Page 368 of 477

fluid reservoir has a black cap.
Fig. 12 I n the engine compartm ent : c ap of the
brake fluid reservoi r
To get a read in g, the ve hicl e be
on leve l g round . Before opening th e
g in e hood, always rea d and hee d all
WA RN INGS
34, "Sa fety is job No. 1
w hen wo rkin g in the eng ine com par t·
m ent' '.
H ead off fluid leve l a t the tran s
par ent brak e fluid reservo ir. IL sho uld
ways be be twee n th e "M IN" and "MAX"
m arks .
Bookl et 3.2 Tips and Advic e @
• Never move the w indshi eld wiper o r sh ield wiper arm manu ally· this co uld cause
damage!
• To prevent damage to the wiping sys te m,
ways loose n blades froze n to th e g lass befor e ting th e wi pers
Th e loca tion of the brak e flu id reservo ir is show n
in the correspo nding engin e co mpartm ent over·
v iew
3 .3 "Tec hnical Data. " T he brake
fluid reservoir has a black cap 12 .
Th e fluid leve l drops slightly w hen th e hide is bein g use d and as the pads are to mat ically a dju ste d as they wea r dow n.
Howe ver, if the leve l goes
no ticeab ly i n a time, o r drops below th e "MIN " mark,
ther e ma y be a lea k in the brake syste m. If th e
brak e fluid leve l drops too low, the wa rnin g tex t
STOP . Brake fluid stop vehicle! i s disp layed i n the
instrumem cluste r an d the brake system
warning lig ht light s up . If this hap pens, imm edi ·
ate ly take the ve hicle to an auth orized Vo lk
s wa gen d ealer ship, or qua lified workshop a nd
have the brak e sys te m insp ecte d.
WARNING
Stop! Before wo rk in g in the en gin e compart
ment , a lways read and h eed all WARN IN GS
34 . Th e engine compar tme nt of any
motor vehicle is a pot entia lly dan gerou s area
and can ca use ser io us perso nal injur y
Checking and Filling 47
Page 369 of 477

Booklet 3.2 Tips and Advice
Changing the brake fluid
The brake must b e chang ed e very ye ars
We r ecomm end th at yo u have the br ake fl uid
c h a nged by a n au th ori zed Volksw age n dea le r.
S to p! B efo re openin g th e eng in e hoo d, a lways
rea d and hee d all WA RN INGS
34. is jo b No . I w hen work ing in e n gine com
p a rtm ent ".
B rak e fluid absorbs mois tu re. Ove r tim e. it w ill
a bsor b wat er fr om th e air . If
co n1en 1 in
th e brak e fluid is too high, brake co uld co rro de. Too much wa te r in brake fl uid
co nsid erabl y re du ces th e boilin g of brak e fluid. Very heavy use of 1h e bra kes old
b ra ke fluid may ca use va por loc k. Va po r l oc k re
du ces brakin g powe r. in creases s!Opp in g di s
tan ces and can ev en cau se to tal br ake failur e.
Fo r thi s re a so n th e brak e fluid m ust be r epla ced
ev ery
y e ars.
Only use brak e fluid
th e US
standard FM VSS 116 D OT 4. Th e fluid mu st
b e new.
WARNING
Stop! Before working in the engine co mpart
m en t, a lways re ad and heed all
34. Th e eng in e co mpartm en t of motor vehicle is a po tent ially dangerou s area
and can ca use s eriou s per sona l injury.
WARNING
Brake failur e ca n r esult from old o r incorr ec t
brake fluid.
48 Ch ecking and Filling
,0. W ARN ING (c on tinue d)
• U se onl y brake fluid that meets SAE speci
fi ca tion J 1703 and conforms to Federa l Mo tor
Veh icle Safety Sta ndard 116.
• Alwa ys check wit h your a uthor ized Vo lk
s wagen dea le r to make su re that yo u arc usin g
the correc t
fluid.
• The correc t brake fluid is al so listed on the
l abe l o n the brake fluid reservo ir .
WARNING
Brake fluid is poison ous.
• Alway s store brake fluid in the closed or ig
inal contain ers in a safe place.
• To reduce the risk of po iso nin g, ne ver u se
em pty food or beverage co ntain ers that might
mislead someo ne into drinkin g from th em.
• Always keep brak e fluid out of the reac h of
c hildr en.
• Always c hange the brake fluids as required
in the m aint enan ce boo klet. Heavy braking
w ith old brak e fluid m ay cause a va por lock
th at reduces braking power , in crea ses stop
pi ng di sta nce s an d can eve n ca use tota l brake
Note
Llrake fluid ca n d am age t he pa int. Wipe
a n y
b ra ke fluid from th e pa int imm edi ately.
flu id mu st be dr ained and di sp ose d of in
t h e prope r ma nne r observ in g environme ntal
reg ulatio ns.
Page 413 of 477

Booklet 3.2 Tip s and Ad vice
Alphabetical index
A
ABS 3
Accesso ries
What sh o uld I d o
I w ant to add an acces-
so ry t o m y ve hicl e? 27
A dd ress ofNHT SA 90
A ddress of T ranspo rt Ca nada 90
Af te r ch an gin g a w hee l 74
A lca nta ra
C lea nin g 25
A lloy w hee ls
C lean ing
21
A ll-w hee l drive
W int er t ir es 65
A nt i- fr eeze 43
A nt i- lock brak e sys te m
W ha t d oes it m ean whe n I feel a slig ht vi-
bra tio n on the bra ke ped al? 3
A nti -th eft w hee l bo lts
71
A ut o S afe ty Hotlin e 90
A ut oma tic ca r was hes
17
B
BAS 2
B att ery
C harg ing 50
H ow ofte n sh o uld I rep lace my e ngin e
b att ery ? 50
Imp ort an t in fo rm atio n t o kn ow
disco nnect the ba ttery 49
R ep lac in g 50
What you mu st d o a fte r rec onnec t the
b ane 1y 49
W int er co nd it io ns 49, 50
Batt ery ac id leve l
C hec kin g 50
B o nn et 36
Brak e ass ist sys te m 2
Bra ke boost er 2
92 Alphabetical inde x
Brake fluid
C han gin g 48
H ow
sh ould the bra ke flu id be
c h an ge d? 48
W hat i s th e co rrec t b rak e flui d leve l? . 47
W hat k ind of br ake flui d sh ou ld I use? 48
Bra ke pa ds 8
Bra ke servo 8
Brake system 47
B ra kes 8
H ow does mois tur e o r roa d sa lt a ff ec t th e
b rake s? 8
W hat d oes it mean when I feel a slig ht vi
brat io n on th e bra ke ped al? 3
Bra kin g dis ta n ce 8
Br ea k-in p eriod
E ng in e 7
W hat is th e rig ht way to break-in m y
ve hicl e? 7
Brea king in
B ra ke pad s 7
T ires 7
Br ea kin g in tir es 7
B ulb chan ge
8 1
Bu mp er
Cl ea ning
1 8
C
Ca lifo rn ia Prop ositi on 65 Wa rning 34, 49
Car was hes
17
Ca ta ly ti c co nverte r 10
CB ra d io 29
Ce ll pho ne 29
Ce llul ar p hone 29
Chang in g a bu lb
8 1
Cha ng in g a w hee l 73
C hang in g bra ke pad s 7
C hangin g w indshie ld w iper b la des 46
C hass is 22
Chec kin g e ngin e o il leve l 39
Chec king tir e p ress ure 56
Chro me
Cl ea ni ng
21
Page 415 of 477

Booklet 3.2 Tip s and Ad vic e
F
Fab ric trim
C lea ning 23
box 79
F u ses 77
G
Gaske ts 20
Gaso line 32
B le nd s 32
Co ntaining alcohol 32
Oc tan e rating 32
P etro l 32
Pr emium 32
R eg ular 32
U nl eaded 32
W ha t if I purc hase poor qua lity fu el? 32
W hat wou ld happ en if I put l ead ed gaso-
line in my car? 32
W in te r or summ er tip s 32
Gaso lin e addit ives 33
G lossa ry of tire and l oad ing t ermin ology 52
H
H ow could I damag e th e ca taly tic
co nverter? 10
H ow do I kno w how much oil m y eng in e is
co nslllnin g? 38
H ow do I unlo ck th e engine hood? 36
H ow doe s moi sture or road sal t affe ct the
bra kes? 8
H ow oft en sh o uld I c h ec k my tire
pr ess ures? 57
H ow of te n sh ou ld I rep lace my eng in e
battery? 50
H ow ofte n sh ould I wa x m y c ar? 19
H ow often sh ou ld th e brake fluid be
c h anged? 48
Hu bca ps 69
H ydro pla nin g 60
I mp ort ant inform ation fo r ve hicle s wi th Die
se l eng ine when addin g or changin g en
g in e oil 41
94 Alphabetical index
Impo rtan t inf ormati on to kn ow before dis
c on nec t the battery 49
I ns trum en t panel
C le aning 23
J
Jack 72
Jum p star lin g 84
Jump er cables 84
L
Lea ther
C lea nin g 23
Lifting pla tfo rm 89
Lifti ng th e ve hicle 89
Li gh t cha nge 81
L ock cy linders
21
Lo cks 21
M
Mod ificat io n s 28
N
New tires an d wheels 6 1
N HT SA 90
No tice about data r ecorded by vehicle con
trol modu les 6
0
Oil 37
O il ch an ge 42
Oil dips tick 39
Ope ratin g you r vehicl e ou ts id e th e U. S.A . o r
Ca nada 91
Outs id e mirr ors
C lea ning 19
p
Pa int
P o lishin g 19
Wax ing 19
Park ing Ass is ta nce
C le aning sensors