2013 AUDI A4 warning

Fo r exa mple, the airbag may 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 safety seats listed
¢ page 168),
-a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag is turned off , the
PA SSENGER AIR B AG OFF light in the center
of the inst rument panel w il l come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illuminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is on the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitt ing upr ight w ith
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the seat is on the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk " deployment criteria to help re­
duce the risk of inj ury through in teraction
with the airbag . "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de ­
celerations as defined in the electronic control unit.
¢ page 156
Alway s remember : Even though you r vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
p lace 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 all of the WARNINGS.
_&. WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly .
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much highe r.
- You w ill also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in-
A irbag system 15 1
flates - even with an Advanced Ai rbag
¢page 145.
_&. WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be ser ious ly injured and can be killed if
the front airbag inflates - even with 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 restraint has been instal led on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso­ lutely guarantee that dep loymen t is im ­
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen during the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- 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 rearward -facing chi ld re ­
straints in the back seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional c ircumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
mediately insta ll the rear-fa cing ch ild
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer .
A WARNING
-=
If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make s ure 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.
~
•
•

152 Airbag sys te m
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the a irbag as poss ible, before insta lling
the forward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight
posit ion.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The fron t passenger sea t in your vehicle h as a
lot of very important par ts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include t he
weight -sensing mat, sensors, wiring, brack­
ets, and more. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
e lectronic control un it when the ignit ion is on.
The control unit mon itors the Advanced Air­
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
l ight on when a ma lfunction in t he system
components is detected. The func tion of the
a ir bag ind icator light is described in greater
detai l be low . Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced A irbag System, you m ust take care to
prevent it from be ing damaged. Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for
the front passenger seat from doing its job in
a crash .
The front Advanced Airb ag Sy stem
consists of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/deceleration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­
bag System abou t the seve rity of the crash.
- An electron ic co ntrol unit, with integ rated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
T he cont ro l unit "dec ides " w het her to fire
the front airbags based on the information
received from the crash senso rs . The contro l
unit a lso "decides" whethe r the safety be lt
pretensioners should be activated . -
An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve for the d river inside the steer­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced A irbag with gas ge nerator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A weight-sensing mat under the up ho lstery
pad ding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The informat ion registered is sent continu­
ously to the electronic contro l unit to regu­
late deployment of the front Advanced Air­ bag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitor ing system and i ndicator
light in the i nstr ument cluster ~
page 156 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat a nd the
steer ing whee l o r i ns trument panel. The i n­
formation registered is sent cont inuously to
t he ele ctr onic cont ro l uni t to regula te de­
p loyment o f the front Advance d Airbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t comes
on and st ays on in the cen ter o f the instr u­
ment panel
~ page 156, fig . 156 and tells
you whe n the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been tu rned off .
- A sensor below the safety be lt latch for the
front seat passenger to measure the tension on the safety be lt . The tension on the safety
be lt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat he lp the control unit
"decide" whether the front airbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not ~
page 146, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A senso r in the safety belt latch fo r th e d riv­
er and fo r the front sea t passenger tha t
senses w het he r th at safety bel t is latched or
not and transmi ts this information to the
electronic control unit.
A WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
p revent the front airbag from work ing
properly.
-

-Improper repair or disassembly of the
front passenger and driver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly .
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by qualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- 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 wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or place them on the seat. If the weight­
sensing mat in the passenger seat is
punctured it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat . Such
items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-sensing mat and send the
wrong information to the airbag control
unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper ­
ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement
upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger
seat . The additional padding will prevent
the weight-sensing mat in the seat from
accurately registering the child restraint
or person on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function­
ing properly.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re-
Airbag system 153
straint manufacturer's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
straint is installed on the front passen­
ger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install child restraint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dealer .
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of­
fered by the front three-point safety belts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustable head restraints to help reduce 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 Adv a need Airbag System
and the activation of the safety belt preten­
sioners depend on the deceleration measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control unit. The amount of infla­
tion of the front airbags can also be adapted
to the front sea t position, depending on the
distance 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 involved in the crash.
On the passenger side, regardless of safety
belt use, the airbag will be turned off if the
weight on the passenger seat is less than the
amount programmed in the electronic control
unit. The front airbag on the passenger side
will also be turned off if one of the child safe-
ty seats that has been certified under Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been
recogni zed on the seat . The
PASSENGER AIR .,,.
•
•

154 Airbag system
BAG OFF light comes on and stays on to te ll
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been turned off
c> page 146, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when a n airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious injuries 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
c>page 145.
More important things to know about
front airbags
F ig. 155 Inflated front airbags
-,.._
::: :i:.
"' a)
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated pos ition
so that airbags can unfo ld properly and pro­
vide supp lemental protection in a frontal co l­
lision.
The front a irbags are designed to provide ad­
d itiona l 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 posit ioned so that the
occupant is proper ly seated as far as possi­
ble from the a irbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, things you have on your lap or have placed on the seat cou
ld become dan ­
gerous projecti les, and be pushed into you if
the a irbag inflates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
T his is norma l and is not caused by a fi re in
the vehicle . This dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy. It could irritate skin .
It is important to remembe r that while the
supplementa l airbag system is designed to re­
duce the likelihood of serious injur ies, other
injur ies, for example swelling, bruising and
minor abrasions, can also happen when air­
bags inflate . A irbags do not protect the arms
o r the lower parts of the body. Front a irbags
only supp lement the three point safety belts
in some fronta l co llisions in wh ich the vehicle
deceleration is high enough to deploy the air­
bags .
Front a irbags will not deploy:
- if the ignition is sw itched off whe n a c rash
occurs,
- in side collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by
the airbag system is less than the minimum
threshold needed for a irbag deployment as
reg istered by the electronic control unit.
The front pa ssenge r airbag will al so not
deplo y:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu­
pied,
- when the weight on the front passenger
seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem indicates that the front a irbag on the
passenger side has to be turned off by the
electronic control unit (the
PASSENGER A IR
BAG OFF
l ight comes on and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong pos ition can increase
the r is k of se rious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury w he n the air ­
bags i nflate, the drive r and passengers

must always sit in an upright position,
must not lean against or place any part
of the ir body too close to the area where
the a irbags are located .
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi­
t ion 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 146.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat insta lled on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
the front a irbag inflates -even with an Ad ­
vanced Airbag System .
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
sa fety seat or infant carrier with great
force and wi ll smash the ch ild 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 because of exceptional circ umstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
med iately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have t he a irbag system inspected by you r
authori zed Audi dealer .
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will
increase the risk of inj ury in a c rash by in­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
or by being pushed into you as the a irbag
inf lates.
- Never hold things in your hands or on
yo ur lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never transport i tems on or in the area
of the front passenge r seat . Objects
cou ld move into the area of the front air­
bags dur ing braking or other s udden ma­
neuver and become dangerous projec-
A irbag system 15 5
tiles that can cause ser ious personal in­
jury if the a irbags inf late.
- Never p lace or attach accessories o r oth­
er objects (such as cupholders, tele­ phone brackets, large, heavy or bulky ob­
jects) on the doors, over or near the area marked "AIRBAG" on the steering wheel,
instrument panel, seat backrests o r be­
tween those areas and yo urself. These
objects could cause in ju ry in a crash, es­
peci ally when the airbags infl ate.
- Never re cline the front passenger 's seat
to transpor t objects. Items can a ls o
move into the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects near the air­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jury, partic ularly when the seat is re­
clined.
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy
can cause breathing prob lems for people
with a history of as thma or other breath­
ing cond itions.
- To reduce the risk of breath ing problems,
those with asthma or other respiratory
conditions s hou ld get fresh air r ight
away by get ting o ut of the veh icle or
open ing windows or doors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags
deploy, wash your hands and face with mild soap and wate r before ea ting.
- Be careful not to get the dust into your
eyes, o r into any c uts or sc ratches .
- If the resid ue should get into your eyes,
f lush them w ith wate r. •
•

156 Airbag system
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function
of the Advanced Airbag System: the airbag
monitoring indicator light and the
P AS SEN ­
GER AIR B AG
OFF light.
The Advanced Airbag System (including the
electronic control unit, sensor circuits and sys­
tem wiring) is monitored continuously to
make sure that it is functioning properly
whenever the ignit ion is on. Each t ime you
turn on the ignition, the
rl airbag monitoring
indicator light w ill come on for a few seconds
(self diagnostics) .
The system mu st be inspected when the
(I indicator light :
-does not come on when the ignit ion is
switched on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you
have switched on the ignition, or
- comes on wh ile d riving .
If an airbag system malfunction is detected,
the indicator light will first start flashing to
catch the driver's attention and then stay on
continuously to se rve as a constant reminder
to have the system inspected immediately .
If a malfunction occurs that turns the front
a irbag on the passenger side off, the
PAS SEN­
GER AIR BAG
OFF light will come on and stay
on whenever the ignition is on.
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not func tioning
properly cannot provide supplemen tal pro­
tect ion in a frontal crash .
-If the airbag indica tor light¢ page 20
comes when the vehicle is be ing used,
have the system inspected immediate ly
by you r aut horized Aud i dea le r. It is pos­
sible that the a irbag will inflate when it
is not supposed to, or w ill not inflate
when it should.
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight
F ig. 156 Sect io n fro m the instrument panel: PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF lig ht
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located
in the center of the instrument pane l
¢fig. 156.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light wi ll come
o n and stay on to tell you w hen the front Ad­
vanced Airbag o n the passenge r side has been
tu rned off by the electronic contro l unit. Each
t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light will flash for a few
seconds and:
- wi ll stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- wil l stay on if there is a small ch ild or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
-w il l go out if t he front passenge r seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight -sensing mat .
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight mu st
com e on and sta y o n
if the igni tion is on and
- a car bed has been installed on the front
seat, or
- a rearward-facing child restraint has been installed on the front passenger seat, o r
- a forward-fac ing ch ild restra int has been in­
stalled on the front passenger seat, or
- the weight reg istered on the front passen­
ger seat is equal to or less than the com­
b ined weight of a typical 1 year-old restra in­
ed in one of the rear-facing or forwa rd-fac­
ing infant restra ints listed in Federal Motor
Veh icle Safety Standard 208 wi th which the
Advanced A irbag System in you r vehicle was
cert ified.
II>-

158 Airbag system
in the instrument cluster display. This is to in­
form the driver of the current front passenger
airbag status.
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light¢
page 20
comes when the vehicle is being used,
have the system inspected immediately
by your authori zed Audi dealer. It is pos­
sible that the airbag will inflate when it
is not supposed to, or will not inflate
when it should .
A WARNING
If the front airbag inflates, a child without
a child restraint, in a rearward-facing child
safety seat or in a forward-facing child re­
straint that has not been properly installed
will be seriously injured and can be killed.
- Even though your vehicle is equipped
with an Advanced Airbag System, make certain that all children, especially 12
years and younger, always ride on the back seat properly restrained for their
age and size.
- Always install forward or rear-facing
child safety seats on the rear seat -even
with an Advanced Airbag System.
- If you must install a rearward-facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not appear and stay on, imme­
diately install the rear-facing child safety
seat in a rear seating position and have
the airbag system inspected by your au­
thorized Audi dealer.
- A tight tether or other strap on a rear­
ward-facing child restraint attached to
the front passenger seat can put too
much pressure on the weight-sensing
-
mat in the seat and register more weight
than is actually on the seat. The heavier
weight registered can make the system
work as though an adult were on the seat and deploy the Advanced Airbag when it
must be suppressed causing serious or
even fatal injury to the child.
- If, in exceptional circumstances, you
must install a forward-facing child re­
straint on the front passenger seat, al­
ways move the seat into its rearmost po­
sition in the seat's fore and aft adjust­
ment range, as far away from the airbag
as possible. The backrest must be adjust­
ed to an upright position. Make sure that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on all the time when­
ever the ignition is switched on .
A WARNING
-
-
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not go out when an adult is sitting
on the front passenger seat after taking
the steps described above, make sure the
adult is properly seated and restrained at
one of the rear seating positions.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your authorized Audi dealer before trans­
porting anyone on the front passenger
seat.
(D Tips
If the weight-sensing mat in the front pas­
senger seat detects an empty seat, the
front airbag on the passenger side will be
turned off, and
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
will stay on.
Repair , care and disposal of the airbags
Par ts o f the airb ag system are ins talled at
many different places on your Audi. Installing,
removing, servicing or repairing a part in an
area of the vehicle can damage a part of an
airbag system and prevent that system from
working properly in a collision. .,..

There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effectiveness of
the system will not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pol­
lute the environment.
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce ­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing an airbag from deploying when needed or deploying an airbag unexpectedly:
- Never cover, obstruct, or change the
steering wheel horn pad or airbag cover
or the instrument panel or modify them
in any way .
- Never attach any objects such as cu­
pholders or telephone mountings to the
surfaces covering the airbag units.
- For cleaning the horn pad or instrument
panel, use only a soft , dry cloth or one
moistened with plain water. Solvents or
cleaners could damage the airbag cover
or change the stiffness or strength of the
material so that the airbag cannot de­
ploy and protect properly.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the airbag system .
- All work on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel, front seats or electrical sys­
tem (including the installation of audio
equipment, cellular telephones and CB
radios, etc.) must be performed by a
qualified technician who has the training
and special equipment necessary.
- For any work on the airbag system, we
strongly recommend that you see your
authorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop.
- Never modify the front bumper or parts
of the vehicle body .
- 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 .
Airbag system 159
-Never use additional seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags
inflate.
- 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 .
- The airbag system can be activated only
once . After an airbag has inflated , it
must be replaced by an authorized Audi
dealer or qualified technician who has
the technical information, training and
special equipment necessary.
- The airbag system can be deployed only
once . After an airbag has been deployed,
it must be replaced with new replace­
ment parts designed and approved espe­
cially for your Audi model version. Re­ placement of complete airbag systems
or airbag components must be per­
formed by qualified workshops only.
Make sure that any airbag service action
is entered in your Audi Warranty
& Main­
tenance booklet under
AIRBAG REPLACE­
MENT RECORD.
- In accidents when an airbag is deployed,
the vehicle battery separates the alterna­
tor and the starter from the vehicle elec­
trical system for safety reasons with a
pyrotechnic circuit interrupter.
- Work on the pyrotechnic circuit inter­
rupter must only be performed by a
qualified dealer - risk of an accident!
- If the vehicle or the circuit interrupter
is scrapped, all applicable safety pre ­
cautions must be followed.
{® For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate Material -special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc .ca.gov/hazardouswaste/per-
ch lorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
safety belts with pretensioners are scrap­ ped, all applicable laws and regulations
must be observed. Your authorized Audi .,..
•
•