check engine light Seat Altea XL 2011 User Guide

Driving and the environment
208Drive anticipating the traffic situation
A vehicle uses most fuel when accelerating. When you anticipate the situa-
tion, you have to brake less often and, thus, accelerate less. If it is possible,
let the vehicle roll with a gear engaged, for example, if you see a red light
ahead. The braking effect achieved in this way helps to reduce the wear of
brakes and tyres; emissions and fuel consumption are reduced to zero
(disconnection due to inertia).
Change gear early to save energy
An effective way of saving fuel is to change up quickly through the gears.
Running the engine at high rpm in the lower gears uses an unnecessary
amount of fuel.
Manual gearbox: Change from first to second gear as quickly as possible. We
recommend that, whenever possible, you change to a higher gear upon
reaching 2000 rpm. Follow the recommended gear indication that appears on
the instrument panel ⇒page 62.
Avoid driving at high speed
We advise you not to drive at the top speed permitted by the vehicle. Fuel
consumption, exhaust emissions and noise levels all increase very rapidly at
higher speeds. Driving at moderate speeds will help to save fuel.
Avoid idling
It is worthwhile switching off the engine when waiting in a traffic jam, at level
crossings or at traffic lights with a long red phase. The fuel saved after only
30 - 40 seconds is greater than the amount of fuel needed to restart the
engine.
The engine takes a long time to warm up when it is idling. Mechanical wear
and pollutant emissions are also especially high during this initial warm-up
phase. It is therefore best to drive off immediately after starting the engine.
Avoid running the engine at high speed. Periodic maintenance
Periodic maintenance work guarantees that, before beginning a journey, you
will not consume more than the required amount of fuel. A well-serviced
engine gives you the benefit of
improved fuel efficiency as well as maximum
reliability and an enhanced resale value.
A badly serviced engine can consume up to 10% more fuel than necessary.
Avoid short journeys
To reduce the consumption and emission of polluting gases, the engine and
the exhaust filtration systems should reach the optimum service tempera-
ture .
With the engine cold, fuel consumption is proportionally higher. The engine
does not warm up and fuel consumption does not normalise until having
driven approximately four kilometres. This is why we recommend avoiding
short trips whenever possible.
Maintain the correct tyre pressures
Bear in mind that keeping the tyres at an adequate pressure saves fuel. If the
tyre pressure is just one bar too low, fuel consumption can increase by as
much as 5%. Due to the greater rolling resistance, under-inflation also
increases tyre wear and impairs handling.
The tyre pressures should always be checked when the tyres are cold.
Do not use winter tyres all year round as they increase fuel consumption by
up to 10%.
Avoid unnecessary weight
Every kilo of extra weight will put up the fuel consumption, so it is worth
checking the luggage compartment occasionally to make sure that no unnec-
essary loads are being transported.
A roof rack is often left in place for the sake of convenience, even when it is
no longer needed. At a speed of 100-120 km/h your vehicle will use about
12% more fuel as a result of the extra wind resistance caused by the roof rack
even when it is not in use.
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Checking and refilling levels235
Safety First
Operating Instructions
Practical Tips
Technical Specifications
Opening the bonnet
The bonnet is released from inside the vehicle.
Before opening the bonnet ensure that the windscreen wipers are in
rest position.
– To release the bonnet, pull the lever under the dash panel
⇒fig. 164 in the direction indicated (arrow). The bonnet will be
released by a spring action ⇒.
– Lift the bonnet using the release lever (arrow) and open the bonnet.
– Release the bonnet stay and secure it in fixture designed for this
in the bonnet.
WARNING
Hot coolant can scald!•Never open the bonnet if you see steam, smoke or coolant escaping
from the engine compartment.•Wait until no more steam, smoke or coolant is emitted from the bonnet,
then carefully open the bonnet.•When working in the engine compartment, always observe the safety
warnings ⇒page 233.
Closing the bonnet– Raise the bonnet slightly.
– Release the bonnet stay and replace it in its support.
– At a height of about 30 cm let it fall so it is locked.
Fig. 164 Detail of foot-
well area on driver side:
lever for unlocking the
bonnet.Fig. 165 Arrester hook
for bonnet.
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Checking and refilling levels
242
Caution•When mixed with other additives the colour of G 12 will change to brown.
If this occurs you should have the coolant changed immediately. Failure to do
so will result in engine damage!•If a lot of coolant fluid has been lost, wait for the engine to cool down
before putting in cold coolant. This avoids damaging the engine. Large
coolant losses are an indication of leaks in the cooling system. See a special-
ised workshop immediately and have the cooling system checked. Other-
wise, there is a risk of engine damage.Washer fluid and windscreen wiper bladesTopping up washer fluid
Y
The water for cleaning the windscreen should always be
mixed with washer fluid.
The windscreen washer and the headlight washers are supplied with fluid
from the windscreen washer fluid container in the engine compartment.
The reservoir is located on the right-hand side of the engine compartment.
Plain water is not enough to clean th e windscreen and headlights. We recom-
mend that you always add a product to the windscreen washer fluid.
Approved windscreen cleaning products exist on the market with high deter-
gent and anti-freeze properties, these may be added all-year-round. Please
follow the dilution instructions on the packaging.
WARNING
Any work carried out in the engine compartment or on the engine must be
carried out cautiously.•When working in the engine compartment, always observe the safety
warnings ⇒page 233.Caution
•Never put radiator anti-freeze or other additives into the windscreen
washer fluid.•Always use approved windscreen cleansing products diluted as per
instructions. If you use other washer fluids or soap solutions, the tiny holes
in the fan-shaped nozzles could become blocked.
Fig. 169 In the engine
compartment: Cap of
windscreen washer fluid
reservoir.
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Checking and refilling levels245
Safety First
Operating Instructions
Practical Tips
Technical Specifications
WARNING
Do not drive unless you have good visibility through all windows!•Clean the windscreen wiper blades and all windows regularly.•The wiper blades should be changed once or twice a year.Caution
•A damaged or dirty window wiper could scratch the rear window.•Never use fuel, nail varnish remover, paint thinner or similar products to
clean the window.•Never move the windscreen wiper by hand. This could cause damage.
Brake fluidChecking the brake fluid level
The brake fluid is checked at the intervals given in the service
schedule.– Read off the fluid level at the transparent brake fluid reservoir. It should always be between the “MIN” and “MAX” marks.The position of the brake fluid reservoir is shown in the corresponding engine
compartment illustration ⇒page 293. The brake fluid reservoir has a black
and yellow cap.
The brake fluid level drops slightly when the vehicle is being used as the
brake pads are automatically adjusted as they wear.
Fig. 173 In the engine
compartment: Brake fluid
reservoir cover
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Checking and refilling levels247
Safety First
Operating Instructions
Practical Tips
Technical Specifications
Vehicle batteryWarnings on handling the battery
WARNING
Always be aware of the danger of injury and chemical burns as well as the
risk of accident or fire when working on the battery and the electrical
system:•Wear eye protection. Protect your eyes, skin and clothing from acid and
particles containing lead.•Battery acid is very corrosive and caustic. Wear protective gloves and
eye protection. Do not tilt the batteries. This could spill acid through the
vents. Rinse battery acid from eyes immediately for several minutes with
clear water. Then seek medical care immediately. Neutralise any acid
splashes on the skin or clothing with a soapy solution, and rinse off with
plenty of water. If acid is swallowed by mistake, consult a doctor immedi-
ately.•Fires, sparks, open flames and smoking are prohibited. When handling
cables and electrical equipment, avoid causing sparks and electrostatic charge. Never short the battery terminals. High-energy sparks can cause
injury.
•A highly explosive mixture of gases is released when the battery is
under charge. The batteries should be charged in a well-ventilated room
only.•Keep children away from acid and batteries.•Before working on the electrical system, you must switch off the
engine, the ignition and all consumers. The negative cable on the battery
must be disconnected. When a light bulb is changed, you need only switch
off the light.•Deactivate the anti-theft alarm by unlocking the vehicle before you
disconnect the battery! The alarm will otherwise be triggered.•When disconnecting the battery from the vehicle electrical system,
disconnect first the negative cable and then the positive cable.•Switch off all electrical consumers before reconnecting the battery.
Reconnect first the positive cable and then the negative cable. Never
reverse the polarity of the connections. This could cause an electrical fire.•Never charge a frozen battery, or one which has thawed. This could
result in explosions and chemical burns. Always replace a battery which
has frozen. A flat battery can freeze at temperatures around 0 °C.•Ensure that the vent hose is always connected to the battery.•Never use a defective battery. This could cause an explosion. Replace a
damaged battery immediately.Caution
•Never disconnect the battery if the ignition is switched on or if the engine
is running. This could damage the electrical system or electronic compo-
nents.•Do not expose the battery to direct sunlight over a long period of time, as
the intense ultraviolet radiation can damage the battery housing.

Wear eye protection

Battery acid is very corrosive and caustic. Wear protective
gloves and eye protection!
Ž
Fires, sparks, open flames and smoking are prohibited!
Ÿ
A highly explosive mixture of gases is released when the
battery is under charge.

Keep children away from acid and batteries!
WARNING (continued)
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Index
308CCatalytic converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
CD changer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Central locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Automatic speed dependent locking and un-locking system* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Emergency unlocking system . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Locking system for involuntary unlocking . 101
Selective unlocking system* . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Unlocking system* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Central locking button Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Unlocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Centre armrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Cetane number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Changing a wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Changing gear See Manual gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Changing gear in tiptronic mode . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Changing the bulbs Main headlight bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Tail lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Changing the main headlight bulbs dipped beam headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Main beam headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Side lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Turn signal bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Changing the tail light bulbs Side light, fog light and tail light on the tailgate279 Changing the tail lights
Luggage compartment lights . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Turn signal, side and brake lights on the body278
Changing windscreen wiper blades . . . . . . . . . 243
Chassis number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Checking battery electrolyte level . . . . . . . . . . 248
Checking engine oil level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Child safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Child seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Categorisation in groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Group 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Group 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Group 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Groups 0 and 0+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Securing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Child seats ISOFIX system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
on the front passenger seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Top Tether system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Cigarette lighter* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Cleaning alloy wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Cleaning chrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Cleaning engine compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Cleaning steel wheel rims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Cleaning windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Climatic* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Climatronic General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Cloth seat covers cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Clothes hook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Cockpit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Coming/leaving home function . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Compartment for on-board documentation . . 144
Control lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Control lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Controls
Electric windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Sliding/tilting sunroof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Convenience closing Sliding/tilting sunroof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Convenience opening Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240, 241 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Coolant level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Coolant loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Coolant temperature Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Correct adjustment of front seat head restraints . . 13
Correct adjustment of rear seat head restraints In-use and non-use positions . . . . . . . . . . . 14
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Index
310Engine fault
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Engine management Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Engine oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Checking engine oil level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Oil properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Topping up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Engine oil dipstick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Engine oil pressure Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 87
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Environmental friendliness . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Environmental tip Avoiding pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Environmentally friendly driving . . . . . . . . . . . 207
ESP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88, 199 See also Electronic Stability Programme . . 173
Example of menu use Program a speed limit warning . . . . . . . . . . 69
To activate and deactivate the speed limit warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Example of the use of the menus Open the Configuration menu with the MFI lever68
Open the Configuration menu with the steering wheel controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Examples of menu use
Open the main menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Open the winter tyres menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
To close the winter tyres menu . . . . . . . . . . 69
Exhaust gas purification system . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
FFabric trim cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Fire extinguisher* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Flexible service interval display . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Floor mats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fog lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Fog lights with cornering function . . . . . . . . . . 123
Folding the seat backrests down . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Folding tray* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Front airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Front drinks holders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Front interior light type 1 Switching light off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Switching light on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Front interior light type 2 Switching light off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Switching light on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Front passenger airbag deactivation . . . . . . . . . 44
Front reading lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Front seat adjustment
Lumbar support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Fuel Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Fuel level Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Fuel reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Warning message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Fuel Tank Opening the fuel tank flap . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Fuel tank See Fuel reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Fuel: save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
GG 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Gear shift pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
General overview of the engine compartment 293
Glove compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Glow plug system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
GRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193HHandbrake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86, 188
Hazard warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
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