2012 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF ignition

Checking engine coolant level and topping off
Fig. 13 1 Coolant expan sion tank in the engi ne
compartme nt.
Please first read and note the introduc­tory Information and heed the WARN ­on page 233.
Park the vehicle on level ground .
Always let the engine down
the engine hood in Introduction on
page 222.
There is a sy mbol on the cap of the engine coolant expans ion tank 132 .
Checking engine coolant
When the engine is cold , check the engine
coolant level relative to the marking on the side of the expansion tank 13 1.
the coolant level in the tank is below the mini ­
mum mark ("min"), add coolant. When th e engi ne is warm, the engine coolant level may be slig htly
above the upper edge of the marked range.
Adding engine coolant
Always protect face, hands and arms from hot
escaping coolant or steam by covering the cap
with a large , thick rag.
Carefully unscrew the cap
Add only new engine coolant according to
The engine coolant level must be inside the
marks on the side of the reservoir 131. Do not
236 cleaning, maintenance Fig.
132 Coola nt expansion tank cap in the eng ine
compa rtment.
Screw the lid tightly .
Even in an emergency , do not use any other kind of coolant additive if engine coolant meeting
add distilled water only As
soon as possible , have the correct coolant ratio re­
sto red using engine coolant that meet s
WARNING
Hot steam and hot engine coolant can cau se serious burns.
Neve r open the hood you see steam or coolant escaping from the engine compart­ment. Always w ai t until you no longer see or hea r steam or co olant escaping from the en­
gine .
opening the hood. Hot components will burn skin on contact.
Park (P) (automatic) or Neutral (manua l only).
- Take the vehicle key
out of the ignition.
-
veh icles with Keyless Access, make
sure that the remote control vehicle key is out of range of the vehicle and that the ve­hicle cannot be sta rted by depressing the
starte r button 44.
-
Always keep children and others away
from the engine compartment and never
l eave them unsupervised.

Introduction
this sec tion
b attery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Th e standard 12 vehicle battery is pa rt of the
veh ic le electr ical sys te m .
N ever do any wor k on
the ve hic le elec trica l system
unl ess you
know ho w to carry out the job ,
have the correct te chn ical infor m ation an d the
p roper an d
are familiar with t he necessary safety
Faci li ty .
Meaning
A lways w
ear eye pro tec tion !
B attery acid is highl y co rrosive.
ces hydrogen gas whic h is highly
away from
Warra nty an d Maint enance
283
238 Care, cleaning, maintenance
Working on the batteries or the tem in your vehicle can cause serious acid
burn s, fires , explosions , or electrical shocks. read and heed the and safety precaution s before working on the batteries or the
switch off the ignition and
cable from the standard 12
always
switch off the light first.
batteries in
wear eye protection . Never contact with your eyes, skin, or clothing.
battery acid is very corrosive.
ness. wear protective gloves and eye
protection . To reduce your risk of injury, er acid through the vents and burn you.
you get battery acid in your eyes or on your skin , immediately rinse w ith water for minutes and then get immediate attention.
disconnect th e negative ( -) first and then the tive
switch off consumers
before reconnect ing the 12 batt eri es. connect th e cable(+) first and then the
n egative cable(-). Never reverse the polarity of the c onnections. Thi s
explo sive mixture of ga ses is en off when the battery is being charged.
e quipm ent. Never short circuit the battery terminals . High-ener-gy spark s can cause serious personal injury.

California Proposition 65 Warning
nect 2 vehicle batteries to each other when the ignition is switched on or the engine is
tem or electronic components.
violet rays may damage the battery housing.
dam-aged by freezing . Warning light
on
Alterna tor malfun ction .
W he n t he igni tion i s sw itched on, severa l wa rnin g
a n d i ndi cato r li g ht s
come on brie fly for a functio n
check . They go out after a few seconds.
Failure to heed warning
Faci lity . H av e the
e le c tric al sys tem checked. o ff unn ecessa ry electrica l loads . The ve-batt ery
to h ee d warning or text can result in vehicle damage.

Charging,
on page 238.
Charging the vehicle battery
Vehicle batteries should be charged by an author­
ized Volkswagen dealer or an authorized Volkswa­
gen
because the factory -installed
battery requires a charger with overload protection
Replacing the vehicle battery
The battery in your vehicle is
batteries meet­
ing standards TL 825
electrical system, note the following :
off
Unlock the vehicle before disconnecting the
battery; otherwise the alarm system
Fir st disconnect the negativ e cable(-) and then the positive
Connecting the vehicle battery
Pr ior to reconnecting the battery , switch off electrical sys tems and devices and the ignition .
Connect the posit ive cable(+) first and then the
negative cable (-)
After the battery is connected and the ignition is
sw itched on, different indicator light s may come on. They should go out after you drive a short distance
ice Facility and have the checked.
th e ign ition not start after reconnecting the vehicle battery , lock the vehic le from the outside
and unlock it again. Then try to start the ignition
again.
lhe ignition cannot be switched on, con­
tact an authorized Volkswagen dealer, an author­
ized Volkswagen
o r another quali­
fied workshop for assistance.
Automatic electrical load deactivation
onboard electrical system management auto mati ­takes steps to help prevent battery drain.
The idle speed is increa sed so that the alterna­
t o r provides more power.
Th e power to devices that consume a lot of electricity is cut back or switched off completely.
When the engine is started, the power supply to the 12
Long periods when the engine is not running,
especially when the ignition is on .
Using electr ical sys tems or devices when the
engine is swi tched off. Leaving the
The selecto r lever is left for a long period of time in any position other than P when the ignition
is swi tched off =>page 175.
Failure to use th e proper battery with proper mounting and connection s may cause short circu its, fires, and serious persona l injuries.
Always use only maintenance-free or cy-
cle-free, leak-proof batteries with the sa me
s p ec ifications and dimensions as the original
equipment b attery. Specifications are listed
on the battery housing.
Wh en the vehicle battery is ch arged, it produ-
ces highly explosive hydroge n gas.
th e engine compartment

Never disconnect the vehicle battery when
th e ignition switched on or the engine is run­ning, as the electrical system or electronic components can be damaged .
socket in order to charge the vehicle
batt ery . This can damage the vehicle's electri­
cal
syst e m .
Dispose of the battery according to regulations . batteries contain poison­
ous substa nces such as sulfuric acid and lead .
Battery acid can pollute the environment. Catch leaking operating fluids and dispose of
them properly.

Engine
In this sectio n yo u 'll find informatio n about
Indicato r lights ............... ........... 295
Cata lytic co nverter
..... 296
More information:
Sh ifting gears 171
Refueling 214
Fuel 219
Engine oil
Vehicle ba ttery
N otice about data recorded by vehic le co ntr ol
modu les
T owing 330
The vehicle exhaust system and the catalytic
converter get very hot. This can cause a fire
and serious personal injury.
Never apply additional undercoating or rust proofing on or near the exhaust mani-fold, exhaust pipes, catalytic converter , or heat shields .
Proposition 65 Warning
constituents,
and certain vehicle components contain or emit chemicals known to the
addition, certain fluids contained in vehicles and certain products of component wear contain or emit chemicals
known to the
on page 295.
L
ights up Possibl e ca use Proper respon se
Engine contr
ol malfunctio n (Elec tron ic Pow -Have engi
ne checked immediat ely by an au-
er
Contr ol). thor
ized Volkswage n dea ler or aut hor ized Volks-
wagen Fa cility .
Engine contr ol/ monitoring system
malfunc- E
ase off the accelerator . Carefully drive to the
lion (engine Malfunction Indicator Light- n
ea rest auth orized Volkswagen dealer or au-MIL) thorized
Volkswagen Facility . Ha ve en-
gine checked .
Flashes Possible cause Proper response
Ease
off the accele rator. Caref ully drive to the Misfire , which can damage th e catalytic con-
nearest authorize d Volkswagen dealer or au-.
thorized Volkswagen Service Faci lity. Have en-
gine checked .
When
the ignition is switched severa l warning
and indicator ligh ts come on briefly for a func tion
check . The y
go out after a few seconds . Failure to h
eed warning lights or text WARN-
can result
Vehi cle care and maint enance

up a warning triangle or other warning device in order to alert other motorists and cyclists.
9. Let the engine cool down and get expert assistance if necessary .
are on, use the turn
Traffic suddenly slows down or stops in front of you to warn those approach ing from behind .
any emergency situation.
When being towed.
Always obey traffic laws that govern the use of
emergency
the emergency are not working, a
Disregarding the safety-related checklist may
lead to accidents and serious personal ries.
accepted safety practices and use common sense.
Do it yourself
The vehicle exhaust system and the catalytic converter get very hot. They can cause fires and serious personal injury.
The vehicle battery be drained if the emergency flashers are on for a long time -
even if the ignition is switched off.

Fuses
Introduction
this sec tion find information about:
Fuses in the vehicle
..................... 318
Repla cing blown
fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Due to on go ing deve lopmen t of the vehic le , of fuses and the bin ed fuse protection of multiple loads with one
fuse , an up-to -date overview of the fu se locat ion per load is not possible at the time of print ing . tailed information regarding fuse box layou t is from auth orized Volkswagen dealers and
author ized Vol ksw agen
ge neral , one fuse can protect several loads. load can also be protected by seve ral fuses .
Find out why the fu se blew and correct the
lem before replacing a blown fuse . placed fuse blows again after a s hort time , the
e lec tr ic al system should be chec ked by an auth o r­
ized Volkswagen deale r o r an autho rized Volkswa­
gen
F acility .
More information:
Prepa ration s for working in the engine compart­
ment
High volta g e systems in the engin e
tronic ignition system.
Using the wrong fuse, using a blown fuse
that has been repaired , and using metal ob-jects in plac e of fuses to complete the electri-connection in the circuit can cause fires
and serious p erson al injury.
with a fuse of the same amperage (same or and same imprint) and same
Never replace fuses with a metal strip , a
paper clip, or a similar objec t.
To help preven t damage to the electrical
system , switch off ail lights and accessories ,
switch off the ignition , and remov e the key from the ignition switch before replacing a fuse .
ferent loca tions In the electrical system.
A single load (a sin gle elec trica l com ponent )
fuse may pro tect several loads (seve ral electrical co mp one nts ). Prac tic al tip s 317