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118
Airbag system
- Never put the forward-facing child re-
straint up against or very near the instru-
ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible, before installing
the forward-facing child restraint. The
backrest must be adjusted to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
lot ofvery important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include the
weight-sensing mat, sensors, wiring, brack-
ets, and more. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
electronic control unit wh en the ignition is on.
The control unit monitors the Advanced Air-
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
light on when a malfunction in the system
components is detected. The function of the
airbag indicator light is described in greater
detail below. Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad-
vanced Airbag System, you must take care to
prevent it from being damaged. Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag 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 Air-
bag System about the seve rity 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 "decides" 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 in-
side the instrument panel for the front pas-
senger.
- A weight-sensing mat under the upholstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The information registered is sent continu-
ously to the electronic control unit to regu-
la te deployment of the front Advanced Air-
bag on the passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster e;,page 122.
- The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instru-
ment panel e;,page 122, fig. 115 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been turned off.
- A sensor below the safety belt latch for the
front seat passenger to measure the tension
on the safety belt. The tension on the safety
belt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat help the control unit
"decide" whether the front airbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not e;,page 113, Child restraints on the
front seat - same important things to
know.
- A sensor in the saf-ety belt latch for the d riv-
er and for the front seàt 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
prevent the front airbag from working
properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the
front passenger and driver seat will pre-
vent 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 place them on the seat. If the weight-
sensing mat in the passenger seat is
punctured it cannot work properly.
_ Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat. Such
items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-sensing mat and send the
wrong information to the airbag control
unit.
_ Never store items under the front pas-
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air-
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper-
ly.
_ Never place seat covers or replacement
upholstery that have not been specifical-
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing child re-
straints or occupants on the front pas-
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop-
erly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional padding will prevent
the weight-sensing mat in the seat from
accurately registering the child restraint
or person on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function-
ing properly.
- Ifyou must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re-
straint manufacturer's instructions re-
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re-
straint is installed on the front passen-
ger seat.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi-
ately install child restraint in a rear seat-
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of-
fered by the front three-point safety belts
;"'ith pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustable head restraints to help reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor-
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter.
Deployment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the activation of the safety belt preten-
sioners depend on the deceleration measured.
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control unit. Crash severity depends
on speed and deceleration as well as the mass
and stiffness of the vehicle or object involved
in the crash.
When the electronic control unit registers a
low severity crash and the safety belt is being
used, the airbag will not deploy. If the safety
belt is not being used, the first stage deploys,
followed by the second stage after a much lat-
er time in the crash sequence.
Ifthe electronic control unit registers a crash
of medium seve rity, the first stage of the air-
bag deploys followed by the second stage at a
much later time in the crash sequence - re-
gardless of whether the safety belt is being
used or not. In higher severity crashes as reg-
istered by the electronic control unit, both the
first and second stages deploy almost at the
same time.
On the passenger side, regardless of safety
belt use, the airbag will be turned off ifthe
weight on the passenger seat is less than the
amount programmed in the electronic control.
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