2014 AUDI S4 instrument cluster

138 Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety be lts are nec ­
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly .
.. Read a ll the information that fo llows and
heed all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
personal in jury and death .
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means avai lab le to reduce the risk of se­
r ious injury and dea th in a utomob ile acci­
dents. For your protection and that of
yo ur passenge rs, always co rrectly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically
im paired perso ns m ust also use safety
belts. Lik e all veh icle occup ants, they are
more like ly to be ser iously injured if they
do not wea r safety be lts . The best way to
protect a fetus is to protect the mother -
throughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions: two in the front and three in the rear. Each
seating position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wea ring safety belts or weari ng them
improp erly increases the risk of ser ious
pe rsonal i njury and deat h.
- Never st rap more than one pe rson, in­
cl uding small ch ild ren, into any belt.
It is
e speci ally dange rous to pla ce a safety
belt over a child s itting on yo ur lap.
- N ever le t mo re people ride in the ve hicl e
than there are s afe ty be lts avail able. -
Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained w ith a separate safe ­
ty belt or child restra int.
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle hos o warning system for the
driver and (on USA models only) front seat
passenger to remind you about the impor­
tance of buckling-up .
F ig. 142 Safety belt warni ng lig ht in the instrument
cluster -en larged
Before driv ing off, always :
.. Fasten yo ur safety belt and make sure you
are wearing it properly .
.. Make sure that your passengers also buck le
up and properly wear their safety be lts.
.. Protect your children wit h a child restraint
system approp riate fo r the size and age of
t he children.
The . war ning light i n the instrument clus­
ter lights up when the ig nition is switched on
as a rem inder to fasten the safety belts. In ad­
dition, you will hear a warning tone fo r a cer­
ta in pe riod of time.
Fasten your safety belt now and make sure
that your pa ssenger s also prope rly put on
their safety belts.

-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 sw itched
o n.
Advanced Airbag System components
The fron t passenger seat in your vehicle has a
lot of very important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include the
weight-sens ing mat, sensors, wiring, brack ­
ets, and more. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
e lectronic control u nit when the ignit ion is on .
The control un it mon itors the Advanced Air­
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
l ight on whe n a ma lfunction in t he sys tem
components is de tected. The function of the
airbag indicator light is described in greater
detai l below . Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad ­
vanced A irbag System, you m ust take care to
prevent it from being 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/decele ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­
bag System about the seve rity of the crash.
- An electronic co ntrol unit, with integrated
c rash se nsors for front and side impacts .
T he cont ro l unit " decides " whethe r to fire
the front airbags based on the inform ation
received from the crash senso rs . The contro l
unit a lso "decides" whether the safety belt
pretensioners should be activated .
Airbag system 153
-An Advanced A irbag w ith gas gene rator and
contro l valve fo r the driver ins ide the steer ­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced Airbag w ith gas gene rator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A weight-sensing mat under the upholstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The informat ion reg istered is sent continu­
ously to the electronic control unit to regu­
late deployment of the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger side.
- An airbag monitor ing system and ind icator
light in the instrument cluster
q page 156 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steer ing whee l o r inst rument panel. The in­
forma tion registered is sent cont inuo usly to
t he elect ron ic cont ro l uni t to regula te de­
ployment 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 th e instr u­
ment panel
<:!;> page 157, 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 fo r 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-sensi ng mat he lp the control unit
"decide" whether the front a irbag for the
front passenge r seat should be turned
off or
not
<=;> pag e 147, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A senso r in the safety belt latch fo r the d riv­
er a nd fo r the fro nt sea t passenger tha t
senses w hethe r that safe ty belt is latched or
no t and transmi ts this informa tion to the
electronic control unit.
_&. WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from work ing
properly.
-
•
•

158 Airbag sys te m
make certain that the PA SSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght stays on continuous ly whenever the
ignit ion is on. If the
PASS ENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not appear and not stay on all
the time, stop as soon as it is safe to do so
and
- react ivate the system by turning the ignition
off and then turning it on again;
- remove and reinstall the child restraint.
Make sure that the child restraint is properly
installed and that the safety belt for the
front passenger seat has been correctly
routed around the child restraint as descr i­
bed in the child restraint manufacturer's in­
structions;
- make sure that the convertible locking fea­
ture on the safety belt for the front passen­
ger seat has been activated and that t he
safety belt has been pulled tight. The belt
must not be loose o r have loops of slack so
that the sensor below the safety be lt latch
on the seat can do its job
c::> page 177 .
-make su re that th ings that may increase the
weight of the chi ld and child safety seat are
not being transported on the front passen ­
ger seat;
- make sure that the safety be lt tension sen­
sor is not b locked. Shake the safety belt
latch on the front passenger seat back and
forth;
- If a strap or tether is being used to tie the child safety seat to the front passenger
seat, make sure that it is not so tight that it
causes the we ight-sensing mat to measure
more we ight than is actua lly on the seat.
If the PASSEN GER AIR BAG OFF light still
doe s not come on
and does not stay on con­
tinuously (when the ignition is switched on),
- take the chi ld restraint off the front passen -
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat pos itions . Have the a irbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dealer
immediately .
- move the ch ild to a rear seat pos it io n and
make sure that the child is properly restrain­
ed in a child restraint that is appropriate for
i ts size and age. The
PA
SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light sho uld
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
PAS SENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on or
flashes for about 5 seconds wh ile driving, un­
der these c ircumstances, 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 aga inst the
backrest and the backrest is not recl ined
c::> page 129, Proper occupant seating posi­
tions,
- the adult is not tak ing weight off the seat by
holding on to the passenger assist handle
above the fron t passenger door or support­
ing thei r weig ht on the armrest,
- t he safety belt is being properly wo rn and
t hat there is not a lot o f slack in the safety
be lt webb ing,
- accesso ry seat covers or cushions o r othe r
t hings tha t may c ause an incorrect reading
or impression on the weight-sensing mat
under the upho lstery of the seat have been
removed from the front passenger seat,
- a sa fety belt extender has not bee n left in
the safety belt latch for the front passenger
seat.
In add ition to the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght in the center o f the instrument panel,
t h e message
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF or
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON wi ll briefly appear
in the instrument cluster disp lay. This is to in­
form the dr iver of the current front passenger
airbag status.
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
An a irbag system that is not functioning
properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal c rash.
- If the airbag ind icator light
c::> page 20
comes when the veh icle is being used,
have the system inspected immediately
by your au thorized A udi dealer .
It is
-

example, increase the force levels measured by the sensors and make the airbag system
deploy in crashes in which it would not deploy if the changes had not been made. Other
kinds of changes may reduce the force levels
measured by the sensors and prevent the air ­
bag from deploying when it should.
The sensors in the safety belt buckle for the
driver and front passenger seat tell the elec­
tronic control module if the safety belt is
latched or not. If the safety belt is being used,
the front airbag will deploy at a slightly high­
er rate of vehicle deceleration than if the safe­
ty belt is not being used. Therefore, in a par­
ticular collision, it is possible that an airbag
will not deploy at a seating position where the
safety belt is being used but will inflate at the
position where the safety belt is not being
used.
It is important that nothing interfere
with the safety belt buckles so that the sen­
sors can send the correct information about
safety belt use to the electronic control unit .
& WARNING
Changing the vehicle's suspension includ­
ing use of unapproved tire-rim combina­
tions can change Advanced Airbag per­
formance and increase the risk of serious personal injury in a crash.
- Never install suspens ion components
that do not have the same performance characteristics as the components origi­
nally installed on your vehicle.
- Never use tire-rim combinations that
have not been approved by Audi.
A WARNING 1= -
Items stored between the safety belt
buckle and the center console can cause
the sensors in the buckle to send the
wrong information to the electronic con­
trol module and prevent the Advanced Air ­
bag System from working properly.
- Always make sure that nothing can inter-
fere with the safety belt buckles and that
they are not obstructed.
Airbag system 161
Side airbags
Description of side airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained occupants .
Fig. 157 Side a irbag locatio n in the driver 's seat
~ co Q)
The side airbags are located in the sides of the
front seat backrests~
fig. 157 and the rear
backrest facing the doors. They are identified
by the word "AIRBAG".
The side airbag system basically consists of:
- the electronic control module and external
side impact sensors
- the two airbags located in the sides of the front backrests and the two airbags* located
in the rear backrest
- the airbag warning light in the instrument
cluster .
The airbag system is monitored electronically
to make certain that it is functioning properly
at all times . Each time you turn on the igni­
tion, the airbag system indicator light will
come on for a few seconds (self diagnostics).
The side airbag system supplements the safe­
ty belts and can help to reduce the risk of in­
jury to the driver's and front passenger's up­
per torso on the side of the vehicle that is
struck in a side collision. The airbag deploys
only in side impacts and only when the vehicle
accelerat ion registered by the control unit is
high enough. 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 collision . It is not possible to de -
fine an airbag triggering range that will cover
II>

186 Intelligent technology
Intelligent technology
Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your veh icle is not equipped with an Event Da­
ta Recorde r (EDR), ins talled by some manu­
facture rs fo r the express p urpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or cras h
event . EDR's are sometimes ca lled "crash re­
corders".
Some state laws restr ict 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 ltho ugh yo ur vehicle is not equ ipped wit h an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron­
ic control modules for various vehicle systems
such as, for examp le, eng ine f unction, 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 norma l vehicle op­
erat ion for diagnostic and repa ir 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 ove r a ve ry limited pe riod of
time and stored when a sys tem faul t or o ther
cond ition is sensed by a cont ro l u nit. Some of
the data then stored may re late to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condit ion. Stored data can only
be read and downloaded w ith 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 ve hicle control. It works
only when the eng ine is running. ESC detects certain difficult driving situat
ions, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw)
o ut of control and he lps you to get the veh icle
back under control by se lectively braking the
whee ls, and/or reducing eng ine power and
providing steer ing ass istance to he lp hold the
vehicle o n the dr iver's intended course. The in­
dicator light
J.i) in the instrument cluster
blinks when ESC is ta king action to help yo u
control the veh icle.
ESC has limitations.
It is importa nt to remem­
ber that ESC cannot overcome the laws of
physics. It will not always be able to help out
under a ll cond it ions you may come up aga inst.
F or example, ESC may not always be able to
help you master situations where there is a
s u dden change in the coefficient of friction of
the road surface. When there is a section of dry road that is sudden ly covered w ith water,
s lush or snow, ESC cannot perform the same
way it wou ld on the dry surface . If the ve hicle
hydroplanes (rides on a cushion of water in­
stead of the road surface), ESC will not be
able to help you steer the vehicle be cause con­
tact with the pavement has been in terrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered .
D uring 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 availab le tract ion, or keep a ve hicle
on the road if road departure is a result of
driver inattent io n. Instead, ESC imp roves the
poss ibil ity of keeping the vehi cle under con ­
trol and on the road during extreme maneu­
vers by using the d river's steering inputs to
help keep the vehicle going in the intended di­
rection . If you are traveling at a speed that
ca uses you to run off the road before ESC can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESC.

202 Trailer towing
Tire pressure
When towing a trailer, inflate the tires of your
vehicle to the cold tire pressure listed under
"Full load" on the label located on the driver's
side B-pillar (visible when the door is open).
Inflate trailer tires to trailer and tire manufac ­
turers' specifications.
Lights
The headlight settings should be checked with
the trailer attached before driving off. Check
to make sure both vehicle and trailer lights
are working properly.
Safety chains
Be sure trailer safety chains are properly con­
nected from the trailer to the hitch on the ve­
hicle. Leave enough slack in the chains to per­
mit turning corners. When you install safety
chains, make sure they will not drag on the road when you are driving.
The chains should cross under the trailer
tongue to prevent it from dropping in case of
separation from the hitch.
Driving instructions
Driving with a trailer always requires extra
care and consideration.
To obtain the best possible handling of vehicle
and trailer, please note the following:
.,. Do not tow a loaded trailer when your car it­
self is not loaded.
.,. Be especially careful when passing other
vehicles.
.,. Observe speed limits .
.,. Do not drive at the maximum permissible
speed.
.,. Always apply brakes early.
.,. Monitor the temperature gauge.
Weight distribution
Towing a loaded trailer with an empty car re­
sults in a highly unstable distribution of
weight . If this cannot be avoided, drive at very
low speeds only to avoid the risk of losing
steering control. A "balanced" rig is easier
to operate and con­
trol. This means that the tow vehicle should be loaded to the extent possible and permissi­
ble, while keeping the trailer as light as possi­
ble under the circumstances. Whenever possi­
ble, transfer some cargo to the luggage com ­
partment of the tow vehicle while observing
tongue load requirements and vehicle loading
considerations.
Speed
The higher the speed, the more difficult it be­
comes for the driver to control the rig. Do not
drive at the maximum permissible speed. Re­
duce your speed even more if load, weather or
wind conditions are unfavorable -particularly
when going downhill.
Reduce vehicle speed
immediately if the trail­
er shows the slightest sign of swaying .
Do not
try to stop the swaying by accelerating.
Observe speed limits. In some areas, speeds
for vehicles towing trailers are lower than for
regular vehicles .
Always apply brakes early. When driving downhill, shift into a lower gear to use the en ­
gine braking effect to slow the vehicle . Use of
the brakes alone can cause them to overheat
and fail.
Coolant temperature
The coolant temperature gauge c> page 10
must be observed carefully . If the needle
moves close to the upper end of the scale, re­
duce speed immediately and/or turn off the
air conditioner.
If the coolant temperature warning light •
in the instrument cluster starts flashing, pull
off the road, stop and let the engine
idle for
about two minutes to prevent heat build-up .
_& WARNING
Anyone not properly restrained in a mov­
ing vehicle is at a much greater risk in an
accident. Never let anyone ride in your car
who is not properly wearing the restraints
provided by Audi.
-

218 Checking and filling
temperatures stay below freezing point for long periods.
Detergent additives in the oil w il l make fresh
oil look dark after the eng ine has been run­
ning for a short time . This is norma l and is not
a reason to change the oi l more often than
recommended.
Damage or malfun ctions due to lack of
maintenance
It is essential that you change your oil at the
recommended intervals using only engine o il
that complies with Audi oi l standard
VW 502 00. Your Limited New Vehicle War­
ranty does not cover damage or malfunctions
due to fail ure to fo llow recommended mainte­
nance and use requ irements as set forth in
the Audi Owner's Manual and Warranty
&
Maintenance booklet . Your dealer will have to
deny warranty coverage unless you present to
the dea ler proof in the form of Service or Re­
pa ir Orders that all scheduled ma intenance
was performed in a timely manner.
Eng ine 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
cool ing of internal engine components, all in­
ternal combustion eng ines consume a certain
amount of oil. O il consumption varies from
engine to engine and may change significantly
over the life of the engine. Typically, engines
with a specif ied break-in period (see
¢
page 195) 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 condit ions . Further fac­
tors are the amount of oil d ilution from water
condensat ion or fuel residue and the oxida­
tion level of the oil. As any engine is subject to wear as mi
leage builds up, the oil consump­
tion may increase over time until replacement
of worn components may become necessary.
With all these variab les coming into play, no
standard rate of oil consumption can be es­
tablished or specified. There is no alternative
to regu lar and frequent check ing of the o il lev ­
el, see
Note .
If the yellow engine oil leve l warning symbo l
Ill in the instrument cluster lights up, you
shou ld check the oil leve l as soon as possib le
¢
page 219. Top off the oil at your earliest
convenience ¢
page 219.
A WARNING '"---
Before you check anythi ng in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS¢
A in Working in the engine
compartment on page 214.
(D Note
Driving w ith an insufficient o il level is like­
ly to cause severe damage to the engine .
(D Tips
-The oil pressure warning display. is
not an indicator of the oil level. Do not
rely on it. Instead, check the oil level in
your engine at regular intervals, pref­ erably each time you refuel, and always
before going on a long trip.
- If you have the impression your engine
consumes excessive amounts of oil, we
recommend that you consult an author­
ized Audi dealer to have the cause of
your concern properly diagnosed. Keep in
m ind that the accurate measurement of
oil consumption requ ires great care and
may take some time. An authorized Aud i
dea ler has instructions about how to
measure oil consumption accurately.
-

Checking the engine oil level
Fig . 183 MMI Disp lay: Oil l eve l ind icator
Re ad oil le vel
.,. Park your vehicle so that it is horizonta lly
level.
.,. Shut the engine off when it is at operating
temperature .
.,. Switch only the ignition back on .
.,. Wait approx . two minutes .
.,. Select: Function button
ICARI > Oil l evel. Or
.,. Se lect: Funct ion button
ICARI > C ar sys-
tem s*
cont rol button > S ervicing & ch e ck s >
Oil level.
.,. Read the oil leve l in the MMI* Display
¢
fig . 183 . Add engine oi l if the bar o f the
oi l level ind icator is near "min"
c::> page 219
Depending on the way the veh icle is driven
and the operating conditions, oil consumption
can be up to a 1/2 quart per 600 miles (0 .5
li­
ter per 1,000 km) . Consumption may be high­
er within the first 3,000 m iles (S,000 km).
@ Tips
The oil level indicator in the MMI* Disp lay
is only an information display.
If the oi l
level is too low, a min imum oil warning ap­
pears in the instrument cluster. Add oil
c::> page 219 . If the hood has been opened,
the current oil level is shown in the instru­
ment cluster the next time the ign ition is
sw itched on.
Checkin g and fillin g 219
~ Adding engine oil
Fig. 184 Eng in e compart men t: Cove r on the oil filler
n eck
.,. Before yo u check anything in the engine
compa rtment,
alwa ys rea d and h eed all
WARNING S ¢.&. in Working in the engine
compartment on page 214 .
.,. Shut the engine off.
.,. Unscrew the cap~ to the engine oi l filling
hole
r:!> fig. 184, r:!>page 216, fig. 182 .
.,. Carefully top off with 0.5 quarts (0.5 liters)
of the appropriate oil¢
page 216.
"' Check the oil level again after two minutes
¢ page 219 , Checking the engine oil level .
"'Top off the o il aga in, if necessary .
"' Screw the cap back on the filling hole .
_&. WARNING
- While topping off, the oil must not come
in contact with hot e ngine parts -fir e
hazard!
- The oil filler cap must be properly se­
cured to prevent oil from being sprayed
on the hot engine and exhaust system
when the engine is runn ing -fire hazard!
- If your skin has come in contact with the
engine o il, you must subsequently
cleanse it thoroughly.
(D Note
- Check the oil level using the radio or
M MI*. If the message
Plea se redu ce oil
le vel
appears, contact yo ur authorized
Audi dealer or qua lified workshop to
have excess oil extracted if necessary .
-Audi does not recommend the u se of o il
additiv es. They m ay damage the engine .,.