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INSTRUMENT PANEL AND CONTROLS 
page 
1 - Air vents 51 
2 - Light switch and thumb wheel  for instrument illumination 46 
3 - Safety belt and brake warning lights 43, 47 
4 - Speedometer with trip odometer 40  5 — Warning/indicator lights 6, 43 
6 - Clock or tachometer with fuel gauge and  coolant temperature gauge 40,41 
7 - Rear window defogger switch 47 
8 - Emergency flasher switch 46  9 - For additional switch 
10 - Air vents, left and right 51 
11 - Ashtray 64 
12 - Loudspeaker grille 
13 - Fuses 128  14 - Turn signal/headlight dimmer switch lever 48 
15 - Horn  page 
16 - Digital clock 40 
17 - Steering lock/ignition/starter switch 38 
18 - Temperature switch for auxiliary heater 57 
19 - Windshield wiper/washer lever 50 
20 - Secondary heat exchanger switch 53 
21 - Emission Control System (ECS) 45 
22 - Climate controls 51 
23 - Air vents 51 
24 - Radio1) 
25 - Cigarette lighter 63  26 - Glove compartment 64 
1) A separate brochure is provided for your factory-installed 
radio.
 If you replace your radio, please be sure to read the notes 
in the chapter "Do-it-yourself Service", page 135. 
Note 
Some features mentioned are standard equipment on some 
models only or are options on others. 
 
 
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[INSTRUMENT
 PANEL
 AND
 CONTROLS 
WARNING AND
 INDICATOR
 LIGHT
 SYMBOLS 
Symbol 
 Details 
on
 page 
 Turn
 signals 
44,48 
a  Alternator A 
44 
Oil pressure 1^1 
 43 
ID 
 High beam 
45,48 
=L  Coolant temperature 1^ 
45,104 
(®)
 BRAKE 
 Brake
 ® 
 29,43 
A  Safety belt 
 14,44 
A  Emergency flasher 
46 
m 
 Rear
 window defogger 
47 
WARNING 
If one of the lights marked with ® 
comes
 on suddenly while driving,  move a safe distance off the
 road.
 Turn 
off the engine,
 turn
 the emergency
 fla
sher on and use other warning devices 
to alert other motorists. Go to listed  page in
 your
 Owner's
 Manual for ex
planations. 
Some
 of the lights mentioned are on certain 
 models
 only and may be options on other 
models. 
6 
 
 
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CONTROLS
 AND
 EQUIPMENT 
STARTING
 PROCEDURES 
WARNING 
•
 Fasten safety belts before driving. 
•
 Never
 start or let the engine run in a 
confined or enclosed, unventilated 
area.
 Exhaust fumes from the engine 
contain carbon monoxide, which is a 
colorless
 and odorless gas. Carbon  monoxide can be
 fatal
 if inhaled. 
•
 Never
 leave engine idling unatten
ded.
 An unattended vehicle with a run
 ning
 engine is potentially hazardous. 
•
 Do not park or operate the vehicle in 
areas
 where the hot exhaust system  may come in contact with dry grass, 
brush,
 fuel
 spill
 or other
 material, 
which can cause a fire. 
•
 Do not leave engine unattended at 
idle.
 When starting engine, be ready to 
drive off immediately. Maintain moder
 ate
 speed until the engine is
 com
pletely warm. Remember that
 your
 en
gine performs best at operating
 tem
 perature. 
 Automatic
 Transmission 
Engine will only start with selector lever in 
Neutral or Park. 
Manual
 Transmission 
Start with gearshift lever in Neutral, clutch 
pedal
 depressed, so that the starter only 
has
 to crank the engine. 
Starting
 engine 
 •
 Do not depress accelerator pedal 
when starting. At extrem low temperatures 
the engine will probably start better, if you  depress accelerator pedal slighly. 
•
 As soon as the engine starts, release 
the ignition key. 
•
 If the engine does not start the first time 
or
 stalls,
 turn
 the ignition off and restart.  Depress the accelerator pedal slowly 
during the second starting attempt. 
•
 Operate the starter for no more than 
10
 seconds. 
•
 Allow about 30 seconds between each 
starting
 attempt. 
 STOPPING
 ENGINE 
Do not stop engine immediately after 
hard or extended driving. Keep engine 
running for about two minutes to pre
vent
 excessive heat build-up. 
WARNING 
•
 Before you check anything in the 
engine compartment, stop the engine  and let it cool down. Hot components 
can
 burn skin on contact. 
•
 The radiator fan switches on auto
matically
 when the coolant reaches a cer
tain
 temperature and will continue to run 
 (even
 with ignition off) until the coolant 
temperature drops. 
39 
 
 
 
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CONTROLS
 AND
 EQUIPMENT 
INSTRUMENTCLUSTER 
page 
1 -
 Speedometer/Odometer
 .... 40 
2
 -
 Digital clock*
 40 
3
 -
 Tachometer* or normal clock
 . . 41 
4
 -
 Coolant temperature gauge
 . . 41 
 5
 -
 Fuel gauge
 42 
6
 -
 Warning/indicator lights 
 |B25-624J 
1 -
 Speedometer/Odometer 
The
 speedometer
 indicates road
 speed. 
The
 odometer
 indicates
 the
 distance 
driven. 
 USA
 models: Miles 
Canada
 models: Kilometers 
To record
 a
 distance, reset
 the
 trip 
odometer to
 zero by pressing the button. 
The last
 digit
 in red indicates
 1
 /10 of a mile 
or kilometer.  2
 -
 Digital
 clock* 
To
 set the
 digital clock, use
 a
 ball
 point 
pen. 
•
 Push
 left
 button
 below display window 
briefly
 to
 advance one hour
 at a
 time
 and 
right
 button
 to
 advance
 one
 minute
 at a 
time. 
•
 Hold buttons depressed
 to
 advance 
hours or minutes rapidly. 
•
 For second accuracy, synchronize
 with 
the
 aid of a
 digital
 wrist
 watch
 or a
 time 
 signal
 from
 your radio. Set the clock one minute slow, then briefly push
 right
 button 
the moment the seconds of the
 wrist
 watch  have completed a
 full
 minute or the signal 
in the radio sounds. 
40 *where applicable 
 
 
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CONTROLS AND EQUIPMENT 
I - Tachometer* 
"he red shaded area at the end of the  scale indicates the maximum permissible 
engine rpm (revolutions per minute) for all  gears after the break-in period. Before 
'eaching this area, the next higher gear 
snould be selected or the foot eased off 
the accelerator pedal. Earlier shifting  saves fuel and reduces noise. 
Sniff to the next lower gear when the en-
; ne rpm drops below 1500 rpm. 
~ne green shaded area on the scale  snows the speed at which the engine is de-
 •
 eloping its most favourable torque. 
3 - Normal clock* 
~J
 set the clock, depress the knob in the  : al center and
 turn. 
 4 - Coolant temperature 
gauge  X 
tare applicable  The needle in the coolant temperature 
gauge will indicate the temperature of the 
coolant shortly after the ignition is 
switched on. 
When ignition is switched on the warning  light (c) will flash for a few seconds as a 
functional check. 
a - Engine cold 
Avoid high engine speeds and heavy throt tle when the needle is still in this area of 
the
 dial. 
b - Normal temperature During normal running the needle will re
main somewhere in the middle of the
 dial. 
 If the engine is working hard at hign a--
bient temperatures, the needle may as: 
go further to the right, but this is no cause 
for concern so long as the coolant
 tem
 perature warning light does not start 
flashing. 
c - Warning light  If the light flashes when driving first check 
the coolant temperature gauge. If the nee
dle is in the normal range, add coolant at the  next opportunity. If the needle is in the warn
ing range, either the coolant level is too low 
or the coolant temperature is too high.  Move the vehicle a safe distance off the 
road,
 stop the engine and depress the 
emergency flasher switch. 
The fan should be operating when the  warning light is on (listen for fan, located in 
front of car behind grille). 
WARNING • To reduce the risk of being burned, 
never open the hood if you see or hear 
steam or coolant escaping from the 
engine compartment. Wait until no 
steam or coolant can be seen or heard 
before carefully opening the hood. 
 
 
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CONTROLS
 AND
 EQUIPMENT 
WARNING continned  •
 The
 engine compartment
 of any 
motor vehicle
 is a
 potentially hazard
ous
 area.
 Before you check anything  in the engine compartment, stop
 the 
engine and
 let it
 cool down. Always 
exercise extreme caution when work
 ing
 one the
 engine. Heed
 all of the 
WARNINGS on page
 97. 
Reduce the risk
 of
 scalding from
 hot 
coolant by following these steps. 
• If the coolant reservoir cap must be 
removed, wait until
 the
 engine
 has 
cooled down. 
• Protect face, hands
 and
 arms
 by 
covering
 the cap
 with
 a
 large, thick 
 rag
 to
 protect against escaping fluid 
and
 steam. 
• Carefully and slowly
 turn
 cap
 one 
turn
 to
 allow excess pressure
 to es
 cape before completely removing 
cap. 
•
 To
 help avoid being burned,
 do not 
spill
 antifreeze
 or
 coolant
 on the ex
haust system
 or hot
 engine parts. 
 Under
 some conditions, the ethylene 
glycol
 in
 engine coolant
 is
 combusti
 ble. 
 If a
 visual check shows that coolant level 
and V-belt
 are
 normal,
 but the
 warning  light continues to
 flash,
 contact
 your
 near
est dealer
 to
 have
 the
 cause located
 and 
corrected. 
For more details see "Cooling system"
 on 
page 104. 
If the
 coolant gauge needle nears
 the 
upper end
 of
 the scale and the engine ap
pears
 to be
 overheating,
 turn
 off the air 
conditioner. 
Do
 not
 install accessories
 (fog
 lights
 or
 in
sect screens,
 for
 example)
 on top of the 
front
 bumper.
 They
 may
 restrict engine 
 cooling. 
 5
 -
 Fuel gauge 
The needle
 in
 the fuel gauge will indicate  the fuel level
 in the
 tank shortly after
 the 
 ignition is switched on. 
The fuel tank capacity is
 16
 gal/60
 (syncro 
 18.5/70)
 liters. 
When
 the
 needle reaches the
 red
 area
 at 
 the bottom there
 is a
 reserve
 of
 about 2.6 U.S. gal.
 or
 10 liters
 of
 fuel left in the tank. 
Time to refuel. 
 
 
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CONTROLS
 AND
 EQUIPMENT 
WARNING
 / INDICATOR
 LIGHTS 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 
your vehicle is equipped
 with
 several 
•nportant indicator and warning devices to 
~ionitor the continued reliable operation of  .our vehicle. Familiarize yourself
 with 
:hese
 devices so if one should come on  .ou know what to do. 
-allure to heed applicable warnings and  "nportant vehicle information may result in 
serious
 personal injury or vehicle damage. 
WARNING 
•
 Whenever
 stalled
 or stopped for 
 epair,
 move
 the
 vehicle
 a
 safe
 distance 
off the road, stop the
 engine
 and
 turn 
on the
 emergency
 flasher
 (see
 page 
46). 
• The
 engine
 compartment
 of any 
-lotor
 vehicle
 is a
 potentially
 hazard
 ous
 area.
 Before
 you check
 anything
 in 
?ie
 engine
 compartment,
 stop the 
 engine
 and let it cool down.
 Always 
exercise
 extreme
 caution
 when
 work
 ing
 under
 the
 engine
 hood.
 Heed
 all of 
re
 WARNINGS
 on
 page
 97. 
 page 
1 - Brake 43 
2
 - Safety belt 18 
3
 - Turn signals 44 
4 - Alternator 44 
 5
 - For additional light 
6 - For additional light  7 - Oil pressure 43 
8 - High beam 45 
9 - Coolant temperature/level . . . 45 
10 - For additional switch  9 10
 B25-5t? 
1-Brake
 « -> 
The
 light comes on while the engine is 
 cranking.
 It goes out after the engine is started and the parking brake is
 fully 
released.
 This is your assurance
 that
 the 
brake warning light is functioning properly. 
If the brake warning light does not light JC 
while cranking the engine or setting :ne  parking brake, there may be a malfunction in the electrical system. In this
 case
 c;~-
tact your Volkswagen dealer. 
'where applicable 
 Always
 heed
 WARNINGS
 on next page 
 
 
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I
 CONTROLS AND EQUIPMENT 
AUXILIARY HEATER* (Syncro models only) 
The auxiliary heater* heats the coolant in  the heating circuit and supplies the heat exchanger in the normal heating system 
and the additional heat exchanger* for the 
passenger compartment heating with heated coolant. 
The system is switched off and on or the 
 switch-
 on time preselected by means of a 
switch and indicator unit located on the left under the instrument panel. 
Air distribution and regulation is done with  the controls of the normal heating and
 ven
tilation system (see "Ventilation/Heating" 
on page 51). 
The auxiliary heater can be used with  vehicle stationary or when it is moving. 
When vehicle is stationary, the heater only  runs for a maximum of 30 minutes in order 
to avoid draining the battery. It also  switches off automatically when a coolant 
temperature of 80° C (175° F) is reached. 
When the coolant temperature drops  below 70° C (158° F) the heater is automatically switched on again.  The heater runs on fuel from the vehicle 
tank and uses up to half a litre (one quart)  per hour.  Controls 
A - Buttons for setting time and 
preselected time 
B - Indicator lamp for preselected time 
C - Preselected time  D - Display 
E - Actual time 
F - Heater on/off 
G - Warning lamp (Heater on) 
60 "where applicable 
 
 
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