airbag off VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2008 Owners Manual

Safety instructions
Belt pretensioners 2.1: 27
Child restraint on the front seat 2.1:
Child seats 2.1 : 56
Coolant tempera ture 3.2:48
Loading
the lu ggage compartment 2.1:
seating position for passengers in
r
ear seat s 2.1: 6 seating position for
driver 2.1: 4
seating position for the front
passenger 2.1: 5
Safety belt extender 2.1: 23
Sa fet y
belts 2.1: 17 S id e airbag s 2.1: 48
Side Curtain ProtectionTM airbags 2.1: 52
Screw-on decorati ve covers 3.2: 58
Seat adjustment 3.1: 55, 58
Seat heating
Front 3.1:
59
Seating ca pacity 2.1: 13
Sea ting
position
Di s
tance between driver and ste erin g
w
hee l 2.1:4 Dr iver 2.1: 4
Fron t passen ger 2.1: 5 Improper seatin g position s 2.1: 8
Speed rating le tter code 3.2: 74
Speed warning 3.1: 21
Starting th e engine W ith the ig nition key 3.1:85
S tartin g
with jumper cables 3.2: 99
Stee rin g 3.1: 25
S
teering lock 3.1: 84
S te ering
wheel
Di s
tance to the driver 2.1: 4
Steerin g wheel height adjustment 3.1: 25
S
teps for determining co rrect load limit 3.2: 71
Sticker on th e left door jamb 3.3 : 3
Stopping the en gine 3.1:8 6
Sto rage
area
Roof 3.1:65
S torage
compartment 3.1: 64
additional sto rage 3.1: 66
Front center armrest 3.1: 65
S torage for
the vehicle literature 3.1: 64
Sunroof 3.1: 41
Sunshade
power roof 3.1:41
Sun viso r 3.1:49
Sw itch
able loc king feature
Activatin g 2.1: 65
D
eacti va tin g 2.1: 67
Sw itches Em ergency flasher 3.1: 45
Light swit ches 3.1: 43 outside mirrors 3.1: 53 ro of 3.1:41 windows 3.1: 38
Sw itching off the engin e
W ith the ignit ion key 3.1: 86
Sw itch
lig htin g 3.1: 3
T
Tachometer 3.1: 9
Ta
ilga te 3.1:35

Always make sure that there are at least
Each passenger must always sit on a seat of their own and properly fasten and wear the safety belt be longing to that seat.
Before driving , always adjust the front senger seat and head re straint properly.
Alway s keep your feet on the floor in front of the seat. Never rest them on the seat, ment panel, out of the window, etc. The airbag
tect you properly and can even increa se th e
risk of injury in a crash.
Neve r drive with the backre st recl ined or tilted far back! The farth er the b ackrests are
tilted back, the greater the risk ofinjury due to
in correct positioning of the safety belt and
must always ride in seats 53. a child seat on the front passenger page
Mak e sure that the seatback s are
curel y lat ch ed in the upright position.
A djust th e head restraint so that the
upper edge is as even with the top of your
head as possible but no lower than eye
pag e 7. If a passe nger is s ittin g in
the rear center seating pos ition, this
pac t h ead restra int is not h eight
a ble , but it must always bee n rais ed
eve r the center rear seating posit ion is
belt on
page 23
Keep both feet flat in the footwell in
front
of the rear seat.
6 Safe driving
Fasten and wear safe ty belt s properly
13.
Make sure that children are always
prop e
rly restra in ed in a child re str aint that
is appropriate for thei r size and age
5 3 .
WARNING
Pas sengers who are improperly seated on the rear seat can be se riou sly injure d in a crash.
Each passen ge r must always sit on a seat of th eir own and properly fasten and wear the safety belt belonging to that seat.
belt s only offer maximum tion when the seat back is securely latched in
th e upright po siti on and the safety belts are
properly positioned on the body. By not sitting
upright , a re ar seat pass enger increases the risk of personal injury from improperl y
Always adjust the head restraint properly so that it can give maximum

Booklet 2.1 Safety first
Safety
Fig . 11 Driver is correctly restrained in a sudden braking maneu ve r.
used properly can make a big differ­
e n ce . help to kee p passenge rs in
t h ei r gradually red uce energy levels ap­plied to the body in a collisio n. an d h elp prevent
t h e uncontrolled movement that can cause se­
r ious injuries. additio n, safety reduce the danger of being throw n out of the vehicle.
passengers to the car and give them the benefi t o f being slowed down more ge ntly or t hroug h the c rumple zones and oth er sa fety features engineered today's vehicles. By
hough these examples are based on
Acci dent statist ics show that
veh icle occupants prop erly wearing safety have a lowe r risk of being i n ju red and
pro­
v id ed . Fron t airbags, for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions. The front airbags
are not activated in all frontal collision s, in side and rea r collisions, in rollovers or in cases where
there is not e n ough deceleration through impact
to the front of the ve hicle. The sa me goes for the
o ther airbag systems in your Volk sw age n. al­
ways wear your saf ety
safety instructions about safety
Safety belts must always be correctly positioned across
Always wear safety belts as illu strate d
a
nd d esc ribed in thi s Book let.
WARNING
Not wearing safety belt s or w earin g them im­
p ro perl y in cre ases the ri sk of serio us pe rso nal
Always fas te n your safety belt s correc tly
before driv ing off and make su re all passen ­gers are corr ec tly res traine d.
For m aximum protectio n, safe ty belts must a lways be pos itioned correctly on the
Safety belts 17

page 53.
Eve n though your vehicl e is equipped wit h an Advanced Airbag System, make certain that all childre n , especially those 12 years and younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly restrained for their
if an infant up to about one year of age restrained in on e of the rearward-fac ing or forward-facing infant re­
straints lis ted in Federal Mo tor Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag Sys te m in your was certified has been in­stalled on the front passenger seat. For a listing of the child restraints that were used certify compli ance with the
55.
The PASSENGER
will stay on if the front passenger seat is not occupied,
will stay o n if the tot al weight o n the front passenger seat is that of a typical year-o ld in­fant restrain ed in one of th e rearward-facing or forward-fa cing infant restraints listed in
w ill go off if the front passenger seat is occu­pied by a n adult as re gis te red by the weight­sen sin g page 40,
can stay on if the weight on the seat is more than th e typical! year-o ld infant re-
strained i n one of the child restraints li sted in 208 but less than weigh t of a small
the total weigh t on the front passenger seat is more tha n that of a typica l
208, the front airbag on the passenger side can deploy (the PASSENGER
light does not come on) even if the weight is less than the weight of a small adult. I f the PASSENGER light does not come o n, th e front airbag o n the passenger side has not been turned off by th e e lectronic control unit and can deploy if the control unit senses an impact that meets the conditions stored in its
memory.
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
a small chil d that is heavie r than a typical year-old infant is on the front passenger seat restrained in one of the c hild seats liste d in 20 8 page 55 or
a child who has outgrown child restraints is on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the PASSENGER and sta ys on.
The front airbag on the passenger sid e w ill de­plo y if the PASSENGER BAG lig ht does not come on and sta y on even if a small or teenager, or passenger who is not sitting up­
right w ith their back against a non-recl in ed bac kre st with th eir feet on the in
front of the seat i s on the
deployment occurs in those crashes that ta ke place at lowe r decelera ti o ns as defined in

the elec tronic control page 41, SENGER
Always remember. a child seat or infa nt carrier
in stalled on th e fron t seat may the rapidly pas senger's airbag in a frontal collision. The
airbag could greatly re duce the effectiveness of the c hild restraint and even seriou sly injure th e
c hild during
stro ng ly recommend that children always sit in
th e back page 53,
infant in a seat stall ed on th e front passe nge r seat ously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates eve n with an
System.
The inflating airba g will hit the child seat or infant carrier with great force and will
smas h th e c hild seat and c hild against the backrest, cent e r armre st, door or roof.
Always install r earwa rd-facing child seats on the rear scat.
If you must install a rearward facing child seat on the front passe nger scat becau se of
light docs not com e on and stay on, imme diatel y
your authorized swage n dealer or qualified workshop.
terferc with the ously inju re or even the child -eve n with
a n A irb ag
in exceptio nal circumstances, you must
in stall a fonvard-facing c hild restraint on the front passe nger's sca t:
-
Fon vard-facin g seats install ed on the front passenger's seat may interfer e
with the deplo ym ent of the air bag and cause seriou s personal injury to the child .
2.1 Safety first
turer's instructions provid ed with the c hild
sea t or carrier.
- Neve r
put the fonvard-faci ng c hild
ment panel.
- Always move the passe nge r sca t into its
rearmost pos ition in the scat's fore and aft adjustment range, as far away from the airbag as possi ble before installing ward-facing
scat that can increase the total weight te re d by the weig ht-sensing mat and ca n
ca use injury in a cras h.
Make sure that the BAG light comes on and stays on all the time w henever the igniti on i s switc hed on.
th e BAG light does not com e on and stay on , imm ediately in stall the fonv ard-facing child scat in a rea r seatin g
position and have the airba g sys tem inspec ted
by your authorized Volkswagen dealer or qualified workshop.
To reduce the ris k of se rious injury, make su re that tltc light is on whenever a child restraint is install ed on th e
front passenger scat and the ig niti on is switched on.
the d ocs not stay on, perform th e c hecks descr ibed the Advanc ed
Take the c hild restra int off the front senger seat and in stall it properly at one of the
r ear sea t position s if th e BAG light does not sta y on.
Airbag system 31

Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that everybody in your vehicl e
i s properly re strained.
A person o n the front passenger seat, cially infants and small
Although the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle is designed to turn orr the front passenger airbag if an in fant or a small child in one of the child restraints used to certify the Advanced Airbag System is on the front
tion s is impossible in all conceivabl e situa-
Applies to vehicles: with advanced front airbag system
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicl e is equipped with a front Advanced
A irbag System in complia nce with States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard as applicable the time your hicle was manufactured.
The front Advanced AirbagSystem supplemems the s afety belt s to provide additional protection
for the driver's and front passenge r' s head s and upper bodi es in frontal crashes. The airbags
straint system in your vehicle. Always remember that the a irba g system can only help to protect if you are sittin g upright, wearin g your safe ty belt and wearing it properly. This is why
yo u and your passengers must always be erly restrained, not just because the law requi res you to be.
The Adva nced Airbag System in yo ur ve hicl e has been to meet the ment s for 3 and 6 yea r-old childr en (as defined
in the s tandard) on the passenger sid e and very
The Advanced AirbagSyste m can deploy in accordance with the
fant restrained in one of the fonvard facing or rearward facing child seats wit h which
plo yment arc met.
Accident statistic s have shown that
For their own safety, all children, especially 12 years and younger, should always ride in the back properly restrained for their age and
small adult s on the driver side. ployment occurs in those crashes th at tak e place
troni c control unit. The low risk deployment teria are intended to help reduce the ris k of jury through interact ion with th e front airbag
t hat can occur in these collisions, for example.
b y
being too close to the steering wheel and
deplo yme nt to occur. the PASSENGER light mus t be orr "Monito ring the Advanced Airbag
year old. restrained in one of the rearward-facing or forward-facing
child restraims (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard with which the Advanced
A irbag System in yo ur veh icle was the PASSENGER BAG light mayor may not come on. Wh en the PASSENGER light is off, the fron t airbag on the passe nge r side may or may not deploy depending o n the nature
Airbog system 33

a small child that is heavier than a typica l
I ye ar-old infant in one o f th e child restraint s
w ith whi ch th e A dvan ced Airbag was page 55.
a child who has outgrown child res traints is
o n
a small adult or te enage r is on th e front se nger seat.
a passe nge r w ho is not sitting upright with
thei r back against a non -re clined backr est with
th eir feet on th e ve hicl e floor in front of the seat occupant seatin g is on t h e fr o nt passenger seat.
re quir em ent s of th e to turn off the fron t a irb ag
f o r infant s 12 months old and younger w ho are
re strained on the fro nt passenger seat in ch ild
restraint s that are liste d in the Standard re str aint s and Adva nce d
requires the front airb ag on th e passenge r sid e to be turned off if th e tota l weig ht
r eg is tered on th e front passe nger is less
th an a inf ant up to about one year of age is s tra ined on the front passe nger seat in one of the rea rward-faci ng or for wa rd-fa cin g inf ant str aint s listed in Fed eral Moto r Vehicle
page 55
The BAG
light does no t come o n and stay on . th e front airbag on the passen ge r
s id e has not been turned off by th e co ntrol u nit and can deploy if th e control unit se nses an pact that meets th e co nditio ns s tored in its page
Alwa ys remember: Even thoug h yo ur veh icle is equipp ed with Adva nced Airb ags, the sa fest
34 Airbag system
pla ce fo r childr en i s properl y restrained on th e back seat. b e sure to read the important
information in the sections tl1at follo w and be
sure to heed all of th e WARNINGS.
To reduce th e risk of serious injury when an airbag inflates , always wear safety belts erly .
You will also receive serious injuries and could even be killed if you are up against the airbag or too close to it when it infl ates eve n
with an Advance d Airbag
An infant or child in a rearward-facing child
seat installed on the fron t passenger seat will be seriously injure d and can be killed if th e
front airbag inflate s eve n with an Advanc ed
Airbag System.
Although
ment is impossibl e in all conce ivab le tions that may happen during th e usefu l lif e of your ve hicle.
The infl atin g airbag hit the child seat or infant ca rrier with great force and will
s m as h th e child seat and child against backres t, center armrest, door or roof.
straint s in the rear seat.
front passe nge r scat because of ceptional circumstances and the
sh op.
terfer e with the airbag as it deploys and seri -

severity de pends on sp eed and d ece lemtion as well as the mass and n ess of the vehicle or object involved in the
cras h.
plo ys. follo wed by the second stage at a lat er
t im e in the cras h sequence.
If t
he ele ctronic co ntrol unit regis ters a cras h of
high e r seve rity, both stages of th e drive r a irbag will d eplo y almost at the same time, rega rd less of w he th er th e safe ty belts are bein g used or not.
gramm ed in the e lec tron ic co ntrol unit. The front airba g on the passenger side will also be
turned off if th e combined weight of a n infant of about one year of age in one of th e child seats
that wa s use d t o ce rtify the Advanced Airbag Sys te m under Federa l Moto r Vehicle Safety
S tandard has bee n regi ste re d on th e seat. The
res traint s on the front seat some important things to
flat es, always wear s afety belt s properly.
If yo u are unres trained , leaning forward,
s itting sideways or out of position in any way, your risk of injury is much higher.
28.
An airbag that has deplo yed cannot provide protecti o n and must be replac ed.
Alway s turn off the ignition after an airbag has deployed.
safe distance from d eplo yed passenge r airbag.
N ever try to repair or change the airbag s ys te m or c ut a deployed airbag from the
s teering wheel or in strument panel.
An airbag th at h as deployed cannot vid e protection and must be re placed.
Repla ce deployed airbags only with ina.l equipment airbags approved by swagen and in sta ll ed by a train ed t echnician who has the necessa ry tools and diagno sti c equipment to properly replace any airbag in
your ve hicle and assu re syste m effectiveness in a cra sh
Airbag system 37

Fig. 25 Section from the instrumen t pone l: PAS­SENGER BAG OFF
The PASSENGER BAG fig . 25.
The PASSENGER come on and stay on to
burns out. the airbag monitoring indicator
not change the the front airbag on the passenger side works, it no longer be possible to usc the PASSENGER BAG light to verify that the airbag on/off status is correc t for the occupant on the front passenger seat. Have the a irbag system in ­
specte d immediately by your authorized Volk­swagen deal er or qualifi ed workshop.
The PASSENGER blink for
up to long 9 seconds when:
the ignition is switched on and
the re is a change in the weight measured b y the weight-sensing mat in the fro nt passenger sca t that determines w hethe r the Advanced
A irbag on the passenger side can d eploy or be lllrned off.
Af te r
the light stops
light is proper for the siz e. age, and weight of the occupant on the front passenger seat.
ways make sure that th e safety for the fron t passenger scat is prope rly fastened.
The PASSENGER BAG light show the correc t status o f th e front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side
stay on if the front passenger seat is no t occup ied,
s ta y on if the combined weight of an in­
fant up t o about one year of age in one of the reanvard-fa cing or fonva rd-faci ng child re­
straints in Federa l Motor with whic h th e Advanc ed Airbag
Sys te m in your vehicl e was certified. is regis­tered by the weight-sensing mat in the front pas­senger seat. For a listin g of the chil d restraints
t h a t
were used to certi fy your vehicle's compli­a nce with the Safety
registered by the weight­sensing
The BAG light must come
on and stay on if the ignition is on and
a car bed has been o n the front pas­senger seat. or
a reanvard-facingchild restraint has been in­
a forward-facing child restra int has been in ­
and if the weig ht reg istered on the front pas­senger seat is equal to or less than the combine d weight o f a ty pical year-o ld infant restrained in one of the reanvard-facin g or fonvard-facing c hild restraints in Federall'v1 otor Safe ty in your vehicl e certified.
the front passenger seat is not occupi ed . the
front passenge r a irbag BAG stay on. Never on the fr o nt passenger seat, the safest p lace for in any kind of page
page 53,
Airbag system 41

Booklet 2.1 Safety first
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light comes
on ...
If th e PASSENGER AIR BAG comes on
w hen one o f th e conditio ns listed above is m et,
b e sure to check the light ta in that th e PASSENGER AIR BAG
does not appear and not stay on
reactivate th e sys te m by turning the ign ition
orr a nd th e n turning it on again ;
re move and th e child re stra int. Make
sure that the c hild restraint is pro p erly
ufacture r's in str u ctions;
make sure th at the conve rtibl e lockin g ture on the safety
Th e belt must no t be loose or have loops of slack so tha t th e sensor b elow the safe ty belt lat ch on the sea t can do its job 63.
m ake sure th at things that m ay increase th e weight o f the chil d and ch ild seat are not b e in g transp orted on the front passenger seat;
make sure tha t th e sa fe ty belt te nsion sen sor is no t blocke d. the sa fe ty la tc h on the
fr o nt passenger seat back and fo rth,
make sure that no thin g can int erf ere w ith the
safe ty belt buckles and that they are no t str ucte d.
If a strap o r tether is being used t o tie th e
c hi ld seat to th e front passenger scat, make sure tha t it is no t so tight that it c auses the sen sin g m at m easure m ore weig h t than is o n the seal.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light
light docs not com e o n and does no t stay on continuous ly (when th e ig niti on i s swi tc h ed on).
42 Airbag sys te m
take the c hild restrai nt off the front passenger scat and
your autho rized Volkswagen dealer o r q ualified wor ks hop immedia te ly.
move th e c hild to a rear seat posit io n and make su re that the
light should come on
The PASSENGER AIR BAG should NOT
come o n when the ign ition i s on and an adult is
s ilting in p ro per position on the front pa sse nger seat. If the PASSENGER AIR BAG lig ht comes o n and on u nder these circ um -sta nces. make su re that:
the adul t on the front passenge r scat is seat e d on the cente r o f the seat cushio n with
h is or her back up against th e back rest and th e
b ackres t is not page
the adult is not taking weigh t orr the seat by
hold ing on to the passenger assis t h andle above the fro nt passenger door or supporting th eir weig ht o n the armrest or hold ing o nt o the assist handle on th e in strument
th e safe ty belt is bei ng properly worn and that th e re is n ot in the safe ty belt
webb ing.
a ccessory seat cove rs or c u shions o r other th ings that m ay cause
passe nger seat.
is mov in g. the PASSENGER AIR BAG light blinks for about 5 seconds to catch th e driver's it is
s a fe to do s o and c heck the steps described