VW recalls 800,000 vehicles for brake light failures

New tools , YES! ;-) and the dvom is something you can use on all kinds of things, not just vehicles. And with the equinox happening you'll have a fully charged batt. in no time.

I doubt that the switch closed by itself.

I doubt the clutch depressed w/o the key on has any ( ? , sec. sys, tho ) effect on the electrical system.. ( and IMHO you most likely caused rust more with the plate off the flywheel ) that's neither here nor there in so far as your dead battery goes....... BUT because the two pedals are next to each other and you had some kind of device holding the clutch down my guess is that is involved with the dead batt. Either you pushed the brake pedal and the switch stuck or the device you had holding the clutch in also was pushing the brake and that switch closed.

I thought I had the 'radio code thing ' procedure stored for posting to ppl in here but I couldn't find that this morning , but if your operators manual doesn't have it ask in here and someone will. It is very simple IIRC. Ask about their charges for checking the battery before they do it and the clutch depressed routine sounds to me likey the cause of the battery going dead so your batt. is probably fine.

The electronics in the keep alive / security circuits are very low wattage devices and the solar charger should have been able to to keep up with that drain locked or unlocked....but yes , why not lock it anyway.

yw . Great , I'm happy to help if I can - and it's always nice to hear outcomes. Some post here with question / problems and get replies and you never hear from them again, so the ' ass u me ' thinking happens to the responders ( with them knowing ,LOL , their cure was the fix ) ..

Sometimes the problem is fixed and posters say thanks but don't indicate which suggestion worked.. :-o older vw van - O 2 light - speedometer cable reset location - either on the back of the speedometer or on the cable under the hood. - lol - dpluta - that paragraph was not directed at you , just me getting a laff. I'm easily entertained.

Reply to
samstone
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multimeter yesterday ... I'll check out the

What a reply! ... thanks so much for spending the time to talk back. It feels great to be able to have someone to consult with who knows their stuff.

Well, my new multimeter says the battery voltage today is 11.2 volts. (I compared to my 5-year old battery in my F-150 and it was reading

12.4 v, so it seems the meter is working fine and I'm setting/reading it the right way too).

I haven't tried to turn the engine over yet since I won't be ready to pull it out for the summer until the first week of April ... once I start it, I want to be able to drive it around for a half hour or so. But I'm feeling confident that I ought to be able to turn it over on its own power without jumping it or using an A/C battery charger to top off the battery.

I looked in my 2006 VW book for my "Radio Card" for the code and I didn't see it. Either the dealer never gave it to me or I don't need it ...there was something in the Owners Manual about not needing to enter the code anymore if the power gets disconnected ... something about a "convenience code" that matches the radio to the right vehicle automatically ... fingers are crossed.

BTW, I don't think I'm ever going to depress the clutch pedal for the winter any more either ... I wanted to do the right thing for storage but I kind of agree with you ... seems it would be better just to leave it alone, or maybe just press the clutch in a couple of times myself over the winter.

If the radio synchs itself up in a couple of weeks, then it looks like I'm all set. So, thanks for your help. I wish I could return the favor. I'm a writer at marketing company, so if you ever need something written or edited, let me know!

Regards,

Reply to
dpluta

They already botched it IMHO:

Basically if all Mk4s use this switch, why weren't all of them recalled the FIRST time around?

Go VW.

Reply to
Matt B.

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