warning light AUDI Q7 2017 Owner´s Manual

Safe ty belts
passenge rs, a lways correct ly wear safety
belts when the vehicle is moving.
- Failure to pay attention to the warning light
that comes on could lead to personal injury.
Why use safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for peo­
ple riding in vehicles .
Fig. 2 28 Unbe lt ed occupants in a vehi cle headi ng for a wall
Fig . 229 T he ve hi cle c rashes into the wa ll
The physical principles are simple . Both the vehi­
cle and the passengers possess energy which var­ ies w ith vehicle speed and body weight . Engi­
neers call this energy "k inetic energy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
g reater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Veh icle speed is the most signific ant fac tor .
If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to 50
km/h) , the energy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of th is veh icle are not us­
i n g safety belts~
fig. 228, they will keep mov ing
at the same speed the ve hicle was mov ing j ust
266
before the crash, until something stops them -
here, the wall¢
fig. 229 .
The same principles apply to people s itting in a
vehicle that is invo lved i n a frontal collision . Even
at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50 km/h),
the forces acting on the body can reach one ton
(2,000 lbs . or 1,000 kg) o r more. At g reater
speeds, these forces are even higher.
People who do not use safety belts are a lso not
attached to their vehicle. In a frontal collision
they will also keep mov ing forward at the speed
their vehicle was travelling just before the crash. Of course, the laws of physics don 't just apply to
frontal collisions , they determine what happens
i n a ll kinds of accide nts and co llisions .
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed . Always wear your safety belts!
F ig . 23 0 A drive r not wea ring a safety belt is vio lent ly
throw n forward
Fig . 2 31 A rea r passe nge r not we aring a sa fety be lt w ill fly
forwa rd an d str ike t he drive r
Unbelted occupants a re not ab le to res ist the tre-
mendous forces of impac t by holding tig ht o r
Ill-

u (0 ...... N r--. N ...... 0
0
:E .. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright position and securely latched in
place before using the belt¢.&_ .
.. Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest and
pelvis ¢
fig. 233, ¢ .&_ .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automatic
belt retractor on the shoulder belt. This feature
locks the belt when the belt is pulled out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident . The belt
may also lock when you drive up or down a steep
hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driv­
ing the belt lets you move freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to tighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated
¢
page 2 71 . The function of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light
q page 29.
Convertible locking retractor
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat. Be sure to read
the important information about this feature
¢page 306.
.&._ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious injury in an accident
q page 269,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
-Always make sure that the rear seat back­ rest to which the center rear safety belt is
attached is securely latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used .
If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen­
ger will move forward with the backrest dur-
Safety belts
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety belt effec­
tiveness and can cause serious personal in­
jury .
- A passenger who is not properly restrained
can be seriously injured by the safety belt it­
self when it moves from the stronger parts
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­
men .
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a child safety seat in
the vehicle
¢ page 308.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi ­
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 234 Safety belt position
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to match your body
size .
- belt height adjustment for the front seats,
- height-adjustable front seats.
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious personal injury in an accident.
- The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body. Hold the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos-
sible on the pelvis and there is no pressure
~
269

Airbag syste m
the electronic control unit¢ page 285, PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF~; ON@ light.
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carrier installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rapid ly inflat­
ing passenger's airbag in a fronta l co llision. The
airbag cou ld greatly reduce the effect iveness of
the child restraint and even seriously injure the
child during inflation.
For this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for ch ildren -when properly restra in­
ed according to the ir age and size -we strong ly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat ¢
page 295, Child safety.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat w ill be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the fron t
airbag infla tes -even w ith an Advanced Ai rbag
System.
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof.
- Always install rear -facing child safety seats
on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward facing ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of exceptiona l circumstances and the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does not
come on and stay on, immed iately install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler.
- Forward-facing ch ild safety seats installed
on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and ca use serio us pe rsonal injury to the child.
A WARNING
If, in except ional circumstances, you must i n­
stall a forward -facing chi ld res train t on the
front passenger's seat:
- Alw ays make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and ce rt ified by its man-
276
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible, before installing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to o r in front of the child rest raint
so th at the safety be lt will be p roperly posi­
tioned.
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF ~;
light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ign it ion is switched on .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure
that the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
will be disp layed whenever a ch ild restraint is
installed on the front passenger seat and the
ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
does not stay on, perform the checks descri­
bed ¢
page 285, Monitoring the Advanced
Airbag System.
- Take the child restra int off the front passen­
ger seat and install it properly at one of the rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF~
light does not stay on .
- Have the airbag system inspected by your author ized Audi dealer immed iate ly.
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when instal­
ling child restra ints.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional ci rcumstances, you must in­
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re-
stra int on the fron t passenger's seat: ..,.

u co ...... N r-... N ...... 0
0
:E: ' The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety be lts. Rather, it is part of the overa ll occupant re ­
straint system in your vehicle. A lways remember
that the airbag system can on ly help to protect
you, if you are sitting upr ight, wear ing your safe ­
ty belt and wear ing it properly. This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly re­
stra ined, not just because the law requ ires you to
be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your ve hicle has
been ce rtified to meet the "low risk" require­
ments for 3 and 6 yea r-o ld children o n the pas­
senger side and very sma ll adults on the drive r
side . The low r isk dep loymen t cr iteria are intend­
ed to help reduce the risk of injury through inter­
action with the front airbag that can occur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instrument pane l when the airbag inflates .
I n addition, the system has been certified to
comp ly with the "supp ression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front a irbag
for infants 12 months old and younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in child re­
stra ints that are listed in the Standard
c::> page 297, Child restraints and Advanced Air­
bags.
"Suppress ion" requ ires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a ch ild up to about one year of age is restrained
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward-fac ing infant restra ints listed
in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was ce rt ified. For a listi ng of the ch ild
restra ints tha t were used to certify your veh i­
cl e's compl iance wi th the US Safety St andard
c::> page 297,
- When a person is dete cted on the front passen­
ger seat that has an electrical capacitance that
is mo re than t he tota l electrical capac itance of
a ch ild that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant re­
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 w ith which the Advanced A irbag
System in your veh icle was certified), the front
Airb ag sys tem
airbag on the passenger side may or may no t
dep loy.
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; ligh t comes on
whe n the ele ct ronic con trol uni t detects a tota l
electrical capacitance on the front passenger seat
that requires the front airbag to be turned off. If
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has not been turned
off by the contro l unit and
can deploy if the contro l unit senses a n impact
that meets the cond itions stored in its memory.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance reg istered on
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ical 1 year-old, b ut less than the weight of a
small ad ult, the front a irbag on the passenger
s ide may dep loy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
~; light does not come on).
For example, th e airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typ ical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed
c:> page 297),
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is t urned
off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light in the head ­
liner w ill come on and stay on.
If the front passenge r airbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requ ires the a irbag to meet the " low
risk" deployment criteria to help reduce the r is k
of inj ury through interaction with the airbag.
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as defined
i n the electronic control unit .
c::>page 285
Always remember: Even though your vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for childre n is properly restrained on the back
seat. Please be sure to read the impor tant infor­
mation in the sec tions that fo llow and be sure to
heed all of the WAR NINGS.
_& WARNING
To redu ce the risk of injury when an air bag in-
f lates, always wear sa fe ty belts properly.
llill-
279

Airbag syste m
-If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 273.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on the front passenger seat w ill be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates -even w ith an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
yo ur vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re­
straint has been insta lled on the front pas­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely guaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in all con­ ceivable s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The inf lating airbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door,
or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re­
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of exceptiona l circumstances and the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does not
come on and stay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side a irbag.
280
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible, before install ing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to o r in fron t of the child rest raint
so that the safety be lt will be properly posi­
tioned.
- Always make sure th at there is noth ing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occup ied by a person when it is
not, or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitt ing on the seat. The presence of addi­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it should
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is d ifferent from the way it wou ld
have worked withou t the objec t on the seat .
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
"1; light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignit ion is switched on .
' Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lot
of very important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System in it. These parts include the capacitive
passenger detection system, wir ing, brackets,
and more. The control unit monitors the system
on the front passenger seat when the ignit ion is
switched on and turns the airbag indicato r light
o n when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detec ted
¢ page 285. Because
t h e fron t passenger seat contains impo rtant
parts of the Advanced Ai rbag System, you must
take care to prevent it from being damaged .
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced .,.

u co ...... N r-... N ...... 0
0
:E: ' Airbag System for the front passenger seat from
doing its job in a crash.
The front Ad vanced Airb ag S ystem con sists
of t he follo wing :
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash.
- An electronic control un it, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
control unit "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors. The control unit also "de­
c ides" whether the safety belt pretens ioners
shou ld be activated .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer ing
wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A capac itive passenger detect io n system unde r­
neath the front passenger seat cover. This sys­
tem measures the elect rical capac ita nce of the
person in the seat. The i nformation registe red
is sent continuously to the electron ic control
unit to regulate deployment of the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light
m in the instrument cluster .
- A sensor in each front seat reg isters the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mation reg istered is sent continuously to the
electronic control unit to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced A irbags .
- The
PA SSENG ER AIR B AG OFF ~; ON @ light
comes on in the headliner ¢
page 285,
fig. 241 and tells you the status of the Ad ­
vanced Airbag on the passenge r side .
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the dr iver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched or not and
transm its this info rmat ion to the elect ronic
c ontro l unit.
Airb ag sys tem
_& WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from working properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from funct ion ing
properly .
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qualified and properly trained
workshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger seat .
- Never disassemble or remove parts from the
seat or disconnect w ires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
put them on the seat . The capacit ive pas­
senger detect ion mat in the front passenger
seat will not function p roperly if it is punc­
tured.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the front passenger seat. S uch ob­
jects can influence the capacitance reg is­
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect informa tion is pro­
vided to the airbag control unit.
- Never store i tems unde r the front passenger
seat . Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, p reventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from working proper ly.
- Never p lace seat covers or replacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
proved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced A ir­
bag System from recognizing chi ld re­
stra ints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploying properly.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth­
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never install any child restra int system on
this seat.
- Never use cushions, p illows, blankets, or
similar items on the front passenge r seat .
281

Airbag syste m
The additio na l l ayers prevent the capacitive
passenger detection system from accurately
measuring the capac itance of the ch ild safe­
ty seat and/or the person on the seat and
thus keep the Advanced Airbag System from
working p roperly.
- Never place or use any electrical device (such as a laptop, CD player, elect ronic
games dev ice, power inverte r or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat
if the device is connected to the 12-vol t
socket or the cigarette lighter socket . S uch
devices can infl uence the capacitance regis­
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro­
vided to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a c hild restraint on the front
passenger seat and the child restraint man­
ufacturer's instructions require the use of a
towel, foam cushion or something else to prope rly position the ch ild restraint, make
certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
~; light comes on and stays on whenever
the chi ld restraint is installed on the front
passenge r seat .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
does not come on and s tay on , immediate ly
ins tall child restra int in a rea r seating posi­
tion and have the airbag system inspected
by you r A udi dealer.
_& WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it im­
mediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger seat,
this can keep the a irbag system from work ­
ing prope rly and may, for instance, deact i­
vate the passenger frontal airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~;
light will come on and stay on togethe r with
the a irbag ind icator
light E,I in the inst ru­
men t cluster.
- If liquid is poo led on the seat, bu t has not
soa ked i n, this may also keep the airbag sys­
tem from wo rking properly and ca use the
passenge r frontal a irbag to be enabled
(tu rned on), even though there is a properly
282
installed child rest raint system on the seat .
Wet towels or other wet things on the seat
cushion can have the same effect.
If the
front passenger fronta l airbag is turned on,
t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light light
w ill go out.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced A irbag System and the side
airbags supp lement the p rotection offered by the
front three-point safety be lts and the adjustable
head restraints to he lp reduce the risk of injury in
a wide range of accident and crash situat ions. Be
sure to read the important i nformat ion about
safety and heed the WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced A irbag System and
the activation of the safety belt pretensioners de­ pend on the dece leration measured by the crash
sensors and registered by the elec tronic contro l
u nit . Crash severity depends on speed and decel­
e ration as well as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object invo lved in the cras h.
On the passenger side, regard less of safety be lt
u se, the front passenge r frontal airbag will be
turned off if t he e lectr ica l capaci tance m easured
by the capaci tive p assenge r detection system o n
t h e fron t passenger sea t is less th an the amou nt
programmed in t he e lec tronic cont ro l unit. The
front passenger frontal airbag wi ll also be turned
off if the capacitance measured by the system for
the front passenger seat equals that of an infant
of about one year of age in one of the child seats
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208. The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
comes on and stays on to tell you whe n the front
Advanced Airbag System on the passenge r side
has been tu rned off~
page 285.
_& WARNING
To reduce the ris k of injury when an airbag in ­
f lates, always wea r safety belts prope rly.
- If you are un res trained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your r isk of injury is much higher.

u (0 ...... N r--. N ...... 0
0
:E - You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
9page 273.
More important things to know about front
airbags
F ig. 2 40 Inflated front airbags
0 0 M
-.a ;z
Safety belts are impo rtant to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position so
that airbags can unfold properly and provide sup­ p lemental protection in a frontal collision.
The front airbags are designed to provide addi­
tional protect ion for the chest and face of the
driver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly
- the seats have been positioned so that the oc-
cupant is properly seated as far as possible
from the airbag
- and the head restraints have been properly ad-
justed
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye w ith
great force, things you have on your lap or have p laced on the seat could become dangerous pro­
jectiles, and be pushed into you if the airbag in­ flates .
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the
veh icle. This dust is made up mostly of a powder
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy . It
could irr itate skin .
It is important to remember that while the sup ­
plemental airbag system is designed to reduce
the likelihood of ser ious injuries, other injuries,
for example swelling, bruising and minor abra -
Airbag sys tem
sions, can also happen when airbags inflate. Air­
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body. Front airbags supp lement the three­
point safety belts only in some frontal collisions
in which the vehicle dece leration is high enough
to deploy the airbags .
Front airbags will not depl oy :
- if the ign ition is switched off when a crash oc-
curs
- in side co llisions
- in rear-end coll isions
- in rollovers
- when the crash deceleration measured by the
ai rbag system is less than the m inimum thresh­
old needed for airbag dep loyment as registe red
by the electronic control un it
The front pass enge r airbag also w ill not
deploy:
- when the fron t passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the e lectr ical capacitance measured by
t he capacit ive passenger detection system for
the front passenge r seat ind icates that the pas­
senger side frontal airbag m ust be switched off
by the electronic control unit (the
PASSENGER
AIR BA G OFF
"1; light 9 page 285 comes on
and stays on).
_& WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase the
risk of ser ious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the a irbags
inflate, the driver and passengers must al­
ways sit in an upright posit ion, must not
lean aga inst or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are lo cated.
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posit ion
or too close to the airbag can be serio usly
inj ured by an airbag as it unfolds wi th g reat
for ce in the blink of an eye
r:!>page 2 74.
_& WARNING
A child in a re arward-fa cing child safety seat
i nsta lled on t he front passenger sea t will be
serious ly in jured and can be ki lled if the front
Iii-
283

Airbag system
airbag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the child safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof .
- Always install rear-facing child safety seats
on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward-facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system inspected by your authorized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds or by be­
ing pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never transport items on or in the area of
the front passenger seat. Objects could move into the area of the front airbags dur­
ing braking or other sudden maneuvers and
become dangerous projectiles that can
cause serious personal injury if the airbags
inflate .
- Never place or attach accessories or other
objects (such as cupholders, telephone
brackets, large, heavy or bulky objects) on
the doors, over or near the area marked "AIRBAG'' on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel, seat backrests or between
those areas and yourself. These objects could cause injury in a crash, especially
when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag or the front air­ bag during braking or in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects near the airbags can become
284
-
projectiles and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined .
- Never place or transport objects on the
front passenger seat. Objects on the front passenger seat could cause the capacitive
sensor in the seat to signal to airbag system
that the seat is occupied by a person when it
in fact is not, or that the person on the seat
is heavier than he or she actually is. The
change in electric capacitance because of
such objects can cause the passenger front
airbag to be turned on when it should be
off, or can cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it would have
worked without objects on the seat.
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is not , or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The presence of an ob­
ject could cause the passenger front airbag
to be turned on when it should be off, or
could cause the airbag to work in a way that
is different from the way it would have
worked without the object on the seat.
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy can cause breathing problems for people with a history of asthma or other breathing condi­
tions .
- To reduce the risk of breathing problems,
those with asthma or other respiratory con­
ditions should get fresh air right away by
getting out of the vehicle or opening win­
dows or doors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags de­
ploy, wash your hands and face with mild
soap and water before eating.
- Be careful not to get the dust into your eyes,
or into any cuts or scratches.
- If the residue should get into your eyes,
flush them with water .

u (0 ...... N r--. N ...... 0
0
:E Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the fun ction of
the A dvanced Airbag System: the
El ligh t and
t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; ON @ Light.
The Advanced Airbag System as we ll as the side
a ir bags and side c urta in air bags with ejec tion
m it iga tion fea tures ( in cludi ng the e lectro nic con­
tro l uni t, sensors and sys tem wiring) are a ll
monitored co nti nu ously to ma ke sure that they
are funct ioning properly whenever the ignition is
on. Every t ime you turn on the ignition, the air­
bag system ind icator
light E,lwill come on for a
few seconds (function check).
The system must be inspected when the
indicato r light
E,I:
- does not come on when the ignit ion is switched
on
- does not go out a few seconds after you have
switched on the ign ition, o r
- comes on w hile driving
If an airbag sys tem malf unct ion is de te cted, the
indicator light w ill come on to serve as a co nstant
remi nder to have the system inspected immedi­
ately .
If a mal function occurs that turns the front air­
bag on the passenger side off, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF~.
lig ht w ill come o n an d stay on
whenever the ignit ion is on.
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not funct io ning prop­
erly cannot provide supplemental p rotection
in a frontal crash .
- If the airbag indicato r light¢
page 29
comes whe n the vehicle is be ing used, have
th e sys te m in spect ed immed iate ly by yo ur
au tho riz ed Aud i deale r.
It is possible that
th e air bag will i nflate w hen it i s n ot su p­
p osed to, o r will not i nfla te whe n it shou ld.
Airbag system
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF '1; ON @ light
Fi g. 241 Sect io n from t he headli ner: PASSENGE R AIR BAG
OFF~ ; ON
@ light
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; ON @ light is
located in t he headliner ¢
fig. 241.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light will come
o n and stay on to tell you w hen t he fro nt Ad­
van ced Air bag o n the p assenge r side has been
tu rned
off by t he e lec tron ic control unit. If the
bulb fo r the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; ON @
light b urns o ut, t he a irbag ind icator light El w ill
come on to signal a ma lfunction in the Advanced
Airbag System. Altho ugh the burned-out b ulb
will not change the way the front passenger's
frontal a irbag works, it w ill no longer be possible
to use the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; ON @
ligh t to make s ure that the airbag on/off s tatus is
c or rec t fo r th e o ccu pan t on the front passenge r
sea t. Have the airb ag system inspec ted immedi­
ate ly by yo ur au thorized A udi d ealer .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; ON @ light
will blink for about S seconds when:
- the capacit ive passenger detection system,
which switc hes the front sea t passe nger's fron ­
tal Advanced Airbag o n and off, detects a
change in the st atus of the front pa sse nger
se at.
As soon as the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; ON
@ light s tops blin kin g, a lways make sure that the
air bag st atus (on o r off) as shown by the ligh t is
prope r for the age, size and e lec trica l capacitance
of t he perso n occ up ying the front passenger
seat . Always ma ke sure that the safety be lt fo r
t h e front passenger seat is proper ly fastened .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~;/ PASSENGER
AIR BAG ON
@ light will show the statu s of the ..,.
285