Battery is dead & I can't unlock the car!

[BeetleRobb]

For some reason my battery is dead. There is not even enough juice to unlock the car with the remote. When I try to use the key in the door the lock cylinder just spins and spins. What's up with that? Does anyone know how I can get into the car to pop the hood so I can charge the battery? Any ideas about the lock cylinder just turning?

thanks,
rob

[kcfoxie]

Just curious.. did you try the (assuming you have it) manual entry via the trunk? If you go in that way you can manually unlock the doors and then get to the hood...

Keep up updated! Also.. pop-a-lock could get into the car, too. Just for trying's sake... hold the key riight next to the driver door and hit unlock.. see if that helps any. Do the LEDs flash on the doors by the locks?

[digitalputty]

:O Definatly keep us updated. I wanna know what happened. 0_o

[hannaco]

Did you try using the key in the passenger side door?

[BeetleRobb]

I took all my keys and tried again. None of the remotes opened the car. Battery too dead. The switchblade keys just turned in the cylinder. Finally the valet key unlock the driver's side door. I got in and the headlights were on. Apparently when my wife was unloading groceries my 3 year old son got in there and turned them on. Now the battery charger is connected. I hope I don't have problems with the remote and radio now.

BTW, there is no outside lock on the passenger door.

Thanks,
rob

[Oyveychris]

Good luck! Sorry about the dead battery, that really stinks...

[dnyed]

I thought headlights automatically turned off? I know that my MIL left the rear-view mirror interior light in the "on" position, and it killed her battery. Her car was brand new at the time.


Good luck to you.

[fatdaddy]

They do cut off but if switch is on the will also stay on,

[hannaco]

No lock on the passenger side door? Is this something new, or a special mod?
Or, do I have the odd car that has locks on both doors? Never really looked to see if others had locks or not. Just assumed that all cars had locks on both doors.

[slpopp]

Originally Posted by hannaco

No lock on the passenger side door? Is this something new, or a special mod?
Or, do I have the odd car that has locks on both doors? Never really looked to see if others had locks or not. Just assumed that all cars had locks on both doors.

My 2005 only has a key slot on the drivers door. None on the trunk or passenger door. When locking and unlocking the doors with the key in the drivers door, it seems that rotating the key (switchblade) activates a switch in the door. The doors lock in the same manner as hitting the lock button inside the car. If I leave the car running and I want to make a quick stop at the convienience store, the doors will not lock using either the second remote, the valet key in the drivers door, or by pressing the lock button on the drivers door. I have heard that pressing the lock button on the passenger door will lock the doors, but I haven't tried this. Pressing the lock "buttons" on the door, the part that moves up and down, will get you nowhere also.

[squeebug]

It was a running change that the removed the passanger side lock.

[slpopp]

Originally Posted by BeetleRobb

I took all my keys and tried again. None of the remotes opened the car. Battery too dead. The switchblade keys just turned in the cylinder. Finally the valet key unlock the driver's side door. I got in and the headlights were on. Apparently when my wife was unloading groceries my 3 year old son got in there and turned them on. Now the battery charger is connected. I hope I don't have problems with the remote and radio now.

BTW, there is no outside lock on the passenger door.

Thanks,
rob

Was at the dealer today for the malfuntioning display in the instrument cluster, and still having hard starting issues when really cold. The service manager said that if the battery is drained to a point that causes the trip-odometer to reset to 0 on it's own, the car may need to be taken to the dealer so the ECU can be recalibrated to the throttle position sensor and a few other things. Don't know if it uses VAG-COM or not.

He also said that the car may need to be towed to the dealer.

If this is true, I find it F@@KING retarded that VW does not store this information in a non-volatile flash ROM or something else that does not loose it's memory when power is lost.

Will these 9V power backup things that plug into the cigaret lighter supply enough voltage and current to keep the ECU up while the battery is changed? I don't want to be FORCED to take it to the dealer just to have the battery changed and then be charged to set the ECU up again.

Might as well hook the jumper cables up right away when it gets real cold (trip meter reset trying to start it on the last -15F day we had - but car SEEMS to still run fine but does start with difficulty at temperatures less than 0F now).

VERY POOR DESIGN ON VW's PART (if it's true).

BTW- This all relates to a 2005 TDI-PD. Don't know if it is this way on all newer VW's (both deisel and gas) or only the TDI's.