warning lights VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2012 Owner's Manual

Failure to heed warning lights or text WARN-can result in vehicle damage. Engine coolant specifications
on page 233.
Th e engine cooling system is
loy parts in the engine cooling system against ros ion. addition , the mixture helps prevent
coolant additive even in warm
weathe r or climates where antifreeze protection is
not needed.
otherw ise ,
antifreeze protection is reduced and the ability of the mixture to cool the engine is also reduced.
When
adding engine coolant, use a mixture of tilled water and at least coolant additive
G 12 pius-plus for optimum corrosion protection
.
Too little antifreeze protection in the engine cooling system can cause engine failure and
severe injuries.
tures that can be expected where the vehicle will be used.
ant could freeze, causing the vehicle to break down. The heater would also not work, and vehicle occupants could be without
gine and the engine cooling syste m.
can pollute the environment. Collect leaking
operating fluids and dispose of them properly in
accordance with applicable environmental laws
and
regu lations .

Washing the vehicle
tory information and heed the on page 243 .
T he longer insect splatter , bird droppings, tree sap,
r oad dirt , indust rial deposits , tar , soot , road
and othe r aggressive materials stay on your cle, the more damage they do to the paint finish.
H igh temperatures (includi ng strong sunlight)
oughly.
Car wash
Pay close attention to the information provided
by the car wash operator . B efo re goi ng throu gh a
ca r was h, b e s ure to take th e usual precautio ns t o
avoid damag e , such as closi ng the windows ,
The paint finish is toug h enough th at the vehicle can
the wheels and under the door
After the vehi cle ha s been washed , the wet brakes or, in winter, brake discs or pads ed with ice, react slower and need longer stopping distances .
WARNING
Always dry the brakes and clean off any ice coatings with a few careful applications of the brake . Make sure not to endanger other motorists or cyclists or disobey legal require-
ments .
edges under the vehicl e can cut ex-
posed skin.
Always protect your hands and arms from cuts on sharp metal edges when cleaning the under-body , the inside of the wheel housings,
etc.
The water temperature must not be more
than
Ne ver clean headlights with a dry cloth or sponge . Always use a w et cloth o r s ponge . For best result s use soapy water.
When washing or rinsing the vehicle in cold weather , do not
cult to open the vehicle!
To help prevent vehicle damage
in a car wash:
in the car wash to help prevent damage to wheel rims and tires!
Make sure there is enough clearance for the
height and width of the vehic le .
To help prevent paint damage to the engine
hood, place wiper blades against the shield after they have dried. Do not let them
snap back into place .
Lock the rear hatch to prevent unintentional
opening in the car wa sh .

Engine
In this sectio n yo u 'll find informatio n about
Indicato r lights ............... ........... 295
Cata lytic co nverter
..... 296
More information:
Sh ifting gears 171
Refueling 214
Fuel 219
Engine oil
Vehicle ba ttery
N otice about data recorded by vehic le co ntr ol
modu les
T owing 330
The vehicle exhaust system and the catalytic
converter get very hot. This can cause a fire
and serious personal injury.
Never apply additional undercoating or rust proofing on or near the exhaust mani-fold, exhaust pipes, catalytic converter , or heat shields .
Proposition 65 Warning
constituents,
and certain vehicle components contain or emit chemicals known to the
addition, certain fluids contained in vehicles and certain products of component wear contain or emit chemicals
known to the
on page 295.
L
ights up Possibl e ca use Proper respon se
Engine contr
ol malfunctio n (Elec tron ic Pow -Have engi
ne checked immediat ely by an au-
er
Contr ol). thor
ized Volkswage n dea ler or aut hor ized Volks-
wagen Fa cility .
Engine contr ol/ monitoring system
malfunc- E
ase off the accelerator . Carefully drive to the
lion (engine Malfunction Indicator Light- n
ea rest auth orized Volkswagen dealer or au-MIL) thorized
Volkswagen Facility . Ha ve en-
gine checked .
Flashes Possible cause Proper response
Ease
off the accele rator. Caref ully drive to the Misfire , which can damage th e catalytic con-
nearest authorize d Volkswagen dealer or au-.
thorized Volkswagen Service Faci lity. Have en-
gine checked .
When
the ignition is switched severa l warning
and indicator ligh ts come on briefly for a func tion
check . The y
go out after a few seconds . Failure to h
eed warning lights or text WARN-
can result
Vehi cle care and maint enance

N
After replacing a headlight bulb or other light bulb, always make sure that the rubber covers or plastic caps have been properly and secure-
Indicator light
to help prevent water from getting into the electrical connections and headlight housing and damaging the electrical system.
on
Lights up Possible cause Proper response
Light bulb of the exterior vehicle lighting not Replace the light bulb that isn't working .
working .
When the ignition is switched on, several warning
and indicator lights come on briefly for a function
check . They go
out after a few seconds.
WARNING
Failure to heed warning lights and instrument cluster text messages can cause the vehicle to break down in traffic and result in a
can result in vehicle damage.
indicated. However, indicator light come on if LEO s fail.
on
Checklist
for replacing a light bulb. Please carry out these steps only in the order listed
1.
179.
3.
4.
5.
6 .
7.
8.
9 .
position
122 .
Automatic transmission :
the transmission into Park (P) 171.
the engine and remove the key from the ignition switch 165.
Manual transmission: Engage a gear
122.
Let the burned
out light cool down.
Check
if the fuse is blown 317 .
Replace the burned
out light according to
Practical tips 321

of the vehic le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Braking assistan ce sy ste ms . . . . . . . 185
Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283, 284
Acoustic warnings Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Warning and indicator lights . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Adapti ve Front Lighting Dynami c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Adjusting Electr ically ad justable front seat . . . .
. . . 63 sea ting position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
a nd child restrain ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........... ..................... 126
Afte rm arket equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Aftermar ket installation ph one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
R adio equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Aftermarket installations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Adva nced Airbag s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Advanced Airbag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
C le a ning the instrument panel . . . . . . . . . 256
D ea ctivation by we ight -sensing mat . . . . . 97
Deactivation
of passenger front airbag . . . 97
Descr ipt ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Front airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Fun ction ality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Locking ve h icle afte r inflatio n . . . . . . . . . . . 42
airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Curt ain airbags . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . conside rations 211
Air conditioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Climatron ic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Man ual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Air recirculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Fun ctio nality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
off.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Air vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Alarm button in vehicle key
. . . . . . . . . . 248
Anodized surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Anti-Lock Brake . . . . . . . . . 185
. . . . . . . . . 186 , 187
Anti-th eft alarm system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Descr iption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Anti-th e
ft wheel bolts .....•.... 311
Antifreeze agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Armrest.................. ...... ...... 66
braking assistan ce syste ms . . . . . . . 187 Braking assistan ce sy ste ms . . . . . . . 186 on and off... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
A ss ista nce
systems Anti -Lock Brake . . . . . . . . 185 Regulation (ASR )........ 186, 187
Br ake Assi st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Brak e Ass ist
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 ccs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
C ru ise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Elect ronic Diff eren tial Lock (EDL) . . . . . . 186 Ele ct ronic Stabil it y Cont rol . . . . . . 185 H old . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 nre button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Auto-dimming inside mirror . . . . . . . . 134 Autom atic load deactivation...... . . . . . 241
Autom atic Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Automatic transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Dir ect . . . . . . 177 Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Driving on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Emergency release for the sele cto r lever
l ock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

safety seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 the rear seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
seat
B ooster seat ........................ 114 Child seat mounting .................. 114 Co nvertible child sea t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Infant carrier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Sec uring with loc ka bl e safety belt ....... 115 Securing with safety belt .............. 115
seats
Child seat mounting .............. 110, 111 Informati on about child restraint systems 121 Transpo rting children in vehicles . . . . . . . 107
veh ic le care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Climatronlc
Also see: Air cond iti o ning . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
............. ........•.......... 18 Sett ing t he time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8 Setting time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Closing
Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . 51 Windows .......................... 53 w ith Keyless Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 . . . . . . . 160
Cockp it ......................... ...... 9
. . . . . 28 1
Comfort turn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Communication window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Compact spare Drivin g style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Front seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
sunro of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 win dows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Engine coo la nt . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Counter-steering assistance . . . . . . . . . . . 194
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
D
Data recorded by control units . . . . . . . . . 287
Data recorded
(DRL) . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Daytime running (DRL) deactivation
DRL parking feat ure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Daytime running lights (DRL) parking fea-
ture DRL deact i
vation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Declaration of compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Deicing door lock cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Deicing locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 49
Department of Transportation uniform tire quality grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Diagnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Differential lock Br aking ass istance systems . . . . . . . 186
Digital clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Dim en sions . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Doors ............................... 47 Child safe ty lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Emergency closing and ope ning . . . . . . . 301 Warnin g light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Driver door Overview .....................•..... 9 Driving
Driving checklists and warning s . . . . . . . . . 31 Driving in other countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Driving throug h wa te r on roads . . . . . . . . 33 Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Environmen tally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 5 too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Getting ready . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 on a dow nhill grade . . . . . . . . . . . 183 on an

emergency Breakdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Emergen cy flashers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Pr otecti ng yourself and the
. . . . . 299
Infrared-ref lecting windshield . . . . . . . . . . 128
cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Brightn ess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 19
Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Menu structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Service reminder display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Using menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
cluster displays . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
. .
. . . . .
light . . . . . . .
Jump-start Using jumper cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 Jump-starting
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Keyless Go. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Starter button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Unlocking and locking vehicle . . . . . . . . . .
44 Keyless Access locking and starting system .4.4
Keys
Battery replaceme nt (vehic le key ) . . . . . . . 39
see
. . . . . . . . . . . . 177
L
Labels .............•................ 291
safety seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
......................... 118
Launch
control program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Lifting vehicle Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Jack .....................•....... 313
With ja ck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Light Acoustic warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Adaptive Front Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Daytime running lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . 125
Headlight range adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . 126
. . . . 122
illumination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Ligh t swi tch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Low beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Reading lights . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . 127
. . . . 124 Light bulb malfunction . . . .
Light bulb replacement
Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 Preparations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Turn signal lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Loading Driving with an open rear hatch . . . . . . . . 138
Genera l instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Luggage compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
141 Luggage compartment
cess
Unlocking and locking vehicle . . . . . . . . . . 44
Low beam s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Luggage
compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Luggage compartm ent cover . . . . . . . . . . 143
Luggage compartment light . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Delivery inspection
and Maintenance information
Delivery
for your Volkswagen
tant can answer any questions you may have .
you are not sure when to bring your car in for
service, ask your authorized Volkswagen
consultant.
Before your
vehicle is delivered to you , it is inspected according to fac tory guidelines.
Th e Delivery
cable)
Coo lan t lev el and f rost pro tectio n: Check
Engine a nd engine compartment components :
Che ck (from above) for leak s and damage
Engine and engine compartment components :
Ch eck (from below) for leaks and damage, check
transm ission, final drive , and drive shaft boots
26 USA Warranty and Maintenance
T oday's date and Volkswagen Dealer stamp
partment lighting, turn signals, and hazard warning
lights: Check
Visual inspection of windshie ld. Note dam age if
necessary