starting VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2012 Owner's Guide

Never open or close the engine hood if To reduce th e risk of electrica l shock and steam or coolant is escaping. Hot steam or personal injury
-Never touch ignition cables. Never ant escaping from the engine. touch other components of the high
Always the eng ine down com-age electronic ignition syste m .
opening the hood.
-Never touch the wiring of the Discharge (Xenon) headlights.
system burn skin on contact.
you are read y to open the hood: Moving parts in th e engine compartment can
- Firm ly apply the parking brake a nd shift cause serious personal injury on contact. the transmission into Park (P) (automatic)
vehicles with Keyless Access, make member that the radiator fan is temperature-
s
ure that the remote contro l vehicle key is controlled and can come on sudden ly even
out of range of th e vehicle and that the ve- when the engine
has been switched off for a
hicl e cannot be started by depres sing the 44. ignition.
-
Always keep children and others away you have to perform a check or repair from the engine compartment and never when the engine is runn ing, there are more leave them unsupervised. risks from the rotating parts, such as the
hair do not get caught in
ries. rotating engine
parts. B efore starting an y
- Turn
the cap
fluids onto hot parts of the engine o r exhaust system can
cause a fire. -
Always use
extreme caution if the ac-
ce lerato r pedal has to be depressed to perform a check. The vehicle will start to move even if the parking brake i s on.
Never leave any objects in the engine compartment, for examp le cleaning rags and tools. Objects left b ehind can cause malfunc-lions, engine damage, and even fires.
High voltage sy stems in the engine com part-ment can ca use electrica l shocks or even
electrocution, severe burns, other serious in-juries, and eve n deathl
Neve r short-circuit the electrica l syste m .
B e especially ca reful when using jumper ca-
Operating fluids and some materials in the engi ne compartment can catch fire easily, causing burns an d other serious personal in-juries
Do not smoke .
b les. The
vehicle 's battery could exp lode! Never work next to open flames or sparks .
223

Changing a wheel
Introduction
this sect ion you 'll find informati on about:
for changi ng a wheel . . . . . . . . . 311
Wheel bolts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Lifting the vehi cle with the vehicle jack . . . . . . 313
Changing a whee l ....................... 315
After ch anging a wheel
................... 315
Change a wheel by yourse lf only if the vehicle is
park ed in a safe loca tion , you are fam
ilia r with
safe ty procedures and the technical steps, and you
ha ve proper too ls ava ilable . Otherwise , get expert
ass istan
ce.
More information:
Exterior views 6
Vehicle key set
Tires and whee ls 258
an em ergency
Vehicle tool kit
W heel covers
Changing a wheel ,
proaching traffic.
you are towing a trailer, always unhitch it from your vehicle before starting to change the wheel. Always apply the trailer brakes firmly and make sure the trailer cannot move unintentionally.
ing the transmission in Par k (P) or in gear
proved for use on other Volkswagen models.
es , and serious personal injuries, never en the screws on rims with threaded rim rings.
rate torque wrench.

Jump-starting
this sect ion find inform atio n about:
U sing jum per cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
your eng ine does not start because the
the battery acid
l evel indicator window on the vehicle battery before
jump -starting
with gasoline engines , the cross -sec tion of the jumper
cable wire must be at least
assistance systems 195
Prepara tions for worki ng i n the engine compa rt­
ment 222
Vehicle battery
Working on the batterie s or the electrical sys­te m in your vehicle can cause serious acid burns, fires , or electrical shock.
Never lean over a vehicl e battery. Always
w ea r protective gloves and eye protection. To
r educe your risk o f injury, never tilt the bat­
t e rie s; acid could spill out through the vents and burn you.
A highly explosive mixture of gases is giv­e n off when the battery being charged.
you an y battery acid,
g et medical attention immediately .
work on the batterie s or the e lectrica l system in your vehicle can cause serious acid burns, fires, or electrical shocks. Always
read and heed the
Never jump-start a vehicle with a t hawed or frozen vehicle battery. The battery can ex­plode. A d ead battery can freeze at tempera­
tures around +32
A batt ery that is frozen or was frozen , but has since thawed, must be replaced.
Wh en the vehicle battery is jump-s ta rted ,
i t give s off hydrogen gas, which is highly ex­
plosive! Always keep fire, s park s, open flame,
an d smoking mater ials far aw ay from vehicle batteries. Neve r use a telephon e while connecting or disconnecting jumper ca­
bl es.
Practica l tips

the engine
the engine of the vehicle with the good
battery that is providing help and let it run at idle
speed .
Turn on the ignition of the vehicle with the dead
b attery. the engine starts, wait 2 to 3 minutes
the engine does
not start within about seconds , turn off the tion and wait at least 1 minute ; then try again .
Removing the jumper cables
Before you remove the jumper cables. swi tch
off the headlights (if they are on) .
the vehic le with the dead batte ry , switc h on
t he heater fa n and the rea r window defroster. This
he lps
to m in im ize voltage spikes when the cables
a re disconnected.
With the engine running , remove the jumper
nected .
Disconnect the black (- ) cab le f rom the vehicle
wit h the dead battery .
Disconnec t the black (-) cable from the other
vehicle (vehicle with the good battery) .
Disconnect the red(+) cable from the other
Disconnect the red (+ ) cable from the vehicle
with the dead battery .
Close the battery cover.
Improper use of jumper cables when starting a vehicle with a dead battery can
cause the battery to explode , leading to
Always wear proper eye protection. Never
lean over the vehicle battery.
Attach the jumper cables in the correct
Never connect the negative cable from the
vehicle providing starting assistance to parts of the fuel system or to the brake hoses or brake lines.
Never
sistance.
Avoid electrostatic discharge in the may cause the hydrogen gas escaping from the vehicle battery to ignite.
Never jump-start a vehicle with a battery
that is damaged or frozen or that was frozen
and has thawed. The battery can explode.
Always the instructions of the jumper cable manufacturer.
Never connect the negati ve cable from the other vehicle directly to the negative terminal of the dead battery . The hydrogen gas from
the battery is explosive.
Never short out the battery terminals by connecting the positive(+) and negative
Practical tips 329

Some basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 S tarting up on . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
S toppi ng on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
T hroug h water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Towi ng ........................... 333
With a traile r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
W it h aut oma tic transm ission . . . . . . . . . . 177
Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Ch ecklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Driving checklists and warnings . . . . . . . . . 3 1
Driving directions Co mpact spare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Spare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Dri
ving . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Dri
ving safely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Driving through
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dynamic
Brak ing assistance systems . . . . . . . 186
consumers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 1
deactivation . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 3 ,
sockets
1 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Differentia l Lock (EDL) . . . . . . . 186
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . 185
Em ergency closing and opening . . . . . . . .
P assenge r doo r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Power sunroof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R ea r doo rs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Em ergency closing or opening E mergency release for the selecto r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Em erg ency flashers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Em erg
ency starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
J umper cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Emission system . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
I ndic ator
Engine
B rea k-in period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 Does not start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
N oises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Engine and ignition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
1 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Ignition switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Immobi lizer ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . 222 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Plenum chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 9
P repara tions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . 225 Vehicle battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
En
gine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Engine syste m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 In dicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Engine coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3
Check ing coo lan t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Temperature gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
T opping
off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Warning
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Engine identification code Determining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Adding oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
openi ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
I n dica to r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Specif ica tions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Warning
driving . . . . . . . . 189 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
................................ 185
Electronic Stability . . . . . . 18 5
E xte rior views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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

Tire identification number . . . . . . . . 272
Tire i nflation pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Tire
. . . . 261, 273
UTQG classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Valve caps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Wear indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Wheel balancing . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . 268
Wheel rims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Winte r tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Tire wear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Tongue weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Trailer loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Tools kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tow-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Towing ............................. 331 Driving tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Front towing eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Manua l tr ansmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rear towing eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 considerations . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Tow bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Tow rope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Tow truck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Trail er
Connec ting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
151 Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Driving with a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Head
light settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Hitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 LED taillights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Load ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Ou ts ide mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Sa fety chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Ta illi gh ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Tongue weight ................. 149,151
Towing capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Trai ler towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
hitch
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Transporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Driving tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Driving with an open rear hatch . . . . . . . . 138
Driving with a trai ler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Luggage compartment pass-thro ugh . . . . 144
Roof rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146, 148
Shopping bag hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Stow
ing luggage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Tie-downs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Trailer loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Tran
sporting children in vehicles . . . . . . . Tread depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
T urn s
ignal leve r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
u
Undercoating ....................... . 249 Unidirectional tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Unlocking From inside the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
From outside the vehicle . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
wi th Keyless Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Upholstery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 .......... ................... 252
. . . . . . . . . . . . 252
. . . 252
. . . 255
UTQG classification 292
v
Valve caps Vehi cle 265
L oad ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
37 Lock ing from the outside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
grade . . . . . . . . . . 183 Stopping on an grade . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Unlocking and locking from the ins ide . . . . 43 U nlocking from the outside . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Vehicle battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Au toma tic deact ivation . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Battery acid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Battery runs down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
347