2017 AUDI S4 ABS

Airbag system
-Therefore, always wear your safety belts and
make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained.
- Always hold the steering wheel with both
hands on the outside of the steering wheel
rim at the 9:00 o 'clock and 3 :00 o'clock po­
sitions to help reduce the risk of personal in ­
jury if the driver's airbag inflates .
- Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the steering wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of
severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the driver airbag deploys.
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 and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Always make sure nothing is in the front air-
-
bag deployment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates.
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag de­
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your lap when the vehicle is in use .
- Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never attach then to the doors or the wind­
shield; never place them over or near or at­
tach them to the area marked ,.AIRBAG" on
the steering wheel, instrument panel or the
seat backrests; never place them between
these areas and you or any other person in
the vehicle.
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such as
accessory GPS navigation units or music
players. Such objects could cause serious in­
jury in a collision, especially when the air­ bags inflate .
258
-Never recline the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side airbags or
the front airbag during breaking or in a sud­
den maneuver . Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerously through the passenger com­
partment and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in­
flate.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­
cially infants and small children, will receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be­ ing too close to the airbag when it inflates .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
-
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un­
der these special conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy in
accordance with the .,low risk" option for 3-
and 6-year-old children under the U.S . Fed­
eral Standard if a child with electrical capac­
itance greater than the combined capaci­
tance of a typical one-year old infant re­
strained in one of the forward facing or rear­
ward-facing child seats with which your ve­
hicle was certified is on the front passenger
seat and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
208 , as well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety ..,.

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.
A 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 253 .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld safety seat
installed on the front passenge r seat w ill be
ser iously injured and can be killed i f the front
airbag inflates -even w ith an Advanced Ai rbag
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 guaran­
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 safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest , door,
o r roof .
- Always install rearward -facing ch ild re ­
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of exceptiona l circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does not
c ome on and stay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler.
260
A 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
no t, or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person ac tually
si tting on the sea t. T he presence of addi­
tional objects 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 d ifferent 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
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 ..,.

-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

Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats can help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and 80
lbs. (18 kg and 36 kg) who are less than 4
ft. 9
in. (57 inches/1.45 meters) tall.
Fig. 233 Rear seat: child p roper ly restrained in a booster
seat
The vehicle's safety belts alone will not fit most
children until they are at least 4
ft. 9 in. (57 in­
ches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about 80 lbs.
(36 kg). Booster seats raise these ch ildren up so
that the safety belt will pass properly over the
stronger parts of their bodies and the safety belt
can help protect them in a crash.
.,. Do not use the convertible locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety belt to restrain
a chi ld on a booster seat .
.. The shoulder belt must lie as close to the cen­
ter of the child's collar bone as possible and must lie flat and snug on the upper body. It
must never lie across the throat or neck. The
lap belt must lie across the pelvis and never
across the stomach or abdomen. Make sure the
belt lies flat and snug. Pull on the belt to tight­
en if necessary .
.,. If you must transport an older chi ld in a boos­
ter seat on the front passenger seat, you can
use the safety belt height adjustment to help
adjust the shoulder portion properly .
.. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
r:=>page 283.
Children up to at least 8 years old (over 40 lbs. or
18 kg) are best protected in child safety seats de­
signed for their age and we ight. Experts say that
the skeletal structure, part icularly the pelvis, of
these children is not fully developed, and they
Child safety
must not use the vehicle safety belts without a
suitable child restraint.
It is usually best to put these children in appro­
priate booster seats. Be sure the booster seat
meets all applicab le safety standards .
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and reposition both the lap and shoulder
parts of the safety belt so that they pass across
the child's body in the right places. The routing of
the be lt over the chi ld's body is very important
for the ch ild's protection, whether or not a boos­
ter seat is used. Children age 12 and under must
always ride in the rear seat.
Children who are at least 4
ft. 9 in. (57 inches/
1.45 meters) tall can generally use the vehicle's
three point lap and shoulder belts . Never use the
lap belt portion of the vehicle's safety belt alone
to restrain any ch ild, regard less of how big the
ch ild is. Always remember that child ren do not
have the pronounced pelvic structure required for
the proper function of lap be lt portion of the ve­
hicle's three point lap and shoulder belts. The
child's safety absolutely requires that a lap belt
portion of the safety belt be fastened snug ly and
as low as possible around the pe lvis. Never let
the lap belt portion of the safety belt pass over
the child's stomach or abdomen .
In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink of
an eye and with considerab le force. In order to do
its job, the airbag needs room to inflate so that it
will be there to protect the occupant as the occu­
pant moves forward into the airbag .
A vehicle occ upant who is out of position and too
close to the a irbag gets in the way of an inflating
airbag. When an occupant is too close , he or she
will be struck violently and w ill receive serious or
possibly even fata l injury .
In order for the airbag to offer protect ion, it is
important that all vehicle occupants, especially
any children , who must be in the front seat be­
cause of exceptiona l circumstances, be properly
restrained and as far away from t he airbag as
poss ible. By keeping room between the child's ..,_
287

and have the cooling system inspected. If the
cooling system is not leaking, a loss can come
from the coolant boiling through overheating and being pushed out of the cooling system.
A WARNING
- The cooling system is under pressure. Do
not open the coolant expansion tank cap
when the engine is hot. This increases the
risk of burns .
- The coolant add itive and the coolant can be
dangerous to your health. For this reason,
keep the coolant in the original container
and away from children. There is a risk of
poisoning.
- When working in the engine compartment,
remember that the radiator fan can switch
on even if the ignition is switched off, which
increases the risk of injury.
(D Note
Do not add coolant if the expansion tank is
empty. There may be a ir in the cooling sys­
tem, which increases the risk of engine dam­
age . If this is the case, do not continue driv­
ing . See an authorized Audi dealer or author­
ized Audi Service Facility for assistance.
Brake fluid
Checking brake fluid level
The brake fluid level can be checked with a quick
glance .
Fig. 250 Engine compa rtment: Cover o n the brake fluid
rese rvoir
Before you check anything in the eng ine compart ­
ment,
always read and heed all WARNINGS
Checking and Filling
c::> .&. in Working in the engine compartment on
page 304.
" Read the brake fluid level from the brake fluid
reservoir
c::> fig. 250, c::> page 306, fig. 247. The
brake fluid level must be between the "MIN"
and "MAX" markings.
The brake flu id reservoir is located at the rear
partition of the engine compartment on the left
side
~ page 306 .
The fluid level may drop slightly after some time
due to the automatic adjustment of the brake
pads . This is not cause for alarm.
If the brake fluid level falls considerably below
the "MIN" mark, the brake warning/indicato r
light (USA models:
11111 , Canada models : II>
will come on c::> page 29. Do not continue to oper­
ate the vehicle. The complete brake system
should be thoroughly checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop and the cause
corrected . If the brake fluid level is too low, the
brake warning/indicator light will illuminate .
Contact an authorized Audi dealer
immediately .
@ Tips
The brake fluid reservoir is located under­
neath the cover.
Changing brake fluid
Hove the broke fluid changed by on experienced
technician.
Brake fluid absorbs moisture from the air. If the
water content in the brake fluid is too high, cor­
rosion in the brake system may result after ape­
riod of time. The boiling point of the brake fluid
will also decrease considerably and decrease braking performance .
Therefore, the brake fluid must be changed
every
two years .
Always use new brake fluid which con­
forms to Federal Motor Vehicle Standard "FMVSS
116 DOT 4" .
The brake fluid reservoir can be difficult to reach,
therefore, we recommend that you have the brake fluid changed by your authorized
Audi
dealer.
Your dealer has the correct tools, the
311

Check ing and F illing
right brake fluid and the know -how to do this for
you.
A WARNING
- Brake fluid is poisonous. It must be stored
only in the closed orig inal container out of
the reach of chi ldren!
- B rake failure can resu lt from old or inappro­
pr iate brake flu id. Observe these precau­
t ions:
- Use on ly brake fluid that mee ts SA E speci ­
fi cation) 17 0 3 and confo rms to Fede ral
Motor Ve hicle Standard 116. Always check
wit h your authorized Audi dealer to make
sure you are using the correct brake fluid.
The cor rect type o f brake fluid is a lso indi­
cated on the brake fluid reservoir.
- The brake fluid must be new. Heavy use of
the brakes can cause a vapor lock if the
brake flu id is left in the system too long.
This ca n ser iously affect t he efficiency of
the bra kes as well as your safety. This
could result in an acc ident.
{U) Note
Brake fluid w ill damage the pa int of yo ur vehi­
cle.
@ For the sake of the environment
Because of the prob lem of proper disposal of
brake flu id as we ll as the special tools re­
quired and the necessary expertise, we rec­
ommend tha t you have the brake fluid
changed by your author ized Audi d ealer.
Battery
General information
Unde r normal operating conditions, the battery
i n your Audi does not need any maintenance.
W ith
high outs ide temperat ures o r long da ily
d rives we recommend that you have the electro­
lyte leve l checked by an a uth orized Audi dea le r or
qua lified wor kshop. The e lectroly te leve l should
a lso be checked each time the batte ry is ch a rged
¢ page 314.
312
Have t he battery chec ke d when yo u take yo ur ve ­
hicle in for service . You are we ll advised to re­
place a battery that is o lder than 5 yea rs .
With ce rta in types o f airbag deployment, t he
b atte ry is disconnected from the veh icle elect ri­
ca l system for safety reasons ¢.&
in Repair, care
and disposal of the airbags on page 268.
Disconnecting the battery terminals
Some ve hicl e fu nctions (power window regula ­
tors, for examp le) are lost if the batte ry te rm i­
nals a re disconnected . These f unc tions have to be
relearned after the battery term inals are con­
nected again . To p revent this, the battery should
o nl y be disconnected from the vehicle electrical
system when absolute ly necessary for repairs.
Vehicles not driven for long periods
If you do not d rive yo ur vehicle ove r a period of
severa l days o r weeks, electr ica l components are
grad ua lly cut back or switched of f. T his reduces
energy consumpt ion and maintains start ing ca­
pability over a longer period ¢
page 138.
Some of the convenience functions may not oper­
ate, such as the inter ior lights or the power seat
adjustment . The convenience functions will be
available again w hen you turn on the ignit io n and
start the eng ine .
Winter operation
Dur ing the winte r months, battery capacity tends
to decrease as tempe ratures drop. This is be ­
ca use more power is also consumed while start­
i ng, and t he headlights, rear w indow defogger,
etc ., are used more often.
Avo id unnecessary powe r consumption, partic u­
l a rly in city traffic or when traveling o nly short
distances . Let your author ized Audi dealer check
the capacity of the vehicle battery before win ter
sets in ¢
page 314 . A well charged battery will
n ot only p reve nt sta rting prob lems when the
we ather is co ld , but will also last longer.
@ Tips
I f yo ur vehicle is left sta nding for several
weeks at extreme ly low te mpera tures, th e ve-
h icl e b att ery should be re mo ved and store d
II>-

&_ WARNING . -
-Only use tire/rim combina-tions and suitable wheel bolts
that have been approved by
Audi. Otherwise, damage to
the vehicle and an accident
could result.
-For technical reasons, it is not possible to use tires from oth­
er vehicles - in some cases,
you cannot even use tires from
the same vehicle model.
-Make sure that the tires you select have enough clearance
to the vehicle. Replacement
tires should not be chosen simply based on the nominal
size, because tires with a dif­
ferent construction can differ
greatly even if they are the
same size. If there is not
enough clearance, the tires or
the vehicle can be damaged
and this can reduce driving
safety and increase the risk of
an accident.
-Only use tires that are more than six years old when abso­
lutely necessary and drive
carefully when doing so.
-If you install wheel covers on
the vehicle, make sure they al­ low enough air circulation to
Wheels
cool the brake system. If they
do not, this could increase the
risk of an accident.
Tire wear/damage
Fig. 254 Tire profile: treadwear indica­
tor
Tire wear
Check the tires regularly for wear.
-Inflation pressure that is too low or high can increase tire wear
considerably.
-Driving quickly through curves,
rapid acceleration and heavy
braking increase tire wear.
-Have an authorized Audi dealer or authorized Audi Service Facili­
ty check the wheel alignment if
there is unusual wear.
-Have the wheels rebalanced if an imbalance is causing noticeable
vibration in the steering wheel.
If you do not, the tires and other
vehicle components could wear more quickly. .,..
325

<( a, .... N ,....
N .... 0 0
3 a,
significantly under-inflated tire causes the tire to
overheat and can lead to tire failure. Under-infla­
tion also reduces fue l eff ic iency and tire tread
life, and may affect the vehicle's hand ling and
stopping ab ility.
Please note that the TPMS is not a substitute for
proper tire ma intenance, and it is the driver's re­
sponsib ility to ma intain correct tire pressure,
even if under-inflation has not reached the leve l
to tr igger illum inat io n of the TPMS low tire p res­
sure telltale .
Your veh icle has also been equ ipped w ith a TPMS
malfunct ion indicator to indicate when the sys­
tem is not operat ing properly. The TPMS mal­
function ind icator is combined w ith the low tire
p ressure tellta le. Whe n the system detects a
malfunct ion, the te lltale will flash fo r approxi­
mate ly one m inute and then remain cont inuo usly
illum inated. This sequence will continue upon
subseq uent ve hicle start -ups as long as the ma l­
function exists.
When t he mal funct io n ind icator is ill umin ated,
the system may not be ab le to detec t or signal
l ow tire pressure as intended. TPMS ma lfunctions
may occur for a variety of reasons, incl uding the
installation of replacement or alternate t ires or
wheels on the vehicle that prevent the TPMS from functioning properly. Always check the
TPMS malfunction telltale after rep lacing one or
more t ires or whee ls on your ve hicle to ensu re
that the replacement or alte rnate ti res and
wheels a llow the TPMS to con tinue to func tion
p roperly.
If the Tire Pressure Monitoring System
indicator appears
The tire pressure indicator in the instrument
cluster informs you if the tire pressure is too low
or if there is a system mo/function.
Using the ABS sensors, the tire pressure mo nitor ­
ing system compa res the tire tread circ umfe r­
ence an d vib ration cha racteristics of the individ u­
a l tires. If the pressure changes in one or more
tires, this is ind icated in the instrument cluster
d isp lay with an
RE indicator light and a message.
Wh eel s
If only one tire is affected, the location of that
t ir e will be indicated.
T he tire press ures mus t be store d in the Infot ain­
ment system again each t ime the pressures
change (switching between partia l and full load
pressure) or after changing or replacing a tire on
yo ur vehicle ¢
page 336 . The tire p ressure mon i­
toring indicator only monitors the t ire press ure
you have sto red. Refer to the tire pressure labe l
for the recommended tire press ure for your vehi­
cle
¢page 327, fig. 256 .
Tire tread circumference and vibration cha racter ­
istics can change and cause a tire pressu re warn­
i ng if:
- the t ire pressure in one or more tires is too low.
- the ti res have structure damage .
- t he t ire w as rep lace d or the t ire pressu re
changed and it was no t store d aga in
¢page 336.
-only partially used tires a re rep laced w it h new
tires .
Indicator lights
RE-Loss of pressu re in at leas t one tire¢ &.
Check the tires and repla ce or repair if necessary.
C heck/co rrect the pressures on all fou r tires and
store the pressure again in the Infotainment sys­
tem ¢
page 336 .
m (T ire Pressure Moni tor ing Sys tem) Tire
pres sure: malfunction! See owner' s manual.
If
m appea rs a fter swi tching the ignition on or
whi le driving and the
RE indicator light in the in ­
strument cl uster b links for app roximately one
minute and then stays on, the re is system ma l­
funct ion. Try to store the correct tire pressu res
¢
page 336. In some cases, yo u m ust dr ive fo r
severa l m inu tes after s toring the pressu res unt il
the indicator lig ht turns off . If the indica tor light
does not turn off or turns on agai n afte r a short
per io d of t ime, dr ive to a n author ized Audi dealer
o r auth o rized Aud i Serv ice F acili ty immedia tely to
have the mal func tion cor rected.
IJI.
335