brakes VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2004 User Guide

Improper us e of power was hers can ca use riou s, invisib le and permane nt tir e damage leading to tire failure and los s of vehicle
Neve r wash tires with a jet that sprays the water out in a direct strea m eve n from a ta n ce or fo r a v ery sh ort time.
3.2 Tips and Advice
tances.
Carefull y apply brakes for a te st.
few cautious brake applicat ions.
A lwa ys read and heed all 13,
The underbody of the ve hicl e is coated to help prot ect it from corrosion and
damage.
The undercoat ing could be da m age d during
normal use but, particularly when dri vin g
road. recommend th at the undercoa ting un
th e ve hicle and the prot ective coat ings on th e
s u sp en sion be in sp ec te d, an d re paired if n eces­
sary, bef o re and after the winter season.
R
epair wo rk and additio nal undercoating
s hou ld be carried out onl y by an a uth orized Volkswage n deale r or qualified workshop .
the engine compartment
The sys tem gets very ho t when the hicle is drive n and can cause fir e res ultin g in serious pe rso na l injury.
Neve r a ppl y additional undercoating or rust proofin g on or near the exl ta u st manifold,
exl ta ust pip es, catalytic conve rter or heat shie ld s.
Be especially carefu l w hen cleaning the engine compartment!
Anti-corrosion treotment
The engine compartment is treated at t h e page 39.
Good corro sion protection is pa rti cularl y impor­
tant in th e w inter where road salt is used. To ve nt salt damage , th e en tir e e ng in e ment should be th orou ghly cleaned befor e and after th e salt ing perio d.
Your authorized
Volk swag en dealer has th e right cleane rs and prese rva tives and th e
ommend hav ing this w ork perform ed by an thorize d Volkswage n dea ler.
Corr osio n prot ection i s re mov ed when th e engin e compart m ent is cleaned with grea se
s ol ve nts. th e engin e is cleaned , m ake s
ur e th at corrosion protec
tion is app lied to surfaces, seams, jo in ts and co mponents in the
e n g in e compartment.
Plenum
Remove leaves from th e plenum in front of the w indshie ld unde r th e e ngin e hood. Hcmovi ng
l eaves and d ebris reg ularl y he lp s preve nt th e
wate r dr ain ho les from beco min g bloc ke d, and it
h elps to preve nt debris from gettin g in sid e th e
ve hicl e throu gh th e heati ng and ventilation ducts.
The en gin e compartment of any motor ve hicl e
is a potentially dangerous area and can cause seriou s perso nal injury .

Tires and
There arc limits to th e amount of load or weig ht that any vehicl e and any tire can carry. A ve hicle that is overloaded will not handle well and is mor e to stop. Overloading can not only
lead l oss of ve hicle control. but ca n al so damage including a blowout
and s udden d eflatio n th at can cause the vehicl e
to crash .
Your safet y
and that of your passengers also de­
pends on making sure th a t l oad limit s arc not ex­ceeded. load in cludes everybody and ev­eryth in g in and on the vehicle. These load limit s are technically refe rred to as th e vehicle' s Gr oss Ratin g
includes the weight of the basic ve­all factory installed accessorie s. a full tank of coolant and other fluids plus max­imum load. The m ax imum load incl udes the number of passengers that the ve hicle is in ­tended to carry lbs. (68 kg) for each pas­senger at designation seating position and the
total wei ght of a ny lu ggage in the ve hicle. yo u the weig ht of the trailer hit ch and the tongue weight of the loaded trailer mus t be included o f the ve hicle load.
T he Gross
Axle is the m aximum load th at can be ap plied at each of the
veh icle's two
has 5 seat ing pos ition s, 2 in the front and 3 in the rear for seating ca­paciry of 5. Eac h seatin g posit ion ha s a sa fe ty bookle t2.1
and
The fact that there is an upper li mit to your ve­
hi cle's Gross Hating means that the total weight of whatever i s bein g carried in the vehicle (in cluding the weight of a trailer hit ch and the tongue weig ht o f the load ed
t railer) is limited. The more passengers in the ve­
hicl e or passengers are heav ier than the standard weig hts assumed mean that less weig ht can be carried lu ggage.
The tire pressure on your Volkswage n also lists the maximum combined weight of all of the occupants and
page fig . 15 .
WARNING
Overloading a ve hicl e can cause loss of vehicle control, a crash or other accident, serious pe r­
sonal injury, nnd even dent h.
more weight than your vehicle was d esig ne d to carry will prevent th e ve hicl e
fr om handling properl y and increase the ri sk of th e loss of ve hicl e control.
The brakes on a ve hicl e that has been over­loaded may not be abl e to sto p the ve hicle
w ithi n a safe di stance.
o n a ve hicle that has been overloaded can
Alway s make sure that the to tal load bein g transported-including the weight of a trail er hitch and the tongu e weight of a loaded trail er -does no t m ake th e ve hicle heavier t11e
ve hicl e's Gross Vehicle Rating .

(continued)
For technical reasons it is not
I f you install wheel t rim discs on the ve­
hicle wheels, make sure that the air flow to the brakes is not blocked. Reduced airflow to the brakes can them to overheat, increasing stop­ping distances and causing collision.
Note
For technical reasons. it is not ge nerally pos­
s ibl e to use th e wheel rim s from other vehicle s.
This can ho ld true for wheels of the same vehicle
ty pe.
Uniform tire
Tr ead wear
Temperature A B
Quality can be found where applicable on the tire sid e wall between tread shoulder an d maximum section pa ge 73, fig.
For example: Tread wear Tra ction M, Te m ­
perature A.
All passe nger car tire s must conform to Federa l
Sa fe ty Hequirement s in addition to these grades.
Tread
wear
T he /read comparative rat ing base d on th e wea r rate of the tire when tested under controll ed co nditi ons on a sp ecifie d go v­
ernment test course.
For exa
mple, a tir e graded would wear one and one half(ll/2) times as well on the govern ­
ment cou rse as a tir e
The relati ve performance of tires depends upon the actual conditions of th eir use , h oweve r, and m ay depart significantl y fro m the norm due to
76 Checking and
extra care. Replace the flat tire
with the tir e matchin g the others on your vehicl e
a s soon as poss ible.
Note
in stall ing new
drive without the va lve ste m cap. The valves and sensors co uld get damaged.
If the sen sors must be re pla ced, then the valve mus t also be replaced th e sa me time.
The sensors mus t be replaced in schedule d bookle t ...
For the sake of environment
Dispose of o ld tires in accordance w ith the local
requirement s.
variations in driving habits, serv ice pra ctices and diff ere n ces in road characteristics and cli­
mate.
Traction
AA, A, B, C
T he
from highes t to lowest, are M, A, Band T hose grades rep resent the tire's abil iry to stop on wet pave ment measured under controlled conditions o n specified gov­ernment tes t s urfa ces of and co ncre te. A
tir e marked may have poor tra ction perfo r­
Temperatur e A, B, C
The lemperruuregrad es arc A (th e highest), B. and C, representing the tire's resistance the
ge neration of heat and its abilit y to diss ipat e heat tested under controlled conditi ons
o n a sp ecified indoor laboratory test wheel.
Susta ined hig h t em pera t
ure cause mate­
rial of th e tir e to degenerat e and reduce tire lif e. and excessive tempera tur e

hicle yo u are tow ing. Brake earlier and
more gently than you wou ld normally
- Do not drive faster than mph
miles
-Turn on the emergency flasher.
-Move the se lecto r lever or gearshift
l eve r to
the neutral position (N).
- Make s
ure that the tow-rope is taut at all
Tow-rope or lo w-bar
bar. use a tow -rope if you do not have a
tow -bar.
A tow-ro pe s ho uld
be slightl y elastic to reduce the loading on both ve hicl es. Use a tow -rope made of synthetic fiber or similar ela stic
load ing and damaging the anchorage points.
T he ignition
of the vehicle bein g to we d must be switched on to ensure
will
hav e to apply considera bly more press ure to the brak e pedal than you would normally.
Move the selec tor leve r toN.
Do not drive fas te r than mph
Do not tow farth er than mil es km).
a tow truck is used, the vehicl e must be tow ed with all wheels the ground.
Tow starti ng
For technica l rea sons,
it is not pos sibl e to tow start you r vehicle, if the vehicl e is without trical power. The engine management systems may not operate prop erly.
Use jumper cables page
WARNING
Towing a ve hicle changes th e way your ve hicle
h an dles and brakes. To help reduce the risk of
a n accident lea ding to serio us personal i njury, note the fo ll owi ng:
T he drive r of the vehi cle t hat is being towed:
Will have to press the brake pedal
Will have to use considerably more force
to turn t h e s teering wheel, because th e
power s teerin g is no t ac tive.
The driver of the vehicle that is towing:
Must accelerate gradually and gently avoid jerking movements.
Mus t brake earlie r and more ge ntl y than you would normally.
Tips
For technical r easo ns, it is not possible to sta rt a ve hicle with an aut omati c transmission.
th ere is no fluid in the vehicle transmission because o f a defect. th e vehicle must be tow ed
w ith the dri ve whee ls t h e ground.
a veh icle with an automati c tra nsmission has to be towed more th an miles

light 5
See Anti-lock brake
should want to add an acces-sor y to my ve hicl e?
Add ress of
Add ress of Transport
Afte r c hanging a w heel 87
Alloy
wheels
fe el a slight v i­
b ration on the brake pedal? 4
Ant i-t h
eft alarm system
Linking your trailer
Anti-theft wheel bolts 84
A uto Safety Hotline
Automatic car wash 22
B
3
Batt ery
56
low often should replace m y engin e
battery? 56
Important informatio n t o know befo re
d isconnect the battery 55
Hcplac ing
56 yo u must do after reconnect the battery 55
is the correct brake nuidleve l?. 53
Brake syste m 53
light 2
B rak
es low docs mois ture or road salt affect the brakes? 13
does it mean when feel a slight vi­bra tion o n the brake pedal? 4
Br
aking distance 13
Break-in period
Engin e 12
is the right way to break-in my vehicle? 12
Br e
aking in
B r
ake pads 12
Ti r
es 12
Break ing in
tires 12
Bulb ch
ange 93
Bulb fa
ilure 93
65 39 , 55
22
ra di o 33
phone 33
phone 33
a bulb 93
a w heel 86
brake pads
fuel cap 36
engine oil leve l 44
26

sh o uld I check the engine oil
level? 43
ligh t 45
Engine oil sensor li g h t 44
Environment Avoiding pollution 23, 36
the eng in e compartment 28 Drive economically 19
light 9
also E lectron ic
light 7
Even t Data Hecorder
34
Exhaus t system
light II
Exhau st system 9
Externa l
aeria l 33
F
Fabric trim
light 35
Fuse b ox
I n the in strument p anel , left 92
In the in strum ent pan el, rig h t 92
table 92
Fuses
G
Gaskets
Gasoline 37
Blends 37 alcohol 37
rating 37
37
Hegular 37 Unleaded 37 ifl purchase poor qua lity fu el? 37
woul d happen if I put leaded gaso­
l
ine in my ca r? 37
or summer tips 37
Gasoline addi tives
Generator light 56
G lossary oft ire and loading terminology 58
H
I low co uld I damage the cata lytic
conve rter? 9
I low do I know how much oil en gi ne is
consuming'? 43
How do I unlock the en gine hood? 41
How doe s moisture or road salt affec t the brakes? 13
How ofte n should I check my tire
pressures? 69
How often should I replace my engine
battery?
56
How oft e n should I wax my 24
I low ofte n should th e brak e nuid be
c h anged?
54
I low to jump start
light
I n st
rument pane l 28
J
Jack
Jump starti n g
Access positive and negative
terminals
Jumper cables
L
Leather