Newbie- basic Q's on me new motor!

[Zoot]

Yes, it's where you initialize the system to start taking notes of your current wheel rotation speed and later comparing it to actual data.

Even if you don't get any warning messages, you may want to check the tyre pressures from time to time, and correct them if you see any inflation/deflation (for example, as small as 1 or 2 psi of difference, which would not trigger the warning message). Whenever you do that, don't forget to hit that button and reinitialise the system.

Hi serdar..

So the idea being, you first (cold tyres) get tyres to the correct psi figure -if you could tell me/ great- then hit this button?

Actually, I seem to recall (just now as I type).. that the last thing my dealer did whilst doing final checks, was he noticed a tyre warning sign on the dash. Immediately knew what it was, he reassured me (3x new tyres having just been fitted = car hadn't recognised the pressures, or something/ needed re-calibrating) & sat in driver's seat prodding the screen until warning gone >> all set, & I drove off in my "new" car.

If my photo above of the screen, is precisely where he was, then this will mean in all likelihood the tyres pressures were calibrated by him then/ only 4 months ago. And therefore I shouldn't press calibrate then, now then-?

Thanks, Zoot

 

[DanMCGARRETT]

If you have a look in the fuel filler cap or on the pillar between the front and rear doors the tyre pressures will be on a plate. It will give you options for if you want eco setting (usually higher than normal to get less rolling resistance for higher mpg) or comfort setting. You choose the setting that best matches your carrying weight i.e. if its just you in the car with a bit of luggage you choose that one or if you regularly carry passengers then choose that one.

Even if the dealer has calibrated the tyres 4 months ago I would still check the tyres regularly for pressure and then calibrate as there are a number of factors that affect tyre pressure such as temperature, road quality, driving style etc so you want to make sure the system can detect any changes so you can sort it. At the end of the day the tyres are the only contact patches between the car and the road so make sure they're good and the car will look after you.

 

[serdar_18fr]

Hi serdar..

So the idea being, you first (cold tyres) get tyres to the correct psi figure -if you could tell me/ great- then hit this button?

If my photo above of the screen, is precisely where he was, then this will mean in all likelihood the tyres pressures were calibrated by him then/ only 4 months ago. And therefore I shouldn't press calibrate then, now then-?

Thanks, Zoot

Yes, that's the procedure.

Correct psi figure depends on axle weight (front and rear differs) and the weight you're carrying (people and the stuff you loaded).

The figures recommended by the manufacturer are shown on a label you can find on the inside of the B-pillar. Don't remember exactly which side, but just open both front doors and you'll see it on the left or on the right.

There will be three different value sets, one for the low/medium load & eco ride, one for the low/medium load & comfort ride, and finally one for the full load. In all of those sets, the front and rear should likely be different.

There's no other menu item related to tyre pressure monitoring system, so that's where he did a reset. And no, you shouldn't do one now without checking and correcting the pressures. If you want, you can perform a check & correction as needed, then hit calibrate.

Regards,
Serdar

 

[Zoot]

Yes, that's the procedure.

Correct psi figure depends on axle weight (front and rear differs) and the weight you're carrying (people and the stuff you loaded).

The figures recommended by the manufacturer are shown on a label you can find on the inside of the B-pillar. Don't remember exactly which side, but just open both front doors and you'll see it on the left or on the right.

There will be three different value sets, one for the low/medium load & eco ride, one for the low/medium load & comfort ride, and finally one for the full load. In all of those sets, the front and rear should likely be different.

There's no other menu item related to tyre pressure monitoring system, so that's where he did a reset. And no, you shouldn't do one now without checking and correcting the pressures. If you want, you can perform a check & correction as needed, then hit calibrate.

Regards,
Serdar

Thanks for this info serdar..

I'll look for the pillar sticker. In order to find out what the current pressures are though -& forgive my ignorance- is the only typical way going to a petrol station & use their air machine? I mean I could of course go buy a hugely expensive one for accuracy.. but I ain't doing that: I just want to check my tyre pressures twice a year.

--

Another Q chaps (back enjoying my FR, no sign of the oil pressure warning again- relief!)..

Ok I notice my gear stick has kinda a rather 'loose' feel to it, changing gears. Now, this is of course very difficult to establish if it's normal, or not, via a forum. Suffice to say, all I can do is describe how my gearstick feels & if my description sounds familiar (in which case it's meant to be like this)..

So what I find, is a very "mechanical" feeling gear selector/ gearstick going from gear to gear. It feels as I said a bit 'loose'. Clunky is a good descriptive word too. Quite a bit of 'play' between the slots.

This could of course be exactly how it's meant to feel; significantly more 'mechanical' than I was used to in a Golf 4. I do seem to see on high end manual true sports cars, their gear shifts often have a very deliberate tactile mechanical feel/ all part of the fun.

But if yours is tight as heck though, without any play or looseness, then mine might need it's linkages tweaking underneath or something (& might well be tied to the very occasional car going backwards, when I select 1st gear issue).

I wonder if anyone with a 2.0l FR diesel mk3 might be able to reply.

Thanks, Zoot

 

[DanMCGARRETT]

Tbh you can get a tyre pressure gauge for £9 or a digital tyre inflator for £20 from Amazon and some garages are starting to charge for air so getting your own probably would end up paying for itself. I wouldnt just check twice a year though, its good having tech that tells you if they are losing pressure however, because its a simple system it may only go off after losing quite a bit of pressure and what happens if its faulty and you dont know. Plus wrong pressure can mean the tyre wear is inconsistent which may mean you need to get new tyres sooner.

In relation to the gearshift I would suggest you see if there is any Mk3 Leons closeby and compare the 2.

 

[Zoot]

Tbh you can get a tyre pressure gauge for £9 or a digital tyre inflator for £20 from Amazon and some garages are starting to charge for air so getting your own probably would end up paying for itself. I wouldnt just check twice a year though, its good having tech that tells you if they are losing pressure however, because its a simple system it may only go off after losing quite a bit of pressure and what happens if its faulty and you dont know. Plus wrong pressure can mean the tyre wear is inconsistent which may mean you need to get new tyres sooner.

In relation to the gearshift I would suggest you see if there is any Mk3 Leons closeby and compare the 2.

Aha thanks Dan I didn't know any if that. I noticed my Golf4 tyres were often unevenly worn.. maybe a combination of low pressure & a more rolling chassis compared to this which feels much flatter around corners. Saying that I do zip about corners alot faster in this.

Ive only seen one Leon mk3 around here.. one of the lowest pop density of UK you see.

Thanks I'll look into pressure guages. Zoot

 

[Bahnstormer_vRS]

. . . . . .

I just want to check my tyre pressures twice a year.

--


Thanks, Zoot

I trust you'd check your tyre pressures more often than that.

At least once a month, say.

Tyres will lose pressure over time and your car's monitoring system won't necessarily pick that up. It's primarily designed to warn of a puncture.

Guy



Sent from my Galaxy S25 Ultra using Tapatalk

 

[SuperV8]

Another Q chaps (back enjoying my FR, no sign of the oil pressure warning again- relief!)..

Ok I notice my gear stick has kinda a rather 'loose' feel to it, changing gears. Now, this is of course very difficult to establish if it's normal, or not, via a forum. Suffice to say, all I can do is describe how my gearstick feels & if my description sounds familiar (in which case it's meant to be like this)..

So what I find, is a very "mechanical" feeling gear selector/ gearstick going from gear to gear. It feels as I said a bit 'loose'. Clunky is a good descriptive word too. Quite a bit of 'play' between the slots.

This could of course be exactly how it's meant to feel; significantly more 'mechanical' than I was used to in a Golf 4. I do seem to see on high end manual true sports cars, their gear shifts often have a very deliberate tactile mechanical feel/ all part of the fun.

But if yours is tight as heck though, without any play or looseness, then mine might need it's linkages tweaking underneath or something (& might well be tied to the very occasional car going backwards, when I select 1st gear issue).

I wonder if anyone with a 2.0l FR diesel mk3 might be able to reply.

Thanks, Zoot

Your gear linkages on top of the gearbox (under your air box) are mainly plastic now!
Golf mk4 used to be all metal! not all new things are better!
The plastic pivots/saddle wear, which causes slack in your gear lever. Red circles below.
Mine (2.0tdi) has a little slack (free play) in my gear lever - I brought a new saddle (white plastic block) which helped a little - but I think really is needs new shift levers.

 

[SRGTD]

I trust you'd check your tyre pressures more often than that.

At least once a month, say.

Tyres will lose pressure over time and your car's monitoring system won't necessarily pick that up. It's primarily designed to warn of a puncture.

Guy



Sent from my Galaxy S25 Ultra using Tapatalk

I do mine monthly - sometimes more frequently (checking tyres forms part of my other regular checks - I do them when I do the under bonnet fluid level checks). I sometimes do need to top up the air in the tyres - as you’ve said tyres will naturally lose pressure over time. I also measure the tread depth at various points across the tyre’s width to check for uneven wear and do a visual check of the tyres for damage at the same time (e.g. cuts, sidewall bulges etc.).

As @DanMCGARRETT has said in post #182, we rely on our tyres and the four small contact patches they make with the road to keep us safe, so looking after them is good practice and IMHO very important but often overlooked.

 

[RUM4MO]

I've recently bought a couple of Ring tyre compressors that Tesco were "selling off", so selling at a lower price, £14 if I remember correctly, reason being that both cars, when they have their winter wheels+tyres on, have at least one wheel that loses maybe 5psi per 14 days probably due to leakage/corrosion around the valve hole in the alloys.

So, as they both have digital gauges, I compared them with my "good" Draper pressure gauge and an old "pencil" pressure gauge, over the range that I use them, they were within 10% so while not perfect, that works for me.

The other thing, other than "tracking wear" that I check for, is "flatness" across the tread as that is a good indicator to if you are using the "good enough" tyre pressures for how you load the car.

Edit:- one thing that it seems that many people know or accept is, when you get a TPMS warning, even after you clear it, it remains logged in the ABS controller memory until you have used a suitable scan tool to clear all logged faults.

 

[Zoot]

Your gear linkages on top of the gearbox (under your air box) are mainly plastic now!
Golf mk4 used to be all metal! not all new things are better!
The plastic pivots/saddle wear, which causes slack in your gear lever. Red circles below.
Mine (2.0tdi) has a little slack (free play) in my gear lever - I brought a new saddle (white plastic block) which helped a little - but I think really is needs new shift levers.

View attachment 53628

View attachment 53630

Brilliant post SuperV8.. never seen the inside of here on any car before.

Plastic? Well well. The best word to describe is exactly that -slack. Actually I rather like the feel of mine, with this bit of slack there. Whether or not it's meant to be like so, or as your post alludes to, that maybe it's some wear going on, I'm unconcerned with.. so long as I don't need to worry that it's faulty being like so.

Thanks a bunch. Zoot

 

[Zoot]

I do mine monthly - sometimes more frequently (checking tyres forms part of my other regular checks - I do them when I do the under bonnet fluid level checks). I sometimes do need to top up the air in the tyres - as you’ve said tyres will naturally lose pressure over time. I also measure the tread depth at various points across the tyre’s width to check for uneven wear and do a visual check of the tyres for damage at the same time (e.g. cuts, sidewall bulges etc.).

As @DanMCGARRETT has said in post #182, we rely on our tyres and the four small contact patches they make with the road to keep us safe, so looking after them is good practice and IMHO very important but often overlooked.

That's great advice SRGTD, thanks.

I'll look into these gadgets. I don't think Ive ever seen one tbh, so they're unfamiliar. I had a crappy air compressor thing, but I don't believe this is what we're talking about here-?

Yes, this is the first car Ive had which Ive been noticing the tyres condition regularly. Main reason being I'm dreading how much 2 new ones on this car will cost! having only ever put the very cheapest Polish mfr 15" golf4 tyres on, or suchlike. And never ever driven any car Ive ever had 'with some gusto' like I do zipping about around here having fun with the FR.

Thanks, Zoot

 

[DanMCGARRETT]

£6 on amazon this will measure the depth of your tyre - remember to do it across the width of the tyre so you can see if its wearing normally.

A decent brand tyre like Michelin will be approx £100 each.

 

[nd-photo.nl]

Please invest in good tyres, they will save your life. I recommend checking tyrereviews.com, and especially their reviews on YouTube, to make an informed decision

Tyre Reviews

The Leading Source of Independent Tire Information in the World, covering North America and the EU. https://www.tyrereviews.com/

www.youtube.com

 

[tracktoy]

Just to add to the above very sage comments. Tyres and Brakes keep you alive when the car is at its most stressed, I appreciate that it all cost money that people dont have to throw around but having a crash and loosing your life sort of puts it into context.

 

[RUM4MO]

Just a personal choice, but I've had one of these Laser Tools digital depth gauges for many years, but stopped using it as while it maybe be accurate AND having a device that displays the actual depth value, make it sound like being a better tool than a old school "read off the barrel" type, in reality, you need to zero it every time before using it AND it is very easy to bump it and upset the measured reading - so it's been back to old school "read off the barrel" type for me as you should be able to get an accuracy of measurement down to 1/2 the graduated scale, and that in my world, is a lot more repeatable than what I used to achieve with the digital version. As I said, just personal choice. The "short" digital gauges do have other uses in the garage - so that entirely a waste of money.

 

[SRGTD]

Just a personal choice, but I've had one of these Laser Tools digital depth gauges for many years, but stopped using it as while it maybe be accurate AND having a device that displays the actual depth value, make it sound like being a better tool than a old school "read off the barrel" type, in reality, you need to zero it every time before using it AND it is very easy to bump it and upset the measured reading - so it's been back to old school "read off the barrel" type for me as you should be able to get an accuracy of measurement down to 1/2 the graduated scale, and that in my world, is a lot more repeatable than what I used to achieve with the digital version. As I said, just personal choice. The "short" digital gauges do have other uses in the garage - so that entirely a waste of money.

Agree; personal choice.

I also use one of the old school barrel type of tread depth gauges; nothing to go wrong and no batteries to replace.