Think about yourself driving calmly aboard your Volkswagen Golf and all of a sudden an engine signal appears on your dashboard ! The most common kind of reaction is worries of risking a serious issue. To know what accurately this light refers to, you will have to learn how to read an Volkswagen Golf fault codes, you may have already heard about OBD system, this is exactly what we are going to talk about. Our writers have chosen to produce this content page to enable you quickly locate the source of this default code and to give you peace of mind. To get this done, we will first check out the nature of a fault code on Volkswagen Golf, then how to read an Volkswagen Golf fault code, and finally how to erase this fault code to be able to turn off the light on your dashboard.

read-fault-codevolkswagen-golf

What is a Volkswagen Golf fault code?

A fault code is a universal or standard code common to all manufacturers , they are also identified as DTC (Data Trouble Code), the goal is to ensure that any diagnostic OBD can understand them. They will be symbolized by a standard format, like for example: P0255. Each data will have a particular interpretation. Default codes are codes issued by the calculators of your Volkswagen Golf. These ECUs will continuously monitor your vehicle’s exhausts, pressures, mixtures and when the values exceed the limits set by the vehicle’s ECU, the fault code will show up. The benefit of understanding how to read a fault code on your Volkswagen Golf is that you will have access to complete info about your car which will enable you to find out what problem you are standing in front of.

How to read a fault code on my Volkswagen Golf?

In this second part we will now focus precisely on what brings you in this article, how to read a fault code on Volkswagen Golf. To access this precious data you will need to to buy a diagnostic tool, also called OBD 2, named after the socket on your Volkswagen Golf to which you will have to connect. These diagnostic tools are freely available to buy, you will be able to find some in Bluetooth version which connects to your phone and some standard versions with a reader associated to the socket, as far as price is concerned, you will be able to find models between 30 and 100 euros. Once you have purchased an OBD2 diagnostic reader, you will have to find the diagnostic plug on your Volkswagen Golf, it is based on the left side of your steering column on the lower part of your dashboard, behind a hatch. It is easy to locate because it is triangular shaped and has 16 pins. All you have to do is connect with your diagnostic tool to read the fault code of your Volkswagen Golf.

How to erase the fault code Volkswagen Golf

Finally, to finish this content page, we are going to demonstrate you the manipulation to accomplish to erase a fault code on your Volkswagen Golf. Once you have navigated through the menus, you will access the list of active fault codes on your car. Nevertheless, you will have to ask yourself an important question, is it really beneficial to erase this fault code on Volkswagen Golf? Absolutely, erasing a fault code without fixing the issue corresponds to burying its head in the sand. Moreover, the computer of your Volkswagen Golf is made to take decisions depending to the data it collects, if a vital fault code is on, it will actually adjust the engine operation to preserve it. So if you erase the fault code, make sure to resolve the issue to which it is linked. Some OBD diagnostic tools do not allow you to do this. You have a dedicated navigation menu on most diagnostic tools that should allow you to clear this fault code on Volkswagen Golf.

To find more tips on the Volkswagen Golf, take a look at the Volkswagen Golf category.