2008 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF light

Fig. 25 Section from the instrumen t pone l: PAS­SENGER BAG OFF
The PASSENGER BAG fig . 25.
The PASSENGER come on and stay on to
burns out. the airbag monitoring indicator
not change the the front airbag on the passenger side works, it no longer be possible to usc the PASSENGER BAG light to verify that the airbag on/off status is correc t for the occupant on the front passenger seat. Have the a irbag system in ­
specte d immediately by your authorized Volk­swagen deal er or qualifi ed workshop.
The PASSENGER blink for
up to long 9 seconds when:
the ignition is switched on and
the re is a change in the weight measured b y the weight-sensing mat in the fro nt passenger sca t that determines w hethe r the Advanced
A irbag on the passenger side can d eploy or be lllrned off.
Af te r
the light stops
light is proper for the siz e. age, and weight of the occupant on the front passenger seat.
ways make sure that th e safety for the fron t passenger scat is prope rly fastened.
The PASSENGER BAG light show the correc t status o f th e front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side
stay on if the front passenger seat is no t occup ied,
s ta y on if the combined weight of an in­
fant up t o about one year of age in one of the reanvard-fa cing or fonva rd-faci ng child re­
straints in Federa l Motor with whic h th e Advanc ed Airbag
Sys te m in your vehicl e was certified. is regis­tered by the weight-sensing mat in the front pas­senger seat. For a listin g of the chil d restraints
t h a t
were used to certi fy your vehicle's compli­a nce with the Safety
registered by the weight­sensing
The BAG light must come
on and stay on if the ignition is on and
a car bed has been o n the front pas­senger seat. or
a reanvard-facingchild restraint has been in­
a forward-facing child restra int has been in ­
and if the weig ht reg istered on the front pas­senger seat is equal to or less than the combine d weight o f a ty pical year-o ld infant restrained in one of the reanvard-facin g or fonvard-facing c hild restraints in Federall'v1 otor Safe ty in your vehicl e certified.
the front passenger seat is not occupi ed . the
front passenge r a irbag BAG stay on. Never on the fr o nt passenger seat, the safest p lace for in any kind of page
page 53,
Airbag system 41

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

BAG light does not go off when an adult is sitting on the front
passenger scat after taking the s te p s described
above, make sure the adult i s properl y seated
and r estrai ned at one of the rear seating posi­
tions.
Have the a irba g sys te m inspecte d by your authorized Volkswagen dealer or qualified
workshop before transporting anyon e o n th e
front passenger seat.
be turn ed off, and th e BAG light on.
o r th e front passe nger sa fety belt its elf is buckled and th e
f ru nt seat i s not occ upied . th e co me on.
Repair, care and
re moving, servicing or repairing a
Never cover, obstruct, or change the
steeri ng wheel horn pad or airbag cover or the in strument panel or m odify them in any
Never attach any o bj ects such as cup holders or te lephone mountings to the sur­faces covering the airbag units.
For cleaning the horn pad or instrument panel, use only a soft, dry cloth or one moi st­
e ned w ith plain water. Solvents or cleaners
co uld damage the airbag cover or change the
s tiffn ess or strengt h of the material so that the
a irbag cannot deploy and protect properly.
Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of the a irba g system.
All work on the steering wheel, instrument panel, front seats or ele ctri cal sys tem (in-
44 Airbag system
{ continu ed )
eluding the installation of audio equipment ,
ce llular te lephones and C B radios, etc.) must be performed by a qualified tech nici an who
h as the training and special equipment neces­
sary.
For any work on the airbag s ys te m , we strongly recommend that yo u see you r autho­rized Volkswagen dealer or qualified work­
shop.
Never modify the front bumper or parts of the vehicl e body.
Alwa ys make sure that the s ide airbag can inflate witho ut interference:
Neve r scat covers or rep lacement upholstery over the front scat backs that have no t been specifically approved by Volkswagen.
Never use additional seat cushions that cover the areas where t11e sid e a irba gs in­
flate .
Damage to the original scat cove rs or to
th o scam in the area of tho side airbag module must always be re p ai red immedi­ate ly by an authorized Volkswagen deale r or qualified workshop.
The airbag sy stem can be activated only
o n ce. After an airba g has inflated, it must be replaced.
trained t echnician who has th e necessary
too ls and diagnostic equipment to properly

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

that you and your passenger s must
know and do to help the safety belt s and airbag s do their job to provide supplem ental protec tion .
Th e S
ide airb ags installed
for th e front seating and outboard rear seating
posit ions have been desig ned and ce rtified to he lp reduce the risk of injur y that can be caused
b y air bags when they inflate, particularly w he n
th e occupant sitti ng nex t to it is no t seated prop­
erly .
WARNING
lmp roperlywearingsafcty belts and improper seating positions increase the risk of serio u s
p erso na l injury and death whenever a vehicle
i s being used.
Never let occupants place any parts of their bodi es in th e area from whi ch th e Side
Always make sure that th e S ide
Use the built-in coat hooks only for light ­
we ight clothing. Never leave any heavy or sharp-e d ge d object s in the pocket s th at may
52 Airbag sy ste m
(contin ued)
interf ere w ith airbag deployment and can
cause personal injury in a collision .
Never use hangers to hang clothe s on th e
h ooks.
use factory-installed sun shades in the case of shades installed after the vehicl e
l eaves the factory, use only genui ne swagen sun booklet 3.2 new parts, re­
pair s an d modification s."
A lways sit in proper sea ting position and wear safety belts whil e trave ling so that th e
Side
The a irb ag sys te m can onl y be trigger ed
once. the airb ag has been tr iggered, the
system must be rep laced by a n authorized Volkswagen dealer or qualified workshop.
Always have work involv in g the curtai n
airbag system , removal and installation of the a irbag components, or other repairs per­
formed by a qualified dealers hip. Othenvis e
the airbag system m ay no t work correctly.
Neve r attempt to modify an y components of the airbag system in any way

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

Booklet 2.1 Safety first
(continued)
even with an Adva nced Air bag Sys tem.
The infl ating airbag will hit the child seat or infant carrier w ith great force and will
smas h the c hild seat and child against the
backre st, center armrest, door o r roof.
Always in stall r eanva rd-facing child seats or infant carri ers on the rear scat.
Fonvard -facing child seats in stall ed on th e
front passe nger's sea t can interfere
th e c hild's safety and well-being require that the fo llowing special precautions be taken:
- Make s
ure the fo nvard -facing seat has been designed and certifi ed b y its manu­facturer for use on a front scat with
as po ssib le before
installin g the child res traint .
58 safety
the front passenger's seat from being moved to the rca rmost position in its for e and aft adjustment range.
-
Always make s ure that th e ba ckrest is in the upright position.
Always buckle the child seat finnl y in pla ce
eve n if a child is not sitting in it. A loo se child
seat
can fly around durin g a sudden stop or in
a collisio n.
Alway s read and hee d all WAHNINGS whenever usi ng a child restrain ed in a ve hicle
i s being page page and
To reduce the risk of serio us injury, make sure th at the PASSENGER BAG light comes o n and stays on whenever a child restraint is
installed on the front p asse nger seat and the ignition is sw itch ed on.
Tak e th e c hild restra int the front senger seat and in stall it properly at one of th e
rear seat posi tio ns if PASSENGER light does not sta y on.
Have the airbag sys te m inspec ted by your au thori ze d Volkswagen dealer or qualified
worksho p immediat ely .

In order fo r th e air bag to otTer prote ction , it is
important that ve hicle occupants, es peciall y
a ny children , who must be in the front seat cau se of e xc e ptional circum stances , be prop erl y
r es trained and as far away from the airb ag as
possible. B y keep ing room be tween th e ch ild 's body and the front of the passe nger ment, the airbag can inflate complet ely and vid e supplemental protection in ce rtain frontal
c olli sions.
Not usi ng a booster seat, usin g the booster seat improperl y, incorrectly installing a booster seat or using the veh icle safe ty belt
improperly increases the risk of serious sonal injury and death in a or other em erg ency situation. To help reduce the risk of serio us personal injury and/or death:
Always make sure to position the shoulder portion of the three-point belt over the middle of child 's shoulder.
Neve r let the shoulder portion of the belt
res t against or across the neck, face, chin, or throat of the child.
Always make sure the lap belt portion of the three-point belt is worn snug and passes as low as possible across the child' s pelvis. Never
let the belt pass over the sof t abdomen.
Failure to properly route safety belts over a child's body will cause severe injuries in an
13.
(continued)
Childre n on the front seat of any car, eve n
with Advanced Airbags, can be seriously jured or even killed when an airbag inflates. A
child in a rearward-facing child seat in stalled on the front passenger seat will be seriously
injured and can b e killed if the front airbag flate s.
Never le t a child stand or kneel on any seat, for example the front seat.
Never let a child ride in the cargo area of your ve hicl e.
Always remember that a child leaning
ploying airbag. This will result in serio us sonal injury or death.
lig ht does not come on and stay on, perform the checks page
Take the child restraint off the front senger seat and AIR BAG light does not stay on whenever the tion is swi tc h ed on.
A lwa ys read and heed all WARNINGS w henever usin g a child restrained in a vehicl e
is being page 13, page 53,
safety 63