2014 AUDI A7 instrument cluster

152 Airbag sys te m
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
a irbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit
c::> page 162, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lways remember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in ­
flating passenger's a irbag in a frontal colli­
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even se­
rio usly inju re the child during inflat ion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
c::> page 175, Child Safety.
_& WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child seat in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the rear-f acing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer. -
Forward-facing child seats installed on
the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
_& WARNING
-If, i n except ional circumstances, you must
i nsta ll a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's sea t:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacture r fo r use on a fron t seat
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the fo rward -facing child re­
s tra int up against or very near the instru­
men t panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-facing ch ild restra int . The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.
-Make sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on .
_& WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is sw itche d on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not s tay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
<>page 161, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger sea t and install it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions i f the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea ler immediately.

backrest must be adjusted to an upright
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 signa l that it
is occupied by som eone who is heavier
than t he pe rson actually s itting on t he
sea t. T he presence of addition al obje cts
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on when it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause t he 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 BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switc hed
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
l ot of very important parts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it. These parts incl ude t he
c a pac itive passenger de te ct ion sys tem, wir­
ing, b racke ts, and more . The cont ro l uni t
monitors the system o n the front passenger
seat when the ign ition is switched on and
turns the airbag indicator light on w hen a
malfunct ion in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected ¢
page 162. Because the
fro nt passenge r seat contains important parts
of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to p revent it from bei ng damaged.
D amage to the seat may preven t the Ad ­
vanced A irbag System for the front passenger
seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle tha t
measure ve hicle acceleration/dece le ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System about the severity of the crash.
A irbag system 157
- An elect ron ic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors fo r front and side impacts .
T he control un it "decides" whether to f ire
the front a irbag s based on the informat ion
received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt
prete nsione rs should be act iva ted .
- An Advanced A irbag w it h gas generator and
cont ro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer ­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve inside the instrument pa nel for
the front passenger .
- A capacit ive passenger detection system un ­
de rneath the front passenger seat cover .
This system measu res the ele ct rical capac i­
t ance of the perso n in the seat. The informa ­
t ion regis tered is se nt cont inuo usly to the
elec tronic con trol un it to regu late dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced A irbag on the
passenger side.
-An airbag monitoring system an d ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster ¢
page 161.
-A senso r in each front seat registers the dis ­
tance between the respective seat a nd the
steering whee l or instrument panel. The in­
formation registered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electron ic contro l unit to regulate de­
ployment of the front Adva need A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel ¢
page 162, fig . 164 and tells
you whe n the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been tu rned off.
- A senso r in t he safety belt latch fo r the d riv ­
er and fo r the front seat passenger that
senses whethe r th at safety belt is latched or
no t and tra nsmi ts this informa tion to the
elec tro nic con trol un it.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger se at can
p revent the front air bag from work ing
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.
-
•
•

158 Airbag system
-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 put them on the seat. The capacitive
passenger detection mat in the front
passenger seat will not function properly
if it is punctured .
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the front passenger seat.
Such objects can influence the capaci­
tance registered by the capacitive pas­ senger detection system, so that incor­
rect information is provided 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 .
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional layers prevent the
capacitive passenger detection system
from accurately measuring the capaci­
tance of the child safety seat and/or the
person on the seat and thus keep the Ad- vanced Airbag System from working
properly.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) on the front pas­
senger seat if the device is connected to
the 12-volt socket or the cigarette light­
er socket . Such devices can influence the
capacitance registered by the capacitive
passenger detection system, so that in­
correct information is provided to the air­
bag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re­
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 Audi dealer.
.&_ WARNING ~
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it
immediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger
seat, this can keep the airbag system
from working properly and may, for in­
stance, deactivate the passenger frontal
airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay
on together with the airbag indicator
light
fl in the instrument cluster .
- If liquid is pooled on the seat, but has
not soaked in, this may also keep the air­
bag system from working properly and
cause the passenger frontal airbag to be
enabled (turned on), even though there
is a properly installed child restraint sys-
tem on the seat. Wet towels or other wet
~

196 Intelligent technology
Intelligent technology
Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your vehicle is not equipped with an Event Da­
ta Recorder (EDR), installed by some manu­
facturers fo r the express purpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or crash
event . EDR's are sometimes ca lled "crash re­
corders".
Some state laws restrict the retr ieval or down­
loading of data stored by EDR's that were in­
stalled in a vehicle for the express purpose of
retrieving data after an accident or crash
event without the owner's consent.
A lthough your vehicle is not equipped with an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron­
ic control modules for various vehicle systems
such as, for examp le, eng ine function, em is­
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
safety belts.
These electronic contro l modules also record
vehicle-re lated data during normal vehicle op­
eration for diagnostic and repair purposes.
The recording capacity of the electronic con­
trol modules is limited to data (no sound is re­
corded) and only a small amount of data is ac­
tually recorded over a very limited pe riod of
time and stored when a system fault or other
condition is sensed by a control unit. Some of
the data then stored may relate to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condition. Stored data can only
be read and downloaded with special equip­
ment.
Electronic Stabilization
Control (ESC)
Description
ESC helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of
skidd ing and loss of vehicle control. It works
only when the engine is running. ESC detects certain difficult driving situat
ions, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw)
out of control and helps you to get the veh icle
back under control by se lectively braking the
wheels, and/or reducing engine power and
providing steering assistance to help hold the
vehicle on the driver's intended course. The in­
dicator light
G) in the instrument cluster
blinks when ESC is taking action to help you
control the vehicle.
ESC has limitations.
It is important to remem­
ber that ESC cannot overcome the laws of
physics. It wi ll not always be able to help out
under all conditions you may come up against.
For example, ESC may not always be able to
help you master situations where there is a
sudden change in the coefficient of friction of
the road surface. When there is a section of
dry road that is suddenly covered with water,
slush or snow, ESC cannot perform the same
way it wou ld on the dry surface . If the vehicle
hydroplanes (rides on a cushion of water in­
stead of the road surface), ESC will not be
able to help you steer the vehicle because con­
tact with the pavement has been interrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered.
During fast cornering, particularly on winding
roads, ESC cannot always deal as effectively
with difficult driving situations than at lower
speeds. When towing a trailer, ESC is not able
to help you regain control as it would if you
were not tow ing a trailer.
Always adjust your speed and driving style to road, traffic and weather condit ions. ESC can­
not override the vehicle's physical limits, in­
crease the available traction, or keep a vehicle
on the road if road departure is a result of
drive r inattention. Instead, ESC improves the
poss ibility of keeping the vehicle under con­
trol and on the road during ex treme maneu­
vers by using the driver's steering inputs to
help keep the vehicle going in the intended di­
rection . If you are traveling at a speed that
causes you to run off the road before ESC can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESC.

Fuel filler flap emergency release
You can open the fuel filler flap by hand if the
power locking system should fail.
Fig . 186 Luggage co mpa rt m ent: opening t he s ide tr im
N
N
0
Fi g. 187 Righ t side trim pane l in the lu ggage compar t­
ment: e mergency re lease mec han ism
Opening the side trim
.. To remove t he right side trim, first remove
the retainer from the mounts
c> fig. 186.
.. Turn both locking mechanisms 90° to the
left us ing a coin or a similar object and re­
move the locking mecha nisms .
.. Tilt the retainer upward and pull the tr im
out . Lay the trim down on i ts side, because
there is a n electrical wire on the back.
Fuel filler door emergency relea se
The emergency release mechanism is located
behind the right side trim pane l in the lug ­
gage compartment.
.. Loosen the loop
c> fig. 187 from the retainer
and then pull on the loop carefully
c> (D.
.. Press on the left s ide of the fuel filler door
to open
c> page 221, fig. 184 .
(D Note
Onl y pull on the loop until you feel resist­
ance. You will not hear it releas e. Other-
Fu el suppl y and filli ng your fuel t ank 223
wise you could damage the eme rgency re ­
l ease mechanism .
Selective catalytic
reduction
General information
App lies to vehicles: wi th diesel eng ine
On vehicles with se lective cata lytic reduc tion,
an urea solution (Ad Blue) is injected into the
exha ust system before a nitrogen oxide cata­
lytic converter to reduce n itrogen emissions.
The Ad Blue is s tored in a separate tank in the
vehicle. The Ad Blue usage accounts for ap­
proximately 0.5% to 1.2% of the diesel fue l
that is used.
You must refill the Ad Blue or have it refi lled
by your authorized Audi dea ler or q ua lified
workshop as soon as the Ad Blue refill mes­
sage appears in the instrument cluster
c> page225.
A WARNING
Fa ilure to heed AdB lue refil l information in
the inst rument cluster can preve nt t he ve­
h icl e from be ing star ted and dr iven.
If the
vehi cle canno t be drive n and a n emerge ncy
ar ises, personal inju ry c an o ccu r .
- Always have the Ad Blue tank refilled we ll
befo re the tank runs dry.
(D Tips
- Th e instr ument cluster d isp lay ind icates
the distance remain ing that can be d riv­
en ¢
page 22 4. If th e A d Bl ue tank is
c omple tely empty, the eng ine will not
s tart a gain afte r the igni tion is swi tched
off .
-Ad Bl ue is req uired by law to ope ra te th is
vehicle .

224 Fuel supply and filling your fuel tank Indicator in the instrument cluster
display
Ap plies to vehicles: with d iesel e ngine
The display indi cates if the Ad Blu e lev el is low
or if i t was filled incorre ctly.
F ig. 188 Inst rument cl uster: indicator in the display
AdBlue level low
You will be in fo rmed if the Ad Blue in the tank
d rops be low a certain leve l.
Please refill Ad Blue. Range 1500 mile s
(2400 km)
This indica to r appea rs w hen t her e is on ly
e nough Ad Blue l eft to driv e th e d istance ind i­
cated in t he d rive r in format io n sys tem. Plea se
add AdBl ue.
Ad Blue /9 Refill Ad Blue! Cannot start en­
gine in 600 miles (1000 km )! See owner' s
manual
Th is indicator appears w hen there is on ly
e nough Ad B lue left to d rive the d istance ind i­
cated in t he driver informat io n system. Please
a d d Ad Bl ue. Otherw ise the eng ine will not
s ta rt ag ai n if you stop i t once the di sta nce i n­
d icated has been driven .
Refill Ad Blue! No restart! See
owner 's manual
Th is message appears whe n the AdBlue ta nk
i s e mpty . Please add AdBlue. Ot herwise yo u
will not be a ble to start the engi ne again o nce
you s top it.
W hen the minimum AdB lue leve l has been
r eached, you must add Ad Blue ~
page 225.
¢4' Filling incorrectly
If the AdBl ue t ank w as filled with a di fferent
fl uid than Ad B lue and the system detec ts t hat
it is inco rrect, a message will ap pear.
Ad Blue ./' AdBlue : System fault No re start
in 600 mile s (1000 km)! See owner' s man­
ual
T h is message appears w hen it i s on ly possibl e
to dr ive the dis tance indica ted in the driver in­
f ormat io n sys tem. Drive to the ne arest qu ali­
fied works hop to have the m alfunction re ­
p aired . Otherwise the eng ine will not start
again if you stop it once the distance ind icated
has been driven.
AdBlue: System fault No restart!
See owner's manual
T his mess age appears if the system detect s it
w as filled incorrec tly. Drive immedi ately to
t h e nearest qua lified wor kshop to h ave the
malfunction repaired. Othe rwise yo u wi ll not
be able to start the eng ine again once you
stop it.

Filling AdBlue
Applies to vehicles: wit h diesel engine
A special refill bottle must be used to fill the
AdBlue .
Fig. 1 89 Right rear ve hicle s ide: remov ing the Ad B lu e
cap
Fi g. 190 AdBl ue filler t ube: inse rt in g the ref ill bott le
The Ad B lue fi ller tube is located near the die­
sel filler tube . Always add 1.5 gallons (5. 7 lit­
ers) of AdBlue (three bottles). This
is the m ini­
mum amount requi red to ens ure the system
detects the refilling and to start the eng ine .
The Ad B lue tank capac ity is approximately
4 .5 gallons ( 17 lite rs).
Opening the filler tube and adding
AdBlue
Requirement: The request to add Ad B lue m ust
appear in the instrument cluste r d is play.
.. Switch the ignition off .
.. Open the tank cover
r=v page 221 .
.. Turn the cap counte rclockw ise with the l ug
wrenc h from the veh icle tool k it to remove it
¢fig . 189.
.. Remove the cap from the refill bottle.
.. Position the refill bottle on the filler tu be
and tu rn the bottle clockwise unt il it stops
turning
(D r=v fig . 190.
Fu el suppl y and filli ng your fuel t ank 225
.. Press ligh tly against the bottom of the bot ­
tle @ to empty it. Continue pressing the
bottom of the bottle unt il it is empty or un ­
til f luid stops flowing into the tank.
.. Turn the bottle to the left w ithout pressing
on the bottom .
Closing the filler tube
.. Tu rn the cap clockwise on the filler tu be
w ith the l ug wrench until you hear it t ighten
completely .
.. Close the tank cover.
After filling
The vehicle must be driven . The system may
take up to two minutes to detect t hat the
AdB lue has been f illed .
.. If the re was no Ad Blue left in the tank and a
range of
O mi (0 km ) was displayed in the
instrument cluster, switch the ignition on
for about 15 seconds before start ing the en­
gine.
A WARNING
Ad B lue can irritate the sk in , eyes and res­
p ira to ry system .
If there is contact wit h
the fluid, flush immedia tely with plenty of
wa ter . Co nsu lt a phys ician if ne cessary.
(D Note
- On ly use AdB lue that conforms to the
s tandar d ISO 22241-1. Do not mix any
add itives w ith the AdBlue and do not d i­
lute it wi th water.
- Ad Blu e is not a diesel add itive . Do not
add it to the diese l tank. If AdBl ue is
m ixed wi th d iesel f uel, it can lead to
d amage to the engine an d the A dBl ue
t ank system . The Limited New Vehicle
W arranty does not cove r such damage .
- Ad B lue attacks su rfaces s uch as painted
vehicle components, p las tic a nd carpet .
Remove t he fluid as quickly as possible
w ith a damp cloth and p lenty o f cold wa­
ter. If the Ad Bl ue has already crystal-
lized, use warm water and a sponge. ..,_

current list of oils (manufacturers, brand
names etc.) that conform to Audi oil standard
VW 502 00 (vehicles with gasoline engine) or
VW 507 00 (vehicles with diesel engine).
C hanging the engine oil
The engine oil and oil filter must be changed
according to the mileage (kilomete rs) and
time intervals specified in your vehicle's War­
ranty
& Maintenance booklet. Do not exceed
these intervals -harmful deposits from old
engine oil can reduce engine performance and
can lead to expensive engine repairs .
Changing the oil at the recommended inter­
vals is so very important because the lubricat­
ing properties of oil decrease gradually during
normal vehicle use. If you are not sure when
you have your oil changed, ask your author­
ized Audi Service Advisor .
Under some circumstances the engine oil
should even be changed more frequently .
Change oil more often if you drive mostly
short distances, operate the vehicle in dusty
areas or mostly under stop-and-go traffic con­
ditions, or when you use your vehicle where
temperatures stay below freezing point for long periods.
Detergent addit ives in the oil will make fresh
oil look dark after the eng ine has been run­
ning for a short time. This is normal and is not
a reason to change the oil more often than
recommended.
Damage or malfunctions due to lack of
maintenance
It is essential that you change your oil at the
recommended intervals using only engine oil
that complies with Audi oil standard
VW 502 00 (vehicles with gasoline engine) or
VW 507 00 (vehicles with diesel engine). Your
Limited New Vehicle Warranty does not cover
damage or malfunctions due to failure to fol­
low recommended maintenance and use re­
quirements as set forth in the Audi Owner's
Manual and Warranty
& Maintenance booklet.
Your dealer will have to deny warranty cover­
age unless you present to the dealer proof in
Checking and filling 231
the form of Service or Repair Orders that all
scheduled maintenance was performed in a
timely manner.
Engine oil consumption
The engine in your vehicle depends on an ade­
quate amount of oil to lubricate and cool all
of its moving parts.
In order to provide effective lubrication and
cooling of internal engine components, all in­
ternal combustion engines consume a certain
amount of oil. Oil consumption varies from engine to engine and may change significantly
over the life of the engine. Typically, engines
with a specified break-in period (see ¢
page 204) consume more oil during the
break-in period than they consume after oil
consumption has stabilized.
Under normal conditions, the rate of oil con­
sumption depends on the quality and viscosity
of the oil , the RPM (revolutions per minute) at
which the engine is operated, the ambient
temperature and road conditions . Further fac­
tors are the amount of oil dilution from water
condensation or fuel residue and the oxida­
tion level of the oil. As any engine is subject to
wear as mileage builds up, the oil consump­
tion may increase over time until replacement
of worn components may become necessary .
With all these variables coming into play, no
standard rate of oil consumption can be es­
tablished or specified. There is no alternative
to regular and frequent checking of the oil lev­
el, see
Note .
If the yellow engine oil level warning symbol
in the instrument cluster
II! lights up, you
should check the oil level as soon as possible
¢
page 232. Top off the oil at your earliest
convenience
9 page 232.
.&, WARNING
Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS ¢.&.
in Working in the engine
comportment on page 22
7.
-
•
•