beetle will not start after a battery change

[newbie321]

Hi, all:

I have been driving my NB w/o any problems until my battery died, so I replaced it with the BRAND NEW one. Pulled the old one out, stuck the new one in....

Now the car will not start at all!!! I mean when I turn the ignition key on, there is like a 1/2 second that the dashboard indicators come on and then EVERYTHING dies out.

The feelign that I get is that something perhaps is shorting (which is unlikely) or something is preventing me from starting up my car. I looked at the electical schematic and noted a THEFT WARNING SYSTEMS STARTER RELAY connected to ignition key.

Could that be that the anti-theft system is blocking everything??

Also, when I was replacing the battery, I did not maintain the power on. Is that a problem?

Any help would be appreciated as I am running of things to think..

Thank you!!!

[macdave]

It is not the security, it will let you start the car and kill it after a second or 2. I think the key light will also flash.

This sounds like there is a loose connection somewhere.

[j_oly1999]

Deifnately sounds to me like one of the battery terminals are loose. Sometimes they don't seem like they are, but when you turn the day on, and if A.) the fuel pump kicks on or
B.) you turn the key to start it, there is enough amp draw to break the connection. Double check all you r battery terminal connections and the fuses on the top of the battery cover.

Good luck!

[contourpetey]

try disconecting the horn and then starting the car......don't know why this works but it does.....I was working on a beetle that did the same thing but the alarm went of after the dash lights shut off so I unplugged the horn b/c it was annoying and the next time I cycled the key it fired right up and never had anymore problems