66Cockpit
ItemSymbolMeaning of control and warning
lampsFurther infor-mation
1Engine fault (petrol engine)⇒ page 69
1
Glow plug system for diesel engine
If lit: glow plug system active
If flashing: engine fault⇒ page 70
2Soot accumulation in the diesel en-
gine particulate filter⇒ page 70
3
Red:
Engine oil pressure
⇒ page 70Yellow:
If flashing: engine oil sensor faulty
If it remains lit: insufficient engine
oil
4Bulb defective⇒ page 71
5Level of liquid for washing windows
too low.⇒ page 71
6Rear fog light switched on⇒ page 71
7Seat belt warning lamp*⇒ page 19
8Anti-lock brake system (ABS) *⇒ page 71
9
If flashing: the Electronic Stability
Control (ESC) is working or the ASR
is working
If the following remain lit: ESC or
ASR faulty
⇒ page 72
⇒ page 72
10Brake fluid required or
serious fault in brake system⇒ page 73
11Handbrake on⇒ page 164
ItemSymbolMeaning of control and warning lampsFurther infor-mation
12Cruise speed activated (Cruise con-
trol)⇒ page 73
13Tyre pressure*⇒ page 73
14Selector lever lock (automatic gear-
box)⇒ page 74
15Fuel level / reserve⇒ page 74
16Doors open⇒ page 74
17Rear lid open⇒ page 74
18Airbag or belt tensioner system fault
or airbag disabled⇒ page 31
19Main beam switched on⇒ page 75
20Start-Stop system switched off⇒ page 153
21Electro-hydraulic steering⇒ page 75
22Fault in the emission control system⇒ page 75
23Coolant level / coolant temperature⇒ page 75
24Alternator fault⇒ page 76
25If it stays lit: ASR switched off⇒ page 72
⇒ page 72
70Cockpit
Glow plug system/Engine fault*
The warning lamp lights up to show that the glow plugs are
preheating the diesel engine. It flashes if there is an engine
fault.
Control lamp is lit
The control lamp lights up while the glow plug system is preheating.
When the warning lamp goes off, the engine should be started straight
away.
Control lamp flashes
If a fault develops in the engine management system while you are driving,
the glow plug system lamp will flash . Take the vehicle to a specialised
workshop as soon as possible and have the engine checked.
Soot accumulation in the diesel engine particulate filter*
If the lamp lights up you should help the filter clean itself by driving in
the appropriate manner.
To do this, drive about 15 minutes in fourth or fifth gear (automatic gear-
box: S gear range) at a speed of 60 km/h (37 mph), with the engine running
at approximately 2000 rpm. In this way, the pollen build up in the filter is
burned. When cleaning is successful, the lamp turns off.
If the lamp does not turn off, or the three lamps turn on (particulate filter
, emission control system fault and glow plugs ), take the vehicle to
a specialised workshop to repair the fault.
WARNING
● Always drive according to the road weather conditions, the terrain
and traffic. Driving recommendations should never lead to illegal ma-
noeuvres in surrounding traffic.
● The diesel engine particulate filter may reach extremely high temper-
atures; it should not enter into contact with flammable materials under-
neath the vehicle. Otherwise there is a risk of fire.
Engine oil pressure
If this warning lamp is red it indicates that the engine oil
pressure is too low.
If this warning symbol starts to flash, and is accompanied by three audible
warnings, switch off the engine and check the oil level. If necessary, add
more oil ⇒ page 212.
If the symbol flashes although the oil level is correct, do not drive on. Do
not even run the engine at idle speed! Obtain technical assistance.
Checking the oil level
If the warning lamp is yellow the engine oil level should be checked as
soon as possible. Top up the oil ⇒ page 212 at the next opportunity.
Oil level sensor faulty*
If the yellow warning lamp flashes, take the vehicle to a specialised
workshop to have the oil level sensor checked. Until then it is advisable to
check the oil level every time you refuel.
188Vehicle maintenance and cleaning
Care of the vehicle exterior
Automatic car washing tunnel
The vehicle paintwork is so durable that the vehicle can normally be washed
without problems in an automatic car wash tunnel. However, the paintwork
wear depends to a large extent on the kind of the car wash tunnel, the
brushes used, its water filtering and the type of cleaning and preservative
products.
Before going through a car wash, be sure to take the usual precautions such
as closing the windows and sunroof. There is nothing to note apart from
that.
If the vehicle has special accessories such as spoilers or a roof rack or two-
way radio aerial, etc., it is advisable to consult the car wash tunnel operator.
After washing, the brakes could take some time to respond as the brake
discs and pads could be wet, or even frozen in winter. Dry the brakes by
braking several times.
WARNING
Water, ice and salt on the brake system can reduce braking effectiveness.
Risk of accident.
CAUTION
Before putting the vehicle through the car washing tunnel, do not tighten
the aerial if it is folded because it can be damaged. Washing by hand
Vehicle washing
–
First soften the dirt and rinse it off with water.
– Clean your vehicle from top to bottom with a soft sponge, a
glove or a brush. Use very light pressure.
– Rinse the sponge or glove often with clean water.
– Special car shampoo should only be used for very stubborn dirt.
– Leave the wheels, sill panels etc. until last, using a different
sponge or glove.
– Rinse the vehicle thoroughly with water.
– Dry the vehicle surface gently with a chamois leather.
– In cold temperature, dry the rubber seals and their surfaces to
prevent them from freezing. Apply silicone spray to the rubber
seals.
After washing the vehicle
– After washing, avoid sudden and sharp braking. Dry the brakes
by braking several times.
206Checking and refilling levels
Biodiesel*
CAUTION
● Your vehicle is not designed to use biodiesel fuel. Never, under any cir-
cumstances refuel with biodiesel. The use of biodiesel fuel could damage
the engine and the fuel system. The addition of biodiesel to diesel fuel by
the diesel manufacturer in accordance with standard EN 590 or DIN 51628
is authorised and will not cause damage to the engine or the fuel system.
● The diesel engine has been designed to be used exclusively with diesel
fuel conforming to standard EN 590. Never refuel or use petrol, kerosene,
fuel oil or any other type of fuel. If you accidentally fill up the vehicle with
the wrong type of fuel, do not start the engine. Seek assistance from speci-
alised personnel. The composition of these fuels may severely damage the
fuel system and the engine.
Winter driving
Diesel can thicken in winter.
Winter-grade diesel
When using “summer-grade diesel fuel”, difficulties may be experienced at
temperatures below 0 °C (+32 °F) because the fuel thickens due to wax sep-
aration. For this reason, “winter-grade diesel fuel” is available in some
countries during the cold months. It can be used at temperatures as low as
-22 °C (-8 °F).
In countries with different climatic conditions the diesel fuel generally sold
has different temperature characteristics. Check with the Technical Services
or filling stations in the country concerned regarding the type of diesel fuels
available. Filter pre-heater
Your vehicle is fitted with a fuel filter glow plug system, making it well
equipped for operation in winter. This ensures that the fuel system remains
operational to approx. -24 °C (-11 °F), provided you use winter-grade diesel
which is safe to -15 °C (+5 °F).
However, if the fuel has waxed to such an extent that the engine will not
start at temperatures of under -24 °C (-11 °F), simply place the vehicle in a
warm place for a while.
CAUTION
Do not mix fuel additives (thinners or similar products) with diesel fuel.
Working in the engine compartment Safety instructions on working in the engine compartment
Any work carried out in the engine compartment or on the
engine must be carried out cautiously.
Before starting any work on the engine or in the engine compart-
ment:
1. Switch off the engine and remove the key from the ignition.
2. Apply the handbrake.
3. Move the gear lever to neutral or the selector lever to position P.
4. Wait for the engine to cool down.
5. Keep children away from the vehicle.
210Checking and refilling levels
Because this oil is essential for extending the service intervals, it must only
be used observing the following indications:
● Avoid mixing it with oil for fixed service intervals.
● Only in exceptional circumstances, if the engine oil level is too low
⇒ page 211 and LongLife oil is not available, it is permitted to top up
(once) with oil for fixed service intervals ⇒ page 210 (up to a maximum of
0.5 litres).
Fixed service intervals*
If your vehicle does not have the “LongLife service interval” or it has been
disabled (by request), you may use oils for fixed service intervals, which al-
so appear in ⇒ page 210, Oil properties. In this case, your vehicle must be
serviced after a fixed interval of 1 year/15 000 km (10 000 miles)(whatever
comes first) ⇒ Booklet Maintenance Programme.
● In exceptional circumstances, if the engine oil level is too low
⇒ page 211 and you cannot obtain the oil specified for your vehicle, you
can put in a small quantity of oil conforming to the specification ACEA A2 or
ACEA A3 (petrol engines) or ACEA B3 or ACEA B4 (diesel engines) (up to 0.5
l).
Vehicles with diesel particulate filter*
The “Maintenance Programme” states whether your vehicle is fitted with a
diesel particulate filter.
Only VW 507 00 engine oil, with reduced ash formation, may be used in die-
sel engines equipped with particulate filter. Using other types of oil will
cause a higher soot concentration and reduce the life of the DPF. Therefore:
● Avoid mixing this oil with other engine oils.
● Only in exceptional circumstances, if the engine oil level is too low
⇒ page 211 and you cannot obtain the oil specified for your vehicle, you
can use a small quantity of oil (once) conforming to the VW 506 00,
VW 506 01, VW 505 00, VW 505 01 or ACEA B3/ACEA B4 specification. (up
to 0.5 l). Oil properties
Engine typeSpecificationPetrol without flexible service
intervalVW 502 00/VW 504 00
Petrol with flexible service in-
terval (LongLife)VW 504 00
Diesel. Engines without Partic-
ulate filter (DPF)VW 505 01/VW 506 01/VW 507 00
Diesel. Particulate Filter En-
gines (DPF).
With or without flexible service
interval (with and without
Longlife)
a)VW 507 00
a)
Only use recommended oils, otherwise you may damage the engine.
Engine oil additives
No type of additive should be mixed with the engine oil. The deterioration
caused by these additives is not covered by the warranty.
Note
Before a long trip, we recommend finding an engine oil that conforms to the
corresponding VW specifications and recommend keeping it in the vehicle.
This way, the correct engine oil will always be available for a top-up if nee-
ded.
213
Checking and refilling levels
WARNING
Only change the engine oil yourself if you have the specialist knowledge
required!
● Before opening the bonnet, read and observe the warnings
⇒ page 206, Safety instructions on working in the engine compartment.
● Wait for the engine to cool down. Hot oil may cause burn injuries.
● Wear eye protection to avoid injuries, such as acid burns, caused by
splashes of oil.
● When removing the oil drain plug with your fingers, keep your arm
horizontal to help prevent oil from running down your arm.
● Wash your skin thoroughly if it comes into contact with engine oil.
● Engine oil is poisonous! Used oil must be stored in a safe place out of
the reach of children.
CAUTION
No additives should be used with engine oil. This could result in engine
damage. Any damage caused by the use of such additives would not be
covered by the factory warranty.
For the sake of the environment
● Because of the disposal problems, the necessary special tools and spe-
cialist knowledge required, we recommend that you have the engine oil and
filter changed by a Technical Service.
● Never pour oil down drains or into the ground.
● Use a suitable container when draining the used oil. It must be large
enough to hold all the engine oil. Coolant
Engine coolant specifications
The engine cooling system is supplied from the factory with a specially trea-
ted mixture of water and, at least, 40 % of the additive G 13 (TL-VW 774 J).
The engine coolant additive is recognisable by its purple colour. This mix-
ture of water and additive gives the necessary frost protection down to -25
°C (-13 °F) and protects the light alloy parts of the cooling system against
corrosion. It also prevents scaling and considerably raises the boiling point
of the coolant.
To protect the engine cooling system, the percentage of additive must al-
ways be at least 40 %, even in warm climates where anti-freeze protection is
not required.
If greater frost protection is required in very cold climates, the proportion of
additive can be increased. However, the percentage of additive should not
exceed 60 %, as this would reduce the frost protection and, in turn, de-
crease the cooling capacity.
When the coolant is topped up, use a mixture of distilled water and, at
least, 40 % of the G 13 or G 12 plus-plus (TL-VW 774 G) additive (both are
purple) to obtain an optimum anticorrosion protection ⇒
. The mixture of
G 13 with G 12 plus (TL-VW 774 F), G 12 (red) or G 11 (green-blue) engine
coolants will significantly reduce the anticorrosion protection and should,
therefore be avoided ⇒
.
Safety FirstOperating instructionsPractical TipsTechnical Specifications
Cruise speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
D Danger of fitting a child seat on the front pas- senger seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Dash panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Dash panel cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Daytime driving lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
daytime running lights Nordic countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Deactivating front passenger airbag Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Deactivating the airbag Front passenger front airbag . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Diesel engine Winter driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Diesel engine particulate filter . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Differential lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Differential lock fault (EDL) control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Digital clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Dipped beam headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Disposal Airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Seat belt tensioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Door lock cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Door release lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Doors
Childproof locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Double headlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Double headlight bulb change dipped beam headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
main beam headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
side light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Driver see Correct sitting position . . . . . . . 10, 11, 12
Driveshaft differential XDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Driving Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Economically / Environmentally friendly . 182
With a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184, 186
Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Driving safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Duplicate keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Dust filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Dynamic headlight range control . . . . . . . . . . 103
E
Economical driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
EDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Electro-hydraulic steering control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Electronic differential lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Electronic immobiliser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Electronic stability control
description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Electronic Stability Control . . . . . . . . . . . . 72, 176
Electronic Stability Control (ESC) control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Emission control system control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Engine Running in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Engine compartment Working in the engine compartment . . . . 206
Engine coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 G 12 plus-plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
G 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Engine fault control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Engine management control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Engine oil Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Checking engine oil level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Oil properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Topping up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Engine oil dipstick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Engine oil pressure control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Environmental friendliness . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Environmentally friendly driving . . . . . . . . . . . 182
285
Index