2012 AUDI A6 belt

If the total electrical capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typ ica l 1 year-old, but less than the
weight of a small adult, the front airbag on the passenger side may deploy (the
PA SSEN ­
G ER AIR BA G OFF
light does not come on) .
For example, th e air bag m ay depl oy if :
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
¢ page 170),
-a chi ld who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag is turned
off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BA G OFF light in the center
of the instrument panel wi ll come on and stay
on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the a irbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to help re­
d uce the risk of injury through interaction
with the airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the electronic control
un it
o page 154 .
Alwa ys rem ember: Even though your vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
place for children is properly restrained on the
back seat. Please be sure to read the impor ­
tant information in the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed a ll of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, a lways wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unres trained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of inj ury is much highe r.
- You w ill also receive serio us inju ries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in ­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
¢ page 142 .
Airbag system 149
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously inju red and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even w ith an Ad­
vanced A irbag System .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn
off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing child res traint has been installe d on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso ­
lutely guarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing chi ld re­
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately in sta ll the rear-fa cing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING ,-
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru­ ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible, before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int . Th e •
-
•

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 ..,.

the vehicle. This dust is made up most ly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy . It cou ld irritate skin .
It is importan t to remember that while the
supplemental airbag system is designed to re­
duce the likelihood of serious injuries , other
in ju ries, for example swell ing, bruising and
minor abrasions, can also happen when air­
bags inflate. Airbags do not protect the arms
or the lower parts of the body . Front airbags
supplement the three-poi nt safety belts only
i n some frontal collisions in which the vehicle
decelerat ion is high enough to deploy the air­
bags.
Front airbags will not deploy:
- if the ignit ion is switched off when a crash
occurs,
- in s ide collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in ro llovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by
the airbag system is less than the minimum
threshold needed for airbag deployment as
registered by the electronic control unit.
Th e front pa sseng er airbag al so will not
d e plo y:
-when the front passenger seat is not occu ­
pied,
- when the electrical capacitance measured by
the capacitive passenger detect ion system
for the front passenger seat indicates that
the passenger side frontal airbag must be
switched off by the electronic control unit (the
P ASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
¢ page 155 and how they wo rk comes on
and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the risk of serious injury in crashes .
- To reduce the r isk o f injury when the air ­
bags inflate, the driver and passengers
must a lways sit in an upright position,
must not lean against or place any part
A irbag system 153
of their body too close to the area where
the airbags are located.
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi­
tion or too close to the airbag can be se­
riously injured by an airbag as it unfolds
with great force in the blink of an eye
¢page 144.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
se riously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even w ith an Ad­
vanced A irbag System.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with great fo rce and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, doo r or
roof.
- Always install rear -facing chi ld seats on
the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat
because of exceptional circumstances
and the PASS ENG ER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer .
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will
increase the r isk of injury in a crash by in­
terfering with the way the ai rbag unfolds
or by be ing p ushed into you as the airbag
inflates.
- Neve r hold things in yo ur hands o r on
your lap when the veh icle is in use.
- Never transpo rt items on or in the a rea
of the front passenger seat. Objects
co uld move into the area of the front air ­
bags during braking or other sudden ma ­
neuvers and become dangero us projec­
tiles that can cause ser ious personal in­
jury if the a irbags inf late.
•
•
-
-

continuously to serve as a constant reminder
to have the system inspected immediately.
I f a malfunction occurs that turns the front
a irbag on the passenger side
off, t he PA SSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght wi ll come on and stay
on whenever the ignition is on.
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light comes on, it
means that there may be someth ing
wrong with the Advanced Airbag System.
It is possible that the airbag will inflate
when it is not supposed to, or wi ll not in­
flate when it should.
- Have the airbag system inspected imme­
diately by your Aud i dealer .
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fig . 1 47 Sect ion from the inst rumen t pa nel: PASS EN­
GER AIR BAG OFF light
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located
i n the cen ter of the instrument panel
¢fig. 147 .
The PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come
on and stay on to tell you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned
off by the e lectronic control unit. If the
bu lb for the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
bu rns out, the airbag indicator light
fl will
come on to signal a malfunction in the Ad ­
vanced A irbag System. Although the burned­
out bulb will not change the way the front
passenger's frontal airbag works, it w ill no
longer be possible to use the
PASSENGER AIR
A irba g sy stem 155
BAG OFF light to make s ure that the airbag
on/off status is correct for the occ upant on
the front passenger seat . Have the airbag sys ­
tem inspected immediately by your author­
ized Audi dealer.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight will bl ink
for about 5 seconds when:
- t he ignition is switched on and
- the capacit ive passenger detection system,
whi ch swi tches the front seat passenger's
frontal Advanced Airbag on and
off, detects
a change in the status of the front passen­
ger seat.
As soon as the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light stops blink ing, a lways make sure tha t
the airbag stat us (on or off) as shown by the
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF light is proper fo r
the age, size and electrical capacitance of the person occupy ing the front passenger seat.
Always make sure that the safety belt for the
front passenger seat is properly fastened .
Th e PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
show the status of the fron t se at p assenge r's
frontal Advanced Ai rbag a few seconds after
the ignition i s swit c h ed on and th e airbag in ­
dicator light go es off . The PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF light :
-will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied;
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tect ion system for the front passenger seat
equa ls the combined capacitance of an in­
fant up to about one year of age and one of
the rearward-facing or forward-facing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certified; For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­
pliance with the U.S. Safety Standard
i:::;, page 170 .
-will go out if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
pacitive passenger detect ion system.

156 Airbag system
-The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must
come on and stay on if the ignition is on
and .. .
- a car bed has been installed on the front
passenger seat, or
- a rearward-facing chi ld restraint has been
installed on the front passenger seat , or
- a forward-facing child restraint has been in­
stalled on the front passenger seat,
- and if the e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is equal to or
less than the combined capacitance of a typ­
ica l 1 year -old infant and one of the rear­
ward-f acing or forward -facing child re ­
straints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safe­
ty Standard 208 w ith which the Advanced
Airbag System in your vehicle was certified .
If the front passenger seat is not occupied,
the front airb ag will no t deploy, and the
PAS ­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will stay on. Nev­
er install a rearward-facing child restra int on
the front passenger seat, the safest place for
a child in any kind of child restraint is at o ne
of the seating positions on the rear seat
¢ page 144, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know
and
~ page 168, Child Safety.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light comes
on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on when one of the conditions listed above is
met, be sure to check the light regularly to
make certa in that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light stays on cont inuous ly whenever the
ignition is on. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
l ight does not appear on and does not
stay on all the time, stop as soon as it is safe
to do so and
- reactivate the system by turning the ignition
off for more than 4 seconds and then turn­
i ng it on again;
- remove and reinstall the ch ild restraint .
Make sure that the child restraint is properly
installed and that the safety be lt fo r the
fron t passenger seat has been correctly
routed through the child restraint as descri-bed in
the child restraint manufacturer's in­
structions;
- ma ke sure that the convertible locking fea­
ture on the safety belt for the front passen­
ger seat has been activated and that the
safety belt has been pulled tight.
- make sure that no electrical device (such as
a laptop, CD player, electronic games device
or power inverter) is placed or used on the
front passenger seat if the device is connect­
ed to the 12-volt socket or the cigarette
lighter socket;
- make sure that no seat heater has been ret­
rofitted or otherwise added to the front pas ­
senger seat;
- make sure that nothing can interfere with
the safety belt buckles and that they are not
obstructed;
- make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenger seat cushion.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light still
does not come on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still
does not come on and does not stay on con­
t inu ous ly (when the ignition is switched on),
- take the child restraint off the front passen-
ge r seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions . Have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer immed iately.
- move the child to a rear seat position and
make sure that the c hild is prope rly restrain­
ed in a ch ild restra int that is appropriate for
its si ze and age.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG light should
NOT come on ...
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light should
NOT come on when the ignition is on and an
adult is s itting in a proper seating position on
the front passenger seat . If the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on or
flashes for about S seconds wh ile driving, un­
der these circumstances, make sure that:
- the adult on the front passenger seat is
properly seated on the center of the seat

cushion with his or her back up against the
backrest and the backrest is not reclined,
- the adult is not taking weight off the seat by
holding on to the passenger assist handle
above the front passenger door or support­
ing their we ight on the armrest,
- the safety be lt is being properly worn and
that there is not a lot of slack in the safety
belt webbing,
- there are no aftermarket seat covers or
cushions or other things (such as blankets)
on the front passenger seat that m ight
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system to miscalculate electrical capac i­
tance.
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
- If the status of the Adva need A irbag Sys­
tem has changed wh ile the vehicle is
moving, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light b links for about 5 seconds to catch
the driver's attent ion. If this happens, al­
ways stop as soon as it is safe to do so
and check the steps described above.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not go off when an adu lt who is not
very small is sitting on the front passen ­
ger seat after taking the steps described
above, make sure the adult is properly
seated and restrained at one of the rear
seating pos it ions . Have the a irbag sys­
tem inspected by your authorized Audi
dealer before transpo rting anyone on the
front passenger seat .
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not funct ioning
prope rly cannot provide supplemental p ro­
t e ction in a fron tal crash.
- If the airbag indicato r light comes on, it
means that the re may be somet hing
wrong with the Advance d Ai rb ag Sy stem .
It is possible that the airbag will inflate
A irbag system 157
when it is not supposed to, or will not in­
flate when it sho uld.
- Have the airbag system inspected imme­
diate ly by you r Audi dealer.
A WARNING
-If the front airbag inflates, a child without
a child restraint, or in a rearward-facing
chi ld safety seat, or in a forward-facing
chi ld restraint that has not been properly
installed w ill be seriously injured and can
be killed.
- Even tho ugh your vehicle is equipped
wit h an Advanced A irbag System, make
certain that all children, espe cially 12
yea rs and younger, alw ays ride on the
back seat properly rest rained for their
age an d size .
- Always install forward o r rear-facing
child seats on the rear sea t - even with
an Advanced Ai rbag System.
- If you m ust install a rearw ard-fa cing
child seat on the front passenger seat
because of exceptional circ umstances
and the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not appear and stay on, immediate­ ly install the rear-facing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer .
- If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you
must install a forward-fac ing ch ild re­
straint on the front passenger seat, al­
ways move the sea t into its rearmost po­
s ition in the seat 's fore and aft adjust­
men t range, as far away from the airbag
as poss ible . The backrest must be ad just ­
ed to an upright pos ition. Make su re that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on all the time when­
ever the ignit ion is switched on.
A WARNING
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not go out when an ad ult is sitting
on the front passenger seat after taking
the steps described above, make su re the ...,
•
•

-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 . ..,_