VOLKSWAGEN GOLF PLUS 2004 Owners Manual

on page
Cleaning storage compartments and cup ho lders
Some storage compartmen ts and cup h old ers
have a remov able rubber inse rt at the bottom.
Mo is ten a clea n, lint -free cloth with water and
clean th e pa rt s.
If thi s is not then use a special vent -free care an d clea ning produ ct d es igned for plastics.
Cleaning the ashtray
Re mo ve and empty th e ashtray.
Wipe clean with a paper towel.
Use a toothpick or s imilar objec t to remove ash res idu e fr o m the ex tingui sh er
Care and
read an d no te the introdu ctory information and heed the on page
Mo is te n clea n, lint -free cloth with water and
clean the part s.
Clea n on/ywith a
so lvent-fr ee care an d clea ning product that is cifically desig ned for pla stics and approve d
Clean wood trim with mild soap solution.
Core, cleaning, maintenance
Usin g solven ts or o ther improper cleaning
Never usc solve nts or cleaners on the steerin g wheel horn pad or on the in strument panel b eca use they ca n damage the airbag cover or change the rial so that th e airbag cannot deploy and protect
properly. When cleaning the horn pad and strument panel, u se only a soft, dry cloth or a
cloth moistened with plain

the safety
inforrnation and heed th e on page
a safety belt is dirty, thi s ca n p reve nt the belt from working properly. Keep safe ty belt s clean and regularly check all safe ty belts for damage.
belt s must n eve r be taken apart for cleani ng.
Remove coarse dirt with a
pull the dirt y safety belt o ut of tractor and keep it out.
cleaning, always the safety belt s tim e
to dry th orough ly before letting them retract. Thi s
help s prevent damage to the retrac tor.
Do not le t th e safety belts retract until th ey are completely dry .
the condition of all safe ty belts regularly . If you notice that th e belt webbing, hardware,
r e tractor , buckle, or any oth er part of the safe ty
belts is damaged, immedia te ly have an rized Volk swage n dealer or authorized swage n Facility replace the sa fe ty belt
w it h the correc t rep lacement belt for your hicle model and m od el year. Damage to safe ty belts reduces thei r overall eff ec tiveness and
Neve r usc chemical cleaning agents, vent s,
jects. Otherwise, the belt webb ing be icantly weakene d.
M te r cleaning, always give the safety belts
ti me to dry comp le tel y before lett ing them trac t. The moi sture can damage the retrac to r
and keep it from workin g pro perly.
Neve r let fore ign objec ts or liquid s get into
th e sa fe ty belt latch. This could preve nt th e belt
bu ckles
and safe ty belts from working prop erly.
Damaged safety belts must be replaced;
they can no t be repaired.
Never try to repair a damaged safety bel t yourse lf. Never remove or modify the safety belt s in anyway.
In sp ec t b elts reg ularl y for damage. If bing, binding s, buckles, or re tractor s are ged, have the belts rep laced immediately lvith
the correct replacement belts approved by wagen for your vehicl e, model, and model year.
H e placement after a cras h may be necessary
even if a safety belt show s no visib le damage.
Anch orages that have been loaded must also be in spected
275

Tires and wheels
Introduction
In this section you'll find informa ­
tion on th e following:
Tire and . . . . . . . . . 278
New and tires . . . . . . 281
Tire
tires . 285
Tread depth and tread wear
indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Tir e wear and damage . . . . . . . . . . 286
Spare or compact spare
....... ................. 288
Braking, stopping and parking
188
Tire Pressure Monitoring System
Exterior care and cleaning
page262
Consume r information
Wheel covers page 328
Changing a wheel page
T ir e mobili ty page 336
Tire ...................
Winter tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 4
Snow chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
of tire and
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Tires and . . . . . .
Determi ning the correc t
page 137
Trailer towing page 152
Core, maintenance
New tires or tires that are old,
worn or damaged cannot provide
maximum control and braking
performance.
New tires must be broken in
because new tires do not have
full traction and braking perfor­
mance. Always drive with special
care for the first

(contin ued )
tire inflation pressure
regularly when
the tires are cold
and always maintain the pre­
scribed tire pressure .
Low tire
pressure
can cause tires to get too
hot, resulting in
tread separation,
sudden loss of pressure , and
blowouts . This is because tires
with excess ively low pressure
un­
dergo more flexing, which can
cause the tire to overheat and de­
stroy
the tire.
Never exceed the permissible
maximum speed
and load rating
of the tires on your vehicle.
The effectiveness of the driver
assistance systems
and the brak­
ing
support systems depends
on the tire traction.
care and maintenance
To reduce the risk of losing
control,
crashes and serious per­
sonal injuries, never loosen the
bolts on wheels with bolted rim
rings.
Never mount used tires on
your vehicle if you are not sure of
their past use.
Tires age even if they are not
being used and can fail suddenly,
especially
at high speeds,
causing loss of vehicle control,
accidents,
and severe personal
injuries. Tires that are more than
6 years old can be used only in an
emergency and then only with
special care and at low speed.
For technical reasons it is usu-
ally
not possible to use wheel
rims from other vehicles. Even
wh eel rims from
the same model
may not fit properly.
Fac ility if necessa1y.
276

Tire and wheel handling
Fig. 160 Tire rotation diagram.
and note the
mtroductory mformation
and heed the WARNINGS on
page 276.
Tires may be the least appreciated
and most abused parts of a motor
vehicle. Tires are very important,
since their small patches of rubber
are the only contact between your
vehicle and the road.
Maintaining
correct tire pressure,
making sure that your vehicle and
its tires do not have to carry more
weight than they can safe ly
handle, and regularly inspecting
tires for damage (such as cuts,
s la sh es, irregular
wear, and overall
condition) are the
most important
things that you can do to help
avoid
sudden tire failure , in­
cluding tread separation and
blowout.
The tires and wheels are essential
parts of the vehicl e's design. The
tires and wheels approved by Yolk-
If you must drive over a curb or
other obstacle, drive very slowly
and as much as possible at a right
angle to
the curb.
Regularly check tires for
damage,
such as punctures, cuts,
tears
and blisters .
Remove embedded material in
the tread profile that has not yet
penetrated the inside of the
page 286.
Heed all warning messages from
the Tir e
Rep lace worn or damaged tires
immediately=> page 286.
Damage to tires and wheels is
often not readily visible. If you no­
tice unusual vibration or the ve­
hicl e pulls
to one side, this may in­
dicate
that one of the tires is dam­
aged. The tires must be checked
immediate ly for hidden damage
by an authorized Volkswagen
dealer or an authorized Volk­
swagen Service Facility.
Never exceed the load and per­
missible maximum speed rating of
the tires=> page

Always keep aggressive chemi­
cals including grease, oil , gaso line
and brak e fluid off the tires, in­
clud ing the
spare tire
Rep lace missing valve caps im­
m
ediate ly .
Unidirectional tires
Unidirection al tires are des ig n ed
to rotat e only in one direction.
Unidirectional tires have arrows
o n
the s idewall s that show the di­
rection
of page
Unidirection al tires must alway s
b e
moun ted acco rding to the spec­
ifi ed direct io n
of rotation in order
to deliver thei r bes t grip, braking
performance, low
road noise, and
good wear as well as good hydro­
p l
aning res ista nce .
If yo u have to
mount a tire oppo­
sit e to its proper direction of rot a­
t i
on, you must drive more care­
full
y, s ince th e tir e is no longer
b ein g used
as des igned. Thi s is
parti c
ularly important on wet
road s. must replace or re­
mount the tir e as soon as poss ibl e
in
orde r to restore the co rrect di­
r ect ion
of rotat ion.
Rotating tires
To h elp en sure eve n wea r on all
tires, regu la r tir e rotation ac­
cord ing to
the diagram
278, fig. is recom­
mended. In thi s way all tires can
have about the sa me service life.
Fa ­
cility.
Tires more than 6 years old
Tires age even if they are not being
used. Physical and ch emical pro­
cesses
reduce tire strength and
perform ance and cause them to
h ard en a
nd become brittle.
The age of eac h tir e ca n be deter­
m ined w
ith the manufacturing
date that is part of the tire identifi­
ca tion
number (TIN)
Tire storage
Mark tires b efor e re m oving them
to h elp make sure that the previous
l
ocation (left, rig h t, front, rear) and
rollin g dir ection can be m ain ­
t ai ned wh
en remounting the m.
tir es in a coo l, dry and prefer­
ably dark place. Donot store tires
mounted on wheels standin g up.
T ires
not mounted on wheels
s
hould b e covere d to help protect
them from dirt and s tor ed verti-
cal ly (sitting
on the tread).
278 279

Aggressive fluids and materials
can cause visible and invisibl e
tire
damage that can cause tire
blowouts .
Always keep chemicals, oils,
grease, fuels, braking fluids
and
other aggressive substances
away from tires.
read and note the introductory inform ation and heed the on page 276.
The desig n of the w heel b o lt s is matc h ed to the fac­
tor y-install ed wheels. If different wheels are in ­
s tall ed, wh
eel b o lts the ri ght length and bolt
head sh ap e must b e used. Thi s helps to e nsure that
w heels can b e m ounted securely and that the
brakes will work page
In mos t yo u cannot use w heel bolt s from diff erent ve hicl e. Even wheel rims from the same m od el m ay not properly.
Tires and w heel rim s approved by Volkswag en
h ave been matched precise ly to your ve hicl e
m od el and cont ribut e consid erabl y to good han­
dlin g and safe ve hicl e performance.
Tight ening
torque
bolt s must alway s be install ed with the co r­
rect tightenin g page The required
tight enin g torqu e for the wheel bolts is 88 ft-lb s Nm). After changing
torqu e wre n ch b y an authorize d Volksw age n
d eal er or a uthorized Volk swagen Facility.
Care, maintenance
Tires age even if they are not
being used and can fail suddenly,
especially
at high speeds,
causing loss
of vehicle control,
accidents,
and severe personal
injuries.
Tires that are more than 6
years old
can be used only in an
emergency and then only with
special care
and at low speed.
Wheel rims with bolted rim rings
run true and safe ly . Damage d wheel rim s must b e re­
to repair them yourself. Ha ve an authorized
Facility re pai r them for you
Wheel rims with bolted decorative covers
Ligh t-allo y wheels may have interc h angeable d ec­
o rativ e cove rs attac h ed t o th e rim with self-locki ng
screws. If yo u want to replace damaged wheel
cove rs. contact your authorize d Volkswa gen deale r or authorize d Volk swa gen Fac ilit y
improper or damaged wheel rim s can af­fect driving cause accidents and serious personal injury.
only wheel rim s approved for the ve­
hicl e.

Improper loosen ing and tightening of the bolts on wheel rim s with bolted rim rings can ca use accident s and serious personal injury.
Never loosen bolted connections on wheel
rim s with bo lt ed rim rings.
New and
Please first read and note the
introductory information
and h ee d the on
page 276.
New tires
Drive a ve hicle with new tires es­
pecially carefully for
the first
miles km) because the tires
must first be broken in. Tires that
a re not broken in have reduce d
traction
and brakin g perfo r­
In stall radial tires only of same
make , same dimensions (rollin g
circumference),
and s imil ar tread
profil e
onto all four wheels.
The tread depth of new tir es can
diff er
between tir e models and
manufacturers b eca use of dif­
f e re
nt d esig n feature s and trea d
design.
Replacing tires
Tires should be replaced in pairs
a
nd not indi viduall y (both front
Have all work on wheel rim s with bolted rim rings performed by an authorized Volkswage n
dealer or autho ri ze d Volkswage n Facility.
tires or both rear tires at the same
Replace tires only with tires that
have the same s pecif ica tions , in­
cluding width
and diameter, load
a
nd top sp ee d rating as the tires
a
pproved by Volkswagen for your
vehicle and model.
Never use tires that are larg er or
wider
than the dim ension s of the
t ir es appro ved b y Volkswagen for
your vehicl e and model. Larger
t ir es co
uld scrape and rub on the
vehicle body or other parts of the
veh icle.
N ew tires must be broken in be­
cause new tires do not have full
traction and braking perfor­
mance.
miles km) to
h elp
reduce the risk of losing
control, a collision, and serious
personal injuries.
280

Tires must have the required
clearance. Tires
that do not have
enough clearance can rub
against parts of the vehicle body,
suspension,
and brake system,
causing brake system failure,
tread delamination, and sudden
blowouts.
Note
Never drive without valve stem
caps. The valves and sensors of the
Tire Pressure Monitoring
could be damaged.
Care, maintenance
(continued)
The sensors must be replaced at
scheduled intervals Booklet
Warranty and Maintenance
booklet.
Always dispose of old tires in
accordance with l
egal require­
ments.
Replace it a tir e matchin g th e others on your ve hicle as soon as possible.
Although tire siz e specifica-
tions
can be the same, the ac­
tual dimension s may differ from
those nominal values for different
tir e makes,
or the tire contours
may be significantly different.

Tire
first read and note the
introduc to ry in
formation
a
nd h ee d the WARNINGS on
page 276.
T he c orr ec t tir e infl atio n
pressure
f o r f ac
tory-install ed tires is lis te d
o n a la b el a
nd a ppli es to summer
and wint er tir es. T he la b el
fig. 161 is on the dri ver door
pillar
Chec k tir e infl ati on pressure
r eg ula
rly a nd on cold tires . C heck
al l
the tir es, includin g th e s pare. In
co l
der clim ates tire pressure
s h ould be c hec k
ed more o ften , but
only w hen th e tir es are c old . Al­
w ays use an a cc
urate tir e pressure
ga uge .
Afte r adju stin g tl1e tire inflation
pressures, make sure th at the valve
ca ps a re i
nsta ll ed and please read
informati on and m essages about
programming/rese ttin g th e Tir e
282