# Mysterious Battery Drain



## eck (Sep 17, 2006)

I am at my wits end. I will apologize in advance that I did not thoroughly search this forum to see if something like this has already been posted. I know that is potentially annoying to you regulars, but after dealing with this VW issue since early August, I am completely drained of energy and common sense. Forgive me, and please read on.
Our VW 2004 New Beetle (22,500 miles) has a mysterious battery drain that the dealer can't locate. The car holds a charge overnight when we park it at 7:30pm and start it again at 6:30am, but every time it sits for about 24 hours, the battery is dead and the car won't start. Best we can tell, this is happening somewhere under 30 hours. First, they replaced the battery, but it continued to happen. Then they have hooked it up to a computer but can't find anything draining the battery, though the problem has been duplicated at the dealership. Since they could not find the problem last week, they went over the entire electrical system and cleaned and rewired everything. 
When the car was returned, the notes said "Found a excessive resistance from battery cable to battery terminals. Cleaned and repaired cable and terminals. Left car sit for 48 hours vehicle started after sitting." Grammar aside, we were willing to give the benefit of the doubt on this explanation even though we have no idea what it means and it is inconsistent with what we had previously been told (that is, they cleaned/rewired everything because they could not find a problem, and they drove the car Thurs morning, so it could not have sat for 48 hours, as they returned it to us on Friday afternoon).
Needless to say, the battery is dead again, 2 days later, or I probably wouldn't be posting this. Has anyone heard of such problems before? Do you know of any possible explanations or can you recommend what the next course of action should be? We are calling roadside assistance for a jump AGAIN and taking it to the dealer AGAIN with absolutely no confidence this will ever be resolved.
Here's a brief history of the car. Nothing eventful to report prior to August, when we took it to the VW dealer for repairs due to a minor fender bender.
8/2 - VW did body work on rear of car and repaired fuel pump damaged in accident
8/8 - VW replaced brake switch (First day after car was returned after previous repairs, EPC light had come on and could not get car out of park)
8/21 - Battery dead first time car sat for 24+ hours. VW replaced battery.
9/5 - Battery dead again, first time car sat for 24+ hours. VW could not find anything draining battery. Needed to keep car for 3 days to duplicate issue but would not provide loaner, so we took car home & were told to bring in when we would not be driving all weekend.
9/11 - Battery dead again. (Took less time than we thought!) VW had car for 5 days, could not find anything draining battery, computer diagnostic not helpful, see above stuff about excesive resistance from battery cable to terminals. Supposedly then held charge for 48 hrs at dealer & returned "repaired" on 9/15.
9/17 - battery dead again 28-29 hours after last time car was driven.
Any advice, ideas, suggestions?


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## kcfoxie (Jul 18, 2005)

Call me simple, but if it was rear ended and had the rear end worked on I'd bet you $10 you've got a short to ground somewhere in the back of the car, like in the brake light harness. And don't trust the dealer for any type of work and expect it to be done properly or even half-heartedly.


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## -KIX- (Nov 25, 2004)

I have the same prob but had not time to dianose, Ill check the manuals and give it a good inspection, multmeter on hand and let you know.
BTW the remote central locking works? and the alarm can be 'armed" because I have rear thta a failiure on the door look and alarm check can make your batery drain...
Ill keep you posted


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## tweek (Aug 20, 2000)

*Re: Mysterious Battery Drain (eck)*

I too have this same issue on my 1999 New Beetle 2.0. Woke up this morning to a dead battery. Car was locked via the remote for over 24 hours. I usually do not lock the car (it is usually in my locked garage).
I believe it is my auto door lock causing it. When i lock it via the remote button, sometimes it takes 2 or more times to actually pull the lock button on the door down. (the pass. side will lock, and the horn confirmation will sound though) Also this issue seems to happen more often when it is damp outside from a rain storm.
I charged up the battery and pulled fuse #38, which controls the remote locking, and I locked the car using the key in the door (manual lock).
I will see if the battry is dead again in the morning, and report back to this forum with the results.
Thanks, Scott.


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