key VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2012 Workshop Manual

Major con sumers of are sw itched off when the engine is being started .
Stopping the engine
After start ing a engin e, there may be creased operating noises fo r a few seconds .
This is
first read and note the introductory information and heed the on
perform each step
without Keyless Access Vehicles with Access
1. Bring the to a
2. Dep res s and down the brake s tep 4 is
3 . A ut omatic transmission: th e transmission into Park (P) .
4 .
the parking brake to fr om moving
in Briefly press the starter button 167. 5. the engine 167.
6 . With
a
tran smi ssion , shift into 1st gear or re-
ve rse pointin g down hill).
Never stop the engine before the has
come to a trol of the vehicle, crash, and be
be needed to stop the
not be able to steer the
the engine
running and the driver door is opened, a
c him e sounds. Th e c hime is a re minder to
sw itch off the engine and turn off the igniti on before and from the outside.
with automatic t ransmissio ns. the be remov ed from the
ignition when the transmission is in Park (P).
After the engi ne has been switched off. the radiato r fan in the engine compartment may
keep running for ning after the even if the ignition is sw itche d off and t he ve hicle
key has bee n remo ved. Th e radiat or fan sh uts off
automatically when th e engine has down
enough.
Starting, shifting, parking 169

on page 165.
The immobilizer helps to pre ve
nt the engine fr om
being started and driven with an unauth orized
vehicles with Keyless
Access , th e vehicle key must be outside the
driving The
engine can therefore
dependent repair facilities and locksmiths who are to make vehicle keys 36.
an unauthorized vehicle key is used , Immobil­izer active! appears in the instr ument cluste r
display . Th e
Using genuine mize the risk of malfun ctions .

Braking, stopping, and parking
this sectio n
Parking brake . . . . . . . . . . . 182
P arking . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
About the brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Braking assistance systems
Switching
L ock Brake System (ABS) . Br ak e Assist System
(BAS ), Ele ctronic Differential Lock (EDL), R eg ulatio n (ASR) and Electronic C ontrol
(ESC).
More information:
Trai ler towi ng 149
Starting assistance systems 1 95
Tires and whee ls 258
Driving with bad brakes or worn brake pads can cause a and serious personal
injury.
lights up in the instrument cluster display, whether alone or together with a text message, immediately contact an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Facility to have the brake pads checked and, if necessa­
ry, replaced .
Parking improperly can cause serious sonal injury.
lock and you
haust system or catalytic converter could
fu el, etc.
riously injure you and your passengers.
sonal injury.
mote control vehicle key, trapping passen­gers in the vehicle in an emergency. For ample, depending on the time of year, people trapp ed in the vehicle can be exposed to very high or very low temperatures.
children.
Starting, shifting, parking 179

Failure to heed warning lights or t ex t WARN-can result in vehicle damage . Parking brake
Fig. 113 Between the front seats :
on page 179.
the parking brake lever up firmly.
When the ignition is on , the indicator or appears in the instrume nt c luster display to show th at the park ing brake is engaged
the leve r up 113 (arrow) .
While hold ing the release button down, move
t h e lever t he way down.
Parking
Ple ase firs t r ea d and note the introduc­tory info rm ation and heed the WARN­on pa ge 179.
note legal regulations when stopping and
parking your vehicle.
Parking the vehicle
p erform these steps only in the order listed.
the vehicle on a suitab le surface
the rear wheels are braked . Always
use the foot bra ke.
engag ed. This c an cause the brak e to over­
heat and neg ati vely affec t the b rak e sys te m .
start to move even if the parking brake is e ngag ed .
Even
though the tra nsmission is in P ark (P),
t h e vehi cle may move a couple of inche s (a fe w
c entimeters) forwards or backwards if you take
your f oot off the brake pedal after stopping the
ve hicl e without fir s t firmly setting the parking
b rake .
A warning signal sounds if you drive faster
Apply t he parking brake to 182.
For automatic transmissions : (P).
Remove the vehicle key from the igni tion.
necessary , turn the steer ing whee l to
e ngage the steer ing column lock.

transmission into 1st gear (on
and the out.
keys with you when
Before stopping the en gine, turn the steer ing so th at, if the starts to into the curb :
turn the fro nt
Facing
The
on page 179.
New
brake pads do not provide to km)
and must first be To some extent,
you can make up for th e somewhat reduced
formance by more pressu re to t h e brake But, during the break-in period, the
be the brakes are ken in. Avoid hard braking a nd situatio ns that might
requ ire hard brakin g (such as
on operati ng
condit ions and the way the
you
serv ice
damage your bumper and related parts if the front of your vehicle hits a barrier or curb that is too high you are
getting into or out of a parking spot. To
to the ground may be damaged (such as bumper covers, spoilers, and parts of the en-
gine , suspension, and exhaust systems). Wet brake s (for or after heavy be whe n brake discs are wet or, in winter, even
icy. Wet or icy brakes must be dried as soon as by high speed.
Make sur e nobody is behind you and that you do
not enda nge r
or othe rs
t her e is on th e roads and you are not braking brake move any
Brake disc corrosion (rust) and dirt to occur if the is not driven much or is driven fo r short
distances with the brakes have not
been used and th ere is some rust on the discs, the brake discs and pads once in a by
shifting, parking

the fuel and take the fuel cap back
on the
Afte r switc hing on the ignition , the light
may stay on or the text message may
however, the malfunction indi cato r light also
comes on, drive to your nearest authorized Volks­
wagen deale r or a uthorized
Vol kswage n Facility and have the fuel system and the engine
checked .
Driving with a fu el tank that is almost empty can lead to and serious personal injuries.
Refueling
Fig . 125 Fuel cap placed on the open fuel
tory information and hee d the WARN­on page 214.
Before refue ling , always switch off the engine, the
i gniti on , and phones , and leave them
switc hed off unt il refu eling is complete .
when driving over bumps, across slopes, and up and down
and relat ed systems no t work if the engine or due to lack o f f uel.
to reduce the risk of running out of fuel and stalling in traffic.
ca n re sult vehicle damage .
fuel supply can cause the
engi ne to misfire . This
The arrow next to the gas pump symbo l in the fuel gauge 124 shows the of the vehicle with the fuel filler Opening the fuel cap
Unlo ck the vehicle from the outside with the ve­
h ic le key or pres s the central loc king button in driv­
er
to unlock the vehicle from the inside 41.
The fuel
Pre ss on the back part of the fuel and
fold open .
Unscrew the fuel cap counterclockwise
and remove . Plac e the cap on the top of the fue l 125 .
The correc t fuel grade for you r vehicle is listed on
a sticker on the insid e of the fuel 125.
The fuel tank is full when the automatic filler nozzle pump switch es off the first time
Do not try to add fuel after the pump stops!
T opping off the tank in this way may the expan­
sion space that the tank needs and cause fuel to
for exam ple, if it gets warmer out side .

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

Getting ready to work in the engine compartment
information and heed the on page 222.
steps in the order in whic h they are
Park the vehic le in a safe place on a firm , su rface .
the brake pedal down
the par king brake to help preve nt the vehicle fr om moving 179 .
S hift th e t ra nsmiss ion
P ark (P) (automatic) or Neu tr al (manual page 171 .
Stop th e e ng in e a nd re m ove th e key f
rom th e ig nit ion sw itch 165 .
Le t the engin e down suffi cie ntly .
K eep children and others away from
the .
Make sure the ve hicle can not move unexpecte dly .
Disregarding the safety-rela ted checklist may re sult serious accept ed safety practices and use __ m_o_ n_s_e_n_s_e_. ____________________
Opening and closing the engine compartment
Fig . 1 26 engi ne hood release lever.
on page 222. Fig
. 1
27 Above the rad iator Outside engine
hood release .

Checking engine coolant level and topping off
Fig. 13 1 Coolant expan sion tank in the engi ne
compartme nt.
Please first read and note the introduc­tory Information and heed the WARN ­on page 233.
Park the vehicle on level ground .
Always let the engine down
the engine hood in Introduction on
page 222.
There is a sy mbol on the cap of the engine coolant expans ion tank 132 .
Checking engine coolant
When the engine is cold , check the engine
coolant level relative to the marking on the side of the expansion tank 13 1.
the coolant level in the tank is below the mini ­
mum mark ("min"), add coolant. When th e engi ne is warm, the engine coolant level may be slig htly
above the upper edge of the marked range.
Adding engine coolant
Always protect face, hands and arms from hot
escaping coolant or steam by covering the cap
with a large , thick rag.
Carefully unscrew the cap
Add only new engine coolant according to
The engine coolant level must be inside the
marks on the side of the reservoir 131. Do not
236 cleaning, maintenance Fig.
132 Coola nt expansion tank cap in the eng ine
compa rtment.
Screw the lid tightly .
Even in an emergency , do not use any other kind of coolant additive if engine coolant meeting
add distilled water only As
soon as possible , have the correct coolant ratio re­
sto red using engine coolant that meet s
WARNING
Hot steam and hot engine coolant can cau se serious burns.
Neve r open the hood you see steam or coolant escaping from the engine compart­ment. Always w ai t until you no longer see or hea r steam or co olant escaping from the en­
gine .
opening the hood. Hot components will burn skin on contact.
Park (P) (automatic) or Neutral (manua l only).
- Take the vehicle key
out of the ignition.
-
veh icles with Keyless Access, make
sure that the remote control vehicle key is out of range of the vehicle and that the ve­hicle cannot be sta rted by depressing the
starte r button 44.
-
Always keep children and others away
from the engine compartment and never
l eave them unsupervised.

Do it
Practical tips
you suspect a ma lfunction or the Facility. addition,
the keyword entries cons ide rations " or may
Description r e m edy
e rs
too 214.
- Battery in the remo te
-the battery in the remote con-
trot
t o using - Synchronize -Buttons pressed outside oper-
-Lock or
entry in the index .
Assistance systems activated. Check the "Assi stance systems " entry in the index. driving behavior Direct Gearbox too
is unl ocked.
Front seats cannot
be ad-238.
justed wi
th power Fuse if necessary 317.
Features do not work as de-
Volkswagen 24.
- Have the
the road as they
Charge
consumers do not Remaining too
3
17 .
tip s 297