VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 1997 Workshop Manual

AND
Do not use the compartment cover for storage , even for and items, e.g.
Even objects can obstruct the rear vision necessary for safe driving.
Stored

Luggage compartment
Transporting heavy objects can change the
way your vehicle behaves . For best han­
dling under these conditions, distribute
loads evenly . Always place heavy cargo as
far forw a
rd as possible in the luggage
You can store of on the
view to the rear .
During accidents or sudden stops these

AND
case one of the two brake circuits fails,
increased brake pedal travel is required to
bring the vehicle
to a
You shoul d always be able to depress
the acce lerato r and the clutch pedals the
way down to the
use floor mats which the
The parking brake is located between
t he front seats.
up
tion is on, the brake warning light light up.
Depress brake pedal and whil e leasing parking brake. To release the ing brake , pull the lever slightly up, depress the release button (a rrow) , and then push the lever the way down . When the ing brake is released , the brake warning
light go out.
WARN ING
overheat
the rear brakes , reduce their effective ness an d cause excessiv e
wear .
(Automatic transmi ssion) or move the gearshift lever to or ( man ual transmission) . also turn the
w hee ls t oward th e curb.

Automatic transmission*
Automatic shift (ASL)
Your Volkswagen is equipped with an matic Lock Th e is an tro-mechan ical device that locks the tor lever in the P (Park and N (Neutral)
positions when the
ment.
A time delay element prevents the selector
lever from locking when it is moved through
the
( Neutral ) position (for example, ing from to This enables , for
(Neutral )
position for more than about one second
without the brake pedal being depressed.
theN (Neutral ) position , the selector lever will not lock when the vehicle is driving faster
than 3 mph (5 km /h).
key safety interlock
After switching off the ignition, you can move the ignition key only when the selector
lever is in the P (Park ) position. When the
ignition key is removed, the selector lever
will be locked in the P (
Park) position .
tion of the selector lever is indicated by the
display in the cluster.
The
pear bnght ative on
on page 55.
AND
hicl e, depress the brake pedal first, apply the
parking brake, and then move the selector lever completely to position P. To do this the handle of the lector lever and push

Kick-down device
The kick-down device gives maximum
on road speed and engine
s peed, the upshi ft is either delayed (forced
t h ro t
tle) or the transmission change s down 1nto the next lower gear.
one of the driving positions is gaged a safety switch will prevent the
ing lock if you depre ss the button in the tor _lever and hold it in while swi tching on the
Selec ting a driving position
to move , because power is transmitted
to the wheels as soon as a driving position is engaged .
the
transmission.

stop and the engine is running at id le speed.
Stuck in snow, mud or sand
When alternating between forward and re­
verse in an effort to free the vehicle, depress
the accelerator pedal slightly while the tran
s­miss ion is in gear, and release the accele ra­
t o r p ed al whi le sh ifti ng. D o not race th e en­gine a nd avo id spinni ng th e wheels.
Do
not repeat back and forth with wheels spinning at high engine
speed and heavy throttle, as serious damage may be caused to the Automati c transmission and othe r crit ical parts.
54
Parking
a very steep incline, however, you
should first depress the brake pedal, en­
gage the parking bra ke and the n move the
selector lever completely to posit ion P. By
do ing
this , the mechanism and it be easier to rele ase
the park ing brake .
Stopping
When stopping briefly, a t a traffic light for
example , it is not necessary to move these­
l ec t
or lever to N (Neutra l).
The driving pos itions must never be used
for holding the vehicle on a hill. Always use
your foot brake when stopped on inclines.

AND EQUIPMENT
Manual transmission
Gearshift lever
engine with gearshift in
when changing gears. Do not the
knob
tion is required (when passing , for example) ,
shift down .
To engage 5th gear , move shift to the
right beyond the spring pressure point and
push forwa
rd.
Reverse
into R (Reverse) when the is not moving.
To engage R (R eve rse), move to press down , move further to
press the
verse gea r with ignition on.

You can adjust the heig ht of the steeri ng
push the
to a
57