2008 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF sensor

Booklet 2.1 Safety first
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light comes
on ...
If th e PASSENGER AIR BAG comes on
w hen one o f th e conditio ns listed above is m et,
b e sure to check the light ta in that th e PASSENGER AIR BAG
does not appear and not stay on
reactivate th e sys te m by turning the ign ition
orr a nd th e n turning it on again ;
re move and th e child re stra int. Make
sure that the c hild restraint is pro p erly
ufacture r's in str u ctions;
make sure th at the conve rtibl e lockin g ture on the safety
Th e belt must no t be loose or have loops of slack so tha t th e sensor b elow the safe ty belt lat ch on the sea t can do its job 63.
m ake sure th at things that m ay increase th e weight o f the chil d and ch ild seat are not b e in g transp orted on the front passenger seat;
make sure tha t th e sa fe ty belt te nsion sen sor is no t blocke d. the sa fe ty la tc h on the
fr o nt passenger seat back and fo rth,
make sure that no thin g can int erf ere w ith the
safe ty belt buckles and that they are no t str ucte d.
If a strap o r tether is being used t o tie th e
c hi ld seat to th e front passenger scat, make sure tha t it is no t so tight that it c auses the sen sin g m at m easure m ore weig h t than is o n the seal.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light
light docs not com e o n and does no t stay on continuous ly (when th e ig niti on i s swi tc h ed on).
42 Airbag sys te m
take the c hild restrai nt off the front passenger scat and
your autho rized Volkswagen dealer o r q ualified wor ks hop immedia te ly.
move th e c hild to a rear seat posit io n and make su re that the
light should come on
The PASSENGER AIR BAG should NOT
come o n when the ign ition i s on and an adult is
s ilting in p ro per position on the front pa sse nger seat. If the PASSENGER AIR BAG lig ht comes o n and on u nder these circ um -sta nces. make su re that:
the adul t on the front passenge r scat is seat e d on the cente r o f the seat cushio n with
h is or her back up against th e back rest and th e
b ackres t is not page
the adult is not taking weigh t orr the seat by
hold ing on to the passenger assis t h andle above the fro nt passenger door or supporting th eir weig ht o n the armrest or hold ing o nt o the assist handle on th e in strument
th e safe ty belt is bei ng properly worn and that th e re is n ot in the safe ty belt
webb ing.
a ccessory seat cove rs or c u shions o r other th ings that m ay cause
passe nger seat.
is mov in g. the PASSENGER AIR BAG light blinks for about 5 seconds to catch th e driver's it is
s a fe to do s o and c heck the steps described

replace any airbag in your vehicle and assure system effectiveness in a crash.
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
Never permit salvaged or recycled ai rb ags
to be installed in your
low ering th e veh icle, changing the
s tiffness of th e suspe nsion , including the spring s, suspe nsion struts, shock absorber s etc.
ca n change th e forces that are meas ured by th e
air bag senso rs and sen t to the electron ic control
unit. s u sp ensio n chang es for ample, increase the force level s m eas ured by the
sensors and make the airb ag system deploy in
cras hes in wh ic h it wou ld no t dep loy if th e
c h a nges had no t bee n made. kind s of ch a nges may reduce the force leve ls mea sured by the senso rs and preve nt the airbag from ploying whe n it should.
The Advanced Airbag will not work the
way it s houl d if th e o ptional safety belt exte nder is not removed from the safety belt latch when
the seat i s occup ie d and the sa fe ty belt is not bei ng used. Leaving th e extender attach ed to the safety belt buck le when the front seat is
s ig na l the airbag control unit that the front seat is occup ied and that the sa fety belt is being used. The elec tron ic co ntro l unit for the airbag system
will then rece ive incorrect information that will cause the safe ty belt pretens ioner to deploy
has deployed can not be re pair ed.
T he entir e safety belt must be rep laced . For that
rea son, a lways re move the sa fety belt exte nde r
w hen it is not nee ded and stow it sa fely
23. In ad d ition, the safet y belt extender must never be used to secure child rest raint s to
th e front passenge r seat.
T he se ns
ors in the safety belt buckle for the driver and front passenge r seat tell th e troni c control module if the safe ty belt is latc hed or If th e sa fe ty belt is being used, the front airbag
will deploy
at a sl ightly highe r rate of hi cle dece leration than if the sa fe ty belt is not
b eing used . Therefore , in a particular collision, it
i s possible that an airbag will not deplo y at a seatin g position where the safety belt is being
u sed but infla te at the position where the safe ty belt is not bei ng use d. It is important that n othing interfere with the safety belt buck les so
that the sensors can send the correct tion abou t safety belt use to the elec tron ic
C hanging the ve hicl e's suspension including
us e of unapproved tire-rim combinations ca n change Advanced Airbag performance and crease the risk of se rious personal injury in a
c ras h.
Never install s uspension components that do not h ave the same performance ist ics as th e components originally in stalled on your ve hicl e.
Never use tire-rim combin a ti o ns th at have not been approved by Volkswage n.
Leaving the optional safety belt extender tached to th e safety belt latch on the front senger seat when the safety belt is not being
u se d will prevent the Adva nced fro m functioning properl y and ca n in crease the risk of se riou s pe rso nal injury in a
Always remove the safety belt extende r
w hen it is not needed and stow it safely whe n
it is not bei ng used with the safety belt.
Never use th e safety belt exte nder to secure
a c hild restraint at any seating position.
buckle and the cente r conso le can cause the sensors
Airbag system 45

to vehic les: with side airbags
Description of side airbags
Always make sure that nothing can inter-fe re with the safety be lt buckles and that they are not
The sid e airbag system ca n provid e supplemental protection to properly
strain ed fron t seat occupant s.
Fig. 26 a irbag in drive r seat
The side air b ag s are in the backr est p addin g in the fig. 26 . ve hicl e m ay als o b e
equipped w ith optiona l sid e ai r bags for the re a r
outs id e po siti ons.Th e ge nera l lo cat io n is in the upper regio n of the backrests .
The side airbag system basically consis ts of:
the e lectroni c co ntro l module with grated sensors, pre ssure sen so rs in the front doors and re a r s ide impact sensors (only four doors ve hicle).
the two side airbags locate d in the s ides of the fro nt backre sts a ir ba gs
opti ona l s id e a irbags for the outboard rear seats (only four door s ve hicle).
3) W here ap plicabl e
46 Airbag system
the airbag warning light in the in strument clu ster.
The airb ag syste m is monitore d electroni cally to make certain that it is fun ctioning properly at all times. Ea ch time you turn on th e ig nition, the
a irba g syste m indi cator light will come on fo r a
few s e conds (self diagnostic s).
Th e side
airbag s ys te m supplements the s afet y
b elt s and can help to reduce the ris k of injury to the dri ver's and passenge r's and the rear
outboard3> passen ge r's upper to rs o on the s ide
o f the ve hicl e that is st ruck in a s ide colli sio n. The a irb ag infl ates onl y in sid e impacts and o nl y
w he n th e ve hicle accele rati on r egis te re d by the
co ntrol unit is hi gh enough. If thi s rate is be lo w
th e re fe re nce valu e progr ammed into the control unit. the s ide airb ags will not be tri gge re d , ev en
th oug h the car m ay be bad ly da m ag ed a s a re su lt
o f the c ollis ion .
sib le angle of impa c t, s ince th e c ircumsta nce s
will v ary consid era bly betw een one collisio n and ano ther. Important fac tor s includ e, Fo r e xample, the nature (hard or soft) oft h e impacting o bject, the ang le of impact, ve hicl e speed, e tc . s afe ty in stru ctions fo r the sid e a irbag
Aside from their normal safety function, sa fe ty
b elt s work to he lp keep the driver or front se n ge r in po sition in sid e co llision so that the
s ide airb ags c an pro vid e pro tection whe n th ey
inflate. Safety belt s als o help to keep rear seat
passenge rs in pos ition so tha t opti onal seat

The Protection'M airbag system
consists of:
the elec troni c control module with grated senso rs, press ure sensors in the doors and rear side impact sensors.
airbags above the front and rear side w indo ws.
the ai rbag
Protection airbag sys te m is not activated:
if the ignit ion is sw itched off,
in sid e collisio ns w he n the acceleratio n sured by the senso r i s too low,
Applies t o vehi cles: w ith side curta in protection oirbogs
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
in front-end collisio ns,
in rear-end collision s,
some types of accidents the fron t, Sid e tain ProtectionTM side airbag s m ay be
Safety belts and the airhag syste m will only
provide protection w hen occupants are in the proper seating page 4.
spected immedia tel y by you r authori ze d
tion in a side co llision is hig h enough to vate the .
How
duce the risk of head and uppe r torso injuries for occupants are properly
strained .
Fig. 29 airbogs on th e left sid e
Th e Sid e airbag s infl ate
b etween the occupant a nd the si de window on
that sid e of th e ve hicl e is struck in certain
s ide fig . 29 . When
the sys
te m is tri gg ered, the Sid e airba g is fille d with propellant gas
and break s th roug h th e header above the front and rear sid e window s and center d oo r pillar and deploys dow nwards. In order to help v ide thi s additional prote ction, the S ide ProtectionTM airba g must inflate w ith in th e
b lin k of a n eye at very high speed and with great force. The Sid e Protectio nTM airba g
co uld injure you if your seating posit io n is not proper o r upright or if area where tec tion TM a irbag in fla tes. T hi s appli es especially
t o page 53,
the impact and in
th is way they can help to reduce the risk o f injury
t o th e head and the upper part o f the bo dy.
A fin e dust m ay deve lo p w hen th e a ir b ag ploys. This is quite norm al and does n ot mean
th ere is a fir e in th e ve hicl e .
Airbag sy ste m 51

2.1 Safety first
child on the front passe nger seat u sing th e weight-sensing m at in the seat c ushion and the sen sor below the safety belt latch on the front
p assenger seat that measures th e tension on the safe ty be lt.
Th e we ight -sensin g
mat measures to tal weight of the c h ild and th e child seat and a chi ld blanket on th e front passeng er seat. The weight on the
front pas s enge r seat is re lated to the design of th e c hild restraint and its the size and s h ape of the bo ttom of the chil d restr aint as
it sit s on the seat. The w eight o f a child restraint and its
manufacturers .
T he
weight ra nges for the indi vidual types,
m akes and models of child restr aints that th e
N HTSA has s pecified in the Sa fe ty Standard gether w ith the weight r a n g es of t ypical infan ts a
nd ty
pical I year-old child have been in
th e control unit of the Adva nced Airba g Sys te m.
When a child restraint is being used on the front passenger seat w ith a typic al! year-o ld infant ,
th e Ad va nc ed Airbag System compares the weight measured by the weight-sensin g m at
with the informa ti on stored in the electro nic
control unit.
T he el
ectroni c control unit als o registers the s ion on th e front passenger safe ty belt. The sion on th e sa fe ty belt for the front passenge r
seat w ill be differe nt for an adult who is properly using the sa fety belt as compared to the te nsion on th e belt when it is used to atta ch a child strain t to the seat. Th e sensor below the latch for the sa fet y belt for th e front seat passenger sures the tension on th e belt. The input from this
se nsor is then u sed w ith the weight to w he th er there is a child restraint with a ty pical
I year-o ld child on the front passenger seat a nd
w hether o r n ot th e airba g must be turned off .
Safety dards and has been certified by its m anufa cturer
f o r use with an airbag. Alwa ys be sure that the chil d restraint is pro perly in stalled at one of th e
rear seating positi ons. If in exce ptional sta nces you must use it on the front passe nge r seat, carefully read all of the information on child safety and Ad vanced Airbag s and heed all of th e a pplic abl e WARNINGS. Ma ke certain that
t h e c hild res traint is correctly recognized by the
we ig ht-sensi ng mat in side the front passeng er seat, that th e fron t passenger a irb ag is turne d off and that the airbag statu s is alw ays correctly naled by the BAG light.
Man y ty
pes and model s of c hild restrain ts hav e
been availabl e ove r the years . new mode ls a re introduced reg ularly incorporating new and prove d desig n s and older mod els are take n out of production. res traint s are not iz ed. re s traint s of th e same type ty picall y h
ave diff e
rent weig hts and sizes and diff erent the size and s hape of the bottom of
th e child res traint that sit s on the seat, when they are in stalled on a seat. These ences make it virtu ally impossibl e to certify compliance with the require m ents for advanced
airbags with each and every child restraint that has ever been so ld in the past or w ill be s old ove r
t h e course of the useful life of your
For thi s rea son, the United States National High way Traffi c Sa fety Adm ini strat ion has lis h e d a list of s p ecific type, makes and m od els of c hild restraint s that must b e use d to certify compliance of th e Advanced Airbag System in
your ve hicle with the suppression requirements of Federal Mo tor These child restraints are :
A. Car beds, manufactured on or after tember 1,
Dream Ride 02-719
safety 55

edges under the vehicl e can cut exposed
ski n.
Alway s protect your hands and arms from cuts on sharp m etal edges when clea ning th e underbody, the inside of th e wheel housin gs
etc.
Never try to remov e mud or dust if the vehicle dry . a dry cloth or
sponge fo r cleaning could damage th e paint or
3.2 Tip s and Advice
glass on your vehicle . dirt . mud or dust with plent y of wate r before removing it.
When rinsing the vehicle. do no t let water ge t
int o th e lock cylinders or point the hose at gaps
around the doors. hood or tail gate. The water could freeze and make it difficult to open the hicle.
To he lp preve nt damage to th e pai nt, do not was h the vehicle in direct sunl ight.
F o r th e sake of environment
To protect the environme nt. wash the vehicle
only in specia l was h bays that c an handle oily
d irt that is wash ed off th e car.
- Do nor use a power washer to remove
ic e
or snow page 25.
- Neve r use concentrated jet nozzles or
so-called
- After ve hicl e has been washed, the
brake
dis cs and pads will be we t (they
could even be icy in the win te r) and
th e brakes with seve ra l care ful brake
application s before drivin g page 13.
WARNING
brakes or bra kes coa ted with ice or road salt react slower and n eed longer stoppin g tances.
Ca re full y apply brake s for a test.
1
l ap plicab le
Always dry and cl ean off ice ings and salt coatings with a few cautious brake applicati ons.
Always rea d and heed all power and braking
WARNING
Improper usc of powe r was he rs ca n cause rious , in vis ible and perm an ent tire damage leading to tire failur e an d loss of ve hicle trol.
Never wa sh tire s wi th the water out in a direc t stream even at
temperature sh o uld not be more than F
If yo u use power wash e r. be sure to keep it a
sa fe d istance from the sors' > in the front and rear bumpers . you h old
it too to the sensors, you could damage
them.
and protection 23

Booklet 3.2 Tips and Advice
Repairs and technical modifications
Repairs and modifications must always be carried out according to the
Ele ct ronic nent s are linked toge ther in network s and othe r
sys te m s m ay be negati vely affe cte d by im proper
modification s or improperl y ries. T his c an seriou sly impair safety and lead to
e xces sive wear of components.
th e su spension sys tem can change the way that the airbag sys tem perform s
in a cra sh. Fo r example, using tir e- rim tion s not approved by Volk sw agen, low ering the ch anging the s tiffn ess of the the springs, su spension strut s,
s hock absorbers can change the forces tha t a re measure d by the airbag sensors and se n t to the contro l unit. Some su spension ch a nge s can. for
exa mpl e, increase the force leve ls measured b y the sensors and m ake the airbag sys tem deploy
in cras hes in whi ch it w ould not deploy if the changes had not been made. Other kinds of change s m ay reduce the force leve ls m easured
by the sensors and p reven t th e airbag from plo ying when it should.
We recommend that nece ssary work be
can cause malfunctions leading to
Never s u spension components that d o not have the sa me performance is tic s as the components install ed on your Never use tire-rim tions that have not been approved by swagen.
care, servic in g and repair dures can increase th e risk of personal injury and death by preve nting an airb ag from ploying w he n needed or deploying an airbag unexpectedly.
the suspen sion cluding use o f unapproved tir e-rim tions change a irbag performance and
Be sure to read and heed the inf ormation and all bookle t chapter
32 Accessories , new parts, repairs and modifications

The engine oil dipstick indicates the leve l of the oil.
Fig. 6 E ngine level marks
To get a true reading, the ve hicl e must be
on leve l ground. Before opening the en­
gine hood, always read and heed all
page 39.
If the yellow indicator light in th e in-
s
trument cluster comes on, check the e n­
gine o
il leve l as soon as possible and add
the correct engin e oil.
the eng in e and wait a few minutes
for
the oil to return to the o il pan.
p a ge 41.
out the dipstic k and w ip e it clean
w ith a rag.
Rein se rt dips tick; push it all the way in.
If
ther e is a projection on the en gin e oi l
dipstick, make sure it lines up with the pro­
jection on the guide tube.
the dipsti ck out aga in and ch eck
the o il l evel.
You must not add fig. 6 .
You can add
You m ust add oil. adding oil, make sure the level is somewhere within t h e B range.
Warning light : Engin e oi l level too low
If the yellow warn in g ligh t in the instrument cluster comes on, switc h ofT the engine and check the engine level as soon as possible and add the correct page 45. There may be a message in the instrumem cluste r informing you or advis ing you of the necessary action to
take.
If the yello w
warning ligh t flashes, contact your authorized Volkswa gen dealer or qualified workshop and have the oil leve l sensor checked. There be
WARN IN G
Before workin g in th e e ng in e compart­m ent, always read and heed 39. T he engin e compartment of any motor vehicl e is potentiall y dangerous are a and can cause serio us personal injury.
WARN ING
If you do not pay attentio n to the warning light s which ha ve com e o n, incl ud in g the warning messages appearing in the d isplay, this could lead t o personal in juryordamage to
your ve hicle.
Note
If the engine oil is above level not
start the engine-this could damage the catal ytic converter and the engi ne!