WARNING (Continued)■The lock tongue should only be inserted into the lock which is the correct
one for your seat. Wrong use of the safety belt will reduce its capacity to
protect and the risk of injury increases.■
The slot of the belt tongue must not be blocked, otherwise the belt
tongue will not lock in place properly.
■
Many layers of clothing and loose clothing (e. g. a winter coat over a jack-
et) do not allow you to be correctly seated and impairs proper operation of
the seat belts.
■
Do not use clamps or similar items, which inhibit the safety belt locking
function. A seat belt which is too loose can result in injuries as your body is
moved forward by the kinetic energy produced in an accident and is then
suddenly held firm by the belt.
■
The seat belts for the rear seats can only fulfil their function reliably
when the seat backrests are correctly locked into position » page 84.
WARNINGInformation on the care and maintenance of safety belts■The belt webbing must always be kept clean. Soiled belt webbing may im-
pair proper operation of the inertia reel » page 176, Safety belts .■
The seat belts must not be removed or changed in any way. Do not at-
tempt to repair the seat belts yourself.
■
Check the condition of all the seat belts on a regular basis. If any damage
to the seat belts, seat belt connections, inertia reel or the lock is detected,
the relevant seat belt must be replaced by a specialist garage.
■
Damaged seat belts which have been subjected to stress in an accident
and were therefore stretched, must be replaced – this is best done by a
specialist garage. The anchorage points of the belts must also be inspec-
ted. The anchorage points for the belts should also be checked.
Note
The national legal requirements must be observed when using seat belts.The physical principle of a head-on collisionFig. 4
Driver without a fastened seat belt/rear seat passenger without a
fastened seat belt
Read and observe
on page 12 first.
Motion energy, so-called kinetic energy, is produced as soon as the vehicle is
moving, both for the vehicle and its occupants.
The magnitude of this kinetic energy depends essentially on the speed at
which the vehicle is travelling and on the weight of the vehicle including the
occupants. The greater the speed and weight increase, the greater the
amount of energy which has to be absorbed in the event of an accident.
The speed of the vehicle is the most important factor. Doubling the speed of
the vehicle from 25 km/h up to 50 km/hour increases the kinetic energy four
times.
The idea that it is possible to support your body with your hands in a minor ac-
cident is incorrect. Even in a collision at only a low speed, the forces acting on
the body are such that it is no longer possible to support your body.
Even if you only drive at a speed of 30-50 km/h, the forces that your body is
exposed to in the event of an accident can exceed a metric ton (1000 kg).
For example, a person's weight of 80 kg “increases” to 4.8 tons (4800 kg) at
50 km/h.
In the event of a frontal collision, occupants of the car not wearing a seat belt
are thrown forward and strike parts of the interior of the car, such as the
steering wheel, dash panel, windscreen in ways which cannot be control-
led » Fig. 4 -
. In certain circumstances you could even be thrown out of the
vehicle, which could cause life threatening or even fatal injuries.
13Seat belts
Engine compartment overviewFig. 159
Principle sketch: Engine compartment
Read and observe
and on page 180 first.
Arrangement in the engine compartment » Fig. 159
Coolant expansion reservoir
185
Windscreen washer fluid reservoir
182
Engine oil dipstick
184
Engine oil filler opening
184
Brake fluid reservoir
186
Battery (below a cover)
187
Note
The location of the inspection points in the engine compartment of petrol and
diesel engines is practically identical.
Radiator fan
Read and observe
and on page 180 first.
The radiator fan is powered by an electric motor. Operation is controlled ac-
cording to the temperature of the coolant.
ABCDEFWARNINGAfter switching off the ignition, the fan may intermittently continue to op-
erate for approx. 10 minutes.
Windscreen washer system
Fig. 160
Windscreen washer fluid reser-
voir
Read and observe and on page 180 first.
The windscreen washer fluid reservoir
A
is located in the engine compart-
ment » Fig. 160 .
The cleaning fluid is provided for the cleaning of the front and rear window as
well as the headlight.
The capacity of the reservoir is about 3 litres or about 5.5 litres on vehicles that
have a headlight cleaning system 1)
.
Clear water is not sufficient to intensively clean the windscreen and head-
lights. We recommend using clean water together with a screen cleaner from
the range of ŠKODA Original Accessories (with antifreeze in winter), which will
remove any stubborn dirt.
In Winter, the washing water should always be mixed with antifreeze even if
the vehicle has heated windscreen washer nozzles.
Under exceptional circumstances, methylated spirits can also be used if no
screen cleaner with antifreeze is available. The concentration of methylated
spirits must not be more than 15 %. The freeze protection at this concentration
is sufficient only to -5 °C.
1)
In some countries, 5.5 ltr. applies for both variants.
182General Maintenance
