Booklet 3.2 Tips and Advi ce
des with tire press ure m onito rin g sys te m To preven t thi s, always make that
fac to ry i nsta ll ed va lve s te m caps on a ll whee ls
are securely mount ed on th e valve .
Tires and vehicle load limits
There ar e limits to th e amo unt of load or we ig ht
t hat any vehicl e and any tire ca n carry. A ve hicle
t h at is over loaded will not handle well an d is
mor e difficult t o sto p. Overloadi ng ca n not only
l ead to loss of veh icle contro l, but can also
damage important parts of the vehicle and can
l ead to sudden tire failure, including a blowout
an d sudd en deflat ion that can ca use th e ve hicle
to crash.
Your safety and that of yo ur passengers also de
pe nds on making sure tha t load limit s are not ex
cee ded . Veh icle load includ es everybody and ev
e ry thing in and on the ve hicle. T hese load limits
are technica lly referred to as the vehicle"s Gro ss
Ve hicl e We ig ht Hating
The in cl udes the of the basic ve
h icle , a ll in sta lled accessor ies, full tank
of fuel, oil, coolan t and o ther flui ds p lu s max
imum load . Th e m aximum load includ es the
number of passe ngers that the ve hicle is in
te nded to carry ("seatin g capacity") with an as
su med weight of 150 lbs (68 Kg) fo r each pas
se nge r at a des ig n ati on sea ting pos ition and the
to ta l weight of any lu ggage in the ve hicle. If you
tow a traile r, th e weig ht of th e tra iler hitch and
th e tong ue weig ht of the lo ad ed tra iler mu st b e
included as part of the ve hicle lo ad .
T he Gross Axle We ig ht Hatin g
is th e
maximum load that ca n be appl ied a t eac h of t h e
ve hicl e's two ax les.
The Gross Ve hicl e We ight
and th e Gross
Ax le We ig h t are liste d on the sa fe ty com
pliance sticke r la b el o n th e driv er's door latch
pi llar Your Je tt a ha s 5 seat ing posit io ns, 2 in the
front and 3 in the rea r fo r to tal seating capacity of
5. Ea ch sea ting posi tio n ha s a safe ty belt
= book le t 2. 1 "Safety firs t."
58 Checking and Filling
For th e sake of env ironm ent
Yo ur car w ill ha ve a highe r consumpt io n
a nd unn ecessa ry ex hau st em iss ions with und er
inflated tires .
that there is an upper limit to your ve
hicl e' Gross Vehicle We ig ht Hati ng mean s that
th e
weight of whatever is be ing ca rri ed in
th e veh icle (including the we ight o f trailer
hit ch and the tongu e we igh t of the loaded
t railer) is limit ed. The more pa ssenge rs in the
vehicl e or passe ngers arc heav ier th an the
s tandard weigh ts assumed mean th at less
we igh t
be carr ied as luggage.
tir e pressure label on your Vo lkswagen also
lists the maximum combin ed weight of all of the
occupants and luggage or other cargo that th e
ve hicle can carry. For the locatio n of the label
54. fig. 13 .
WA RNING
Over loadin g a vehicle can cau se loss o f ve hicl e
co ntr ol, cras h or ot her accide nt, se rious per
s o nal injur y, and eve n death.
• Car rying more weig ht th an yo ur vehicle
des ig ned to ca rry will prevent the ve hicle
from handlin g proper ly and in crease the risk
o f th e loss of ve hicl e co ntrol.
• Th e brake s o n a ve hicl e th at has bee n over
l oa ded may not be ab le to stop th e vehicle
wit hin a
dista nce.
• Tir es on a veh icle that ha s be en over loaded
ca n
su dd enl y, includin g a blowout a nd
s udd en deflation, causin g los s of co ntrol and a
c ra sh .
• Alway s make sur e th at the total l oad bein g
tran sp ort ed - inclu din g th e we ig h t of a tra ile r
hi tch and the to ngue we ig ht of a lo aded trail er
- docs not make the vehicl e heav ie r than the
v eh icle 's Gros s Ve hicl e We ig ht H atin g
Booklet 3.2 Tips and Advice
will be s ix 10 eight of them evenly pla ced aroun d tire. Marks on the tire s idewa ll (fo r ex amp le o r oth er symbols) indicate the p ositions
of the tread w ear in dica tor s. Wo rn tires mu st be
rep laced . Different figu res may apply in oth er
Tir e pressure
In co rrec t lir e pr ess ure cause s pr ematur e wear
and can cause s udden tire blow -out. F or thi s
r easo n, tir e pressure must be c hec ke d at leas t
o nce a m ont h
56.
Driving style
Drivin g fast around cu rves, heavy acce lera tio n
and hard braking increase t ir e w ear.
Rotating tir es for more even wear
I f th e front tires are worn consid era bly m ore
than t he re ar ones, rotate th em as sh own
59, fig. 15 . All the tir es will then last for
about sa me of tim e.
A ll
tir es s hou ld have th e sam e am ount of
wear. All four w heels must have the sa me ro lling
ci rc umf ere nce.
Wheel balancing
Th e wh eels on ne w ve hicl es are balan ced. H ow
eve r. various situations during every d ay driv ing
can cause them
b ecom e unbalan ced, r e
s ultin g in vib rat io ns y ou can usuall y fe el throug h
th e steering wheel.
Unbalan ced w hee ls mu st be reb alan ced to avoid
e x cessive wear on stee ring, suspen sion and
60 Checking and Filling
tire s. A wheel also be rebalan ced w hen a
new lire i s in stalled .
In correct whee l alignment
Incorr ect whee l alignment can cause exc ess ive
ti re wea r, impa ir in g
safe ty of the ve hicle. If
t ir es s how excess ive wear, have wheel align
m en t ch ecke d by an authori zed Vol ksw age n
d ea le r or qualifi ed work sh op.
WARNING
Sud den tir e fa ilur e ca n le ad to lo ss of con trol ,
a cra sh and serious persona l injury!
• Neve r drive a vehicle wh en th e trea d on
any tire is wo rn dow n to the wea r indicator s.
• Worn tires a rc a sa fety hazar d, the y do not
gr ip we ll on wet roads and increase y our risk
of "h yd ropl anin g" and lo ss of contro l.
• Always kee p ch emi cals that can ca use tir e
d amage, s uch as g rease, oil , gaso line and
brak e fluid away from tire s.
• Tire s age even if th ey a rc not b ein g use d
and can fail sudd enl y, es pecially al high
s pe eds . Tir es that a re more than 6 year s old
can onl y be use d in an emergen cy and th en
w ith sp ecia l care a nd at lowe r sp eeds.
• Neve r mount u sed tire s on your vehicl e if
you a rc not sur e of their "pr ev iou s hi stor y."
Old use d tir es ma y ha ve been d amaged eve n
th ough the d am age ca nnot b e seen that can
lead t o sudd en tir e failure and loss of vehicle
Booklet 3.2 Tips and Advice
tires approved for the Volkswage n models ered by your Owner's Literature.
The tire pressure label on the open edge of the
dri ver's door (
54, fig. 13 ) lists th e s pec ifi
cations of the original equipm ent tir es insta lled
on your vehicle at the time it was
Federal law re quire s tire manufacturers to plac e
standardized informat io n on the sid ew all of all
t ir es
fig. This information id enti
fi es d esc ribes the fundamental charac te ris
ti cs, the quality grad e of the tire and also pro
vides
tir e id entifi cation number for safe ty stan
dard certificat ion an d in case of reca ll.
Tire specifications
Kn ow le d ge of tire sp ec ifica tions mak es it easier
to choose the tires. Hadial tires ha ve the
t ir e sp ec ifica tion s mark ed on th e sidewall, for
examp le :
P255 I 55 R 18 109 H x i
This contain s the following information:
Indi cates the tir e is for pass enger
No minal tire width in mm of the tire from
s ide wall edg e to sidewa ll edge. 1 n general.
th e lar ger the numb er, the wider th e tir e
55 I !e ight /width
in per cent (aspect ratio )
Tire constru ctio n: Hrad ial
1 8 Him diamete r
(in inch es)
109
co de
Speed le tter code
x i
tha t th e tire is "R einf orced"
( h eavy-d uty tir es)
M +S (o r "M /S") Indicates that t he tire h as some
m ud and snow capabili ty
The tire s could al so have the information of di
rection of rotation
51, "Unidi rectiona l
tires".
T ir e manufactur ing date
The manufa cturin g dat e is also indicate d on the
tir e sid ewa ll (poss ibly o nly on the i1111 erside of
th e wheel):
... 45 03 ... "means. fo r exam ple, that th e
tir e produ ced in the 45th week of
Speed Rating Letter Code
The sp ee d rating le tt er code on the wheel s indi
cates the maximum p ermi ssibl e roa d speeds
in "Wint er tires" on page
up 93 mph (150 km/h )
Q 99 mph km/h)
up to 106 mph (170 k m/h)
s up to llO mph (180 km /h )
T up
118 mph (190 km/h )
u up t o 124 mph (200 km/h )
up to 130 mph (210 km /h )
V up to 149 mph (240
up to 150 mph (240
\V up t o 168 mph (270 y
up to mph (298
U. S. DOT Tire Identification Number (TIN )
Thi s is the tir e's "se rial number." It begins with
th e le tt ers "DOT" and indicates
the tire
m ee ts all federal standards . The n ext two
ber s or lett ers indicate th e plant where it was
manufacture d. and the la st four numb ers repre
se nt the week and year of manuf acture. For ex
a mpl e. th e numb ers 180 1 m ean that the tire
produ ced in the 18th week of 2001. The oth er
numb ers are mark etin g co des ma y or ma y
n o t be used b y th e tire manufa cturer. T his infor
mati on is u sed to contact consum ers ifa tire de
f ec t req uires a reca ll.
Tir e ply compos ition and materials used
T he numb er of plies indicat es the numb er of
la ye rs of rubb er-co ated fabri c in the tir e. In gen
e ral, th e g rea te r the numb er of p lies , th e mor e
a tire can supp ort. Tire manuf actur ers
a lso mu st indicate the materials in the tire ,
wh ich include steel. nylon, poly este r, and
o th ers .
Maximu m Load Ra ting
Thi s numb er indi cat es the maximum load in ki
lo gram s and pounds that can h e
by the
tir e. Tread wear, traction and te mpe ralll re
g rades
64, tir e quality
·II For tir es max imum speed capabilit y over mph (240 km /h ). tire so metimes use
th e lette rs
62 Checking and Filling
Cleani ng
A llo y whee ls
2 1 A ut omati c car was h 17
Bump er
18
chassis 22 C lo th sea t cove rs 23
E n gin e co mpartm ent 22
Ex ter ior 1 7
trim 23
In stru ment panel 23
L ea th er 23 Out side mir rors 19
P las tic 23
bel ls 26
W ashin g the ve hic le 1 7
W ind ows 19
Wind sh ie ld 19 W ind shie ld wip er blad es 20
W ooden trim
23
Cle an ing and pro tec tio n 16
C lot h sea t cove rs
C le an ing
23
Code number
Fo r
whee l bolt s 67
Cold tire inflation pressure 54
Coo la nt 43 Le ve l 44
Loss 44
Cra sh recorder s 6
D
Deter minin g corre ct load limil 59
D iese l e ngine
Ad din g en gi ne oil 41
C hang ing engin e oil 41
En gin e oil 4 1 Engin e oi l 37
Die se l fu el 33 Wi nte r operat io n 33
D iffe re nti al loc k 4
Drive r Stee ring Recomme ndati on 3
Dr iv in g eco nomi cally 14
Driv ing ou1 sid e o f !h e U.S. A. or Canada
P rec au1io ns
9 1
Driv ing wit h respec t for th e en vironme nt 14
Booklet 3.2 Tip s and Advice
ing in sid e 1h e e ng in e c om pa rtm en t 34
Wo rkin g in th e engin e com partmen t 34
Engin e coola nt 43
Add iti ves 43
Can I acid p la in wate r the engi ne
coo lan t?
44 Coola n! losses 45
Eng ine hoo d 36
How do I unlock !he en gin e hoo d? 36
Eng ine oil 37
Add ing 40
Addit ives 40
C he ck in g leve l 39
Consu mplion 38
Die sel e n gine 4 1
Dips!i ck 39 H ow do I kn ow how much oil m y eng in e is
co nsum ing?
38
Oi l cha nge 42
Specifica tions 37 Spec ifi ca tions Diese l eng in e 37 , 4 1
Spec ifica !io ns gaso li n e e ngi ne 37 W hal kind of e n gin e oi l s h o uld I p u ! in my
v eh icl e?
37
W hen sh o ul d I ch eck !he e ngin e oi l
l eve l? 38 W here is th e oil dip stick 3 9
E nvironm en t
Avo iding polluti on 31
C le anin g th e e ngine compa rtment 22 Driving economically 14
V ehi cle care produ cts 16
ES P 5
Eve nt Dat a Reco rde r 6
Ex terna l ae rial 29
Alphabetical index 93
Parts 27
Plastic parts 19
Clean ing 23
Power steering 6
Power wa sh er 18
Prem ium Gaso line 32
R
Rai sing th e veh icle wit h th e jac k 72
Hear lid
Escape handle 76
wind ow heat ing
Heatin g element wires 20
Refue ling 30
H eg ular Gaso line 32
Repair s 28
Hep lacin g
Whee l rim s 63
Rep lacing tires and wheels 6 1
He por ting safety de fects
Ca nada 90
Unit ed States 90
Rims Replacing 63
gas kets 20
s
Safery belt s
Cleaning 26
S now chains 66
Spa res 27
Speed Hating Letter Code 62
Sta rtin g w ith jum per ca bles 84
Ste ps fo r dete rmining correc t load lim it 59
T
Tank
Fillin g
tank 30
Openi ng the fu el filler
30
Tec hnical m od ifica tions 28
T ire pressu re 56
T ir e pressure monitoring system
Se nso rs 63
Tir es and whee ls 63
Va lves 63
Booklet 3.2 Tips and Advice @
Tire service life 59
T ir es
Rep la cing 63
Se rv ice life 59
Speed Hating Leller Code 62
Ti re manufa cturing dale 62
Ti re specificat ions 62
Tread depth 59
Uni form tire qua lity gradi ng 64
Win te r tires 65
Tir es and vehicle load limit s 58
Tir es and whe els 5 1
C hec king tir e press ure 56
Co ld tire innation pre ssure 54
D imens ions 6 1
General notes 51
Glo ssary of
and loadin g
t e rm inology 52
New tires and whee ls 61
Rep lacing 6 1
Snow cha ins 66
T ire pressu re mon ito rin g sys tem 63
Tir es and vehicle load limit s 58
Whee l bolts 66
W int er tire s 65
Tools 67
Towing 86
Four-wheel dr ive 86
General notes 87
When can yo ur vehicl e not be towed? 88
Towing eye 86
Tra iler tow ing
Brak es ll
Dr iv in g tips 13
Operating instru ction s 12
Safety chain s 11, 12
Tec hnical requir ements IO
Tire press ure 12
T ow ing tips 13
Trailer lights 11
Tra iler weigh t 12
Tra nspo rt Ca nada 90
Tread Wea r Ind ica to r (TWI) 59
u
Underbody sea lant 22
Unidir ectiona l tires 51, 73
Uniform lir e qu alit y g rading 64
Alphabetical index 95