2013 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT ECU

d Only transport as many passengers as there are seats and safety belts available.
d Never drive if your driving ability has been impaired, for example by medication, alcohol or illegal
drugs.
d Never let passengers or phone calls distract you while driving, and never take your attention off the
road while using vehicle software or adjusting vehicle equipment or accessories.
d Always adapt your speed and driving style to visibility, weather, road, and traffic conditions.
d Always obey traffic laws and speed limits.
d On long trips make frequent rest stops – at least once every 2 hours.
d Secure animals in the vehicle with a system that corresponds to weight and size.
WARNING
Always observe traffic rules and posted speed limits and use common sense. Your good
judgment can mean the difference between arriving safely at your destination and being seri-
ously injured in a crash or other kind of accident.
Regular service and maintenance of your vehicle is important both for operational and driving
safety and to help prolong your vehicle's service life. Always follow the scheduled maintenance inter-
vals in the ⇒ Booklet Warranty and Maintenance, especially for changing the brake fluid. Hard use,
frequent stop-and-go driving, driving in very dusty areas, trailer towing, and other factors may make it
necessary to have the vehicle serviced more frequently. Ask an authorized Volkswagen dealer or an
authorized Volkswagen Service Facility for more information.
Driving in other countries

x The head restraint must lock securely in the position selected.
Proper head restraint adjustment
Adjust head restraints so that the upper edge of the head restraint is at least at eye level or higher.
Position the back of the head as close as possible to the head restraint.
Adjusting the head restraint for short people
Push the head restraint down as far as it will go, even if this means the person's head is still below the
top edge of the head restraint. A small gap may remain between the head restraint and the backrest
when the head restraint is all the way down.
Adjusting the head restraint for tall people
Pull the head restraint up as far as it will go.
WARNING
Driving without head restraints or with improperly adjusted head restraints increases the risk
of serious injuries in a collision.
x Always drive with the head restraints in place and properly adjusted to help minimize the
risk of neck injury in crash.
x Every person in the vehicle must have a properly adjusted head restraint to minimize the
risk of neck injury in a crash. Each head restraint must be adjusted according to the occu-
pants' size so that the upper edge is even with the top of the person's head, but no lower than
eye level. Always sit so that the back of your head is as close as possible to the head re-
straint.
x Never adjust head restraint while driving.
Removing and reinstalling head restraints

Fig. 60 Removing the front head restraints.

x Push the head restraint down while pressing button (2).
x Fold the backrest of the rear seat bench back so that it locks securely.
x Adjust the head restraint according to the occupant's size.
WARNING
Driving without head restraints or with improperly adjusted head restraints increases the risk
of serious injuries in a collision.
x Always drive with the head restraints in place and properly adjusted to help minimize the
risk of neck injury in crash.
x Always reinstall head restraints as soon as possible so that vehicle occupants are proper-
ly protected.
NOTICE
When removing or reinstalling the head restraint, take care that the head restraint does not
strike the headliner or other parts of the vehicle. The headliner or other parts of the vehicle
could otherwise be damaged.
Adjusting the steering wheel position

Fig. 62 Manual adjustment for the steering wheel position.

WARNING
Not wearing a safety belt or wearing an improperly positioned safety belt increases the risk of
severe personal injury or death. Safety belts offer optimum protection only when they are
used properly.
x Properly worn safety belts are the single most effective means of reducing the risk of
serious injury and death in a collision or other accident. For this reason, always wear your
safety belt properly and make sure all passengers wear their safety belts properly as well
whenever the vehicle is moving.
x The driver must always make sure that every person in the vehicle is properly seated on a
seat of his or her own, properly fastens the safety belts belonging to that seat before the
vehicle starts to move, and keeps the belts properly fastened while riding in the vehicle. This
applies even when just driving around town. Therefore, always wear your safety belts and
make sure that everybody in your vehicle is properly restrained.
x Always secure children in the vehicle with a restraint system appropriate for their age,
weight and height.
x Always fasten safety belts correctly before driving off and make sure that all passengers
are properly restrained.
x Never attach the safety belt to the buckle of another seat. Attaching the safety belt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety belt effectiveness and can cause serious personal injury.
x Never let any objects or liquids get into the safety belt latch and prevent it from working
properly.
x Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle is moving. Doing so will increase your risk of
being injured or killed.
x Never strap more than one person, including small children, into any single safety belt.
x Never let children or babies ride sitting on your lap, and never place a safety belt over a
child sitting on your lap.
x Never wear belts over rigid or breakable objects in or on your clothing, such as eyeglass-
es, pens, keys, etc., as these may cause injury.
x Several layers of heavy clothing (such as a coat worn over top of a sports jacket) may
interfere with proper positioning of the safety belt and reduce the overall effectiveness of the
system.
x Never use comfort clips or devices that create slack in the shoulder belt. However, special
clips may be required for the correct use of some child restraint systems.
x Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat backrest is upright and belts are
correctly positioned on the body.

x Make sure the seat backrest of the rear seat bench is in an upright position and securely latched in
place before using the safety belt ⇒ .
x Hold the safety belt by the tongue and pull it slowly and evenly across the chest and pelvis. Do not
twist the safety belt webbing ⇒ .
x Insert the tongue into the correct buckle for your seat until you hear it latch securely ⇒ fig. 73.
x Pull on the safety belt to make sure that it is securely latched in the buckle.
Unfastening safety belts
Unfasten safety belts only when the vehicle is not moving ⇒ .
x Press the red button on the buckle ⇒ fig. 74. The buckle tongue is ejected.
x Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you guide the belt tongue to its stowed position to help
prevent the safety belt from twisting and to help avoid damage to the interior trim.
WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause serious personal injury or death in an accident.
x Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat backrest is upright and belts are
correctly positioned on the body.
x A person who is not properly restrained can be seriously injured by the safety belt itself if
it slips from the stronger parts of the body into sensitive areas like the abdomen.
x Unfastening safety belts while the vehicle is in motion can cause severe personal injury or
death in the event of an accident or braking maneuver!
Applicable only in the United States and Canada
Safety belt position

Fig. 75 Proper safety belt positioning and head restraint adjustment.

the front seat is occupied and the safety belt is not being used will signal the airbag control unit during
a collision that the front passenger seat is occupied and that the safety belt is being used. The elec-
tronic control unit for the airbag system will then receive incorrect information that will cause the safety
belt pretensioner to deploy unnecessarily and the front passenger airbag to deploy later in collisions
that would normally trigger the front airbag earlier in the collision to help protect an unrestrained front
seat occupant. The airbag will not be able to provide enough protection for an occupant not wearing a
safety belt.
x Only use the safety belt extender approved by Volkswagen for your vehicle.
WARNING
Improper use or positioning of a safety belt extender increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
x A driver or passenger who is not properly restrained can be seriously injured by striking
the interior of the passenger compartment or by the safety belt itself, which can be displaced
from stronger parts of the body into sensitive areas like the abdomen.
x Safety belt extenders offer optimum protection only when they are properly used.
x Only use the extender when the belt is not long enough to be worn low and snug and the
person is in the correct seating position. Remove and stow extender safely when not needed.
x Always make sure the safety belt tongue of the safety belt extender is securely inserted
into the buckle for the seating position that belongs to the seat where the safety belt extender
is being used. Attaching the safety belt to the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt effective-
ness and can cause serious personal injury.
x Never use the safety belt extender if you can properly attach the safety belt without it.
Using a safety belt extender when not needed can increase the risk of injury, especially in a
collision.
x Never use a safety belt extender if the distance (B) between the front edge of the safety
belt extender buckle (A) and the centerline of the person using the safety belt extender
⇒ fig. 81 (C) is less than 6 inches (15 cm).
x Never leave a safety belt extender attached to the vehicle safety belt buckle when the
extender is not needed and being used with the safety belt. Otherwise, the airbag control
module will receive an incorrect signal from the safety belt buckle and this will prevent the
airbag from working properly for a person who is not using the safety belt.
x Never use more than 1 extender with a safety belt. Using more than 1 extender can change
the way the safety belt passes over the body and can cause serious injury.
x Never use the safety belt extender to secure a child restraint.
x Never use a safety belt extender on your Volkswagen that you got from another automo-
bile manufacturer or from an automotive parts store.
x Never use the safety belt extender you got for your vehicle for any other vehicle, regard-
less of make, model, or model year.
NOTICE
x Leaving the extender attached to the safety belt buckle when the front seat is occupied and the
safety belt is not being used will signal to the airbag control unit that the front passenger seat is occu-
pied and that the safety belt is being used. The electronic control unit for the airbag system will then
receive incorrect information that will
– cause the safety belt pretensioner to deploy unnecessarily in collisions
– cause the front passenger airbag to deploy later in collisions in which the front airbag
would otherwise be triggered earlier to help protect an unrestrained front seat passenger.
x A pretensioner that has deployed cannot be repaired. The entire safety belt must be re-
placed.

WARNING
Heavy loads will influence the way your vehicle handles and increase stopping distances.
Heavy loads that are not properly stowed or secured can cause loss of control and serious
injury.
x Secure the load properly to keep it from shifting.
x Always remember when transporting heavy objects that a change in the center of gravity
also changes the way your vehicle handles:
– Always distribute the load as evenly as possible.
– Secure heavy objects properly as far forward in the luggage compartment as possible.
– Always tie down heavy items securely with suitable straps using the tie-downs in the
luggage compartment.
x Securely latch the rear seat backrest in the upright position.
x Never exceed the Gross Axle Weight Rating or the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating on the
safety compliance sticker on the left door jamb. Exceeding permissible weight can cause the
vehicle to skid and handle differently.
x Always adapt your speed and driving to the heavier load and the weight distribution in the
vehicle. Take road, weather, traffic, and visibility conditions into account as well.
x Always accelerate gently and avoid sudden braking and driving maneuvers.
x Always brake earlier than you would if you were not driving a loaded vehicle.
Stowing luggage

Driving with an open luggage compartment lid can lead to serious personal injury. If you have to drive
with an open luggage compartment lid, make sure that all objects and the lid itself are properly se-
cured and take appropriate measures to keep toxic exhaust fumes from entering the vehicle.
WARNING
Driving with an unlatched or open luggage compartment lid can lead to serious personal
injury.
x Never transport objects larger than those that fit completely in the luggage compartment,
because the luggage compartment lid cannot be fully closed properly.
x After closing the lid, always pull up on it to make sure that it is properly closed and cannot
open suddenly when the vehicle is moving.
x Always stow all objects securely in the luggage compartment. Loose objects can fall out
of the luggage compartment and injure others on the road behind you.
x Drive carefully; anticipate what other drivers will do.
x Avoid abrupt or sudden acceleration, steering, or braking, because the unlatched luggage
compartment lid can move suddenly.
x Always mark objects sticking out from the luggage compartment clearly for others to see.
Obey all applicable legal requirements.
x Never use the luggage compartment lid to “clamp” or “hold” objects that stick out of the
luggage compartment.
x Always remove any luggage rack or other rack mounted on the luggage compartment lid
(along with any luggage on the rack) before driving with an open luggage compartment lid.
WARNING
Driving with an open luggage compartment lid can cause poisonous carbon monoxide in the
engine exhaust to get into the passenger compartment.
x Carbon monoxide causes drowsiness, inattentiveness, poisoning, and loss of conscious-
ness. It can lead to accidents and severe personal injuries.
x Always keep the luggage compartment lid closed while driving to help keep poisonous
exhaust fumes from being drawn into the vehicle.
x Never transport objects that are too large to fit completely into the luggage area, because
then the luggage compartment lid cannot be fully closed.
x If you absolutely must drive with an open luggage compartment lid, do the following to
reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning:
– Close all windows and the power sunroof.
– Switch off the climate control system's air recirculation feature.
– Open all air vents in the instrument panel.
– Set the fresh air fan to the highest speed.
NOTICE
The open luggage compartment lid changes the vehicle height.
Driving a loaded vehicle