2015 AUDI A7 ignition

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-Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the person actually s itting on the
seat . The presence of additiona l objects
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on when it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
l ot of very important parts of the Advanced
Ai rbag System in it. These parts incl ude the
capacitive passenger detection system, wir ­
i n g, brackets, and more . The control unit
monitors the system o n the front passenger
seat when the ign ition is switched on and
turns the airbag indicator light on when a
malfunct ion in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected ¢
page 160. Because the
front passenger seat contains important parts
of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
t ake care to p reven t it from being 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 o f the veh icle that
measure vehicle acceleration/dece leration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­
bag System about the severity of the crash .
- An electronic co ntrol unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
The contro l unit "decides" whether to fire
A irbag system 15 5
the front airbags based on the in format ion
received from the crash sensors. The contro l
unit also "decides" whether the safety be lt
pretens ioners sho uld be activated .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer­
ing wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas gene rator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A capacitive passenger detection system un­
derneath the front passenger seat cover.
This system measures the electrical capac i­
tance of the person in the seat. The informa­
tion registered is se nt cont inuously to the
el ectr onic contro l un it to regu late deploy­
ment of the front Advan ced A irbag on the
passenger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster ¢
page 159.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance be twee n the respec tive seat a nd the
s teer ing whee l or inst rument p anel. The i n­
forma tion regis tered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electronic contro l unit to regulate de­
p loyment of the front Adv a need Airbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel ¢
page 160, fig. 164 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv­
er and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether that safety belt is latched or
not and transmits this information to the
electronic control un it .
.&_ WARNING
D amage to the front passe nger seat can
p revent the front air bag from wor king
properly.
- I mp roper repa ir or d isassembly of the
fro nt pa ssenge r and dr iver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning p roperly.
- Repair s to t he front passenge r seat m ust
be pe rformed by qualified and p roperly
-
trained workshop person ne l. 111>
•
•

158 Airb ag sys te m
or the lower parts of the body. Front airbags
supp lement the three-point safety belts only
in some frontal collisions in which the vehicle
dece leration is high enough to deploy the air­
bags.
F ront airbag s will not d eplo y:
-if the ignition is switched off when a crash
occurs,
- in side collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in ro llovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by
the a irbag system is less than the minimum
t h reshold needed for airbag deployment as
registered by the electron ic control unit.
The f ront pa ssenger airbag also will n ot
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu­
pied,
- when the electrical capac itance measured by
the capacitive passenger detect io n system
for the front passenger seat indicates that
the passenger side fronta l airbag must be
switched off by the e lectronic control unit
(the
PA SSENGE R AIR B AG OFF light
c> page 160 and how they work comes on
and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the risk of serious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the r isk of injury when the air­
bags inflate, the driver 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 a re unbelted, out of posi­
t ion or too close to the airbag can be se­
riously injured by an airbag as it un folds
with great force in the blin k of an eye
i=>page
149.
A 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 w ith an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or
roof.
- Always install rear-fac ing ch ild seats on
the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rea r seating pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by yo ur Audi dealer.
A WARNING
c'-----
Objects between you and the airbag will
increase the r isk of injury in a crash by in­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
or by be ing p ushed into you as the airbag
inflates.
- Never hold things in yo ur hands or on
your lap when the veh icle is in use.
-
- Never transport items on or in the area
of the front passenger seat. Objects
could move into the area of the front air­ bags during braking or other sudden ma­
neuvers and become dangerous projec­
tiles that can cause ser ious perso nal in­
jury if the a irbags inflate.
- Never p lace or attach accesso ries o r oth­
er objects (such as cup holders, te le­
phone brac kets, large, heavy or bulky ob­
jects) on the doors, over o r near the area
marked "AIRBAG" on the steering whee l,
instr ument panel, seat bac krests or be­
tween those areas and yourself. These
objects could cause in jury in a crash, es­
pecially when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to transport objects. Items can also move into the area of the s ide airbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a

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sudden maneuver . Objects near the
airbags can become projectiles and cause
injury, particularly when the s eat is re­
cl ined .
- Never place or transport objects on the
front passenger seat. Objects on the
front passenger seat could cause the ca­
pacitive senso r in the seat to s ignal to
airbag system that the seat is occupied
by a person whe n it in fact is not, o r that
the person on the sea t is heavier than he
o r she actually is. The change in electric
capacitance beca use of such objects can
cause the passenger front airbag to be
turned on when it sho uld be off, or can
cause the airbag to work in a way that is
different from the way it wou ld have
worked w ithout objects on the seat .
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenge r detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that t he seat is occupied by a
pers on when it is not, or to sign al tha t it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually sitting on the
seat . The presence of an o bject co uld
cause the passenger front a irbag to be
turned on when it sho uld be off, or co uld
cause the airbag to work in a way that is
different from the way it wou ld have
wor ked w ithout the object on the sea t.
A WARNING
The fine dust created when a irbags dep loy
c an cause b reathing problems for peop le
w ith a his to ry o f asthma o r other brea th­
ing condi tion s.
- T o reduce the r is k of brea thing prob lems,
those w it h a sthma or o ther resp iratory
condit ions should ge t fresh a ir right
away by getting out of the vehicle o r
opening windows or doo rs .
- If you are in a coll is ion in which a irbags
deploy, wash yo ur hands and face with
mild soap and water befo re eating.
A irbag system 159
-Be ca reful not to get the d ust into your
eyes, or into any c uts o r scratches .
- If the resi due should get into your eyes,
f lush them w ith water.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag
System
tli Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two seporate indicators monitor the function
of the Advanced Airbag System: the airbag
monitoring indicator light and the
PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF light.
The Advanced Ai rbag System (incl uding the
electronic control unit, sensor circu its and sys­
tem wir ing) is mo nitored continuously to
make sure that it is funct io ni ng properly
whenever the ignition is on . Each time you
switch on the ignition, the ai rbag mon itor ing
i ndica to r li ght
fl will come on for a few sec­
onds (self diagnos tic s).
The system must be inspected when the
indicator light
ffl:
- does not come on when the ignition is
sw itched on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you
have sw itched on the ignit io n, or
- comes on whil e dr iv ing .
If an airbag system malfunction is detected,
the indicator lig ht w ill first sta rt flash ing to
catch the driver's attent io n and then stay on
continuously to serve as a co nstant rem inder
to have the system inspected immediately.
If a malfu nction occurs that turns the front
airbag on the passenger s ide off, the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF light will come on and stay
o n wheneve r th e ignit io n is on.
A WARNING
An ai rbag system t hat is not functioning
p roperly cannot p rovi de sup plemental pro-
-
tec tion in a frontal c rash . .,..
•
•

160 Airbag system
-If the air bag indicator light ¢ page 19
comes when the vehicle is being used,
have the system inspected immediately
by your autho rized Aud i dea ler . It is pos­
s ible that the airbag will inflate when it
is not s upposed to, or w ill not inflate
when it should.
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
F ig. 164 Sect ion from t he in strument pa nel : PASS EN­
GER AIR BAG O FF ligh t
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located
in the cen ter o f the instr ument panel
¢ fig . 164.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come
on an d stay on to te ll you when the fron t Ad ­
v a nce d Airbag on t he passenger side h as been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit . If the
bu lb for the
PASSENGER A IR BAG O FF light
burns out, the airbag ind icator light
II wi ll
come on to signal a malfunction in the Ad­
vanced A irbag System . Although the burned­
out bulb will not change the way the front
passenger's frontal airbag works, it w ill no
longer be possib le to use the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light to make sure that the ai rbag
on/off s tat us is correct for the occupant on
the front passenger seat. Have the airba g sys­
tem inspected immediate ly by your autho r­
ized A udi dealer.
Th e PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will blink
for about 5 se cond s when :
- the ignit ion is switched on and
- the capac itive passenger detect ion system,
wh ich sw itches the front seat passenger 's
fron tal Advanced Airbag on and off, detects a change in the status of the front passen
­
ger seat.
As soon as the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF
ligh t stops b linking, a lways make sure tha t
the airbag status (on or off) as shown by the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is proper for
the age, size and e lectrica l capacitance of the
person occupy ing the front passenger seat.
Always make sure that the safety belt for the
front passenger seat is properly fastened .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
show the status of the front seat passenger 's
frontal Advanced Airbag a fe w seconds after
the ignition i s switched on and the airbag in ­
dicator light go es off . The PASSENG ER AIR
BAG OFF light :
-will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied;
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tect ion system for the front passenger seat
equals the combined capacitance of an in­
hnt up to abou t one year of age and one of
the rearwa rd- facing or forward-fac ing ch ild
restrai nts listed in Fede ral Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certified; For a listing of the child restraints
that we re used to certify your vehicle's com ­
pliance w ith the U.S . Safety Standard
¢ page 175.
-will go out if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
pacitive passenger detection system .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must
come on and stay on if the ignition is on
and ...
- a car bed has been installed on the front
passenger seat, or
- a rearward-facing child restraint has been
installed on the front passenger seat, or
- a forward-facing ch ild restra int has been in ­
stalled on the front passenger sea t,
- and if the electrical capacitance registered
on t he front passenger seat is equal to or
less than the combined capaci tance of a typ-
ical 1 year-o ld i nfant and one of the
1111>

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rearward-facing or forward-facing chi ld re­
straints listed in Federa l Motor Vehicle Safe­
ty Standard 208 w ith which the Advanced
Airbag System in your vehicle was certif ied.
I f the front passenger seat is not occupied,
the front airbag will not deploy, and the PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OF F light w ill stay on. Nev­
er insta ll a rearward-fac ing ch ild restra int on
the front passenger seat, the safest place for
a child in any kind of child restraint is at o ne
of the seating positions on the rear seat
¢ page 149, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know
and
¢ page 173, Child Safety.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light comes
on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on when one of the cond itions l isted above is
met, be sure to check the light regularly to
make certain that the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF light stays on continuo usly whenever the
ignition is on.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF light does not appear on and does not
stay on all the time, stop as soon as it is safe
to do so and
- reactivate the system by turning the ignition
off for more than 4 seconds and then turn­ ing it on again;
- remove and reinstall the chi ld restraint .
Make sure that the child restraint is properly
installed and that the safety belt for the
front passenger seat has been correctly routed through the child restraint as descri­
bed in the chi ld restraint manufactu rer's in­
structions;
- make sure that the convert ible locking re­
t ractor on t he safety be lt for the front pas­
senger seat has been act ivate d and that the
sa fety belt has been pulled tight .
- make su re that no electr ica l device (such as
a laptop, CD player, elect ro nic games devi ce,
power inverter or seat heater for chi ld seats)
is p laced or used on the front passenge r
seat if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the c igarette lighter socket;
A irbag system 16 1
- make sure that no seat heater has been ret­
rofitted o r otherwise added to the front pas ­
senge r seat;
- make sure that nothing can interfere with
the safety belt buck les and that they are not
obstructed;
- make sure t hat there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towe l) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenger seat cushion .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light still
do es not c ome on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still
does not come on and does not stay on con­
ti nuously (when the ignition is switched on),
- take the child restraint off the front passen -
ger seat and install it proper ly at one of the
rear seat positions. Have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer immed iate ly.
- move the child to a rear seat position and
make sure that the c hild is properly restra in­
ed in a ch ild restra int that is appropriate for
its size and age.
Th e PASSENGER AIR BAG light should
NOT come on .. .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light should
NOT come on when the ignit io n is on and an
adult is s itting in a proper seating posit ion on
the front passenge r seat. If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF light comes on and stays on o r
fla shes for about S seconds wh ile d riving, un­
der these c ircumstances, make sure that:
- the adult on the front passenge r seat is
p rope rly seated on the ce nte r of the sea t
cushion with his or her back u p ag ainst the
backrest and the backrest is not re clined,
- t he adult is not tak ing we ight off the sea t by
holding on to the passenger assis t handle
above the fron t passenger door or s upport ­
ing their weight on the armrest,
- the sa fe ty belt is being proper ly wo rn and
that the re is not a lot of s lack in the safety
be lt webbing,
- t here are no aftermar ket seat covers o r
cushions or other things (s uch as blankets)
on the front passenger seat that might
cause the capacitive passenger detect ion
•
•

1 70 Airbag system
The side curtain airbags are located on both
sides of th e interior above the front and rear
side windows ~
fig. 169. They are ident ified
by the word "AIRBAG" on the windshield
frame and the center roof pillar.
The side curtain airbag system supplements
the safety belts and can help to reduce the risk of injury for occupants' heads and uppe r
torso on the side of the vehicle that is struck
in a side collision . The side curtain airbag in­
flates in side impacts and only when the vehi­
cle acceleration registered by the control unit is high enough. If this rate is below the refer­
ence value programmed into the control unit,
the side curtain airbag will not be triggered,
even though the car may be badly damaged as
a result of the collision. It is not possible to
define an airbag triggering range that will
cover every possible angle of impact, since the
circumstances will vary considerably between
one collision and another. Important factors
include, for example, the nature (hard or soft)
of the impacting object, the angle of impact,
vehicle speed, etc.~
page 171, How side cur­
tain airbags work.
Aside from their normal safety function, safe­
ty belts work to help keep the driver or front
passenger in position in the event of a colli­
sion so that the side curtain airbags can pro­
vide protection.
The airbag system is not a substitute for your
safety belt. Rather, it is part of the overall oc­
cupant restraint system in your vehicle. Al­
ways remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect you if you are wearing
your safety belt and wearing it properly. This
is another reason why you should always wear
your safety belts, not just because the law re­
quires you to do so
Q page 138, General
notes.
It is important to remember that while the
side curtain airbag system is designed to help
reduce the likelihood of serious injuries, other
injuries, for example, swelling, bruising, fric ­
tion burns and minor abrasions can also be as­
sociated with these airbags upon deployment. Remember too, these airbags will deploy only once and only in certain kinds of accidents
-
your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection.
The side curtain airbag system basically
consists of:
- The electronic control module and external
side impact sensors
- The side curtain airbags above the front and
rear side windows
- The airbag indicator light in the instrument
panel
The airbag system is monitored electronically
to make certain it is functioning properly at all
times. Each time you switch on the ignition,
the airbag system indicator light will come on
for a few seconds (self diagnostics).
The side curtain airbag is not activated:
- if the ignition is switched off,
- in side collisions when the acceleration
measured by the sensor is too low,
- in rear-end collisions.
_&. WARNING
- Safety belts and the airbag system will
only provide protection when occupants
are in the proper seating position
¢page 53, General recommendations.
- If the airbag indicator light Q 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.
.

174 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.
~

176 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. ...