-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.
-I f 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. 2 49 Driver 's knee a irbag
The driver knee airbag is in the instrument panel
u nderneath the steering whee l
~fig. 249, 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 287, More important things to know
about front airbags.
293
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.
q ,&.
_& WARNING
- T urn the engine off.
- Switch the ign ition off .
- Set the parking brake .
- Shift the gearshift lever to neutral in vehicles with a manual transm ission and se
lect the P selecto r lever pos ition in vehicles
with an automatic transmission.
- Let the engine coo l down .
- Never open the hood when there is steam or coolant escaping from the eng ine compart
ment, because there is a risk that you cou ld
be burned. Wait until no steam or coolant is
escaping.
- Keep ch ildren away from the engine com
partment.
- Never spill f lu ids on a hot engine. These flu
ids (such as the anti-freezing agent con
ta ined in the coolant) can ignite .
- Avoid sho rt circu its in the electrical system.
- Whe n 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 in jury.
- Never open the cap on the coolant expan
sion tank when the eng ine is warm. The
cooling system is under pressure.
- T o protect your face, hands, and arms from
hot steam or coolant, cove r the cap with a
large cloth when opening .
- Do not remove the engine cover under any
c ircumstances. This increases the risk of
burns .
330
-If tests need to be performed with the en
gine running, there is add itiona l danger due
to mov ing components (such as the r ibbed
belt, 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 veh i
cle is stat ionary but the eng ine is r unning
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
when work on the fue l system is required :
- Do not smoke.
- Never work near open flames.
-Always have a working fire extinguisher
nearby .
-All work on the battery or electrical system
in your vehicle can result in inju ries, chemi
cal b urns, acc idents or burns. Because of
this, all work must be performed
onl y by an
author iz ed Audi dealer or authori zed Audi
Serv ice Facili ty .
-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- vo ltage ign ition system
- If you must che ck or perform wo rk on the
engine whi le it is running:
-First, set the parking brake and and move
the gearshift lever to neutral (for manual
transm issions) or select the P selector lev
er posit ion (for automatic transm issions) .
- Always proceed with extreme caution so
that clothing, jewelry or long hair do not become caught in the rad iator fan, fan
belt or other moving components or do
not come into contact with hot compo
nents. Tie bac k long hair befo re beginn ing
work and do not wear clothing that can
hang down into the engine.
-Lim it yo ur exposure to exhaust and chemi
cals to as short a time as possible
q .&. .