I’m one of those weird types who read it. Could someone explain these bits to me?

 

Tyre pressure monitoring: Is the alarm intended just as a reminder that the pressure’s gone down a bit and needs topping up, or does it only flag up drastic pressure loss?

 

Setting the tyre pressure monitor: The manual says “Press the key and hold it down. The warning light… illuminates. An acoustic signal and the control indicator provide information about the storage pressure values. Press the symbol key. Release the symbol key.”

 

That’s confusing, because it’s telling me to press the key while it’s already telling me to hold it down. Do I

 

• Hold it down until the information shows, then lift my finger off, or
•  Hold it down until the information shows, lift my finger off, then press it again.

 

Fixed vs variable service level intervals: The manual says this makes the difference as to what oil to use. But I’m confused – every car I’ve ever had has a service interval of ‘x miles or 1 year’. I expect my bog-standard Citygo is serviced on the same basis. So is that 'fixed' or 'variable'?

 

Coolant: It seems to imply it goes in as a readymade add-in, not as a mix with water – is that true? It also talks about ‘the specified’ coolant but I can’t see it specified anywhere – is that a marking on the reservoir?

 

Oil replenishing: The instructions after taking the cap off, putting the oil in, and replacing the cap say ‘Pull the dipstick out as far as the stop’, even though the dipstick hadn’t even been mentioned before. What’s moved it to the wrong place?!

 

Also, here’s an odd thing. In the manual’s photo of the engine layout, the brake fluid is toward the back on the right. I was a bit puzzled when my Citigo had a big empty space there. A bit of hunting around located it toward the back on the left instead, in a really awkward and cramped place. Anyone know what that’s all about?

Tyre pressure monitoring: The TPMS uses the ABS sensors so if one wheel is rotating quicker than the rest (indicating the tyre is slightly smaller... as in there is less air in the tyre) then it will bong and put the warning light on.

 

Setting the tyre pressure monitor: Hold the button down until you hear the bong, the YPMS is then reset.

 

Fixed vs variable service level intervals: Fixed is every 12 months / 10K miles, if it was on variable servicing then it would but up to 2 years and around 18K miles.

 

Coolant: Yes the marking on the bottle is what it rakes, IIRC we are on G12+ now, this does not come pre mixed so you need to dilute it to 40%.

 

Oil replenishing: Check the dipstick 1st... how else would you know if and how much oil is needed?

 

The photo will be from a LHD car, so the brake reservoir is on the opposite side of the car to a RHD car.

Cheers for all those!

 

I still think the dipstick thing in 'Replenish the oil' is a fault in the manual (speaking as someone who writes manuals for a living!). 'Check the oil level' is a separate section (as it should be - instructions should be made up of self-contained modules) which ends with the dipstick back. 'Replenish' repeatedly calls this check as a sub-process as you top up, but at the point when the final check shows the right level and the dipstick is back in, and the cap is back on, it has this weird final 'Pull the dipstick out as far as the stop’ step. 

fixed / variable service is not relevant to CitiGo's in the UK as they are only available on fixed service in the UK

 

coolant is G12++ or G13 I think which should not be watered down with normal tap water, G12 is pink, G13 is purple have a look at http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=377135 give some info about the coolant variant, seems g12 / g13 are the same just g13 manufactured more eco friendly, the type you need should be on the header tank or tank cap

 

resetting the TPM is different on new citigo's on my old fabia and roomster you could just psh and hold the button to reset, the wifes new citigo you need to turn the ignition off then on again before you can reset it

I think you are right: warning of drastic pressure loss in one tyre ie puncture (it will not indicate the gradual loss of pressure you have to check tyre pressures for). I don't think you ever put tap water in the coolant but it if does go down you probably have a hole in the radiator! Happy motoring!

Interestingly (if you're into such things), I picked up my new Citigo yesterday and am looking through the handbook at the moment, so I've skipped ahead to the section on refilling the oil and the OP will be relieved to hear that they must have updated the text since his was printed, under refilling it now says:

• Unscrew the cap of the engine oil filler opening
• Add oil of the correct specification in portions of 0.5L
• Check the oil level
• Screw the lid of the engine oil filler closed carefully

The only thing that surprised me is that it says to check the level when the engine is at operating temperature and I'm used to checking when the engine is cold.

And in the section on the TPMS it says "The system cannot warn in case of very rapid tyre inflation pressure loss e.g. in case of sudden tyre damage" - so it's there to warn of slow punctures, if you have a sudden blowout you'll probably notice other symptoms before a little yellow light on the dash.

Interestingly (if you're into such things), I picked up my new Citigo yesterday and am looking through the handbook at the moment, so I've skipped ahead to the section on refilling the oil and the OP will be relieved to hear that they must have updated the text since his was printed, under refilling it now says:

• Unscrew the cap of the engine oil filler opening
• Add oil of the correct specification in portions of 0.5L
• Check the oil level
• Screw the lid of the engine oil filler closed carefully

The only thing that surprised me is that it says to check the level when the engine is at operating temperature and I'm used to checking when the engine is cold.

 

This part of the manual makes me really nervous, and I'm not sure it's been materially updated all that much since I remember the same wording from my Ibiza's manual from 10 years ago (and probably in other VAG cars before that). I think those engines could also consume up to 0.5l/1500km. Really? All of them?

 

Furthermore the dipstick figure in my manual does not resemble the one in the car. It doesn't have the marked A, B and C sections, but according to one helpful technician, the recessed area on the stick corresponds to about 1l of oil (something not in the manual but should be). 0.5l is a LOT of oil to add as a single portion for the Citigo's engine and these instructions could lead to overfill.

 

Another one to take a look at is the wording on > 95 RON petrol. One (I think earlier) edition says it might give better performance. Another (later) one says it won't. If VAG's engineers don't know the truth either way for certain, the manual shouldn't make any such assertions. It's as if they don't have a documentation review process --- or they write it on the assumption that nobody's going to read it anyway.

Edited 10 July, 20169 yr by ettlz

This part of the manual makes me really nervous, and I'm not sure it's been materially updated all that much since I remember the same wording from my Ibiza's manual from 10 years ago (and probably in other VAG cars before that). I think those engines could also consume up to 0.5l/1500km. Really? All of them?

 

Furthermore the dipstick figure in my manual does not resemble the one in the car. It doesn't have the marked A, B and C sections, but according to one helpful technician, the recessed area on the stick corresponds to about 1l of oil (something not in the manual but should be). 0.5l is a LOT of oil to add as a single portion for the Citigo's engine and these instructions could lead to overfill.

 

Well it has been updated, since the dipstick in the diagram looks exactly like the one in my car and only has an "A" range; the instructions say to top up the oil only if the level is lower than the indicated range, so in this case adding 0.5L would probably not lead to overfilling.  I've attached a copy of the relevant page or you can check the latest version of the manual yourself at http://www.skoda-auto.com/en/mini-apps/owners-manuals/

 

Another one to take a look at is the wording on > 95 RON petrol. One (I think earlier) edition says it might give better performance. Another (later) one says it won't. If VAG's engineers don't know the truth either way for certain, the manual shouldn't make any such assertions. It's as if they don't have a documentation review process --- or they write it on the assumption that nobody's going to read it anyway.

Use of higher octane "super" unleaded often doesn't give a noticeable effect, therefore VAG don't want to claim that it will in case they get accused of misleading the customer (and they only do that over diesel emissons )