2015 AUDI A6 warning light

166 Airbag system
& WARNING
-Safety belts and the airbag system will
only provide protection when occupants
are in the proper seating position
<=>page 166.
- If the airbag indicator light c::> page 19
comes when the vehicle is being used,
have the system inspected immediately
by your authorized Audi dealer. It is pos­
sible that the airbag will inflate when it
is not supposed to, or will not inflate
when it should.
How supplemental side airbags work
Side airbags deploy instantly and can help re­ duce the risk of upper torso injuries for occu­
pants who are properly restrained.
Fig. 164 Inflated side airbags o n left side of vehicle,
rear s ide airbag
When the system is triggered, the airbag is
filled with propellant gas and breaks through
a seam in the seat surface area marked "AIR­
BAG". It expands between the side trim panel
and the passenger . In order to help provide
this additional protection, the side airbag
must inflate within a fraction of a second at
very high speed and with great force . The sup­
plemental side airbag could injure you if your
seating position is not proper or upright or if
items are located in the area where the sup­
plemental side airbag expands . This applies
especially to children
c::> page 171, Child Safe­
ty.
Supplemental side airbags inflate be­
tween the occupant and the door panel on th e
side of the vehicle that is struck in certain side
coll is ion
c::> fig. 164 .
Although they are not a soft pillow, they can
"cushion" the impact and in this way they can
help to reduce the risk of injury to the upper
part of the body.
A fine dust may develop when the airbag de­ ploys. This is normal and does not mean there
is a fire in the vehicle.
Important safety instructions on the
side airbag system
Airbags ore only supplemental restraints. Al­
ways properly wear safety bel ts and ride in a
proper seating position .
There is a lot that you and your passengers
must know and act accord ingly to help the
safety belts and airbags do their job to pro­
vide supplemental protection .
& WARNING
-
An inflating side airbag can cause serious
or fatal injury. Improperly wearing safety
belts and improper seating positions in­
crease the risk of serious personal injury
and death whenever a vehicle is being
used.
- In order to reduce the risk of injury when
the supplemental side airbag inflates:
- Always sit in an upright position and
never lean against the area where the
supplemental side airbag is located .
- Never let a child or anyone else rest
their head against the side trim panel in the area where the supplemental
side airbag inflates.
-Always make sure that safety belts are
worn correctly,
- Do not let anyone sitting in the front
seat put their hand or any other parts
of their body out of the window .
- Always make sure that the side airbag
can inflate without interference.
- Never install seat covers or replace­
ment upholstery over the front seat­
backs that have not been specifically
approved by Audi.

168 Airbag sys tem
The side curtain airbags are located on both
sides of the interior above the front and rear
side windows ¢
fig. 165. They are ident ified
by the word "AIRBAG" on the windshie ld
frame and the center roof p illar.
The side curtain airbags contain features that provide e jection m itigat ion to he lp prevent ve­
h icle occupants or parts of their bodies from
be ing completely or partially ejected from the
ve hicle interior in certain side impacts and ve ­
h icle rollovers.
The s ide curtain airbag system supp lements
the safety belts and can help to reduce the risk of injury for occupants' heads and upper
torso. The s ide curtain airbag inflates in side
impacts and only when the vehicle acce lera­
tion registered by the control u nit is high
enough. If t his rate is below the reference val­
ue programmed into the control unit, the s ide
curtain ai rbag 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
f ine an a irbag tr igger ing range that will cover
every possible angle of impact, since the cir­
cumstances wi ll vary considerably between
one coll ision and another. Important factors
include, for examp le, the natu re (hard o r soft)
of the impacting object, the ang le of impact ,
ve hicl e speed, etc. ¢
page 169, How side cur­
tain airbags work .
Aside from their normal safety function, safe­
ty belts wor k to he lp keep t he d river or front
passenger in posi tion in the event of a co ll i­
sion so tha t the side curta in ai rbags can pro­
vide protection.
The airbag system is not a s ubst itute for your
safety be lt. R athe r, it is p art of the overall oc ­
cupant restraint system in your ve hicle . Al­
ways remember that the airbag system can
on Ly help to protect you if you are wearing
your safety belt and wear ing it properly. Th is
is another reason w hy you should always wear
your safety belts, not just because the law re­ qu ires you to do so¢
page 136, General
notes .
It is important to remembe r that wh ile the
side curtain airbag system is designed to help
reduce the likelihood of ser ious injuries, other
injur ies, for example, swelling, br uising, fric­
t ion burns and minor abras ions can also be as­
sociated w ith these airbags upo n deployment .
Remember too, these airbags will deploy only
once a nd on ly in ce rtain kinds of accide nts -
yo ur safety belts a re always the re to offer p ro­
tection .
The side curtain airbag system basic ally
consists of:
- The e lectro nic co ntrol module and external
side impa ct sensors
- The side curtain a irbags above the front and
rea r side windows wit h ejection mitigation
fe atu res
- The a irbag i ndicator lig ht in the inst rument
pa nel
The airbag system is mon itored electronically
to make ce rtain it is functioning prope rly at all
t imes. Each time you sw itch on the ign ition,
t h e airbag system ind icator light will come on
f o r a few seconds (sel f diagnos tics) .
The side curtain airbag is not activated:
-if the ignition is sw itched off,
- in side co llisions whe n the acceleration
measu red by the sensor is too low,
- in rear-end collisions.
A WARNING
-Safety belts and the airbag system will
only provide protection when occupants
are in the proper seating posi tion
¢ page 52, General re commendations.
- If the ai rbag ind icator light ¢ page 19
comes when the veh icle is being used,
have the system inspe cted immedia tely
by your au thori zed A udi deale r.
It is pos­
sible tha t the airbag will infla te when it
is not supposed to, or will not inflate
when it should.

M N
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How side curtain airbags work
Side curtain airbags can work together with
side airbags to help reduce the risk of head
and upper torso injuries for occupants who
are properly restrained.
Fig. 166 Illustrat ion of p rinc iple: Infla ted side cur ta in
airbags on the left side
The side curtain airbags inflate between the
occupant and the windows on the side of the
vehicle that is struck in a side collision
¢fig. 166.
When the system is triggered, the side curtain
airbag is filled with propellant gas and breaks
through a seam above the front and rear side windows identified by the AIRBAG label. In or­
der to help provide this additional protection,
the side curtain airbag must inflate within the
blink of an eye at very high speed and with
great force. The side curtain airbag could in­
jure you if your seating position is not proper
or upright or if items are located in the area
where the supplementa l side curtain airbag
inf lates . This applies especially to children
¢page 171.
Although they are not a soft pillow, side cur­
tain airbags can ''cushion" the impact and in
this way they can help to reduce the risk of in­
jury to the head and the upper part of the
body.
A fine dust may develop when the airbag de­
ploys. This is quite normal and does not mean
there is a fire in the vehicle .
Airbag system 169
Important safety instructions on the
side curtain airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. Al­
ways properly wear safety belts and ride in a
proper seating position.
There is a lot that you and your passengers
must know and do to help the safety belts and
airbags do their job to provide supplemental
protection.
A WARNING
Improperly wearing safety belts and im­
proper seating positions increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death when­
ever a vehicle is being used.
- Never let occupants place any parts of
their bodies in the area from which the side curtain airbag inflate.
- Always make sure that the side curtain
airbags can inflate without interfere nce.
- Use the built-in coat hooks only for light­
weight clothing. Never leave any heavy or sharp-edged objects in the pockets that
may interfere with airbag deployment
and can cause personal injury in a colli­
sion.
- Never use hangers to hang clothes on the hooks .
- Only use factory-installed sun shades or,
if shades installed after the vehicle
leaves the factory, use only genuine Audi
sun shades .
- Never swing the sun visors over to the
side windows if things such as pens, ga­ rage door openers, hands-free speakers,
etc. are attached to the sun visors. They
could come loose and cause serious in­
jury if the side curtain airbag inflates.
-A deploying airbag inflates in a fraction
of a second and with great force.
- Never attach objects to the cover or in
the deployment zone of a side curtain airbag.
- The airbag deployment zones must be
kept clear at all times. Make sure there
are no objects, pets, or other persons in
-

172 Child Safety
-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 in exceptional circumstances and
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately
install the rear-facing child safety seat in
a rear seating position and have the air­
bag system inspected immediately by
your Audi dealer.
_&, WARNING
- Forward-facing child seats installed on
the front passenger seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and
cause serious personal injury to the
child.
- If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger 's seat, the child's
safety and well-being require the follow­ ing special precautions to be taken:
- Always make sure that the forward-fac­
ing seat has been designed and certi­
fied by its manufacturer for use on a
front passenger seat with a front and
side airbag.
- Always carefully follow the manufac­
turer's instructions provided with the
child seat or infant carrier.
- Never install a child restraint without a
properly attached top tether strap if
the child restraint manufacturer's in­
structions require the top tether strap
to be used.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the in­
strument panel.
- Always set the safety belt upper an­
chorage to the adjustment position
that permits proper installation in ac­
cordance with the child restraint manu­
facturer's instructions.
-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 in­
stalling the child restraint. The back­
rest must be adjusted to an upright po­
sition .
- Always make sure that nothing pre­
vents the front passenger's seat from
being moved to the rearmost position
in its fore and aft adjustment range.
- Never place objects on the seat (such
as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) . These may in­
fluence the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger
detection system and can also fly
around in an accident and cause serious
personal injury.
- 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
lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passen­
ger seat, never install any child re­
straint system on this seat.
- 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 .
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays
on all the time whenever the ignition is
switched on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the forward-facing child seat in a rear seating position and have
the airbag system inspected by your
authori zed Audi dealer.
- Always buckle the child seat firmly in
place even if a child is not sitting in it.
A loose child seat can fly around during
a sudden stop or in a collision.
~

174 Child Saf ety
WARNINGS. Make certain that the ch ild and
child restraint are correct ly recognized by the
capacitive passenger detect ion system in the
front passenger seat, that the front passenger
a irbag is turned off, and that the airbag status
is always correct ly signa led by the
PAS SEN­
GER AIR BA G OFF
light .
Many types and models of child restra ints
have been ava ilable over the years, new mod­
els are introduced regular ly incorporating new
and improved designs a nd older models are
taken out of production . Child rest raints are
not standardi zed. Ch ild restra ints of the same
type typi cally have differen t weights and s izes
and d ifferent "footprints", the size and shape
of the bottom of the child restraint that sits
on the seat, when they are installed on a vehi­
cle seat. These differences make it virtually imposs ible to certify compliance w ith the re­
qu irements for advanced a irbags w ith each
and every child restraint that has ever been
sold in the past or will be sold over the course
of the useful life of you r vehicle .
For this reason, the United States National
Highway Traffic Safety Admin istration has
published a list of specific type, makes a nd
models of child rest raints that must be used
to certify compliance of the Advanced Airbag
System in yo ur vehicle with the suppress ion
requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 . These child restraints are:
Subpart A -Car bed child restraints
Model Manufactured on or
after
Ange l Guard Ange l September 2S, 200 7
Ride AA2403 FOF
Subpart B -Rear -facing child re straint s
Model Manufactured on or
after
Century SmartFit December 1, 1999
4543
Cosco Arriva September 2S, 2007
22-0 13PAW and base
22-999WHO
Model Manufactured on or
after
Evenflo Discovery Ad- December 1, 1999
just Right 212
E venflo First Choice December 1, 1999
204
Graco Infant 8457 December 1, 1999
Graco Snugride September 25 , 2007
Peg Perego Pr imo Vi- September 25, 2007
aggio SIP IMUNOOUS
Subpart C - Forw ard-facing and
convertible child restraint s
Model Manufactured on or
after
Britax Roundabout September 25, 2007
E9L02xx
Cosco Touriva 02S19 December 1, 1999
Cosco Summit De luxe September 2S, 2007
High Back Booster
22-262
Cosco H igh Back September 2S , 2007
Booste r 22-209
Evenflo Tribute V September 25, 2007
379xxxx
Evenflo Meda llion December 1, 1999
254
E venflo Generations September 25 , 2007
352xxxx
Graco ComfortSport September 25, 2007
Graco Todd ler Safety September 25, 2007
Seat Step 2
Graco Platinum Cargo September 25, 2007
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious inju ry, ma ke
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight comes on and stays on whenever a
chi ld restraint is installed on the front pas­
senger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Take the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PA SSEN -
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on. ...

176 Child Safety
-The child and the passenger can also
injure each other in an accident.
- Never install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas­
senger seat. A child will be seriously in­
jured and can be killed when the passen­ ger airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- 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 rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Forward-facing child safety seats instal­
led on the front passenger's seat can in­
terfere with the airbag when it inflates
and cause serious injury to the child. Al­
ways install forward-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat, the child's safety and well-being require that the
following special precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag.
- Always carefully follow the manufac­
turer's instructions provided with the
child safety seat or carrier.
- Always move the front passenger seat
into the rearmost position of the pas­
senger seat's fore and aft adjustment
range, and as far away from the airbag
as possible before installing the child
restraint.
- Always make sure that nothing pre­
vents the front passenger's seat from
being moved to the rearmost position
in its fore and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure that the backrest is
in the upright position .
- 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 lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passen­
ger seat, never install any child re­
straint system on this seat.
- 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 .
- Never place objects on the seat (such
as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) . These may in­
fluence the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger
detection system and can also fly
around in an accident and cause serious
personal injury.
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a child is not sitting in it.
A loose child safety seat can fly around during a sudden stop or in a collision .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
¢ page 136, Safety
belts,
¢ page 145, Airbag system and
¢ page 171, Child Safety.
A WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever a
child restraint is installed on the front pas­
senger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Take the child restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASS EN·
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your authorized Audi dealer immediate­
ly.

1 78 Child Safety
It is a very dangerous place for an infant or a
larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
.&_ WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong chi ld safety seat or improperly in­
stalling a child restraint increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death in a
crash .
- Never install rear-facing ch ild safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas­ senger seat -even with an Advanced Air­
bag System. A child wi ll be seriously in­
jured and can be killed when the inflat­
ing airbag hits the child safety seat or in­
fant ca rrier with great force and smashes
the chi ld safety seat and chi ld aga inst
the backrest, center armrest, door or roof
c:> page 147, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Never install a rear-facing child restraint in the forward-facing direction. Such re­
straints are des igned for the spec ial
needs of infants and very small children
and cannot protect them properly if the
seat is forward-fac ing.
-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
mediately install the rear -facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electron ic
games dev ice, 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 soc ket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwis e added to the front passenger seat, never install any chi
ld restraint sys­
tem on th is seat.
- 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.
- Never p lace objects on the seat (such as
a laptop, CD player, electronic games de­
vice, power inverter or seat heater for
child seats). These may influence the
electrical capacitance measured by the
capacitive passenger detection system
a nd can also fly around in an acci dent
and cause serious persona l injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
¢page 136, Safety
belts,
¢ page 145, Airbag system and
c::> page 171, Important things to know .
Convertible child safety seats
Properly used convertible child safety seats
can help protect toddlers and children over
age one who weigh between 20 and 40 lbs. (9
and 18 kg) in a crash.
Fig . 1 69 Sc hemat ic overview: installat ion of the at­
tac hmen ts applicab le to a LA T CH seat
Fig. 170 Schemat ic overv iew: installa tion of th e seat
using the vehicle 's safety belt syste m
Iii-

M N
0 <.J 'SI: ,...., \!) ..,.,
,...., ..,., ,....,
~ When using the vehicle safety belt to insta ll
a chi ld safety s eat, you must first activate
the convertible locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the ch ild safety seat
from moving
c:::, page 182 or install the seat
us ing the LA TCH attachments.
~ Push the child safety seat dow n with your
full weight to get the safety belt rea lly t ight
so that the seat cannot move forwa rd or
s ideways more than one inch ( 2.5 cm)
c:::, page 182 .
~ If the child safety seat is equ ipped with a
tether strap, attach it to the tether anchors
c:::, page 188.
~ Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
c:::, page 177.
A toddler or child is usually too large for an in ­
fant restraint if it is more than one year o ld
and weighs more than 20 lbs. (9 kg) .
Todd lers and c hildren who are older than one
year up to abo ut 4 years o ld and weigh more
than 20 lbs (9 kg) up to 40 lbs. (18 kg) must always be properly restra ined in a ch ild safety
seat certified for the ir s ize and weight
c:::, fig . 169 and c:::, fig . 170 .
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
fro nt seat a poten tially dangerous place for a
chi ld to r ide . The front seat is not the safest
p lace for a ch ild in a forwa rd-fac ing ch ild safe­
ty seat .
It is a very dange ro us p lace for an in­
fant or a la rger chi ld in a rearwa rd-fa cing seat.
A WARNING
Not using a ch ild safety se at, using the
w rong chi ld safety seat or improper ly in­
stalling a child res traint increases the risk
of se rious personal injury and death in a
co llision or other emergency s ituation.
- Children on the front seat of any car,
even with Advanced Ai rbags, can be seri­
o usly injured or even killed when an a ir­
bag inf lates. A child in a rearward-facing
child safety seat installed on the front
passenge r seat w ill be seriously injured
and can be kil led if the front ai rbag in-
-
Child Sa fet y 1 79
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System .
- The inflating airbag will hit the ch ild
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest , center
arm rest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-fac ing ch ild safety
seats on the rear 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 ins ta ll t he rear-fac ing ch ild
s afety se at in a rear se ating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Au di dea le r.
- Th e rear side o f the child sa fety seat
should be pos itione d as close as possi ble
to the backrest on the vehicle seat.
- For a djustab le head restra ints: adjust or
remove the rear seat hea d restra int if it
is difficult to install the child seat w ith
the head restraint in place
c:::, page 56. I n­
stall the head restraint again immed iate­
ly once the child seat is removed. Dr iv ing
without head restraints o r with head re­
straints that are not properly adjusted
increases the risk of serio us or fatal ne ck
in ju ry drama tic ally.
- Always rea d and heed all WAR NINGS
wheneve r us ing a child restrained in ave­
hicle i s being used
c:::, page 13 6, Safety
bel ts,
c:::, page 1 45, Airbag system and
c:::, page 171, Important things to know .
A WARNING
If exceptional circ ums tan ces require the
use of a forward -facing child restraint on
the front passenger 's seat, the child's safe­
ty and we ll-being req uire that the fo llow­
ing spec ial precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has been designed and cert ified by its man u­
facturer fo r use on a fro nt seat with a
passenger front and side airbag .
•
•
-