Volkswagen PASSAT 2004 Owner's Manual page 403

TIPS AND ADVICE
Adding coolant
~WARNING
The cooling system is under pres-
sure and can get very hot. Reduce
the risk of scalding from hot coo-
lant by following these steps.
• Turn off the engine and allow it
to cool down.
• Protect face, hands and arms
escaping fluid and steam by cove-
ring the cap with a large, thick rag.
• Turn the cap slowly and very ca-
refully in a counter-clockwise di-
rection while applying light, down-
ward pressure on the top of the
cap.
• To help avoid being burned, do
not spill antifreeze or coolant on
the exhaust system or hot engine
parts. Under some conditions, the
ethylene glycol in engine coolant
can catch fire.
If, in an emergency, only water can be ad-
ded, the correct ratio between water and
an tifreeze (see previous page) must be re-
stored as soon as possible.
If you have lost a considerable amount of
coolant. then you should add cold an tifreeze
and cold water only when the engine is cold.
Do not fill coolant above the "max"
mark.
Note
Coolant pollutes the environment
and could cause an engine fire . Ex-
cess coolant will be forced out
through the pressure relief valve in
the cap when the engine becomes
hot.
Screw cap on again tightly.
~WARNING
Antifreeze is poisonous. Always
store antifreeze in its original con-
tainer and well out of the reach of
children. If you drain the coolant,
it must be caught and safely sto-
red in a proper container clearly
marked " poison. "
~
Drained coolant should not be
~
reused. Always dispose of used
coolant observing all environmen-
tal regulations.
Radiator fan
The electric radiator fan is controlled by
thermoswitches that switch on and off de-
pending on coola nt and engine compart-
ment temperatures.
~WARNING
• Never touch the radiator fan It is
temperature controlled and can
switch on suddenly - even when
the ignition is off and the ignition
key has been removed
• The radiator fan switches on au-
tomatically when the coolant re-
aches a certain temperature and
will continue to run until the coo-
lant temperature drops.
n
~efore yo~
check anythi ng
~ m the engme
compartment,
always read and heed all WARN-
INGS on pages 34.
42 - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - CHECKING AND FILLING