VW Touran 1.9 TDI - flat battery
nick205 - 25/8/16 at 08:15 AM
SWMBO called me at work yesterday complaining that her Touran 1.9 TDI had a flat battery and wouldn't start. Quite what she wanted me to do
about it from work we never got to, suffice to say I was a little irritated.
When questioned as to "what was left on" she advised that nothing was on, but she'd left the ignition on for around 4 hours 
My response was a little blue and advised that that's probably the cause.
Next call was "the bonnet release handle in the drivers foot well has snapped off". F8ckin' great says I, now in a really foul
mood.
Got home at 19:30 to find she'd got the lad opposite (apprentice mechanic) looking at the car. Nice lad and he'd got a set of mole grips on
the end of the cable inside the car. No amount of his (or my) pulling would release the bonnet. A YouTube search thereafter suggested you can remove
the front VW badge and access/release the catch - something to try over the weekend.
However the car was parked arse up on our drive, which is on quite a slope. I managed to bump start the car OK and we then drove it for 30 mins to
make sure the battery was charged. The car has worked fine since and was checked again this morning before I left for work.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I needed to get it out before I lost my rag 
adamswifty - 25/8/16 at 10:46 AM
You can charge via the 12v cigarette socket I believe?
nick205 - 25/8/16 at 11:59 AM
quote:
Originally posted by adamswifty
You can charge via the 12v cigarette socket I believe?
That I didn't know!
I don't have a charger with a cigarette lighter plug, but could make one given an hour or so.
As a point of interest I've noticed a few new cars that have a cigarette lighter socket, but no cigarette lighter, just a plastic blank. The
same cars also have no ash tray in them. IMHO it's not long before car manufacturers delete them as standard and it becomes an "extra"
item you have to order when purchasing a new car. No offence to smokers, but I see this as a benefit that'll make smoking in cars harder for
people to do (smoking with the window open and chucking the butt out afterwards is still an option I suppose).
David Jenkins - 25/8/16 at 12:48 PM
quote:
Originally posted by adamswifty
You can charge via the 12v cigarette socket I believe?
I normally have a maintenance charger plugged into my 12v socket when the car's in the garage. There isn't a ciggy lighter in there - I
bought a socket with a lid I can flip up and down as needed.
britishtrident - 25/8/16 at 04:34 PM
I have a battery booster that runs from cigar socket to cigar socket, it works amazingly well if you give time, obvious the bigger the battery being
boosted the longer it takes.
Once you get it back to full charge I would advise getting the battery tested, either with a modern digital AC impedance tester or a heavy load
voltage drop tester. Most garages don't have load testers that put enough load on to test the big batteries fitted to diesels. Batteries should
be load tested at a current 3 times the amp hour rating or 1/3 the CCA rating. In the case of a diesel car battery is going to be 200 to 260 amps!!
gremlin1234 - 25/8/16 at 06:31 PM
quote:
I normally have a maintenance charger plugged into my 12v socket when the car's in the garage. There isn't a ciggy lighter in there
- I bought a socket with a lid I can flip up and down as needed.
in the tin top, I have a small rechargeable led torch kept in the
'lighter socket' - now often referred to as accessory or 12v socket.
they also put them in the boot, which is good for pumping up air beds, or charging phones out of sight
britishtrident - 25/8/16 at 07:14 PM
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
quote:
I normally have a maintenance charger plugged into my 12v socket when the car's in the garage. There isn't a ciggy lighter in there
- I bought a socket with a lid I can flip up and down as needed.
in the tin top, I have a small rechargeable led torch kept in the
'lighter socket' - now often referred to as accessory or 12v socket.
they also put them in the boot, which is good for pumping up air beds, or charging phones out of sight
Rover had an optional hidden socket on the 75.
The dash socket is very handy place for a plug in combined volt meter and USB charger
With an oscilloscope you can even use the dash socket for a cranking voltage compression test.
nick205 - 26/8/16 at 07:47 AM
The car still works fine. I don't have access to a means of testing the battery itself so will leave it working for now. It's a Halfords
battery in a 57 plate car so IMHO not VW's OEM battery from new. If I have to replace it then so be it - I suspect SWMBO leaving the ignition on
didn't help it, but it seems OK since.
nick205 - 30/8/16 at 07:41 AM
The Touran is still running OK, which is good. The bonnet is still stuck shut though, but it's booked into my local VW specialist a week
Wednesday to be fixed. A PITA, but as with most things it could be a lot worse.
I've done a few Googles and YouTube searches for was to open the bonnet, but not found anything specific to the Touran. Golf, Passat etc., but
no Touran.
Anyone got a guide or URL to something useful?
I'd like to get under the bonnet.
gremlin1234 - 30/8/16 at 10:14 AM
this thread seems to describe it,
remove badge, unbolt catch from the inside. but sounds fiddly
http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/131488-Touran-Bonnet-Release
adithorp - 30/8/16 at 10:34 AM
Have you tried simply giving the bonnet a thump while the lever is pulled. Thats often enough to unload the catch and let it open where a simple lack
of lube on the mechanism is the issue.
nick205 - 30/8/16 at 11:08 AM
I'm a member on the VW Audi forum and saw the same thread. I managed to remove the VW badge from the grille, but there's no obvious means
of accessing the catch. The car's booked into my local VW specialist a week tomorrow to be fixed. Irritating and I'm sure given more time
I could sort it myself.
nick205 - 9/9/16 at 11:22 AM
Bonnet fixed with a new (lubricated) centre catch, cable and interior lever. Works perfectly and SWMBO is under instruction to leave it alone