warning AUDI A8 2011 Owners Manual

Good anti-corrosion treatment is very impor­
tant, particularly in the winter . If the vehicle
is freq uent ly driven on salt treated roads, the
entire engine compartment and plenum panel
should be thoroughly cleaned at t he end of
winter and retreated to prevent salt damage.
At the same time, the underside of the veh icle
should be washed as we ll.
If the engine compartment is cleaned at any
time with grease removing solut ions
1>, or if
you have the engine washed, the anti-corro­
sion treatment is a lmost always removed as
well.
It is therefore essential to have a long­
l as ting co rrosion protection reapp lied to all
surfaces, seams, joints and components in the
engine compartment.
~ WARNING
Be aware: The engine compartment of any
motor vehicle is a potentially hazardous
area.
- Before working in the engine compart­
ment, be s ure to read the informat ion
o page 216.
-Be fore reaching into the front pane l, al­
ways switch off the ignition. Othe rwise,
the windshield wiper system co uld un in­
tent ionally be switched on, possib ly
caus ing persona l injury from the moving
wiper linkage.
- Never reach into the area around or touch the radiator fan . The auxiliary fan
is temperature cont rolled and can switch
on sud denly - even when the ign it ion is
off.
- Do not wa sh, wax or dry the engine w ith
the engine running. Moving or hot parts
cou ld injure you.
- Do not clean the underside of the cha s­
sis, fen ders, wheel cove rs, or ot her hard
to reach parts w ithout protecting your
hands and arms . You may cut yourse lf on
sharp-edged metal parts.
l ) Use o nly the co rrec t cle anin g so lu tio ns. Neve r use gas­
olin e or d iese l fuel.
Cleaning and protec tion 217
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other information
c:> page 206. •
•

-Blend must contain not more than 15%
MTBE.
Seasonally adjusted gasoline
Many gasoline grades are blended to perform
espec ially we ll for winter or summer driving.
During seasonal change-over, we suggest that
you fill up at busy gas stat ions where the sea­
sonal adjustment is more likely to be made in
time .
(D Note
-Methanol fuels which do not meet these
requirements may cause corrosion and
damage to plastic and rubber compo­
nents in the fuel system .
- Do not use fue ls that fail to meet the
specified criter ia in this chapter.
- If you are unable to determine whether
or not a particular fue l blend meets the
specifications, ask your service station or
its fuel supp lier.
- Do not use fuel for which the contents
cannot be identified.
- Fuel system damage and performance
problems resulting from the use of fuels
different from those specified are not
the responsibility of Audi and are not
covered under the New Vehicle or the Emission Control System Warranties.
- If you experience a loss of fuel economy
or driveability and performance prob­ l ems due to the use of one of these fuel
blends, we recommend that you switch
to unblended fuel.
Gasoline additives
A major concern among many auto manufac ­
turers is carbon deposit build- up caused by
the type of gasoline you use.
Although gasoline grades differ from one manufacturer to another , they have certain
things in common. All gasoline grades contain
substances that can cause deposits to collect
on vital engine parts, such as fuel injectors
and intake valves. Although most gasoline brands include additives to keep engine and
Fuel supply and filling your fuel tank 219
fuel systems clean, they are not equally effec ­
tive .
A udi recommends using TOP TIER Detergent
Gasoline. For more info rmation on TOP TIER
Detergent Gasoline, please go to the official
website (www.toptiergas.com).
After an extended period of using inadeq uate
fuels, carbon deposit build-ups can rob your
engine of peak performance.
Q) Note
Damage or malfunction due to poor fue l
quality is not covered by the Aud i New Ve­
hicle Limited Warranty.
Fuel tank
Fuel filler neck
The fuel filler neck is located on the right rear
side panel behind the fuel fille r flap.
If the power locking system should fail, you
can still open the flap manually -for deta iled
instruct ions see
¢ page 221 .
You can find the fuel tank capacity of your ve­
hicle in
Technical Data ¢ page 282.
The label on the inside of the fuel fi ller flap
tells you the correct fue l for your vehicle. For
more information about fuel specifications,
see
¢ page 218.
Your vehicle fue l tank has an on board refuel­
li ng vapor recovery system. This feature helps
to prevent fuel vapors from escaping from the
tank and polluting the environment while you refuel your vehicle . In order to fill the tank
properly while protecting the environment,
please fo llow this refueling procedure careful­
ly.
_&. WARNING
Under normal operating conditions, never
carry additional fuel containers in your car.
Gas canisters and other containers used to
transport f uel can be dangero us. Such con­
tainers, full or empty, may leak and could
cause a fire in a collis ion. If you must
•
•

220 Fuel su ppl y and filli ng your fu el t ank
transport fue l to use for your lawn mower,
snow blower, etc., be very careful and al ­
ways observe local and state laws regard­
ing the use, transportat ion and storage of
such fuel containers . Make certain the con­
tainer meets industry standards (ANSI/
AS TM F852 - 86) .
(D Note
Never drive your vehicle until the fuel tank
is completely empty. The irregular supply
of fuel can cause misfiring . Gasoline could
enter the exhaust system and damage t he
catalyt ic converter.
Refuelling
Fig. 172 Rig ht rea r vehicle s ide: Ope ning t he fuel fille r
f lap
Fig . 173 Fuel filler fla p with attached fuel c ap
When activating the central locking, the fuel
fi ller flap is automatically un locked or locked.
Refue l the vehicle with the ignition switched
off.
Taking the fu el cap off
• Press the left side of the fuel filler flap to
open it
q fig . 172 -arrow-.
• Unsc rew fuel filler cap counter-clockwise
and hang it on the fuel fill er flap
¢ fig. 173 . Refuell
ing proc edur e
• Insert the fuel nozzle from the gasoline
pump into the fuel fi ller neck as far as it wi ll
go .
• Sele ct a med ium r efuelling rate so that the
no zz le switches off automatically when the
tank is full .
Putting th e fu el cap ba ck on
• After filling your tank, twist the fuel filter
cap clockwise as far as it w ill go.
• Close the fue l fill er flap.
T o avoid fuel spilling or evaporating from the
fuel tank always close fuel filter cap properly and completely. An improperly closed fuel fi ll­
er cap may also cause the MIL lamp
cc> page 2 7
to come on.
A WARNING
Improper refue ling or handling of fuel can
cause fire, explosion and severe burns.
- Fuel is highly flammable and can cause
severe burns and other injur ies .
- Fai lure to shut the engine off while refu­
eling and/or to insert the pump nozzle
fully into the fuel filter neck could cause
fuel to spray out of filler neck or to over­
flow. Fue l spray and overflowing fuel can
cause a fire .
- Never use a ce llular telephone whil e re­
fue ling . T he electromagnet ic rad iat io n
can cause sparks that can igni te fuel va­
pors and cause a fire.
- Never get back into your vehicle whi le re­
fuel ing.
If in exceptional circumstan ces
you must get back in your vehicle while
ref ueling, make certain that you close
the door and touch metal to discharge
static electricity before touching the fill­
er nozzle again . Static electricity can
cause sparks that can ignite fuel vapors
released during refueling .
- Never smoke or have an open f lame any­
where in or near your veh icle when refu­
eling or filling a portable fue l conta iner .
- For your safety, we strongly recommend
that you do not travel with a portable

222 Checking and filling
Checking and filling Engine hood
Releasing the engine hood
The engine hood is released from inside the
vehicle .
Fig. 175 Driver foo twell: release lever
AUD I
Fig. 176 Rocker switch un der the hood
Make sure the wiper arms are not raised up
from the windshield. Otherwise the paint
could be damaged.
.,. Pull the lever under the instrument panel in
the direction of the arrow
¢ fig. 175.
.,. Raise the hood slightly¢,&. .
... Press the rocker switch under the hood up­
ward ~
fig. 176. This releases the catch.
... Open the hood.
&_ WARNING
Hot engine coolant can burn you.
- To reduce the risk of being burned, never
open the hood if you see or hear steam
or coolant escaping from the engine compartment . Wait until no steam or
coolant can be seen or heard before care­
fully opening the hood .
' Working in the engine compartment
Be especially careful whenever you work in
the engine compartment.
Whenever you must perform any work in the
engine compartment, for example checking
and filling different fluids, there is a risk of injury, burns and accidents. To prevent per­
sonal injury always observe the following
WARNINGS. The engine compartment of any
vehicle is a hazardous area
¢ ,&. .
/n.. WARNING
To help avoid injury, before you check any­
thing under the hood:
- Turn off the engine.
- Switch off the ignition .
- Apply the parking brake.
- Move selector lever to "P" (Park) .
- Always let the engine cool down. Hot
components will burn skin on contact.
- To reduce the risk of being burned, never
open the hood if you see or hear steam
or coolant escaping from the engine
compartment. Wait until no steam or
coolant can be seen or heard before care­
fully opening the hood.
- Keep children away from the engine com­
partment.
- Never spill fluids on hot engine compo­
nents . They can cause a fire .
- Never touch the radiator fan. The auxili­
ary electric fan is temperature controlled
and can switch on suddenly .
- Never open the coolant reservoir cap
when the engine is still warm . The cool­
ant system is pressurized and hot cool­
ant could spray out.
- Protect your face, hands and arm from
steam or hot engine coolant by placing a
thick rag over the cap when you open the
coolant reservoir.
- If work on the fuel system or the electri­
cal system is necessary:
- Always disconnect the battery.

-Never smoke or work near heate rs or
open flames. Fluids in the engine com­
partment could start a fire.
- Keep an approved fire extinguisher im­
mediately ava ilable.
- To avoid elect rical shock and persona l in­
jury while the engine is running or be ing
started, never touch:
- I gnition cables
- Othe r components of the high voltage
e lectronic ignition system.
- If you must pe rform a check or repair
with the engine running:
- F irst, fully apply the pa rking brake,
move selector lever to "P" (Park) .
- Always use extreme caution to prevent
clothing, jewelry, or long hai r from get­
ting caught in the radiator fan, V-belts
or other moving parts, or from contact­ ing hot parts. T ie back hair before
starting, and do not wear cloth ing that
will ha ng or droop into the eng ine.
- Min imize exposure to emission and
c h emical hazards
c:> &,.
A WARNING
California Propos ition 65 Warning:
- Engine exhaust, some of its constituents,
and certai n veh icle components co nta in
or em it chemicals known to the State of
Californ ia to cause cancer a nd b irth d e­
fects a nd rep roduct ive ha rm. In addi tion,
c e rta in fluids cont ained in vehicle s and
c ertain p rod ucts of component wear con­
tain or emit chemicals known to the
State of Ca lifo rnia to cause cancer and
birth defects or other reproductive harm.
- Battery posts, terminals and related ac ­
cessories contain lead and lead com-
Checkin g and fillin g 223
poun ds, c hemicals known to the State of
California to cause cancer and reproduc­
tive harms. Wash hands after handling.
([) Note
When adding fluids, always make su re that
they are poured into the p roper conta iner
or fi ller opening, otherwise serious dam­
age to vehicle systems w ill occur .
@ For the sake of the environment
To detect lea ks in time, inspect the vehicle
floor pan from underneath regular ly. If
you see spots from oil or other veh icle flu­
i ds, have you r vehicle inspected by an au­
thorized Audi dea ler.
Closing the engine hood
.. Pull the hood down until the pressure from
t he st ruts is reduced.
.. Let the hood
drop down a nd l atc h in pla ce.
Do not try to push it shut; it may fail to en­
gage ~ A_.
A WARNING
-
A hood that is not completely latched
could fly up and block your view while dr iv­
i ng.
- When you close the engine hood, chec k it
to make sure t he safety catch has prope r­
ly engaged. The hood shou ld be flush
with the surround ing vehicle body parts .
- If you notice while driv ing that the hood
is not secured prope rly, stop at once and
close it. •
•

224 Checking and filling
Engine compartment
Engine compartment overview
These are the most important items that you can check.
Fig . 177 Typ ical layout for conta iners a nd eng ine o il filler cap
(D W indshield/head light washer
t . (?::..) con
amer ~ .... ... . ... .. . 236
@ Jump start point(-) with hex
h ead screw, ................
235, 273
@ Jump start point(+) unde r a cov-
e r, . ...... .... ......... .. .
23 5, 273
© Eng ine oi l filler cap ('t::r.) . . . . . 227
® B rak e fluid reservo ir ((0)) . . . . . 232
® Coolant expansion tank (J-) . . . 229
0 Power steering reservoir . . . . . . 194
The engine oil filler neck (item@) may be lo­
cated in a d ifferent area depending on the ver­
sion of the engine .
A WARNING
Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WAR NINGS¢
A in Working in the engine
compartment on page 222.
Engine oil
Engine oil specifications
The engine oil used in your Audi needs the
right kind of oil.
T he eng ine in your Audi is a sophisticated
powerplant that was built to exacting specifi ­
cations . Th is engine needs the right k ind of
engine oil that meets specifications regarding
quality and v iscosity so that it can run
smoothly and reliab ly . Choosing th e right o il
and changi ng oil within the t ime and mileage
in tervals prin ted in you r vehicle's Warr anty
&
Maintenan ce booklet matte rs a lot more to­
day tha n it did years ago . Audi has develope d
a spec ia l quality standard for engine oil that
will help assure that you r vehicle's engine w ill
get the lubr ication it needs for proper opera-
t ion. ..,.

226 Check ing and filling
temperatures stay below freezing point for
long periods.
Detergent add it ives in the o il w il l make fresh
oil look dark after the eng ine has been run­
ning for a short time . This is norma l and is not
a reason to change the oi l more often than
recommended.
Dam age or ma lf u ncti ons du e to lack of
m ainten ance
It
is essential that you change your oil at the
recommended in tervals using only engine o il
that complies with Audi oi l standard
VW 502 00. You r Limited New Vehicle War­
ranty does not cover damage or malfunctions
due to fail ure to fo llow recommended mainte­
nance and use requ irements as set forth in
the Audi Owner's Manual and Warranty&
Maintenance book let . Your dealer will have to
deny warranty coverage unless you present to
the dea ler proof in the form of Service or Re­
pa ir Orders that all scheduled maintenance
was performed in a t imely manner.
Eng ine oil consumption
The engine in your vehicle depends on an ade­
quate amount of oil to lubricate and cool all
of its moving parts.
In order to provide effective lubrication and
cool ing of internal engine components, a ll in­
ternal comb ustion eng ines consume a certa in
amount of oil. O il consumption varies from
engine to engine and may change significantly
over the life of the engine. Typica lly, engines
with a specif ied break-in period (see
¢
page 197) consume more oil during the
break-in period than they consume after oil
consumption has stabilized.
Under norma l conditions, the rate of oil con­
sumpt ion depends on the quality and viscosity
of the oil, the RPM (revolutions per m inute) at
which the engine is operated, the ambient
temperature and road condit ions . Further fac­
tors are the amount of oil d ilution from water
condensat ion or fuel residue and the ox ida­
tion level of the oi l. As any engine is subject to wear as mi
leage builds up, the oil consump­
tion may increase over time until replacement
of worn components may become necessary.
With a ll these variab les coming into play, no
standard rate of oil consumption can be es­
tablished or specified. There is no alternative
to regu lar and frequent check ing of the o il lev ­
el, see
Note .
If
the yellow engine oil leve l warning symbo l
in the instrument cluster
m lights up, yo u
shou ld check the oil leve l as soon as possib le
¢
page 22 7. Top off the oil at your earliest
convenience ¢
page 22 7.
A WARNING '"---
Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS¢
A in Working in the engine
comportment on page 222.
(D Note
Driving w ith an insufficient o il level is like­
ly to cause severe damage to the engine .
(D Tips
-The oil pressu re warn ing display. is
not an indicator of the oil le vel. Do not
r el y on it . In ste ad, ch eck the oil lev el in
y our engin e at regular inter vals , pref ­
erably ea ch time you r efu el, and alway s
before going on a long trip .
-If you have t he impression yo ur engine
cons umes ex cessive amoun ts of o il, we
recommend that you consu lt your Aud i
dea ler to have the cause of your concern
properly diagnosed. Keep in mind that
the accurate meas urement of oi l con­
sumption requ ires great care and may
take some t ime. Your Audi dea ler has in­
structions about how to measure oil con­
sumption accurately.
-

Checking the engine oil level
Fig . 178 D is p lay: o il level indica tor
Park your vehicle on a level surface.
• Shut the engine off when i t is wa rm.
• Swi tch on ly the ignition back on .
• Wait approximately two minutes .
• Se lect :
I CAR I funct ion button > C ar sys tem s
cont rol button > Se rvicing & c heck s > Oil
le ve l.
• Check the oil level in the display¢ fig. 178 .
Add engine oil if the bar of the oil level indi ­
cator is near "min " ¢
page 22 7.
Depending on the way the veh icle is driven
and the operating conditions, oil consumpt ion
can be up to 1/2 quart per 600 m iles (0 .S liter
per 1 ,000 km) . Consumption may be h igher
within the first 3,000 miles (S,000 km) .
@ Tips
The oil level indicator in the MMI Display is
only an informat ion d isp lay . If the oil leve l
is low, a minimum o il warning appears in
t he ins trumen t cluste r. Add oi l
¢
page 22 7 . If the hood h as been opened,
the current oil level is shown in the instru ­
ment cluster the next time the ignition is
sw itched on.
Checkin g and fillin g 22 7
Adding engine oil 'i=:1:
Fig. 179 Eng in e compa rtm en t: co ve r on the engine oi l
filler n eck
Before you check anything in the eng ine com­
partment ,
alw ays re ad and he ed all WARN­
INGS
c:> &, in Working in the engine compart ­
ment on page 222 .
• Unscrew the cap~ to the eng .i ne o il filling
hole
c:> fig . 179.
• Carefully top off with the appropriate oil in
0.S liter doses .
• Check the oil level again after two minutes
¢ page 22 7.
• Top off the oil aga in, if necessary .
• Screw the cap back on the filling hole .
A WARNING
-Wh ile topping off, the oil must not come
in contact w ith hot engine parts -fi re
hazard!
- The oi l filler cap must be p roperly se­
cured to prevent oil from being sprayed
on the hot engine and exhaust system
when the engine is runni ng -fire ha zard!
- I f your s kin has come in contact with the
engine o il, you must subse quently
cleanse it thoroughly.
(D Note
- Check the oil level using the MMI. If the
message
Please reduce oil level appe ars,
c ontact yo ur a uth ori zed Aud i dea ler o r
ot her qualified workshop to have excess
oil extracted if necessary.
- Audi d oes not re commend the u se of oil
additi ves. The y m ay dama ge the engine
1111-

228 Check ing and filling
and ad versely a ffect yo ur New Vehicl e
W arrant y.
@) For the sake of the environment
- Under no circums tances can the oil come
in contact with the sewage network o r
the soil.
- Observe and follow lega l regu lations
when disposing of empty oil containers .
Changing the engine oil
We recommend that have your oil changed by
an authorized Audi dealer or a qualified serv­
ice station.
Before you check anything in the engine com­
partment,
a lw ays rea d an d h eed all WARN­
INGS c::> .& in Working in the engine compart­
ment on page 222.
The engine oil must be changed accord ing to
the intervals specified in your Warranty
&
Maintenance book let. This is very important
because the lubricating properties of oil di­
minish gradua lly during normal vehicle use .
Under some ci rcumstances the engine oi l
should be changed more frequently. Change
oil more often if you drive most ly short dis­
tances, operate the vehicle in dusty areas or under predominantly stop-and-go traffic con­
ditions, or have your vehicle where tempera­
tures remain below freezing for extended pe ­
riods .
Detergent addit ives in the oil w ill make fresh
oil look dark after the eng ine has been run­
n ing for a short time. This is normal and is not
a reason to change the oil more often than recommended.
Because of the problem of proper disposal,
along w ith the special tools and necessary ex ­
pertise required , we strongly recommend that
you have your o il changed by an authori zed
A udi de ale r or a q ual ified servi ce station.
If you choo se to c hang e y our oi l your self,
please note the followi ng important informa­
tion :
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of personal injury if you
must change the eng ine oil in your vehicle
yourself:
- Wear eye protect ion.
- To reduce the risk of burns from hot en- gine oil, let the engine cool down to the
touch.
- When removing the o il dra in plug with
your fingers, stay as far away as possible.
Always keep your forearm parallel to the
ground to help p revent hot oil from run­
n ing down you r arm.
- Dra in the oil into a container designed
for this purpose, one large enough to
hold at least the total amount of oil in
your engine.
- Engine oil is poisonous. Keep it we ll out
of the rea ch of childre n.
- Continuous contact with used eng ine o il
is harmful to your sk in. Always protect
your skin by washing oil off tho roughly
with soap and wate r.
@ Note
Never mix oil additives with your engine
oi l. These additives can damage your en­
g ine and adversely affect you r A ud i Limit­
ed New Veh icle War ranty.
@ For the sake of the environment
- Before changing your oil, first make su re
you know where you can prope rly dispose
o f the used oil.
- Always dispose of used eng ine oi l proper­
ly. Do not dump it on garden soil, wood­
ed areas, into open streams or down
sewage drains.
- Recycle used engi ne oil by taking it to a
used engine oil collection facility in you r
area, or contact a service station.

Engine cooling system
Coolant
The engine coolant performs two functions: it
keeps the engine from overheating and it pro ­
te cts the engine from freezing in the winter .
The cooling system is sealed and generally re­
qu ires little attention .
The cooling system has been filled at the fac­
tory with a permanent coolant which does not need to be changed. The coolant consists of a
mixture of water and the manufacturer's gly ­
col-based coolan t additive G12++ ant ifreeze
with a nticorrosion add itives (50% fo r USA
models; 60% for Canad ian models). This mix­
ture bot h assu res the ne ces sary frost protec­
tion and protects metal components in the
engine's cooling system from corrosion and
scaling. It also raises the bo ili ng po int of t he
coolant.
D o not red uce the concentration of the coo l­
ant in the summe r by adding plain water .
The
proportion of coolant addit ive must be at
least 50% but not mo re than 60 %
to main­
tain antifree ze protection and cooling efficien­
cy. If the coolant frost protect ion is too low,
the coolant could freeze and damage the veh i­
cle heating and eng ine cooling system .
For year-round driving, antifree ze is added at
the factory for temperatures down to:
- -3 1°F (-35°C)USA
- -4 0 ° F ( - 4 0 °C) Canada.
You can mix t he G12 ++ cool ant ad ditive with
o ther addit ives (G1 2+ or G1 2). Alway s check
w ith your author ized Audi dealer.
& WARNING
Before yo u check any thing in the engine
compartment, always read and hee d all
W AR NIN GS
Q .&. in Working in the engine
compartment on page 222.
(D Note
- Before win ter se ts in , have the coolan t
checked to see if the coolant addit ive i n
Checkin g and fillin g 229
your vehicle is sufficient to meet the cli ­
mate conditions . This is especia lly impor­
tant if you live in a reg ion where t he win­
ter is extreme ly co ld. If necessary, in­
crease t he p ropo rtion of coo lant add itive
t o 60% .
- Whe n add ing coolant additive to your
cooling system , remember :
- W e re co mme nd usin g only cool ant ad­
dit ive G 12++ (check t he labe l) for your
vehi cle. This coolan t addi tive is ava ila­
b le at a uthorized Audi dea le rs . Othe r
types of ant ifreeze can significant ly re­
d uce co rrosi on protection. The res ult­
i n g corrosion can ca use a loss of co ol­
ant and ser io us eng ine damage .
- Do not add any type of rad iator leak seal­
ant to you r vehicle's eng ine c oolant .
Add ing radiator repair fl uid may adverse­
ly affect t he f unction and performance of
yo ur cooling sys tem and co uld resu lt i n
damage not covered by yo ur New Ve hicle
Li mi ted Warran ty.
Checking the engine coolant level
The engine coolant level can be chec ked with
a quick glan ce.
:!, MAX
% MIN
Fig. 180 En gin e compar tment: mark ings on t he coo l­
a n t expa nsion tank
Befo re you check a nyth ing in the eng ine com­
partment,
always read and heed all WARN­
INGS ¢.&, in Working in the engine compart­
men t on page
222 .
"' Switch off the ignition .
"' Read the engine coo lant level from the coo l­
ant expa nsion tank
Qfig . 180. Wit h a co ld
eng ine , the coo lant level s hou ld be between
1JJ>-