maintenance AUDI A8 2011 User Guide

248 Tires and wheels
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends on a lot of
different things including proper installation
and balancing, correct tire pressure and driv·
ing style.
F ig. 1 86 Tire tread: tread wea r ind icators (TWI)
( r------ ,1
\ ...__ _____ ____,.
F ig. 1 87 Rotat ing t ires for more ev en wea r
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The origi na l t ires on your veh icle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high "wear indicators"
c::> fig . 186 running across the tread. Depend ·
i ng on the make, there will be six to eight of
them evenly p laced around the t ire. Marks on
the tire sidewa ll (for example "TWI" or other
symbols) indicate the positions of the tread
wear ind icators . Worn t ires must be replaced .
Different fig ures may apply in o ther countries
c::> & .
Tire p ressure
Incorrect tire pressure causes premature wear
a nd can cause sudden t ire blow-out. For th is
reason, tire pressure must be checked at least
once a month
c::> page 244 .
Driving style
Driving fast aro und curves, heavy acce leration
and hard braking increase tire wear.
Rotating tires for more even wear
F o r all four tires on your ve hicl e to h ave the
same service life, we recommen d that the
front and rear t ires are rotated according to
the tire manufact urer's suggested tire rota·
tion intervals. Please remember the follow­
ing :
- Tire rotation intervals may differ from the
vehicle service inte rva ls o utlined in your
Warranty
& Maintenance booklet .
- The longer one tire is used in one location
on the vehicle, the more it wears at certain
points; therefore, we recommend that y ou
follow the tire manufacturer's suggested
tire rotation intervals .
- Veh icles w ith front-wheel dr ive experience
more tread wear on the fro nt w heels com·
pa red to all-wheel drive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown
c::> fig. 187.
-Extra care must be taken when rotating di·
rection-specific tires
c::> page 267 .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balanced .
However, various situations during eve ryday
driving can cause them to become unba l·
anced, resulting in vibrat ions you can usually
feel t hrough the steer ing wheel.
Un balanced whee ls must be rebalanced to
avoid excessive wear on steering, suspension
and t ires. A whee l m ust also be reba lanced
when a new tire is insta lled.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incor rect wheel alig nment can cause exces­
sive tire wear, impai ring the safety of the veh i·
de . If tires show excessive wear, have the
whee l alignment checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualif ied workshop .
All Wheel Drive
Vehicles with q uattro ® mus t always have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type .
For details see
c::> page 194 . ..,.

272 Fuses and bulbs
Fuse panel ® (brown)
No. Equipment
= 11 Radio receiver Cell phone adapter, cell
12 phone/telephone charging
cradle, chip card reader (not
i n all countries)
Bulbs
Replacing light bulbs Amps
= 7,5
5
For
your safety, we recommend that you have
your authorized Audi dealer replace burned
out bulbs for you.
It is becoming increasingly more and more
difficult to replace vehicle light bulbs since in
many cases, other parts of the car must first
be removed before you are able to get to the
bulb . This applies especially to the light bulbs
in the front of your car which you can only
reach through the engine compartment .
Sheet metal and bulb ho lders can have sharp
edges that can cause serious cuts, and parts must be correctly taken apart and then prop­
erly put back together to help prevent break ­
age of parts and long term damage from wa­
ter that can enter hous ings that have not been
properly resealed.
For your safety, we recommend that you have
your author ized Audi dealer replace any bulbs
for you, since your dealer has the proper tools,
the correct bulbs and the expertise.
Gas discharge lamps (Xenon lights):
Due to the high electrical vo ltage, have the
bulbs replaced by a qualified technician.
H eadlights with Xenon light can be identified
by the high voltage sticker.
LED headlights* require no maintenance .
Please contact your authori zed Audi dealer if a
bulb needs to be replaced.
A WARNING
Contact with high-voltage components of
the electrical system and improper re- placement
of gas discharge (Xenon) head­
light bulbs can cause serious personal in­
jury and death.
- Xenon bulbs are pressurized and can ex­
plode when being changed.
- Changing Xenon lamps requires the spe­
cial training, instructions and equip­ ment.
- Only an authorized A udi dealer or other
qualified workshop should change the bulbs in gas discharge lamps.
A WARNING
There are parts with sharp edges on the
openings and on the bulb holders that can
cause ser ious cuts.
- If you are uncertain about what to do,
have the work performed by an author­
ized Audi dealer or other qualified work­
shop. Serious personal injury may result
from imprope rly performed wo rk.
(D Tips
- If you must replace the light bulbs your­
self, a lways remember that the eng ine
compartment of any vehicle is a hazard­
ous area to work in. A lways read and
heed all WARNINGS¢
page 216, Engine
compartment¢ &..
-It is best to ask your authorized Audi
dealer whenever you need to change a
bulb.

Consumer Information
Warranty coverages
Your Audi is covered by the following war­
ranties :
- New Vehicle Limited Warranty
- Limited Warranty Against Corrosion Perfo-
ration
- Emissions Control System Warranty
- Emissions Performance Warranty
- California Emissions Control Warranty (USA
vehicles only)
- California Emissions Performance Warranty
(USA vehicles only)
Detailed information regarding yo ur warran ­
ties can be found in your
Warranty & Mainte­
nance booklet .
Operating your vehicle
outside the U.S.A. or
Canada
Government regulations in the United States
and Canada require that automobiles meet
specific emission regulations and safety
standards. Therefore, veh icles built for the
U.S.A. and Canada differ from vehicles sold in
other countries .
I f you p lan to take your vehicle outside the
continental limits of the United States or Can­
ada, there is the possibility that
- unleaded fuels for vehicles with cata lytic
converter may not be available;
- fuel may have a considerably lower octane
rating . Improper fuel may cause engine
damage;
- service may be inadequate due to lack of
proper service facilities, tools or testing
equipment;
- replacement parts may not be readily availa­
ble.
- Navigation systems for vehicles built for the
U.S.A. and Canada will not necessari ly work
in Europe, and may not work in other coun­
tries outside North America .
Consumer Information 283
@ Note
Audi cannot be responsible for mechanical
damage that could result from inadequate
fuel, serv ice or parts availab ility.
Audi Service Repair
Manuals and Literature
Audi Offic ial Factory Service Manuals and Lit ­
erature are published as soon as possible after
model introduct ion. Service manuals and lit­
erat ure are available to order from the Audi
T echnical Literature Ordering Center at:
www.audi.techliterature.com
Maintenance
' General
Your vehicle has been designed to help keep
maintenance requirements to a m inimum.
However, a certain amount of regular mainte­
nance is still necessary to assure your vehicle's
safety, economy and reliability . For detailed
vehicle maintenance consult your Warranty
&
Maintenance booklet.
Under difficult operating conditions , for ex­
ample at extremely low outside temperatures,
in very dusty regions, when towing a tra iler
very frequently, etc., some serv ice work
shou ld be pe rformed between the intervals
specified. This applies particularly to:
- oil changes, and
- cleaning or replacing the air filter.
® For the sake of the environment
By regularly maintaining your veh icle, you
help make sure that emission standards
are maintained, thus min imiz ing adverse
effects on the environment .
Important considerations for you and
your vehicle
The increasing use of electronics, sophisticat­
ed fuel injection and emission contro l sys-
tems, and the genera lly increasing technica l ..,_
•
•

28 4 Con sum er Inf orm ati on
comp lexity of today's automobi les, have
steadi ly reduced the scope of maintenance
and repairs which can be carried out by vehicle
owners.
Also, s afety an d e nvir onm ent al con­
cerns place very strict limits on the nature of repairs and adjustments to engine and trans ­
miss ion pa rts which an owner can perform .
Maintenance, adjustments and repa irs usua lly
require special tools, testing devices and oth­
er equipment avai lab le to specially trained
workshop personnel in order to assure proper
performance, reliab ility and safety of the vehi­
cle and its many systems .
Improper ma intenance, adjustments and re ­
pa irs can impair the operation and reliab ility
of your vehicle and even void your vehicle war­ ranty. Therefo re , proof of servici ng in accord­
ance w it h the ma intenance sched ule may be a
condition for upholding a possible warranty
claim made within the warran ty period .
Above all, operational safety can be adve rsely
affected, c reating unnecessary risks for you
and your passengers.
If in doubt about any servicing, have it done
by your author ized Audi dealer or any other
p roperly equipped and qualified wor kshop .
We strong ly urge you to give your authorized
Audi dealer the opportunity to perform all
schedu led maintenance and necessary repairs .
Your dea ler has the facilities, original parts
and tra ined spec ialists to keep your vehicle
running properly .
Performing lim it e d m aint en anc e y ourself
The following pages describe a limited num­
ber of procedures which can be performed on
you r vehicle with ordinary too ls, shou ld the
need arise and trained personnel be unavaila­
ble. Before performing any of these proce­
dures, always thoroughly read all of the app li­
cable text and carefully follow the instruc­
tions given. Always rigorously obse rve the
WARNINGS p rovided.
B efore you ch eck anything in th e engine
compartm ent, alw ay s re ad an d hee d all WARNINGS
¢ & a
nd ¢ & in Working in the
engine comportment on page
222 .
A WARNING
--Serious personal injury may occur as a re-
sult of improperly performed mainte­
nance, adjustments or repa irs.
- Always be extremely careful when work­
ing on the vehicle. Always follow com­
monly accepted safety pract ices and gen­
eral common sense. Never r isk personal
in ju ry.
- Do not attempt any of the maintenance,
checks or repairs descr ibed o n the fol­
lowing pages if you are not fu lly fam iliar
with these or other procedures with re­ spect to the ve hicl e, or are uncerta in how
to proceed .
- Do not do any work withou t the proper
too ls and equipment . Have the necessary
work done by your authorized A udi deal ­
er or anothe r properly equipped and
qualified workshop.
- The engine compar tment o f any motor
vehicle is a potentially hazardous area. Never reach into the area around or
touch the rad iator fan. It is temperature
control led and can switch on suddenly -
even when the engine is off . The radiator
fan switches on automatically when the
coo lant reaches a ce rtain temperature
and will cont inue to ru n until the coo lant
tempera ture drops.
- Always sw itch off the ignition before any­
one gets under the vehicle.
- Always support your veh icle with safety
s tands if it is necessary to work under­
neath the vehicle. The j ack s upp lied with
the vehicle is not adequate for this pur­
pose and cou ld co llapse causing serio us
pe rsonal injury .
- If you must work underneath the vehicle
wit h the wheels on the ground, a lways
make sure the vehicle is on leve l ground,
that the wheels are a lways secure ly
blocked and that the engine cannot be
started .