheel bolt covers*
- Wheel bolt wrench
-Alignment pin for changing wheels
- Screwdriver with reversible blade
- Tow ing eye
-Jack
Before storing the jack, make sure it is wound
back down as far as it will go.
A WARNING
Im proper use of the vehicle jack can cause
serious personal injuries .
- Never use the screw driver hex head to
tighten w heel bolts, since the bolts can­
not attain the necessary tightening tor­
que if you use the hex head, potentially
causing an accident .
- The factory-supplied jack is intended on­
ly for your vehicle model. Under no cir­
cumstances should it be used to lift
heavy vehicles or other loads; yo u risk in­
juring yo urself.
- Never start the engine when the vehicle
is raised, which could cause an accident.
- Support the vehicle securely with appro­
pria te stands if wor k is to be performed
underneath the vehicle ; otherwise, there
is a potential risk for injury. ..,.

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Changing a wheel
Before changing a wheel
Observe the following precautions for your
own and your passenger's safety when chang­
ing a wheel .
.,. After you experience a tire fa ilure, pull the
car well away from moving traffic and try to
reach
level gro und before you stop¢.&_ .
.. All passengers should
leav e the car and
move to a safe location (fo r instan ce, be hind
the guardra il) ¢.&_ .
.. Engage the
parkin g brake to prevent your
vehicle from ro lling unintentionally ¢.&_ .
.. Move
selecto r le ver to p osition P ¢ .&_ .
1> Ifyou are towing a trai ler, unh itch the tra iler
from your vehicle .
.,. Take the
jack and the spare tire out of the
luggage compartment
¢ page 273,
¢ page 274 .
.8, WARNING
You or your passengers cou ld be injured
while changing a whee l if yo u do not fol­
low t hese safety precautions:
- If you have a flat t ire, move a safe dis ­
tance off the road. Tur n off the eng ine,
turn the emergency f lashers on and use
other warning dev ices to alert other mo­
torists.
- Make sure that passengers wait in a safe
place away from the ve hicle and well
away from the road and traff ic.
- To help p revent the vehicle from moving
s u dden ly and possibly slipping off the
jack, always fully set the parking brake
and block the wheel diagonally opposite
the wheel being changed. Whe n one
front wheel is lifted off the ground, plac­ ing the A utomat ic Transm iss ion in P
(Pa rk) will
not p revent the vehicle from
moving.
- Before you change a wheel, be su re the
ground is level and fi rm. If ne cessa ry,
use a st urdy board under the jack.
-
What do I do now? 275
- Always store the vehicle tool kit, the jack
and the replaced tire in the luggage com­ partment
c::>page 134.
(D Tips
Before changing the whee l, you must acti­
vate the jacking mode, so that the auto­ matic controls for the Adaptive Air Sus­
pension* do not make it more d iff icult to
lift the vehicle with the jack
c::> page 2 77 .
Changing a wheel
When you change a wheel , follow these­
quence described below s tep-by-s tep and in
exactly that order .
l. Activate the vehicle jack mode*
¢page 277 .
2. Remove the decorativ e wheel co ver* . For
more details see also
c::> page 2 76, Deco­
rative wheel covers
or c::> page 2 76,
Wheels with wheel bolt caps .
3. Loosen the wh eel bolt s ¢page 277.
4 . Loca te the p roper moun ting poin t for the
jack and align the jack be low that point
¢ page 277 .
5.
R ais e the car with the jack¢ page 2 77.
6. Remove the
wheel with the flat tire and
then install
the spar e c::>page 279.
7. Tighten all whee l bolts lightly .
8.
Lo wer the vehicle with the jack .
9 . Use the wheel bolt w rench and
firmly
t ighten al l wheel bolts ¢ page 2 77.
10 . Replace the decorative
wh eel c ov er* .
11. Deactivate the vehicle jack mode* in the
MM I:
ICARI f u nction button > (Car )* sy s­
tems
contro l button > S erv ici ng & che cks
> A ir s usp .: jac k mode > Off .
The vehicle jack mode * switches off automati­
ca lly at speeds above 6 mph (10 km/h) .
.8, WARNING
-Always read and fo llow all WARNINGS and
i nformat ion
c::> A in Raising the vehicle on
page 278
and c::> poge 280.
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Emergency situations
General
This chapter i s intended for trained emer­
gency crews and working personnel who have the necessary tools and equipment to
perform these operations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
(D Note
Ve hicles w ith an au tomatic tra nsmission
cannot be started by pus hing o r tow ing.
Starting with jumper
cables
If necessary, the engine can be started by
connecting it to the battery of another vehi­
cle.
If the engine shou ld fail to start because of a
discha rged o r wea k battery, the battery can be
connected to the battery o f
another vehicle,
using a
pair of jumper cables to start the en­
g ine.
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cables of sufficiently la rge
c ross section to carry the starter c urrent safe­
l y. Refer to the man ufacturer's specifications.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated te rm i­
na l clamps wh ic h are d istinctly marked:
plus(+) cable i n mos t cases co lore d red
minu s(-) cable
in most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batterie s contain e lec tricity, ac id, an d gas.
A ny of these can cause ve ry ser io us or fatal
inju ry. Follow the instructions below f or
safe han dling of your veh icle's b attery .
- Alway s shield you r eyes and avoid lean­
ing over the bat te ry whenever possib le.
- A dis ch arged battery c an free ze at tem­
peratures ju st be low 32 °F ( 0 °C ). Befo re
Emergency situations 285
connecting a jumpe r cab le, you must
thaw the fr ozen battery c omp lete ly, ot h­
erwise it could explode.
- Do not allow battery acid to contact eyes
or skin. Fl ush any contacted area with
wate r immediately.
- Improper use of a booster battery to start a vehicle may cause an explosion.
- Vehicle batter ies genera te exp losive gas­
es. Keep spar ks, flame and lighted c iga ­
rettes away from batte ries.
- Do not try to jump start any ve hicle w ith
a low ac id leve l in the battery.
- The vo ltage of the booste r batte ry m ust
a lso have a 12-volt rating. The capacity
(Ah) of the booster battery sho uld not be
lowe r tha n that of the discharged bat­
tery . U se of batte rie s of d iffe ren t voltage
or substantially diffe rent "Ah" rat ing
may c au se an exp losion and persona l in­
JU ry.
- N ever cha rge a fro zen battery. Gas trap­
pe d in the ice may cause a n ex plosion.
- Never cha rge or use a batte ry tha t h as
been fr ozen. T he battery case may have
be weakened.
- Us e of b atter ies of differe nt voltage or
sub stant ia lly diffe ren t ca pa city (Ah) ra t­
i ng may c ause an ex plosion an d injury .
Th e capac ity (Ah) of the booster bat tery
should not be lower than that of the dis ­
charged batte ry .
- Before you chec k any thing in the engine
compa rtment, always read and hee d all
WARNINGS
¢page 225.
(D Note
-App lyin g a higher vo ltage booster ba t­
t ery w ill cause expens ive damage to se n­
sit ive e lectronic com ponents, such as
cont ro l units, relays, rad io, etc.
- The re must be no electrical contact be­
tween the vehicles as ot herwise c urrent
co uld a lready start to f low as soon as the
p o sit ive(+) term inals a re connected. ..,. •
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-When connecting jumper cables, make
sure that they cannot get caught in any
moving parts in the eng ine compart­
ment .
- Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS ¢
page 225.
(D Note
Improper hook-up of jumper cables can r u­
in the generator.
- Always connect POSITIVE( +) to POSI­
TIVE(+), and NEGATIVE(-) to NEGATIVE
( - ) gro und post of the battery manager
control unit .
- Check that all screw plugs on the battery
cells a re screwed in firmly . If not, tighten
pl ugs p rior to connecting clamp on nega ­
tive battery term inal.
- Please note that the procedure f or con­
nect ing a jump er cable as desc ribed
above appl ies spec ifically to the case of
you r vehi cle be ing jump started. When
you are giv ing a jump star t to an othe r ve­
hi cle, do
not connec t the negat ive (-) ca­
ble to the negat ive (-) terminal on the
discharged battery@¢
fig. 223. In ­
stead, securely connect the negative( -)
cable to e ithe r a solid metal component
that is firmly bolted to the engine block
or to the e ng ine block itse lf. If the bat­
te ry tha t is being charged does not vent
to the outside, escaping batte ry gas
could igni te and exp lode!
Emergency towing
with commercial tow truck
General hints
Your Audi requires special handling for tow ­
tng.
The follow ing information is to be used by
commercia l tow tr uck operators who know
h ow to ope rate thei r equipme nt safe ly.
Emergenc y situ ation s 287
-Ne ver tow your Audi. Towing will cau se
damage to the engine and tran smission.
- Never wrap the safety chain s or w inch ca­
ble s around the brake lines.
- To prevent unnece ssary damage , your Audi
must be transported with a flat bed tru ck.
- To load the vehicle on to the fl at bed , use
the towing loop found in the vehicle tools
a nd attach to the front or rear anchor age
¢ pag e 287 and ¢ page 288 .
_& WARNING
A vehicle being towed is not safe for pas ­
sengers. Never allow anyo ne to ride in a
vehicle be ing towed, for any reason.
Front towing loop
Only install the front towing loop when it is
needed.
Fig. 22 4 Front bu mpe r: cove r
Fig. 22 5 Front bu mpe r: in stall ing t he tow ing loop
-
The towing loop fits into the threaded hole lo ­
cated on the right s ide of the front bumpe r
and cove red by a sma ll cover when not in use.
.. Remove the tow ing loop from the vehicle
too l kit .

288 Emergency situations
• Press inward strongly on the left side of the
cap to remove it from the bumper
¢ fig . 224 .
• Screw the towing loop tightly in the thread­
ed hole as far as it will go and tighten it with
the wheel wrench¢
fig. 225 .
Remove the towing loop when you are done
using it and place it back in the vehicle tool
kit . Install the cover in the bumper. Always
keep the towing loop in the vehicle.
A WARNING
If you do not screw the tow ing loop com­
pletely, it could come out of the threaded
hole while the vehicle is being towed caus­
ing damage to the vehicle and possible se ­
rious personal injury.
Rear towing loop
Only install the rear towing loop when it is
needed.
Fig . 226 Rear bum per: cover
Fig. 227 Rear bum per: scr ew ing in tow ing loop
There are threads located behind the right
side of the rear bumper where a towing loop
can be installed . The threads are located be ­
hind a cover.
-
• Remove the towing loop from the vehicle
tool kit.
• Press inward strong ly to the button side of
the cap to remove it from the bumpe r
¢fig. 226.
• Screw the towing loop tightly in the thread ­
ed hole as far as it will go and tighten it with
the wheel wrench
¢ fig . 22 7 .
Remove the towing loop when you are done
using it and place it back in the vehicle tool
kit. Always keep the towing loop in the vehi­
cle.
A WARNING
If you do not screw the towing loop com­
p letely, it could come out of the threaded
hole while the vehicle is be ing towed caus­
ing damage to the vehicle and possible se­
rious personal injury.
Loading the vehicle onto a flat bed truck
Fig. 228 Vehicle on flat bed truck
Front hook up
• Align the vehicle with the centerline of the
car carrier ramp.
• Attach the winch hook to the front towl ine
eye previously installed.
Rear hook up
• Align the vehicle with the centerline of the
car carrier ramp .
• Attach the winch hook to the rear tow line
eye prev iously installed.
-