
-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  ..,