2012 AUDI A6 sensor

150 Airbag sys te m
backrest must be adjusted to an uprigh t
posit ion.
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a
person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually s itting on t he
seat. The presence of additiona l objects
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on w hen it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BA G
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in you r veh icle has a
l ot of very important pa rts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it . These parts include the
capacitive passenge r de tect ion sys tem, wir­
ing, brac kets, and more . The cont ro l uni t
monitors the system on the front passenger
seat when the ignition is switc hed on and
turns the airbag indicato r light on when a
malfunction in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected
c::;, page 155 . Because the
fro nt passenge r seat contains important pa rts
of the Advanced Airbag System , you must
take ca re to p revent it from being damaged.
Da mage to the seat may preven t the Ad­
vanced A irb ag System for the fron t passenger
seat from doing i ts job in a c rash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front o f the veh icle tha t
measure veh icle acceleration/dece le ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System about the severity of the crash. -
An elect ronic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and sid e impacts .
T he control un it "decides" whether to fire
the front a irbags based on the inform at ion
received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt prete nsioners shou ld be act ivated .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver inside the steer­
ing wheel hub .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
contro l valve inside the inst rument panel for
the front passenger .
- A capacit ive passenger detection system u n­
de rneath the front passenger seat cover .
This system measures the elec trical capac i­
t ance of the perso n in t he seat. The informa ­
t ion regis tered is se nt cont inuo usly to the
electronic con trol un it to regu late deploy­
ment of the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instr ument cluster
c::;, page 154.
- A senso r in each front seat regis ters the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering whee l or instrument panel. The in ­
formation registered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electron ic contro l uni t to regulate de­
ployment of the front Adv a need A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel
c::;, page 155, fig . 147 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been t urned off.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv­
er and fo r the front seat passenger that
senses w hether t hat safety belt is latched or
no t and transmi ts this information to t he
elec tronic con trol un it.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from working
p roperly.
- Imp roper repai r or disassembly of the
front passenge r and dr iver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly .
-

152 Airbag system
same effect . If the front passenger
frontal a irbag is turned on, the
PA SSEN ·
GER AIR BAG OFF
light light will go out.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side a irbags supplement the protect ion of­
fered by the front three-point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
ad justab le head restraints to he lp red uce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the activation of the safety be lt preten­
sioners depend on the dece lerat ion measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control un it . The amount of infla ­
tion of the front airbags can also be adapted
to the front seat position, depend ing on the
d istance between the respective front seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel as registered by sensors in the seats. Crash se­
verity depends on speed and deceleration as
well as the mass and stiffness of the vehicle
or object invo lved in the crash.
On the passenger s ide, regard less of safety
be lt use, the front passenger fro nta l airbag
will be turned off if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger detec­
tion system on the front passenger seat is less
than the amount programmed in the electron·
i c control unit . The front passenger frontal air­
bag will also be turned off if the capac itance
measured by the system for the front passen­
ge r sea t equa ls tha t of an infant of abo ut one
yea r of age in one of the child sea ts tha t was
used to certify the Advanced Airbag System
u nder Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . T he
PASSENGER AIR BA G OFF light
comes on and stays on to tell you when the
front Advanced A irbag System on the passen­
ger s ide has been turned off
c> page 155 .
A WARNING
-To reduce the risk of injury w hen an a irbag
in flates, always wear safety be lts properly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any
way, your risk of injury is much h igher .
- You will a lso receive se rious injuries and
could even be killed if you a re up aga inst
the airbag o r too close to it when it in­
flates - even w ith an Advanced A irb ag
<=> page 142 .
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fig . 14 6 Inflated fro nt a irbags
Safety belts a re important to he lp keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that a irbags can unfold properly and pro­
v ide s upplementa l pro te cti on in a fron tal col­
li sion .
T he front airbags are des igned to provide ad­
ditional p rotection fo r the chest and face of
the driver a nd the front seat passenger w hen:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have bee n positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as poss i­
b le from the airbag ,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adj usted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, th ings you have on your lap
or have placed on the seat cou ld become dan ­
gerous projecti les, and be p ushed into you if
the a irbag inflates .
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
This is norma l and is not caused by a f ire in ..,.

154 Airbag sys te m
- Never place or attach accessories or o th­
er objects (such as cup holders, tele­
phone brackets, large, heavy or bulky ob­
jects) on the doors, over or near the area marked "AIRBAG" on the stee ring wheel,
instrument panel, seat backrests or be­
tween those a reas and yourself. These
objects co uld cause injury in a crash, es­
pecially when the airbags inflate .
- Never recline the front passenger's seat
to transport objec ts. Items can also
move into the area o f the side airbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a sudden maneuver . Objects near the air­
bags can become project iles and cause
injury, part icularly when the seat is re­
cl ined .
- Never place or transport ob jects on the
front passenger seat. Objects on the
front passenger seat could cause the ca­ pacitive senso r in the seat to s ignal to
airbag system that the seat is occupied
by a person whe n it in fa ct is not, o r that
the person on the se at is heavie r than he
or she actually is. The change in electric
capacitance because of such objects can
cause the passenger front airbag to be
t u rned on when it sho uld be
off, or can
cause the airbag to work in a way that is
different from the way it wou ld have
wor ked w ithout ob jects on the seat .
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenge r detection
system in the s eat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a
person when it is not, or to signa l th at it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually s itting on the
seat . The prese nce of an object co uld
cause the passenger front a irbag to be
t ur ned on when it sho uld be
off, or co uld
cause the airbag to work in a way t hat is
different from the way it wou ld have
worked w ithout the object on the seat.
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy
ca n cause breathing p rob lems for people
with a history of asthma or ot her breath­
i ng cond itions .
- To reduce the risk of breath ing problems ,
those wi th asthma o r othe r respiratory
conditions s hou ld get fresh air right
away by getting o ut of th e veh icle or
open ing windows or do ors .
- If you are i n a collision in which airbags
de ploy, was h your h ands and face wi th
mild soap and wate r before eating.
- Be ca reful not to get the dust into your
eyes, o r into any c uts or sc ratches.
- If the res id ue should get into your eyes,
fl ush them w ith wate r.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
t~i Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function
of the Advan ced Airbag Sy stem: the airbag
moni toring indicator light and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG O FF
light.
The Adva nced A irbag Sys tem ( incl uding the
ele ct ron ic cont ro l u nit , sensor circu its and sys­
tem wir ing) is monitored con tinuously to
make sure that it is functioning properly
whenever the ignition is on. Eac h time you
switch on the ignition, the airbag monitor ing
indicator light
m will come on for a few sec­
onds (self diagnostics) .
The sy stem mu st be in spected when the
indicator light
rl:
- does not come on when the ignition is
sw itched on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you
have switched on the ignit ion, or
- comes on while driv ing .
If an airbag system malfunc tion is detec ted,
the i ndicator lig ht w ill first sta rt flashing to
catch the drive r's attention and then stay on .,..

-Work on the pyrotechnic circu it inter­
rupter must on ly be performed by a
qualified technic ians who have the ex­
perience, information and special tools necessary to perform the work safely.
- If the veh icle or the circuit interrupter
is sc rapped, all applicable safety pre­
cautions must be followed.
@) For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate Mate rial -special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca .gov/haza rdo uswaste/per­
chlorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restrai nt system inclu ding airbag modules
a nd safety bel ts w ith pretens ioners are
scrapped, a ll applicable laws and regula ­
tions must be observed. Your authorized
Aud i dea ler is familiar w ith these require­
ments and we recommend that you have
your dea ler perform this serv ice for you.
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
C hanging the vehicle's suspension system can
ch ange the way that the Advanced A irbag Sys­
tem pe rforms in a crash. For example, us ing
tire-rim combinations not app rove d by Audi,
lowe ring the vehicle, changing the stiffness of
the suspension, incl uding the springs, suspen­
sion struts, shock absorbers etc. can change
the forces that are measured by the a irbag
se nsors and sent to the electron ic control
un it . Some suspension changes can, for exam­
p le, increase the force levels measured by the
se nsors and make the airbag system deploy in
crashes i n w hich it would not dep loy if the
ch an ges had not been made. Ot her kinds of
cha nges may reduce the force levels meas ­
ured by the sensors and prevent the airbag
from deploying when it shou ld.
The senso rs in the safety belt buckle fo r th e
d river and front passenger seat tell the elec ­
tronic control module if the safety belt is
l atched or not. If the safety belt is being used,
the front airbag will deploy at a slightly high-
A irba g sy stem 159
er rate of vehicle deceleration than i f the safe­
ty belt is not being used. Therefore, in a par ­
ticu lar collis ion, it is possible t hat an airbag
will not deploy at a seating pos ition where the
safety belt is be ing used but w ill inflate at the
position w here the safety belt is not be ing
used. It is impo rtant that noth ing interfere
with the safety be lt b uckles so that the sen­
sors can send the cor rec t info rmation abou t
sa fe ty belt use to the elec tronic con trol un it.
_&. WARNING ~-
Changing the vehicle's suspension includ-
ing use of unapprove d tire -rim combina ­
tions can change Advanced Airbag per­
formance and increase the risk o f serious
personal injury in a crash.
- Never install s uspension components
that do not have the same performance
characteristics as the components origi­
na lly installed on your vehicle .
- Never use tire-rim combinations that
have not been approved by Audi.
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
Appl ies to vehicles: wi th knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supple­
mental prot ection to properly r estrain ed
front seat occupants.
Fi g. 14 8 Drive r's airbag
T he driver knee airbag is i n the instrument
panel underneath the steering wheel
i=> fig . 148, the airbag for the passenger is at
about the same height in the instrument pan-
el underneath the glove compartment . ..,_

162 Airbag system
of the passenger seat. If the airbag de­
ploys, this can resu lt in serious or fata l
injuries.
- Never carry objects of any kind in the
footwell area in front of the driver's or
passenger's seat. Bulky objects (shop­
p ing bags, for examp le) can interfere
with or p revent proper dep loyment of
the airbag . Small objects can be
thrown through the vehicle i f the a ir­
bag deploys and injure you or yo ur pas­
sengers.
- Make sure there are no cra ck s, deep
scratches or ot her damage in the area of
the instrument pane l where the knee air­
bags are located .
- If children are incorrect ly sea ted, their
risk of inj ury i ncreases in a collision
<=> page 168, Child Safety .
Side airbags
Description of side airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained occupants.
Fi g. 150 Side a irbag loca tion in the dr iver 's seat
The s ide airbags are lo cated i n the sides of the
front seat backrests<=>
fig . 150 and the rear
backrest facing the doors. They are identified
by the word "AIRBAG" .
The s ide airbags installed for the front seating
positions have been designed a nd cer tified to
he lp reduce the risk of injury that can be
caused by airbags when they inflate, particu ­
larly when the occupant sitting next to it is
not seated properly. The side airbag for the
front passenger seat can be used with proper- ly installed child restraints. Please be sure to
read the important information and warnings
whenever using a child restraint in a vehicle:
Safety be lts <=>
page 133, Airbag system
<=>page 142, Child safety <=> page 168.
The side airbag system ba sicall y consi st s o f:
- t he ele ctron ic cont ro l modu le and external
side impact sensors
- t he two a irbags located in the s ides of the
front backrests and the two a irbags* located
in the rear backrest
- the airbag warning light in the ins trument
cl uster.
The airbag system is mon itored electronically
to make ce rtain that it is functioning p roperly
at all times. Each time you switch on the ign i­
t io n, the airbag system ind icator light will
come on for a few seconds (se lf diagnostics) .
The side airbag system supplements the safe­
ty be lts and can he lp to red uce the risk of in­
j u ry to the driver's, front and rear passenger's
u pper torso on the side of the veh icle that is
struck in a side collision. The airbag dep loys
only in side impacts and only when the vehicle
acce lerat ion reg istered by the control unit is
high enough. If this rate is be low the refer­
ence value programmed into the control unit,
the side airbags will not be triggered, even
though the car may be badly damaged as a re­ su lt of the collision .
It is not possib le to de­
fine an airbag triggering range th at will cover
every possib le ang le of impact, s ince the cir ­
cumstances will vary cons iderably between
one collision and another. Important factors
include, for example, the nature (hard or soft)
of the impacting object, the angle of impact,
vehicle speed, etc.
<=> page 164 , Important
safety instructions on the side airbag system .
Aside from their normal safety function, safe­
ty belts work to help keep the driver or front
passenger in position in the event of a side
collision so that the side airbags can provide
protection.
The airbag system is
not a substitute for your
safety belt. Rather, it is part of the overall oc-
cupant restra int system in your vehicle . .,,.

Always remember that the side airbag system
can only help to protect you if you are wearing
your safety belt and wear ing it properly. This
is another reason why you should always wear
your safety belts, not just because the law re­
qu ires you to do soc>
page 133, General
notes.
It is important to remember that while the
supp lemental s ide airbag system is designed
to reduce the like lihood of serious injur ies,
other i njuries, for example, swel ling, b ruising,
frict ion bu rns and minor ab rasions can also be
assoc ia ted with deployed side airbags. Re­
member too, side airbags will deploy only
once and only in certain kinds of accidents -
your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection.
Vehicle damage, repa ir costs or even the lack
of vehicle damage are not necessar ily an indi­
cation of over-sensitive or failed airbag activa ­
tion. In some co llisions, both front and side
airbags may inflate. Remember too, that air­
bags will dep loy only once and only in certain
kinds of collisions -your safety belts are al­
ways there to offer protection in those acci­
dents in wh ic h airbags are not supposed to
deploy or when they have already deployed.
The side airbag sy stem will not deploy :
-when the ign ition is switched off
- in s ide collisions when the acceleration
measured by the sensor is too low
- in front-end collisions
- in rear -end collisions
- in ro llovers.
In some types of acc idents the front airbags,
side curta in a irbags and side airbags may b e
tr iggered toge ther.
_& WARNING
- Saf ety belts and the a irbag system will
only prov ide protection when occ upan ts
are in the proper seating posit ion
c>page 164.
- If the airbag indicator light comes on
when the vehicle is being used, have the
-
A irba g sy stem 163
system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer. The airbag may
not work properly when the ve hicle ac­
celeration in a side col lision is high
enough to activate the a irbag.
How supplemental s ide airbags work
Side airbags deploy instantly and can help re­
duce the risk of upper torso injuries for occu­
pants who are properly restrained .
y)
Fig. lS l In flated side airbags on left side of vehicle,
rear side airbag
When the system is triggered, the airbag is
filled with propellant gas and breaks through
a seam in the seat surface area ma rked "AIR­
BAG". It expands between the side trim panel
and the passenger. In orde r to help provide
th is add it io na l prote ction, the side airbag
mus t inflate within a fraction of a second a t
very h igh speed and with great force. The sup­
plementa l side air bag could injure you if your
seating pos ition is not proper or up right o r if
items are located in the area where the sup­
plemental side airbag expands. This applies
especially to children
c> page 168, Child Safe­
ty.
Supplemental side airbags inflate between
the occupant and the door panel on the side
of the v eh icl e that is str uck in certa in side col­
li sion
c> fig. 151.
Although they are not a soft pillow, they can
"cushion" the impact and in this way they can
h elp to reduc e the risk of injury to the upper
part o f the body.
A f ine dust may develop w hen the airbag de­
ploys . This is normal and does not mean there
is a fire in th e vehicle.

164 Airbag system
Important safety instructions on the
side airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. Al­
ways properly wear safety belts and ride in a
proper seating position.
There is a lot that you and your passengers
must know and act accordingly to help the
safety belts and airbags do their job to pro­
vide supplemental protection.
& WARNING
An inflating side airbag can cause serious
or fatal injury. Improperly wearing safety
belts and improper seating positions in­
crease the risk of serious personal injury
and death whenever a vehicle is being
used.
- In order to reduce the risk of injury when
the supplemental side airbag inflates:
- Always sit in an upright position and
never lean against the area where the
supplemental side airbag is located.
- Never let a child or anyone else rest
their head against the side trim panel
in the area where the supplemental
side airbag inflates.
-Always make sure that safety belts are worn correctly,
- Do not let anyone sitting in the front
seat put their hand or any other parts
of their body out of the window.
-Always make sure that the side airbag can inflate without interference.
- Never install seat covers or replace­
ment upholstery over the front seat­
backs that have not been specifically
approved by Audi.
- Never use additional seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags
deploy.
- Damage to the original seat covers or
to the seam in the area of the side air­
bag module must always be repaired
immediately by an authorized Audi
dealer. -
Objects between you and the airbag can
increase the risk of injury in an accident
by interfering with the way the airbag
unfolds or by being pushed into you as
the airbag inflates.
- Never place or attach accessories or
other objects (such as cup holders, tel­
ephone brackets, or even large, bulky
objects) on the doors, over or near the
area marked "AIRBAG" on the seat backrests.
- Such objects and accessories can be­ come dangerous projectiles and cause
injury when the supplemental side air­
bag deploys.
- Never carry any objects or pets in the
deployment space between them and
the airbags or allow children or other passengers to travel in this position.
-Always use the built-in coat hooks only for lightweight clothing. Never leave any
heavy or sharp-edged objects in the
pockets that may interfere with side air­
bag deployment and can cause personal
injury in an accident.
- Always prevent the side airbags from be­
ing damaged by heavy objects knocking
against or hitting the sides of the seat­
backs.
- The airbag system can only be triggered
once. If the airbag has been triggered,
the system must be replaced by an au­
thorized Audi dealership.
- Damage (cracks, deep scratches etc.) to
the original seat covers or to the seam in
the area of the side airbag module must always be repaired immediately by an au­
thorized Audi dealer.
- If children are seated improperly, their
risk of injury increases in the case of an
accident
~ page 168, Child Safety.
- Never attempt to modify any compo­
nents of the airbag system in any way .
- In a side collision, side airbags will not
function properly if sensors cannot cor­ rectly measure increasing air pressure in-
side the doors when air escapes through ..,.

larger, unclosed openings in the door
panel.
- Never d rive w ith int erio r door tr im pan­
els removed.
- Never d rive when parts have been re­
moved from t he ins ide door panel and
the openings they leave have not been
properly closed.
- Never d rive w hen loudspeakers in the
doors have been removed unless the
spea ker holes have been properly
closed.
- Always make cer tai n t hat openings are
covered or filled if additional speake rs
or other equi pment is installed in the
inside door panels.
- A lways have work on t he doors done by
a n authorized Audi dealer or qualified
wo rkshop .
Side curtain airbags
Description of side curtain airbags
The side curtain airbag system can provide
supplemental protection to properly restrain ­
ed occupants.
Fi g. 152 Side curtai n airbags, dri ver 's s ide: side cu rtai n
ai rbag locat ion
The side curtain airbags are located on both
sides of the interior above the front and rear
side windows ¢
fig. 152 . They are identified
by the word "AIRBAG" on the windshie ld
frame and the center roof pillar.
The s ide curtain airbag system supplements
the safety belts and can help to reduce the
risk of injury for occupa nts' heads and upper
torso on the side of the veh icle tha t is struc k
Airba g system 165
in a side collision. The side cu rtain airbag in­
flates in side impacts and only when the vehi­
cle acceleration registered by the control un it
is h igh eno ugh. If this rate is below the refer­
ence value programmed into the control unit,
the side airbags will not be triggered, even
though the car may be badly damaged as a re­
sult of the co llision . It is not possib le to de­
fine an airbag triggering range that will cover every possib le ang le of impa ct, sin ce the cir­
c u mstances will vary cons iderably be tween
one collision and anothe r. Important factors
incl ude , for example, the nature (hard or soft)
of the impacting object, the ang le of impact,
vehicle speed, etc. ¢
page 166, How side cur­
tain airbags work.
Aside from their normal safety function, safe­
ty belts work to help keep the driver or front passenger in position in the event of a colli­
s ion so that the side curtain airbags can pro­
vide protection .
The airbag system is not a substit ute for your
safety belt. Rather, it is part of the overall oc­
cupant restraint system in your vehicle. Al­
ways remember that the a irbag system can
o nly help to protect you if you are wear ing
you r safety be lt and wearing it proper ly. This
i s a nothe r reason why you should a lways wear
your sa fe ty be lts, no t ju st because the law re­
quires you to do so ¢
page 133, General
notes .
It is important to remember that wh ile the
s ide cu rtain air bag system is desig ned to help
reduce the likelihood of serious injuries, other
injur ies, for examp le, swelling, bruising, fric­
tion burns and minor abrasions can also be as­
sociated w ith these airbags upon dep loyment.
Remember too, these airbags will deploy only
once and only in certain kinds of accidents -
your safety belts a re always there to offer pro­
tection .
The side curtain airbag sy stem basic ally
consists of :
- The electronic control module and external
side impact sensors
ll>-