radiator cap AUDI A3 2012 Owner´s Manual

-Set the parking brake fully.
- Move selector lever of automatic trans-
mission to "P" (Park); put manual trans­
mission in Neutral.
- 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 heaters or
open flames. Fluids in the engine com­
partment could start a fire.
- Keep an approved fire extinguisher im­
mediately available.
- To avoid electrical shock and personal in­
jury 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 of automatic trans-
Checking and filling 195
mission to "P" (Park); put manual
transmission in Neutral.
- 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 contact­
ing 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
chemical 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
California to cause cancer and birth de­
fects and reproductive harm. In addition,
certain fluids contained in vehicles and
certain products of component wear con­
tain or emit chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and
birth defects or other reproductive harm.
- Battery posts, terminals and related ac­
cessories contain lead and lead com­
pounds, chemicals known to the State of
California to cause cancer and reproduc­
tive harms. Wash hands after handling.
Q) Note
When adding fluids, always make sure that
they are poured into the proper container
or filler opening, otherwise serious dam­
age 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 flu­ ids, have your vehicle inspected by an au­
thorized Audi dealer. •
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204 Checking and filling
Checking the engine coolant level
The engine coolant level can be checked with
a quick glance .
Fig. 162 Engine compartme nt: coo lant expansio n tank
Before you check anything i n the eng ine com­
partment,
a lw ays rea d and h eed all WARN­
ING S ¢&. in Working in the engine compart­
ment on page 194.
.. Park your vehicle on a level surface.
.. Turn
off the ignit ion .
.. Read the eng ine coolant leve l from the
coolant expansion tank<=>
fig. 162 . With a
cold eng ine, the coo lant level should be be­
tween the "min" and "max" markings . When
the engine is warm, the level may be slightly above the "max" marking.
The location of the coolant expansion tank
can be seen in the engine compartment illus­
tration
i:> page 196.
To obtain an accurate read ing, the engine
must be switched
off.
The expansion tank in yo ur vehicle is equipped
with an e lectric coolant level sensor .
When the coolant level is too low, the warning light in the Auto -Check System
c> page 17 w ill
blink until you add coo lant and the level has
been restored to norma l. Even though there is
an electric coolant level sensor, we still rec­
ommend you check the coolant level from
time to time.
Coolant lo ss
Coolant loss may indicate a le ak in the cooling
system . In the event of coolant loss, the cool­
ing system should be inspected immediately by your authorized Audi dea
ler .
It is not
enough merely to add coolant .
In a
se aled system, losses can occur on ly if
the boiling point of the coo lant is exceeded as
a res ult of overheating.
(D Note
Do not ad d any type of radiator leak sea l­
ant to your veh icle's engine coolant . Add­
i ng radiator repair fl uid may adverse ly af ­
fect the funct ion and performance of your
cooling system and could result in damage not covered by your New Veh icle Limited
Warranty .
Adding coolant
Be very careful when adding engine coolant.
Before you check anything in the eng ine com ­
partment,
a lw ays re a d and heed all WARN­
INGS c::> A in Working in the engine compart ­
ment on page 194 .
.. Turn off the engine .
.. Let the engine cool down.
.. Place a thick rag over the coolant expansion
tank
c::> page 204, fig . 162 and ca refull y
twist the cap counter-clockwise c::> A.
.. Add coo lant .
.. Twist the cap on aga in
tightly .
Replacement engine coolant must conform to
exact spec ificat ions
c::> page 203, Coolant.
Even in an emergency, if coolant addi-
t ive G12++ . G 12+ or G12 is not ava ilable, do
n ot use a d iffe rent addit ive. Use plain water
instead unt il you can get the correct add itive
and can restore the correct ratio. This shou ld
be done as soon as possible .
If you have lost a considerab le amou nt of
c oolant, then you sho uld add cold ant ifree ze
and co ld wate r on ly when the engine is cold.
Always use
new engine coo lant when refilling .
Do not f ill coolant above the
"MAX" mark. Ex­
cess coolant will be forced out through the
pressure relief valve in the cap when the en -
gine becomes hot .
Iii>

& WARNING
-The cooling system is under p ress ure and
can get very hot . Reduce the risk of
sca ld ing from hot coo lant by following
these steps.
- Tur n off the engine and a llow it to cool
down.
- Protect your face, hands and arms from
escap ing flu id and steam by cover ing
the cap wi th a large, thick rag.
- Tu rn the cap slowly and very ca refully
i n a cou nte r-clockw ise d irect ion w hile
ap ply ing ligh t, downw ard press ure on
the top of the cap.
- To avo id being burned, do no t sp ill an­
tifreeze o r coolan t on the exhaust sys­
tem or hot engine parts. Under certa in
conditions, the ethylene glyco l in en­
gine coolant can catc h fir e.
- An tifreeze is poisonous . Always store an ­
tifreeze in its or iginal co ntainer and we ll
o ut o f the reach of children.
- If you drain the coolant, it must be
caught and safely stored in a p roper con­
tainer clearly marked "poison".
(D Note
- Coolant po llutes the env ironment and
could cause an engine fire. Excess coo l­
ant wi ll be forced out throug h the pres ­
su re re lief va lve in the cap when the en­
gine becomes hot.
- If, in an emergency, only water can be
added, the cor rect ratio between water
and antifreeze
c:> page 203 must be re­
stored as soon as possib le.
@) For the sake of the environment
Drained coolant shou ld n ot be re used. Al­
ways dispose of used coolant while obse rv­
ing all environmental regulations.
Checkin g and fillin g 205
Radiator fan
The radiator fan switches on automatically by
itself .
The electric radiator fan is controlled by ther­
moswitches t hat sw itch on a nd off depending
o n coo lant and eng ine compartment tempera ­
tures .
An a uxiliary electric radiator fan* sw itches on
and off depending on coolant temperature
and othe r vehicle operat io n conditions.
After switching off the eng ine, the auxiliary
fan -even with the ignition off -can continue
runn ing for up to 10 minutes. It ca n even
switch on aga in later by itself
c:> A , if
- the temperature of the engine coo lant rises
due to the heat build-up from the engine in
the engi ne compartment , or
- the engine compa rtment heats up because
the vehicle is parked in intense sunlig ht.
& WARNING
- To reduce the risk of personal in ju ry nev­
er touch the radiator fan .
- The auxiliary electric fan is temperature
contro lled a nd can switch on suddenly
even when the engine is not ru nning.
- The a uxiliary radiator fa n sw itches on a u­
tomatically when the engine coo lant
reaches a certa in te mpera tu re and w ill
con tinue to ru n until t he coo lant temper­
a ture drop s.
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