David Jenkins
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 03:11 PM |
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VW Golf problem
Some of you may remember that I'm minding my daughter's Golf Mk4 GTi Turbo while she's off swanning around in Oz.
The thing sits on the drive, getting taken out occasionally just to keep things in working order. Today, it just about managed to turn the engine
over, which started - but then stopped about 2 seconds later. Tried a couple of more times, and the same thing happened... then the battery was
flat.
Rolled my Locost alongside and used jump-leads from its fully charged battery - Golf starts first time. Took the car out for a good long run (35
miles) and came back and stopped at the top of the drive while I re-arranged cars. Tried to restart - same thing happened. Used jump leads to
connect to another car, and it started again.
When the car is running it works exactly as it should, pulls well, no warning lights.
What could be going on?
David
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DarrenW
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 03:12 PM |
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First thing id try is another battery.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 03:29 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by DarrenW
First thing id try is another battery.
This one's almost brand new... 
... but no car battery likes being neglected...
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Duncan_P
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 03:42 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
quote:
Originally posted by DarrenW
First thing id try is another battery.
This one's almost brand new...
... but no car battery likes being neglected...
Unfortunately they dont really like going flat, probably should have been on a trickle charger. But i realise that wouldnt have been easy as its on
the drive.
Is the battery still under guarantee? I think even the cheapo Halfrauds come with one........might be worth a shot
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 04:03 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by CaLviNx
Hi
first thing I'd try is the proper checks to see if it is the battery,alternator or a separate source causing a drain on the electrical system
BEFORE throwing money/new parts at it.
Trouble is, I think the alarm system's probably draining it over a period of time. Even a few 10s of milliamps add up over time, together with
the fact that lead-acid batteries self-discharge a bit anyway.
It's not totally flat, but this engine needs a healthy battery to swing it over. I've got it on my Oxymiser at the moment to slowly bring
it back to full charge - we'll see what it's like after that.
I'm trying to persuade her to sell the damn thing - it'd be perfectly OK if it was being used normally, on a regular basis.
DJ
[Edited on 28/2/07 by David Jenkins]
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02GF74
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 04:33 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
Trouble is, I think the alarm system's probably draining it over a period of time. Even a few 10s of milliamps add up over time, together with
the fact that lead-acid batteries self-discharge a bit anyway.
yes indeedy, tell me about it.
I was in Barzil and my sister came over to oversee the house, whilst she was there, the volvo alarm wnet off - has funky immobiliser with its own
battery, once main battery drains, alarm thinks someone is messing/disconnecting battery/openoing doors and off it goes! 
Manage to tlake the neighbour through disconnecting the alarm battery otherwise the neighbours would have been well pleased listening to it for the
next few months or so until the batery drained itself..
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DarrenW
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 04:49 PM |
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When i mentioned battery i did say another battery rather than a new one if possible. Using your trickle charger will hopefully sort it out.
It doesnt sound like anything terminal. I dont suppose damp cold weather will do it any favours either.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 04:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by DarrenW
I dont suppose damp cold weather will do it any favours either.
Doesn't do me much good, either...
The fact that my fully-charged Locost battery got it going, even though it's a fair bit smaller than the VW one, suggests that recharging the
battery should sort it.
Couldn't understand why the car started then died though. Maybe there weren't enough spare volts to keep the ECU and/or fuel pump
going...
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Mark Allanson
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 07:12 PM |
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Golf owner and I work in a VAG bodyshop, modern batteries are like lightbulbs, working fine until they die instantly. The trottles are fly by wire,
but are usually ok on reboot, but it is a possibility. We usually switch on all the heavy drain electrical items before jumping to stop a computer
spike.
If you can keep you head, whilst all others around you are losing theirs, you are not fully aware of the situation
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 07:23 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
Golf owner and I work in a VAG bodyshop, modern batteries are like lightbulbs, working fine until they die instantly.
I'll see what it's like after a slow recharge - if it's still no good I'll go visit the local VW spares shop (where it came
from a couple of months ago).
The throttle thing matches what I experienced - it started, but couldn't maintain an idle. Once a good battery was attached it started
immediately.
cheers to all,
David
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 08:47 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
Golf owner and I work in a VAG bodyshop,
Mark,
Perhaps you can help - when I replaced the battery a couple of months ago I had an oil change light coming up, and the radio didn't work. I
don't know the radio code, so I was a bit stuffed. When I got the battery from the local VW garage I mentioned this problem, and the spares man
went to my car and did some 'magic' that reset everything. It seemed to be 'press something while turning the ignition off and
on'.
Any idea what he might have done?
[Edited on 28/2/07 by David Jenkins]
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Mark Allanson
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 08:51 PM |
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I'll ask one of the fitters tomorrow
If you can keep you head, whilst all others around you are losing theirs, you are not fully aware of the situation
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gregs
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| posted on 28/2/07 at 08:54 PM |
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Hi - two bits of info;
Starting and then dying sounds exactly like the immobiliser on a Golf MkIV, may be the low current is causing havoc - recharge and try again, and then
try with the other key.
If the butterfly is playing up, you can reset by starting (might be IGN2) with the door open, and waiting ~30 seconds.(ECU does a re-calibration
process).
Hope this may help,
Greg
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 1/3/07 at 08:41 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by gregs
Starting and then dying sounds exactly like the immobiliser on a Golf MkIV, may be the low current is causing havoc - recharge and try again, and then
try with the other key.
Could be - it started properly with a fresh battery attached.
quote:
If the butterfly is playing up, you can reset by starting (might be IGN2) with the door open, and waiting ~30 seconds.(ECU does a re-calibration
process).
What is IGN2?
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 1/3/07 at 08:42 AM |
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Whoopie!
Spoke to my daughter today - she's finally agreed that the car ought to be sold!
Just need to get the battery sorted and a fresh MOT and it's going on the market...
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gregs
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| posted on 1/3/07 at 08:59 PM |
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sorry - IGN2 = Ignition position 2 (Ie ign fully on), glad you're getting it sorted.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 2/3/07 at 09:34 AM |
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Took it for its MOT this morning (it passed  ) after charging the battery all day yesterday. The nature of the problem is becoming clearer...
The battery was a red herring - it was simply a bit short of juice and died after repeated starting attempts. Now that it's fully charged the
car's behaving in a similar way (without draining the battery immediately!).
Did the MOT, paid my money, then tried to start the car - no go. The first thing the garage owner said was "has this car got an
immobiliser?". He shut the door, locked and unlocked the car, then tried to start immediately after - engine started.
It is becoming clear that I need to look at the immobiliser...
...any clues, folks?
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 4/3/07 at 03:00 PM |
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In a similar vein - does anyone in the Ipswich/Colchester area know of an independent garage that knows its way around VW cars, so I can get this
immobiliser looked at?
I don't want to go to the main dealer, 'cos I know it'll be a "open your wallet and repeat after me - 'help
yourself!'" experience.
All I really want to do is to get this car into a saleable condition so that I can get rid of it...
David
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gregs
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| posted on 9/3/07 at 10:06 PM |
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VWs have lots of problems with the immobiliser system, all to do with the reluctance ring in the ignition barrel - try using the other key - may help,
other solutions include replacing the link harness to the immobiliser & dousing the barrell in WD40..... VW fix is new lock barrel, new keys,
re-programm keys - that'll be £500 please 
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 9/3/07 at 11:02 PM |
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At the moment, the problem's gone away... I took the key batteries out and wiped them, the car's battery hass been recharged and all is
well with the world... for now.
The next thing is to get the glove compartment sorted (now there's a cr*p bit of engineering) and it's up for sale.
I am not impressed with VW engineering...
David
[Edited on 9/3/07 by David Jenkins]
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