2016 AUDI A3 CABRIOLET warning light

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Automatic safety belt r etractors
Every safety be lt is equ ipped wi th an automatic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is feature
l ocks the belt when the belt is p ulled out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident. The belt
may also lock when you drive up or down a steep
h ill or through a sharp curve. During normal driv­
ing the belt lets you move freely .
Safety be lt pret en sioner s
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to tighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated
c:> page 141. The function of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light
c:> page 17.
Con vertible loc king retractor
Every safety belt exc ept the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
mu st be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this featu re
c:> page 176.
A WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts ca n cause
ser ious injury in an accident ¢
page 139,
Safety belt position.
-Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upr ight and belts are
prope rly pos itioned on the body.
- Never a ttac h the safety belt to the buckle
for ano ther sea t. Att aching the bel t to the
wrong buck le w ill reduce safety belt effec­
tiveness and can cause serious persona l in ­
jury .
- A passenger who is no t properly restrained
can be se riously in jured by the safety be lt it­
self when it moves from the stronger parts of the body into cr itical areas like the abdo­
men .
- Always lock the convert ible lock ing retractor
when you are secur ing a child seat in the ve­
hicle
c:> page 177.
Safet y bel ts
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretensioners,
refer to
r=:; page 141 .
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts.
F ig. 134 Safety be lt pos it ion
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to match your body s iz e.
- he ight -adjustable front seats .
A WARNING
'"' -Improperly posi tioned safety belts can cause
se rious pe rsonal injury in an acc ident.
- The s hou lder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fit well on the body . Ho ld the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
a cross the chest so tha t it sits as low as pos­
sible on the pe lvis and there is no p ressure
on the abdomen . The belt should a lways fit
snug ly
r=:; fig. 134. Pu ll on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- The lap be lt portion of the safety belt must
be positioned as low as possible across pel­
vis and never over the abdomen . Make s ure
the belt lies flat and snug
c:> fig. 134. Pull on
the bel t to tighten if necessary .
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
in ju ries by s hifting its position on your body
from the stro ng bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause se rious i nju ry .
~
139

Airbag syste m
Always remember, a child seat or infant carrier
installed on the front seat may be struck and
knocked out of position by the rapidly inflating
passenger's airbag in a frontal collision. The air­
bag could greatly reduce the effectiveness of the
child restraint and even seriously injure the child
during inflation.
For this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for children -when properly restrain­
ed according to their age and size -we strongly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat
¢ page 165, Child safety.
.8, WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat insta l­
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i­
ously injured and can be killed if the front air­
bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the chi ld 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 chi ld
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptional c ircumstances and the
PASS EN­
G ER AIR BA G OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear­
facing child seat in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer.
- Forward-facing ch ild seats insta lled on the
front passenger's seat may interfe re with
the deployment of the airbag and cause se­
rious persona l injury to the child.
.8, WARNING
If, in except ional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing se at
has been designed and certified by its man ­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag .
146
-
-Never put the fo rward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible, before install ing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restrain t.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to o r in fron t of the child rest raint
so that the safety be lt will be properly posi­
tioned.
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on a ll the time
wheneve r the ignit ion is switched on .
.8, WARNING
-
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
be d isp layed whenever a ch ild restraint is in­
stalled on the front passenge r seat and the
ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BA G OFF light does
not stay on, perform the checks described
¢ page 155, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System .
-Take the child restraint off the front passen­
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
Aud i dea le r i mmediately.
- Always carefully follow instructions from child restraint manufacture rs when instal­
ling child restra ints .
.8, WARNING
If, i n exceptional ci rcumstances, you must in­
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re­
stra int on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installat ion of child restraints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even preven t
them from provi ding any pro tect ion .

Airbag syste m
seat. Please be sure to read the important infor­
mation in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed all of the WARNINGS.
.&_ WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in­
flates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­ ting s ideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much h igher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
r:::;, page 143 .
.&_ WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat instal­
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i­
ously inju red and can be killed if the front air­
bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
yo ur vehicle is designed to tu rn off the front
airbag when a rearwa rd -facing child re ­
straint has been insta lled on the front pas­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely g uaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in all con­
ceivable s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle .
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child seat or
infant carrier w ith great force and will
smash the ch ild seat and child against the
backrest, center a rmrest, door, or roof .
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re­
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional c ircumstances and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately insta ll the rear­
facing child seat in a rea r seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer .
150
.&_ WARNING ,_
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has been des igned and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forwa rd-facing child restraint
up against or very nea r the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenge r seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad­
justmen t range and move it back to the
rearmost posit io n in the seat's fo re and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the a ir ­
bag as poss ible, before install ing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the chi ld rest raint and
not next to o r in front of the c hild restraint
so that the safety be lt will be p roper ly posi­
tioned.
- Always make sure that there is noth ing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occup ied by a person when it is
not , or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person ac tually
si tting o n the sea t. T he presence of addi­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turne d on when it should
be
off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is d ifferent from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ign it ion is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
T he front passenger seat in your veh icle has a lot
of ve ry important parts of the Advanced A irbag
System i n it. These parts incl ude the capacitive
passenger detection system, wir ing , b rackets,
and more. The control uni t moni tors the system
on the front passenge r seat when t he ignit ion is ..,.

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switched on and turns the airbag indicator light
on when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detected
c::> page 155. Because
the front passenger seat contains important
parts of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to prevent it from being damaged .
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced
Airbag 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 vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/ deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash.
- An electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
control unit "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors. The control unit also "de­
cides" whether the safety belt pretensioners
should be activated .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator for the
driver inside the steering wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator inside
the instrument panel for the front passenger.
- A capacitive passenger detection system under­
neath the front passenger seat cover. This sys­
tem measures the electrical capacitance of the person in the seat. The information registered
is sent continuously to the electronic control
unit to regulate deployment of the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster
c::> page 155 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mation registered is sent continuously to the
electronic control unit to regulate deployment
of the front Adv a need Airbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the instrument
panel
c::> page 188 and tells you when the front
Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off.
Airbag system
-A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched or not and
transmits this information to the electronic control unit.
A WARNING ,.__
Damage to the front passenger seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from working properly .
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qualified and properly trained
workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from the
seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
put them on the seat. The capacitive pas­
senger detection mat in the front passenger
seat will not function properly if it is punc­
tured.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the front passenger seat. Such ob­
jects can influence the capacitance regis­
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro­
vided to the airbag control unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat. Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, preventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from working properly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
proved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Air­
bag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploying properly .
151

Airbag syste m
-If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth­
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never install any child restraint system 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 capac itance of the ch ild safe­
ty seat and/or the person on the seat and
th us keep the Advanced 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 passenger seat if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket. Such devices can influence the capacitance reg is­
tered by the capac itive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro­
vided to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the front passenger seat and the child restraint man­
ufacturer's instructions require the use of a
towel, foam cushion or something else to properly position the ch ild rest raint, make
certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever the
child restraint is insta lled on the front pas­
senger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately in­
stall child restraint in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it im­
mediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger seat,
this can keep the a irbag system from work­
ing properly and may, for instance, deact i­
vate the passenger frontal airbag. If this
happens, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
ligh t will come on and stay on togethe r with
the airbag indicator light
II (USA models) I
152
E,I (Canada mode ls) in the instr ument clus­
ter.
- If liq uid is pooled on the seat, but has not
soaked in, th is may also keep the airbag sys­
tem from working proper ly and cause the
passenger frontal airbag to be enabled
(turned on), even though there is a p roperly
installed child restraint system on the seat.
Wet towels or other wet things on the seat
cushion can have the same effect. If the
front p assenger front al airbag is turned on,
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will go
out .
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced A irbag System and the side
airbags supp lement the protection offered by the
front th ree-point safety belts with pretens ioners
and load lim ite rs and the adj ustab le head re­
straints* to help reduce the risk of i njury in a
wide range of accident and cras h situations. Be
s ur e to read the impo rtant informat ion about
sa fety and heed the WARNINGS in this chapter.
Deployment of the Advanced A irbag System and
the activa tion of the safety belt pretens ioners de­
pend on the dece lera tion measured by the crash
senso rs and registered by the electronic contro l
unit . Crash severity depends on speed and decel­
eration as well as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object involved in the crash.
On the passenger side, regard less o f safety be lt
use, the front passenger frontal airbag will be
turned off if the e lectrica l capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenger detection system on
the front passenger seat is less than the amount
programmed in t he e lectronic contro l unit . The
front passenger frontal a irbag w ill also be tur ned
off if the capacitance measured by the system for
t h e front passenger seat equals that of an infant
of about o ne yea r of age in one o f the ch ild sea ts
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem under Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208. The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on to tell you when the front Ad­
vanced Airbag System on the passenger side has been turned off
c::;,page 155. ..,.

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A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an a irbag in­
flates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward, sit­
t in g s ideways or out of pos ition in anyway,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injur ies and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag¢
page 143.
More important things to know about front
airbags
F ig. 139 Inflated front airbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the p roper seated position so
that airbags can unfold properly and provide sup­
p lemental protection in a frontal collision.
The front airbags are designed to provide addi­
tional protection for the chest and face of the
driver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the oc-
cupant is properly seated as far as possible
from the airbag,
- and for adjustable head restraints: the head re-
straints have been properly adjusted.
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye with
great force, things you have on your lap or have placed on the seat could become dangerous pro­
jectiles , and be pushed into you if the airbag in­
flates .
When an a irbag deploys, fine dust is released .
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the
veh icle. This dust is made up mostly of a powder
Airbag system
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy. It
could irritate skin.
It is important to remember that while the sup­
plementa l airbag system is designed to red uce
the likelihood of serious injuries, other injuries,
for example swelling, bruising and minor abra­
s ions, can also happen when airbags inflate. Air­
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body. Front airbags supplement the three­
point safety belts on ly in some frontal collisions
in which the vehicle deceleration is high e nough
to deploy the airbags .
Front airbags will not deploy:
- if the ignition is switched off when a crash oc-
curs,
- in side collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by the
airbag system is less than the m inimum thresh­
old needed for airbag deployment as registe red
by the electronic control unit.
The front passenger airbag also will not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the electr ica l capacitance measured by
the capacitive passenger detection system for
the front passenger seat indicates that the pas­
senger side frontal a irbag must be switched off
by the electronic control unit (the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light¢ page 155 and how they
work comes on and stays on).
A WARNING
-Sitt ing in the wrong position can increase the
risk of ser ious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the airbags
inflate, the drive r and passengers must al­
ways sit in an up right position, must not
lea n against or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are
located .
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of position
or too close to the airbag can be seriously
injured by an airbag as it unfolds with great
force in the blink of an eye¢
page 144. ~
153

Airbag system
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat instal­
led on the front passenger seat will be seri ­
ously injured and can be killed if the front air­
bag inflates - even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child 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-facing child seats on the
rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear­
facing child seat in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds or by be­
ing pushed into you as the airbag inflates .
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle 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 airbags dur­
ing braking or other sudden maneuvers and
become dangerous projectiles that can
cause serious personal injury if the airbags
inflate.
- Never place or attach accessories or other
objects (such as cup holders, telephone
brackets , large, heavy or bulky objects) on
the doors, over or near the area marked "A IRBAG" on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel, seat backrests or between
those areas and yourself. These objects
could cause injury in a crash, especially
when the airbags inflate .
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag or the front air-
154
-
bag during braking or in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects near the airbags can become
projectiles and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined.
- Never place or transport objects on the
front passenger seat. Objects on the front passenger seat could cause the capacitive
sensor in the seat to signal to airbag system
that the seat is occupied by a person when it
in fact is not , or that the person on the seat
is heavier than he or she actually is. The
change in electric capacitance because of
such objects can cause the passenger front
airbag to be turned on when it should be
off, or can cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it would have
worked without objects on the seat.
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The presence of an ob­
ject could cause the passenger front airbag to be turned on when it should be off, or
could cause the airbag to work in a way that is different from the way it would have
worked without the object on the seat.
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy can
cause breathing problems for people with a history of asthma or other breathing condi­
tions .
- To reduce the risk of breathing problems,
those with asthma or other respiratory con­
ditions should get fresh air right away by
getting out of the vehicle or opening win­
dows or doors .
- If you are in a collision in which airbags de­
ploy , wash your hands and face with mild
soap and water before eating.
- Be careful not to get the dust into your eyes,
or into any cuts or scratches.
- If the residue should get into your eyes,
flush them with water .

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Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
~ ( USA models) / !f (Canada models )
Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function of
the Advanced Airbag System: the airbag moni­ toring indicator light and the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light.
The Advanced Airbag System as we ll as the side
a ir bags and side curtain airbags with eject ion
mitigation features (including the e lectronic con­
trol unit, sensors and system w iring) are all
monitored co nti nuously to make sure that they
are funct io ni ng properly whenever the ignition is
on. Every t ime you turn on the ignition, the air­
bag system ind icator light
1B (USA models)/ El
(C an ada models) will come on for a few seconds
(f unction check).
The system must be inspected when the
indicator light
II ( USA models) / m
( Canada models) :
-does not come on when the ignition is switched
on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you have switched on the ign ition, or
- comes on w hile d riving .
I f an airbag system malf unct ion is detected, the
i ndicator lig ht w ill c ome on to se rve as a consta nt
reminder to h ave the system inspected immedi­
a tely .
I f a malfunction occurs that turns the front air­
bag on the passenger side off, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay on
whenever the ignit io n is on .
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning prop­
er ly cannot provide supp lemental protection
in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator l ight
c:::> page 17
comes when the vehicle is be ing used, have
the system inspected immed iate ly by your
authorized Aud i dealer. It is possible that
Airbag system
the airbag will inflate when it is not sup­
posed to, or w ill not inf late w hen it should.
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
F ig . 14 0 Center console: passenger a irbag off warning
light
The PASS ENG ER AIR BAG OFF light is located in
the center of the inst rument panel
c:::> fig . 140.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light w ill come on
and stay on to tell you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off by the electronic contro l unit. If the b ulb for the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light bur ns out, the
airbag indicato r ligh t
fl (USA models)/ El
(Canada models) w ill come on to signa l a ma l­
f unct ion in the Advanced Airbag System. A l­
though the burned -out bu lb wi ll not change the
way the front passenger's fronta l airbag works, it
will no longer be possible to use the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light to make sure that the a irbag
on/off status is correct for the occupant on the
front passenger seat. Have the airbag system in­
spected immediately by your authorized A udi
dealer.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will blink
for about 5 seconds when:
- the ignition is switched on and
- the capacitive passenger detection system,
which switches the fro nt seat passenger's fron ­
tal Advanced Airbag on and off, detects a
change in the status of the front passenger
seat.
As soon as the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
stops blinking, always make sure that the airbag
status (on or off) as shown by the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light is proper for the age, size and ..,.
155