-For safety reasons in severe accidents, the
alternator and starter are separated from
the vehicle battery with a pyrotechn ic circuit
interrupter.
- Work on the pyrotechnic circ uit interrupt
er must only be performed by a qualified
technicians who have the experience, in
formation and special tools necessary to
perform the work safely.
- If the vehicle or the circuit interrupter is
scrapped, all app licab le safety precautions
must be followed .
@) For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modu les a nd pretension
ers might be classified as Perch lorate Materi
al -special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc .ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo
rate. When the vehicle or parts of the re
straint system including airbag modules and
safety belts with pretensioners are scrapped,
all applicable laws and regulations must be
observed. Your authorized Audi dealer is fa
m iliar with these requi rements a nd we recom
mend t hat you have you r dealer perform this
service for you.
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
Changing the vehicle's suspension system can
change the way that the Advanced Airbag System
performs in a crash . For example, using tire-r im
comb inat ions not approved by Audi, lowering the
ve hicl e, chang ing the stiffness of the suspens io n,
in clud ing the spr ings, suspens ion str uts, shock
absorbers et c. can change the forces that are
measured by the airbag sensors and sent to the
e lectronic contro l unit. Some suspension changes
can, for example, increase the force levels meas
ured by the sensors and make the airbag system
deploy in crashes in wh ich it would not deploy if
the changes had not been made. Other ki nds of
changes may reduce the fo rce levels meas ured by
the sensors and prevent the airbag from deploy
in g when i t should .
Airbag sys tem
A WARNING
-Changing the vehicle's suspension including
use of unapproved tire-rim combinations can
change Advanced Airbag performance and in
crease the risk of serious persona l injury in a
crash.
- Never install suspension components that
do not have the same pe rformance charac
teristics as the components o rigina lly ins tal
led on your vehicle.
- Never use tire-rim combinations t hat have
not been approved by Audi.
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supplemen
tal protection to prop erly restrained front sea t
occupants.
F ig. 223 D river 's knee a irbag
The driver knee airbag is in the instrument panel
u nderneath the steering whee l
~fig. 223, the
airbag fo r the p asse nger is at about the same
height in the instr ument pane l underneath the
glove compa rtment.
T he knee airbag offers add itiona l protection to
the driver's and passenge r's knees and uppe r and
lower thigh areas and supp lements the protec
tion provided by the safety be lts .
If the front airbags deploy, the knee airbags a lso
deploy in fron tal coll is ions when the deploymen t
threshold stored in the cont rol un it is me t
~ page 263, More important things to know
about front airbags.
269
Check ing and F illing
Engine compartment
Working in the engine compartment
Special care is required if you are working in the
engine compartment
Fo r wo rk in th e engine compa rtmen t, s uch as
c h ec kin g and filli ng flu id s, th ere is a risk of in
j u ry, sc aldin g, ac cide nts, a nd b urn s. For this
rea son, foll ow all the warning s and gener al
s a fe ty p recaution s pr ov ided in the f ollow ing in·
f o rm ation . Th e en gine c omp artmen t is a dan
ger ous are a.
¢ ,&.
_& WARNING
- T urn the engine off.
- Switch the ign ition off .
- Set the parking brake .
- Select the P selector lever pos ition .
- let the engine cool down.
- Never open the hood if you can see steam or coolant escaping from the engine compart
ment, because th is increases the r isk of
burns . Wait until no steam or coolant is es
caping .
- Keep ch ildren away from the engine com
partment .
- Never spill flu ids on a hot engine. These flu
ids (such as the anti -freezing agent con
ta ined in the coolant) can ignite .
- Avoid short circu its in the electrical system,
especially to the battery .
- When working in the engine compartment,
remember that the rad iator fan can sw itch
on even if the ign ition is switched off, which
increases the risk of injury .
- Never open the cap on the coolant expan sion tank when the eng ine is warm. The
cooling system is under pressu re .
- To protect your face, hands, and arms from
hot steam or coolant, cover the cap with a
large cloth when opening.
- Do not remove the engine cover under any
circumstances. This increases the risk of
burns.
- If tests need to be performed w ith the en
gine running, there is additional danger d ue
304
to moving components (such as the ribbed
be lt, alternator and rad iator fan) and from
the high-voltage ignition system.
- Do not under any circumstances activate the
throttle inadvertently (for example, by hand
from the engine compartment) if the vehi
cle is stat ionary but the eng ine is running
and a gear is engaged . Otherwise, the veh i
cle will start to move immediately and this
could result in an acc ident.
- Pay attent ion to the following warnings list
ed when wor k on the fue l system o r on the
electrical equipment is req uired.
- Always disconnect the vehicle battery
from the vehicle electrical system.
- Do not smoke .
- Never work near open flames.
- Always have a working fire extinguisher
nearby
- To reduce the r isk of e lectr ic shock and in
jury, never touch the follow ing components
when the engine is running or is being start
ed:
- Ign ition cable
- Other components in the electronic high-
voltage ign ition system
- If you must check or perform work on the engine whi le it is running:
- Set the parking brake and place the selec
tor lever in the P (park) pos ition first.
- Always proceed w ith extreme cau tion so
that clothing, jewelry or long hair do not become ca ught in the rad iator fan, fan
belt or other moving components or do
not come into contact with hot compo
nents. Tie back long hair before beginning
work and do not wear clothing that can hang down into the engine .
- Limit your exposure to exhaust and chemi
cals to as short a time as possible¢.&. .
_& WARNING
California Proposition 65 Warning :
- Engine exhaust, some of its constituents,
and certa in vehicle components conta in or
emit chemicals known to the State of Cali-
fornia to cause cancer and birth defects and ..,