VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2005 Owners Manual

booklet 3.3 ""Technical
Warnin g notes on hand lin g battery
p ro tect ive
g loves an d eye protect ion!
Fir es, sparks, open lights and smoking are prohibi te d !
hi ghl y ex plo sive mixtu re of is give n off whe n the battery
i s under c h arge.
keep frn m
acid and battery !
WARNING
Working on the battery or th e e lectri ca l
sys tem in your vehicl e ca n res ult in serio us
acid burns, fires or elec tri ca l s hock . Always
read and heed th e follow ing W/\HN INGS and
safe ty preca utions before work ing on th e
Befo re wo rking o n th e electrica l system, ways switc h off the ignit ion and all elec trical
co nsumers and disconnect the nega tive(-) cabl e from the battery. When light bu lb is
changed, always switc h off th e light .
Turn ofT the anti-theft ala rm by unlockin g the vehicl e before you disconnect the ba ttery
to preve nt the from on.
A lway s kee p children
Always wear eye protection. Never let tery acid or lead particles contact your eyes ,
s ki n and clothing.
Sulfur ic battery aci d is ve ry corros ive and can cause damage to unp rot ected skin and
(continued)
blind ness. Always wear protective g loves an d
eye pro tectio n. To reduce your risk of injury, n ev e r tilt the battery, as thi s could spill acid
th ro ug h th e vents and m ake burn yo u.
W he n disconnec ting the ba tt ery fr o m the vehicl e electrica l sys te m , a lways disconnec t
th e nega tive cable(-) fir st and th en th e tive cable(+).
A hig hl y exp los ive mixtu re of is given
off w he n th e battery is being charged.
A lway s avoi d fires, sp a rk s, open and sm oki ng. Always avoid generati n g sparks and electros ta ti c ch arges when h andling cabl es
and e lec tric a l equipme nt . Neve r sh o rt -ci rc u it
th e ba tte ry po les. High-energy sp a rk s can
ca u
se serio us personal injury.
Alway s switch off all electri cal consumers befo re reconnec ting the batt ery. Recon nect
t h e plu s ca ble(+) first and then th e negat ive
cable(-). Never reve rse the po larity of the
Never ch arge
F C).
Alwa ys make su re that th e ve nt hose is nect e d to the battery.
Neve r usc dam age d battery-they can plode! Immed ia te ly rep la ce dam age d battery.
tion immediately. lfyo u in ges t any batt ery
a cid , seek medic al atte ntion immedia tely.
WARNING
Ca lifornia 65 Warning:
Battery posts, termina ls and re la ted sories con tai n lead a nd lea d compo ne n ts ,
c h em ica ls known to the
and

(continued)
cause cancer and reproductive harm. Wash
h ands afte r handling.
Do no t d isconnect th e battery if the ig nit io n
i s swit ch ed on or if the e ng in e is running. Thi s
Warning
could damage the e lectrical sys tem or electronic compon ents.
Do not expose the battery to direct sunlight
for long periods of tim e, ultrav io let rays can
damage the battery hous ing.
Thi s warning light sign als a fault in the generator.
The warning light lights up when the ign itio n
is sw itch ed on. should go out when the engin e
s ta rt s running.
the wa rning light lights up w hile driving.
t h e ge ne rator is no lon ger charg ing th e battery. should imme dia te ly driv e to the neare st
Volkswagen dealer or qu alified wo rk shop.
However, you should avo id usin g e lectrical equipment that is not absolu tely necessary be­cause thi s
If yo u do not pay attentio n to the warnin g
li ghts which have come on, including the warning messages appearing in the display, th is could lead to personal injury or damage to your vehicl e_
Charging and
this we recommend you
h ave the ve hicle battery ch ecked by an autho­rize d Volkswage n dealer w here it be prop­
erly recharged or re pl aced .
Chargin g ve hicle battery
Th e charging of the ve hicle battery should le ft to an authorize d Volkswage n deale r or qual ified
w orks hop. because your ve hicl e is equip pe d
wi th special ba tt ery that must be charged in a environment.
56 Checking and
A lways use onl y m aintenance-free or cycle -free , leak-proof batteries with the same specification s and d im en sio ns as the orig in al equipment battery- Specifi cations arc listed o n the battery ho using_
in of on page 55.

For th e sake of e nvironment
Baueries contain toxi c substances including aci d and lead. must b e disposed propriately and not with ordinary garbage.
Tires and
General notes
Tips
After connecti n g a battery and switching on the ig nit ion, the indicator light comes on continuously. It goes out when the ve hicl e is dri ven straigh t for a short distance at 15 mph km/h ).
Tire s may be the least appreciated and most abused parts of a motor vehicle.
Tires may be the lea st appreciated and most abuse d pa rts of a motor ve hicle. Tire s are, eve r, one of the mos t important parts of
safe ly handle,
avoi din g from road h aza rds and inspecting tires for damage including cuts,
sl ash es irregular wea r you can do to help avoid sudden tire fa ilur e including tread separation and blowouts.
Avo iding
damage
lfyou have to drive over stacle, drive very slowly and as close as poss ibl e
Wher e ap pli cabl e W
h
en removed, the wheels or t ires should be stored in cool. dry and p re ferably dark plac e.
tires in ve rtical position if they are not mounted on rims, in ho rizontal posi tion if they
in " 'B reaking in tire s and brake
type tern.
Hidd
en damoge
Da
mage t o tire s rims is often not readily
swage n dealer or qu alified workshop.
Unidir ection al tires
A unidirectio nal tire can b e idemified by arrows on the sidewall, that p oint in the direction the tire is designed to rota te.
p ag e "Unidirectional
Rims with threaded rim ring4l
Light-allo y wheels w ith a bolted rim ring consis t
o f several parts. T hese parts are screwe d to-
57

changea ble deco rat ive cove rs a re att ached to th e rim with s elf- locking sc rews . lfyou would ro re pla ce damaged wheel covers, contact your authorized Volkswa gen d eale r or
WARNING
New ti res or tires tha t are old, worn or aged cannot provide maximum control and braking ability.
New tires tend to be s lipp ery and must be broken in . To reduce the risk of losing co ntrol,
a co llisio n and serio us personal injuri es, drive with sp ecia l care for the first km).
(cont inued )
Driving with worn or damaged tire s can lead to lo ss of control, sudden tire failur e, cluding a blowou t and sudden deflation ,
c ras hes and seriou s personal injuries. Have wo rn or damaged tires rep laced imme di ate ly.
To redu ce the riskoflosingcontrol, crashes and s erio us personal injuries, never loose n
th e bolts on w heels with bolted rim rings.
more than 6 years old can onl y be used in an em erg en cy and then
w ith specia l care and at low speed.
Neve r m ount u se d tires on your ve hicle if
yo u are not sure of their used tires may have been damaged ev e n
t h oug h the damage cannot be seen th at can
lead to sudden tir e failure and loss of ve hicl e control.
hicl e pull s to one sid e when dri ving, always
s top as soo n as it is safe to do so and ch eck the
whee ls and tires for damage.
Accessory weight
Means the combined we ight ( in excess of those
sta ndard ite m s w hi ch may be repl aced) of mati c tran smission. power steering. po wer
bra kes, power windo ws. p owe r seats , radio, and heater, to th e ex te nt th at th ese item s are
or lowe r indica te
a short s id ewall for improved steering respo nse and better ove rall handling on dry pave ment.
Bead
Mean s the pa rt of the tire t hat is m ad e of stee l
wires , w rap ped or re inforce d by pl y cords and that is shap ed to fit t he rim.
Bead separation
Mean s a breakdow n of th e bond between
Means the strand s forming the in th e tire.
weight
Me ans th e weig ht of motor vehicl e w ith dard equ ipment including the m aximum pacity of fu el, oil. and coolant . a ir conditio nin g
a nd additional weight of opt io n al equipm ent.
E xtra load lire
M ea ns tire desi gn to operate at higher loads and at hi gher inflat ion pressure s th an th e corre -
s ponding sta ndard tire.

Gross Axle W eight Ra ting
Mea ns the load-carryin g capacity of a sing le ax le
Mean s th e maximumlOtalloaded weight of the
ve hicle.
Groove
Means the space between adjacent tread
r ib s.
L
oad ratin g (cod e)
Means the load th at a tire is rated to
carry for a give n inflation pressure. You may no t find thi s information o n all tires because it is not require d b y
Maximum load ratin g
Means the load rating for a tire the m aximum permiss ib le inflation p ressure for that tire.
Maximum loaded vehicle weig ht
Means th e sum of:
( a)
weig ht.
( b ) Accessory
weight,
(c) Vehicl e capacity weig ht. and
(d ) Production o pti ons
b e inflat ed. A lso called imum inflatio n pressure."
Normal oc cupant weight
Means lb s. kilog ra ms} times the n u m ber of occupants sea te d i n the ve hicl e up to the seating capacity of your vehicle.
O c
cupant distr ib ution
Means dist ributio n of occupants in veh icle.
Outer d iameter
Means the overall diameter of an inflated new tir e.
inflated including vations due to or tive bands or rib s.
P ly
M
ean s layer uf parallel cord s.
Productio n optio ns weight
Means the com bined weight of those installed
regular produc tion options weighing over Sibs. (2.3 kg) in excess of those standard items whic h they replace, not previously considered in curb weight or accessory
pne u matic tire in which the pl y cords th at ex tend to the beads a rc laid at substa n tially degrees to the center lin e of the tread.
Re commended inflat io n p ressure
page tire inflation p ressure".
Reinforc
ed tir e
Means a tire designed to operate at higher loads and at higher inflation pressures than the sponding tire.
Rim
Means a m etal support for a tire or a tire and tube assembly upon whic h the tire beads are seate d .
Rim d iameter
Means nominal diameter oft he bead seal. you change your w heel size. you will have to
Means that portion of tire between the tread
and bead.
which
km/h) mph ( 298 k.m/ h ). These rat ings are lis ted in the table 74. You may not find this information on all tire s because it is not required by law.
The speed r ating lett er cod e, where is molded on the tir e s idewall and indicates the maxjmurn permissible road in on page 77 74.
Checking and

3.2 Tip s and Advice
Tir e pressure monitoring
tires are underinflated a nd nates a low tire pressure warning tellt ale.
Tread
Means that porti on of tire that comes into tact the road.
Tread separation
Means pulling away of the tread from the tire carcass.
Tread wea r indicators
visual indication of the degrees o f w ear of th e tread. page 72,
Wea r for more tio n on measurin g tire wear.
Un iform
Tire Quality Grading
that is designed to help buyers make re la ti ve comparisons among ti res. The UTQG is not s afety rating and not a
antee that a tire la st for a prescrib ed number of miles o r perform in simply
g ives tire buyers additional information to bin e w ith other consideratio ns. such as price. brand loya lty and dealer recommendations. Under UTQG, tires arc graded b y th e tire fac turers in three areas: tre ad wear, traction and temperature resistance. The UTQ G information o n the tires, molded into the s idewall s.
This is the tire's "ser ia l begin s w ith the letters
sent week and year of manufacture. For ample . the rnran that the tire
pro duced in the 18th The other numbers arc m arketin g codes that no t be used by th e tire manufacturer. T his mation is used to if a tir e fect requires a recall .
Vehicle
capacity weight
Means the cargo and load plu s lb s. (68 kilograms) times the total
s
eatin g capacity as lis ted on the label attached to the ope n edge o f the driver's door.
Vehicle
maximum load on the tire
Mean s that load o n an indi vidual tire that is t ermined b y di stri buting to each axle its share of the maxim um loaded weight and viding by
normollood on th e tir e
Means that load o n an indiv idual tire that i s termined by di stribut ing to axle its sh a re of the curb weigh t. accesso ry weight. and normal occupant weight (di stributed in accordance with table page and di viding by
Occupant loading and distribution for vehicle normal load
normal load, number Occupant distributio n in number of occupants of occupants normally loaded
2 through 4
2 2 in fro nt.
5
3 2 in front. I in
=Tire pres sure
Checking and

3.2 Tips and Advice
refers to the amount of air in a tire that it needs it to do its job and safe ly carry the combined load of the entire
on the d esign and load limit-the greatest amount of we ight that the can carry safel y and the tire size.
Th e proper lire pressure is frequently re ferred to a s the "recommended co ld tire inflation
It is the tion pre ssure in a tire that counts .
respo nsiv e
is being driven at higher speed s, and th e n cially w hen heavily loaded even within the missible load-carrying capacit ies approved for your vehicl e. T
he r
ecommended tire pressures for your d epend on the kind or tires on your h icl e and the number of passengers and/or amount ofluggage you will be t ransporting.
Th e tire
pressure label on the open ed ge of th e
driver's door on your Volk swagen lists the ommended co ld tir e infl ation pressures for the
at th e tim e it was ufactured.
page fig. 15 for the tion of the label on the open edge of the driver's door (colo r of the actual label and exact locat ion on the
flap.
The table below lists the recommended cold tire
i nflatio n pressures for the models covered by your maximum capacit y we igh t and th e tire
sizes on t h e res pective models as inal equipment, or as a factory opti on.
T ir e Tire
pres-Tire pres-
s ur e front sure rear
kPa
17 91 35 245 35 245
6
1

3.2 Tips and Advice
Because technical changes may be made to ve­hicle equipment during the model year, always compare the tire size desig nation on the tir e pressure label on your vehicle with the tire s on your vehicle. Make sure
a previ­ousl y owned ve hicle.
Remember, your safe ty and t h at of your passen­gers also depends on making sure that load
limit s are not exceeded. Vehicle load includes everybody and everything in and on the vehicle.
T hese load limit s arc techni call y referred to the ve hicle's Gross Vehicl e Rating Hatin g is th e maximum load that
Hating are listed on th e s afet y compliance sticker
label on t h e driver's door
fig. l5 .
WARNING
Overloading a vehicl e can cause loss of vehicle control,
more we ight than your vehicle was des ign ed to carry w ill prevent the vehicle from handling properly and increase the risk of the loss of vehicle control.
The on a vehicle that has been over­
loaded may not be abl e to stop the vehicle within a safe distance.
Tires on a vehicle that has been overloaded can fail suddenly cau sin g loss of control and a crash.
Always make sure that the total load being transp o rted-including the weight of a trailer hitch and the to ng u e weight of a loaded trailer -docs not make the vehicle heavie r than the vehicle's Gross Vehicle
WARNING
Inco rrect tire pressures and/or underinfla­tion can lead t o serious or fata l accident.
Incorrect tire pressures and/or underinfla­tion cause increased tire wear and can affect the ha nd lin g of the ve hicle.
Applies to
The tire pressur e monitoring syste m driver ofsignificantloss of pres­
sure.
Each tire, including the spare ( if provided),
should be c heck ed
your vehicle has tire s of a diff erent s ize than the s ize indi ­cated on the vehicle placard or tire inflation pressure lab el, you should consult the appro­priate sec tion of this
and
luminatcd. one or m ore of your tires is signifi ­
cantly under-inflated. should stop and check your tires as soon as possible , and inflate them to the pro p er p ressure. Driving on a sig nif­
icantly under- inflated tire causes the tire to overheat and can lead to tire failure. Under- in-
flation al so reduces fuel effic iency and tire tread life , and may affe ct th e vehic le's handling stopping ability.
ve hicle has also been equipped with a malfunction te llt ale to indi cate when

syste m is not operating properly. When the mal­funct ion telltale (warning light) is illuminat ed, the system may not be able to detect or signal
low tire pressure as intended. malfunc­
tions may occur for a var iety of reasons, in­cluding the installation of incompatible replace­ment tires on the vehicle. Always check the
and warns the driver in the event of a lo ss of pressu re by means of symbols in the instrument cluster dis plays.
Descri
ption
The system uses sensors at th e whee ls . Rad io
signals from the sensors are transmitted to the tire pressure monitoring system Th e sensors are parts of the air valve.
A visua l
and audio warning will signal a rapid or other significant loss of pressure while the ve­
hicle is moving .
The tir e pressure monitorin g system
This warning shows a rapid loss Stop immediately! Inspect all the wheels
T
IRE! of i nflation pressure in at least for e
xt ernal damage and for eign bodies
one tire. and check the tire pressure for all the wheels. If it is not necessary to change a
w heel on th e spot, you can proceed at reduced speed the nearest qualified
and warnin g TIRE The warn ing indicates that at Chec
k the tire pressure at all fou r whee ls leas t one tire is at a criti ca l pres- immediately. If it is not necessary to sure at least
Warning CHECK TIRE After the ig n it ion is switched Check the tire pressure at all fou r wheels a slow loss of pressure is indi-
There is a malfunct ion in the Consult your a uthorized Volkswagen
system. dealer or qualified workshop and have
the p ro ble m corrected
comes on briefly There is a communica tion No action i
s necessaty.
while you are
driving problem between a sensor and the system. Operation can be temporarily di srupted by inter-
f ere nce from transmitters in the
v icinity of the vehicl e working in
t h e same frequency range (e.g.
rad io equipment, cell ula r phone).
WARNING
Checking and 63

the instrument cluster, stop and insp ec t th e
tir es.
can also lead t o sudden tire failur e, in­
cluding a blowout and sudden deflati on, causing loss of ve hicle control.
The driv er i s responsible for the correct tire pressures fo r all tire s on the vehicl e. Th e appli ­
cable pressure valu es are locat ed on a sticker on the driver' s sid e page 61, fig . 15 .
w hen all on the ve hicl e are filled
to the correct pressure, th e can work
corre ctly.
A lways inflat e tire s to the recomme nd ed
and correct tire pres sure before driving off.
in tread separa tion, sudden
Excess ive speed and/overloadin g can
ca use heat build-up , sudden tir e failur e and lo ss of control.
If th e tire is no t flat and you do not have to change a w hee l immediate ly , drive at reduce d
s peed to tJ1e neares t se rvic e statio n to ch ec k the tir e press ure and add air as req uired.
Whe n r epl acing tir es or wheel rim s on ve­
hicles equipped with always read and heed the information and all re­page 57, and
Note
M iss in g va lve stem caps can result in damage
to the valve and senso rs in the tire pressure
monitor ing sys tem. To preve nt thi s. a lways drive
wit h valve stem caps that are th e equiva le nt of
64
tho se installed
When switc hin g to diff erent tires, make cer­
tain that the valves and the se nsors are not dam­
ag ed .
For the sake of environment
Unde r-inflated tires will a lso in crease the fu el
consumption.
Tips
The tir e press ure mon itoring system ch ecks
th e tir es for the fac to ry recommend ed in flat ion pressures. The recommended val ues are on th e sticker on the o pen edge of th e driver's door
61, fig.
you are driving on tires other than those in­
s talled at th e factory, have the inflati on pres­
s ure s entered in the press ure monitor ing sys tem
by an authorized Vol kswage n dea ler or qua lified
works hop if they are different.
Th e tire pressure monitor ing system sh uts it­self off if a set of tir es without whee l sensors is
mounted on th e veh icle and it cannot receive senso r sig nals. As soon as the syste m rece ives at
lea st one se nsor signa l, it switches itself on
again.
tir e pressures at regu lar int ervals, even
though you have the monitoring system. In spec t
th e
tires for damage (punctu res , cuts, t ea rs a nd
blis ter s). He move foreig n bodi es from the tir e
tread.
senso rs have to be rep laced, have the valves ch anged at th e sa me tim e.
Disc repancies may occur between the pres­
sures read on the press ure ga uge when inflating the tires and th e pressures read by the tire pres­su re sensors. The electro nic tire pressure moni­toring system is m ore accurate.
When deter min es tha t the air pres ­
s u re in o ne or more tires is too low, ch eck the tire
pressure thoroughly using a pressu re Low pressure in a tire often cannot be determi ned by
looking at the tire. This applies especially for low
profile tires.
When there is a rap id or excessi ve loss of pressure while driving. you are immediately
g iven vis u a l and aud ible warn ing .