transmission oil VOLKSWAGEN GOLF PLUS 2004 Owners Manual

Brake booster
Th e brak e boo ste r w ork s o
nly wh en the engi ne is
running . It increa se s th e forc e on the brake s above and beyond the pre ssure put on th e brake pedal by
the driver.
If the brake booster is not working, or if th e ve hicl e
ha s to be towed, you have to push th e brak e
p ed a l hard er to make up for the lack of booster
New brake pads do not provide maximum braking performance.
New brake pads do not have the best ping power for the first km) and must be You can compensate for the slightl y reduced braking force by putting more pressure on the brake pedal.
Drive with
Never follow otl1er vehicles too closely or put yourself into other sit uation s that might require sudden, hard braking ,especially when the brake pads have not been broken
Overheated brakes
When driving downhill , the brakes have to
work es pecially hard and heat up quickly.
Before driving downhill, es peciall y on th at are long or steep, alwa ys reduce s peed and shift into lower gear (manual or automatic
transmission) so that the engine he lp s to brake
the vehicl e. Othenvise, the brake system cou ld
ov erheat and pos sibly u se the brakes
w hen yo u need them to slow the v ehicl e down
m ore or to stop.
A damaged front spoiler or a non- standard spoiler can reduce airflow to the brakes and
Starting, shifting, parking
Wet brakes or brakes witl1 icc or road salt
react slow er and n eed lo n ger stoppin g tances.
Ca refully apply the brakes to test th em.
Always dry brak es and clean off ice and salt
coat ings with a few cautious
tions permit.
Driving when the booster is no t working
in creases stopping distances and can cause dent s and seriou s personal injuries.
Never le t the vehicl e coast when the en gine is
switc hed off.
If the brake booster is not working (such as
w he n the vehicle is bein g towed), a lot more pedal force is needed to slow down and stop.
Note
Neve r the by keeping your foot on the to brak e.
Constant pressure on the brake pedal can make th e brakes overheat. This sub stantially reduce
braking performance, increase stopping di stan ce, and can cause co mpl ete failure of th e brake
s y stem.
Before driving downhill, especially on that are long or steep, always reduce speed and shift into lower gear (manua l or automati c
When th e front brake s are serviced , you should have the rea r brake pads inspected
rized Volksw agen deal er or au th orize d Volkswa gen
Service Facility vis uall y insp ec t th e pads through
th e o pe nin gs in the wh eel rim s or from nea th tl1e ve hicle. If n ecess ary, the wheels ca n be
t ake n off for a mor e thorou gh
192 193

Efficient driving
Please information and heed the on page 198.
Shifting faster
As a rule, the following applies: The higher gear is
a lways the more efficient gear. The rule of thumb for most vehicles is to drive in 3rd gear at mph f km/h, 4th gear at 25 mph f km/h, and 5th gear at mph f km /h.
If
and driving conditions permit, gears when upshifting also saves fuel.
Do
not run the gears up to their limit.
mati c transmissions .
Vehicles with gear recommendation aid in fuel fic ient dri ving by indicating the optimum time to shift gears.
livery to the engine is interrupted, which lowers
fuel consumption.
T herefore, when nearing a red stop light , for s tanc e, allow the vehicle to coast without using the accelera tor. Press the clutch pedal and release it only if the v ehicle is moving too slowly or the coasting distance is too long. The engine will then continue to run at idl e.
In situati ons
where the vehicle will be stopped for
a longer period of time, such as at a train cros sing,
physically switch off the engin e.
D efens ive driving
and with traffic
Fre
quent braking and accel eration increases fuel consumption sign ific antly. Just by driving sivel y and keeping a su fficiently large distance away fro m the vehicle in front of you can make up for the speed fluctuation s caused by taking your foot off the accelerator. Active braking and ating is then not necessarily required.
system information
The power stee ring syste m i s not hydrauli c.lt is an electro-mechanical syste m. The advantage of this
s te ering system is tha t no hydra uli c hoses, draulic oil, pumps, filters or other parts are quired . Th e e lectro-m echanica l system is more fue l effi cient. A hydraulic system requires constant oil pressure in the syste m; an electro -mechanical
s teerin g sys tem, however, needs power only whil e
s teering.
Th e el
ectro-mechanical power steering
chanical power steering works only when the gin e is running.
and smooth driving
Consistency is more important than speed. The more smoothly yo u drive, the less fuel the vehicle consumes.
When driving on the highwa y or freeway, a
stantly accelerating and braking. you can r each your destinatio n just as quickly by driving at a moderate, but steady speed.
The c rui se control syste m can a ssis t in
sciou s manner.
Some dev ices can increase fuel consumption when activated (examples):
C limate control air conditioning system:
trasting temperatures, it requires a large amount of energy, which is generated by the e ngin e. T he
tr emely different from that of the outside
windows increase fuel consumption.
Switch off seat heating once it has served its
purpose.
Sw itch off the windshield and rear window
Malfunctioning engine control.
Driving in the mountains.
Towing a trailer .
page 257
Towing and page 357
Turning the steering wheel is very hard when the power steering system is not working. This makes it harder to control the vehicle.
steering works only when the engine is running.
Never let the vehicle coast with the engine switched off.
Never remove the key from the ignition
switch while the vehicle is moving or rolling to a
stop. The steering column will lock and you will be unable to control the vehicle.

If transmission has leake d out of th e missio n.
If there is o r n o oil in th e transmiss io n cause of damage to your ve hicl e, it mus t be moved
w ith th e dri ve wheels off th e ground.
If the front and rear w heels cannot t u rn.
Fig . 202 In righ t front bumper : Remove cover.
read and note the introdu ctory information and heed the on page357.
T he re is a thread ed hole for
the tow ing eye in the
right front
Take the tow ing eye, the lu g wre nch, and the
sc rewdriver out o f the ve hicle too l kit in the page 326.
on the cove r at the top 202
(a rrow ) so that it pops out.
Remove the cover and let it hang from the bumper.
Do it yourself
the ve hicl e battery is disc harged, since the s teering re m ain disabled, and it may not be poss ibl e to release the elect ro ni c steerin g column lock.
If yo u have to tow an automatic tran smissio n
ve hicl e m ore th an miles km ).
A vehicle can be to we d onl y if the electro nic steerin g co lumn lock is released. In case of a
power loss or malfunc tions of the e lectrical
sys te m , th e e ngine may have to be jump-start ed in order to re lease the electroni c steerin g column
Fig . 2 0 3 In righ t front bumper: Screwing in t owi ng eye .
the tow ing eye counter-clock wise into the threaded ho le as far as it will go (arrow) Use the lug wrenc h to turn and tig ht en th e towing eye.
towing is compl e te, unscrew the towi ng eye cl ock wise to re m ove it.
on the lower part of the cover until the
lower lip has locke d into pla ce.
Note
Always make sure the towin g eye is screwe d all the w ay into threaded hole so that it is secure. If not, it could be pull ed out while your vehicle is being