Checking and refilling levels217
Safety First
Controls and equipment
Practical tips
Technical Data
For the sake of the environment
Service fluids leaks are harmful to the environment. For this reason you
should make regular checks on the ground underneath your vehicle. If you
find spots of oil or other fluids, have your vehicle inspected in a qualified
workshop.Opening the bonnet
The bonnet is released from inside the vehicle.
Before opening the bonnet ensure that the windscreen wipers are in
rest position.
– To release the bonnet, pull the lever under the dashboard
⇒fig. 142 in the direction indicated (arrow). The bonnet will be
released by a spring action ⇒.
– Lift the bonnet using the release lever (arrow) and open the bonnet.
– Release the bonnet stay and secure it in fixture designed for this
in the bonnet.
WARNING
Hot coolant can scald!•Never open the bonnet if you see steam, smoke or coolant escaping
from the engine compartment.
Fig. 142 Detail of foot-
well area on driver's side:
lever for unlocking the
bonnet.
Fig. 143 Arrester hook
for bonnet.
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Checking and refilling levels
218•Wait until no more steam, smoke or coolant is emitted from the bonnet,
then carefully open the bonnet.•When working in the engine compartment, always observe the safety
warnings ⇒page 215.
Closing the bonnet– Raise the bonnet slightly.
– Release the bonnet stay and replace it in its support.
– At a height of about 30 cm let it fall so it is locked.If the b onn et d o es n ot clos e , do not p ress d ownwa rds . Op e n it o nce m or e an d
let it fall as before.
WARNING
If the bonnet is not closed properly, it could open while you are driving and
completely obscure your view of the road. Risk of accident.•After closing the bonnet, always check that it is properly secured. The
bonnet must be flush with the surrounding body panels.•If you notice that the bonnet latch is not secured when the vehicle is
moving, stop the vehicle immediately and close the bonnet properly. Risk
of accident.
Engine oilEngine oil specifications
The engine oil used must conf orm with exact specifications.Specifications
The engine comes with a special, high quality, multi grade oil that can be
used in all seasons of the year except for those regions affected by extreme
cold.
As the use of high quality oil is essential for the correct operation of the
engine and its long useful life, when topping up or replacement is necessary
use only those oils that conform to the requirements of the VW standards.
If it is not possible to find oil conforming to the VW standards then oil
conforming to the ACEA or API standards with an appropriate viscosity at
atmospheric temperature should be used instead. The use of this type of oil
may have some repercussions on the performance of the engine for example,
long starting time, increased consumption and a higher emission level.
If a top up is required then different oils may be mixed as long as they all
conform to the VW standards.
The specifications (VW standards) set out in the following page should
appear on the container of the service oil; the container will display together
the different standards for petrol and diesel engines, the oil can be used for
both types of engines.
WARNING (continued)
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Checking and refilling levels
222•Never pour oil down drains or into the ground.•Use a suitable container when draining the used oil. It has to be large
enough to hold all the engine oil.CoolantCoolant specifications
Coolant is a mixture of water and at least 40% coolant addi-
tive.The cooling system must be filled with a mixture of water and at least 40 % of
our coolant additive G 12+ or an additive with the specification TT-VW 774 F
(it is dyed purple). This mixture gives the necessary frost protection down to
-25°C and protects the alloy parts of the cooling system against corrosion. It
also prevents scaling and raises the boiling point of the coolant.
The concentration of coolant must always be at least 40% - even if frost
protection is not required.
If greater frost protection is required in very cold climates, the proportion of
the antifreeze additive G 12+ can be increased. However, the percentage of
coolant additives should not exceed 60%, as this would reduce the frost
protection. It would also reduce the cooling effect. A mixture with 60%
coolant additive will give frost protection to approx. -40°C.
WARNING
•The coolant additive is toxic. There is a toxic risk. Always keep the
coolant additive in the original container which should be stored out of the
reach of children. The same applies to coolant which you have drained off.
•The coolant additive G 12+ must be added in sufficient quantities to
provide anti-freeze protection at the coldest ambient temperatures that
can be expected. At extremely cold ambient temperatures, the coolant
could freeze, causing the vehicle to breakdown. As the heater would also
not work in this situation, there is a risk of suffering exposure!Caution
•Other additives may give considerably inferior corrosion protection. The
resulting corrosion in the cooling system can lead to a loss of coolant,
causing serious damage to the engine.•The coolant additive G 12+ (purple) can be mixed with the additive G 12
(red) or G 11. Never mix G12 (red colour) with G 11.WARNING (continued)
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Checking and refilling levels223
Safety First
Controls and equipment
Practical tips
Technical Data
Checking the coolant level and topping up
The correct coolant level is important for fault-free func-
tioning of the engine cooling system.Before opening the bonnet, read and observe the warnings ⇒ in
“Safety instructions on working in the engine compartment” on
page 215.
Opening the coolant expansion tank
– Switch off the engine and allow it to cool.
– To prevent scalding, cover the cap on the expansion tank with a
thick cloth and carefully unscrew the cap ⇒.
Checking coolant level
– Look into the open coolant expansion tank and read off the coolant level. – If the level is underneath the “MIN” mark, top up with coolant.
To p p i n g u p c o o l a n t
–Only use
new coolant.
– Do not fill above the “MAX” mark.
Closing the coolant expansion tank
– Screw the cap on again tightly.
The position of the coolant expansion reservoir is shown in the corresponding
engine compartment diagram ⇒page 273.
Make sure that the coolant meets the required specifications ⇒ page 222.
Do not use a different type of additive if coolant additive G 12+ is not avail-
able. In this case use only water and bring the coolant concentration back up
to the correct level as soon as possible by putting in the specified additive
⇒ page 222.
Always top up with new coolant.
Do not fill above the “MAX” mark. Otherwise the excess coolant will be forced
out of the cooling system when the engine is hot.
The coolant additive G 12+ (dyed purple) may be mixed with G 12 (dyed red)
and also with G 11.
WARNING
Any work carried out in the engine compartment or on the engine must be
carried out cautiously.•When working in the engine compartment, always observe the safety
warnings ⇒page 215.
Fig. 147 In the engine
compartment: Coolant
expansion tank cap
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Checking and refilling levels
224•When the engine is warm or hot, the cooling system is pressurised! Do
not unscrew the cap on the expansion tank when the engine is hot. This is
a burn injury risk.Caution
•When mixed with other additives the colour of G 12 will change to brown.
If this occurs you should have the coolant changed immediately. Failure to do
so will result in engine damage!•If a lot of coolant has been lost, wait for the engine to cool down before
putting in cold coolant. This avoids damaging the engine. Large coolant
losses are an indication of leaks in the cooling system. See a specialised
workshop immediately and have the cooling system checked. Otherwise,
there is a risk of engine damage.
Washer fluid and windscreen wiper bladesTopping up washer fluid
The water for cleaning the windscreen should always be
mixed with washer fluid.The windscreen washer and the headlight washing system are supplied with
fluid from the windscreen washer fluid container in the engine compartment.
The reservoir is located on the right-hand side of the engine compartment.
Plain water is not enough to clean th e windscreen and headlights. We recom-
mend that you always add a product to the windscreen washer fluid.
Approved windscreen cleaning products exist on the market with high deter-
gent and anti-freeze properties, these may be added all-year-round. Please
follow the dilution instructions on the packaging.
WARNING (continued)
Fig. 148 In the engine
compartment: Cap of
windscreen washer fluid
reservoir.
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Technical Data273
Safety First
Controls and equipment
Practical tips
Technical Data
Te c h n i c a l D a t aChecking fluid levelsFrom time to time, the levels of the different fluids in the
vehicle must be checked. Never fill with incorrect fluids,
otherwise serious damage to the engine may be caused.
Coolant expansion tank
Windscreen washer fluid reservoir
Engine oil filler cap
Engine oil dipstick
Brake fluid reservoir
Vehicle battery (underneath the cover)
The checking and refilling of service fluids are carried out on the components
mentioned above. These operations are described in the ⇒page 215. Overview
Further explanations, instructions and restrictions on the technical data as of
⇒
page 269 are given.
Fig. 186 Diagram for the
location of the various
elements
A1A2A3A4A5A6
Leon_EN.book Seite 273 Dienstag, 8. September 2009 5:25 17
Index
294Braking distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Bulb changes
general notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Bulb defect warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Buzzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118, 157CCar care Exterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Catalytic converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Central locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Automatic locking system for involuntary unlocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Automatic speed dependent locking and un- locking system* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Emergency unlocking system . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Selective unlocking system* . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Unlocking system* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Central locking button Central locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
unlocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Centre console with drinks holder . . . . . . . . . . 135
Cetane number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Changing gear See Manual gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Changing gear with the Tiptronic gear system 169
Changing the lamps Main headlight lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
rear lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Changing the main headlight lamps
dipped beam lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
main beam lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Side lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
turn signal lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Changing the rear light lamps Position light, fog light and rear light on the tailgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Changing the rear lights Indicator, side and brake lights on the bodywork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
luggage compartment lights . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Chassis number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Checking battery electrolyte level . . . . . . . . . . 230
Checking engine oil level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Child safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Child seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Categorisation in groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Group 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Group 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Group 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Groups 0 and 0+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
ISOFIX system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Securing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Child seats on the front passenger seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Cigarette lighter* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Cleaning alloy wheel rims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Cleaning and caring for your vehicle . . . . . . . . 197 Cleaning chrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Cleaning engine compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Cleaning steel wheel rims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Cleaning windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Climatic* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Climatronic
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Cloth seat covers cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Clothes hook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Cockpit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Coming/leaving home function . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Control lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Control lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Controls Electric windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Light switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Convenience closing Sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Convenience opening Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222, 223 Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Coolant Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Coolant level warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Coolant Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
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Index295
Coolant temperature
Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Cruise control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Cruise control system Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Cruise control* Turning off the cruise control system . . . . . 178
Curtain airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40DDanger of fitting a child seat on the front passenger seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Dash panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Dash panel cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Dash panel menu Configuration menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Example of menu use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Lights and visibility menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Dash panel menus Main menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Vehicle status menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Daytime lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Diesel engine Winter driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Diesel engine particulate filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Differential lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Differential lock fault (EDL)
warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Digital clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Dipped headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Disabling front passenger airbag Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Disabling the airbag Disabling front passenger airbag . . . . . . . . . 42
Display (without warning or information texts) . 59
Displays in the Multi-function display Memory displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Disposal Airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Door lock cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Door release lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Doors Childproof locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Drive wheels traction control system . . . . . . . . 182
Driveshaft differential XDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Driving Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Economically / With Respect for the Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
With a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Driving programmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Driving safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Driving with an automatic gearbox / DSG automatic
gearbox* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Duplicate keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Dust filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Dynamic curve lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Dynamic headlight range control . . . . . . . . . . . 115
EEconomical driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
EDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
EDS Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Electrical sockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Electronic differential lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Electronic immobiliser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84, 158
Electronic stabilisation program . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Electronic stabilisation programme . . . . . . . . . . 83 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Electronic stabilisation programme (ESP) warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Emergency braking function . . . . . . . . . . 117, 181
emergency manual locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Emergency opening Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Emission control system warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Engine Running in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
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