Passenger airbag and seat belt warnings coming on (dealer can't duplicate)

[S3DUDE]

Fellow RS3 owners I have been getting messages on my left side of the cluster. Initially I will get the passenger airbag intermittent beeps with a narrative saying pasenger airbag on. A few minutes later I would get a beeping sound for my seatbelt and it would be followed by the red seat belt symbol plus a narrative on the cluster.

I took the car to the dealer to read any codes and they can't find anything. It happened again, same pattern, beeps, messages. My service advisor told me try not put my phone on the passenger seat. To clarify, YES, I always wear the seatbelt and the beeping comes when I had it on for a few minutes. Also, no other weight is on the seat other than a hat, my wallet or my phone.

Are you guys getting similar discrepancies? Are the two systems (seatbelt and airbags) even "connected" with the same module?

[Razzaa]

Fellow RS3 owners I have been getting messages on my left side of the cluster. Initially I will get the passenger airbag intermittent beeps with a narrative saying pasenger airbag on. A few minutes later I would get a beeping sound for my seatbelt and it would be followed by the red seat belt symbol plus a narrative on the cluster.

I took the car to the dealer to read any codes and they can't find anything. It happened again, same pattern, beeps, messages. My service advisor told me try not put my phone on the passenger seat. To clarify, YES, I always wear the seatbelt and the beeping comes when I had it on for a few minutes. Also, no other weight is on the seat other than a hat, my wallet or my phone.

Are you guys getting similar discrepancies? Are the two systems (seatbelt and airbags) even "connected" with the same module?

The system is very sensitive. If I put my phone on the passenger seat, the air bag turns on.

[chris3g]

The passenger airbag system is capacitive, your phone sets it off because of the electrical charge, not the weight. The dealer is correct, the solution is not to put a phone on the passenger seat.

[MichiganRS3]

Have them check PODS module for codes.

[RSThree]

This happened to me last night as well, but I'm pretty sure it was because I put my laptop bag on the passenger seat.

It kept throwing the code even after I removed the bag and restarted the car, but putting the bag back on the seat and removing it again fixed it (for now at least, still no code as of this morning).

Also I found that the seatbelt warning was actually for the passenger side, so if you can't stand the chimes or get it to stop, try buckling the passenger side belt. That cleared the seatbelt warning and dinging for me (though didn't clear the supplemental restraint warning).

[davebeats]

This has happened to me a few times as well, just started occurring and will keep an eye on it.

[S3DUDE]

Have them check PODS module for codes.

I left the car with them for 4 hours and they couldn't find anything, not a single code. The creepy part is that I get both warnings (airbags and seatbelt). I am going to keep this topic open and see if I can resolve the issue with just not putting the phone on the seat.

[S3DUDE]

This has happened to me a few times as well, just started occurring and will keep an eye on it.

On both issues? airbag and seatbelt?

[davebeats]

On both issues? airbag and seatbelt?

Yes, airbag for front and backseat I believe for the seatbelt when I left my laptop bag on the seat

[MichiganRS3]

I left the car with them for 4 hours and they couldn't find anything, not a single code. The creepy part is that I get both warnings (airbags and seatbelt). I am going to keep this topic open and see if I can resolve the issue with just not putting the phone on the seat.

I got same things. I used to put laptop / iPad / phone on seat. Happened once after I stopped putting them there, then never again. 2 stored codes on PODS (Passenger Occupancy Detection System) module.

[S3DUDE]

This is a small update, it happened again, air bag on message while having the iPhone on the seat, this time I was able to remove the phone out of the seat quickly and all the sudden the message changed to Airbag Off. This is a little bit more information towards narrowing down. Obviously there must be something about the phone that interfere because I don't think the weight is the culprit, I am always carrying stuff on my passenger seat.

I wonder if any other similar electronics(lap top, iPad) would cause the same issue. I spoke with my service advisor and told him that I opened this topic so the more that you guys can provide for feedback the better we are be informed.

[MichiganRS3]

This is a small update, it happened again, air bag on message while having the iPhone on the seat, this time I was able to remove the phone out of the seat quickly and all the sudden the message changed to Airbag Off. This is a little bit more information towards narrowing down. Obviously there must be something about the phone that interfere because I don't think the weight is the culprit, I am always carrying stuff on my passenger seat.

I wonder if any other similar electronics(lap top, iPad) would cause the same issue. I spoke with my service advisor and told him that I opened this topic so the more that you guys can provide for feedback the better we would be informed.

It’s the PODS module. It’s affected negatively when electronics are placed on the passenger seat.

[SmittStarr]

As a note on this, I had a similar issue except unrelated to electronics on the seat. Suddenly while driving, the safety systems and airbag for passenger deactivated and threw warning lights at me. Few minutes later, cleared itself. This ended up happening five times (with and without a passenger in the seat). Took it to dealer, they discovered error codes related to passenger sensor. New sensor module for passenger seat was ordered and installed, no issues since.

[fusQer]

2021 SQ7 with luxury seat package. Same issue as you guys-- phone plugged in and sitting on the passenger seat triggers seat belt warning. Took it to the dealer, they said "on page 76 of the owners manual it says you cannot put electronics on the seats". I was flabbergasted!!!!!!!!

[DrBoost]

If u can't put it on the passenger seat you would think Audi would come up with a nice place to put it other than in the tiny console with your sunglasses or in the useless cup holders that are under the temp controls!!

Sent from my LM-V405 using Audizine Forum mobile app

[Optyks]

FYI there is an open recall from March 2021 on the passenger PODS module. No fix yet that I've heard which sucks