Won't Start

2005 Passat 1.8T manual, only owner. Low mileage, about 35,000.

Wouldn't start about 2 months ago. Llights, window, radio, etc. all worked, but no cranking or ignition sound. Put fresh battery in key. Still wouldn't start. Came back couple of hours later to jump battery. Started without jump.

Last night, drove from work to mall and then stopped at son's apt. Car turned off for just 1-2 minutes. Same problem, but didn't change key battery or try jumping battery.

Likely cause and solution?

Reply to
Rocco
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Probably the main battery to the car and not the battery to the remote transmitter. ;-) The main battery is probably about 4-5 years old and some factory batteries don't last that long. I prefer Delco batteries since I find that they don't seem to vent acid and they are strong & long-lasting.

Here are two Passat specific yahoo groups you can join. snipped-for-privacy@yahoogroups.com

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snipped-for-privacy@yahoogroups.com(http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/passats)

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

Yeah, it was the main battery. Since the rest of the electrical system worked and there wasn't even an attempt to crank the engine, I didn't think the battery was the likely culprit. When the battery is bad on my wife's Subaru Outback, the rest of the electrical system won't work or is weak and, if it's merely weak, the engine will sound like it's at least trying to start. Turning off the lights, etc. helps when trying to start when the Subaru's battery is going bad.

The Passat's battery didn'tshow mere weakness. It just wouldn't turn over the engine at all.

We tried taking out the battery, but in the dark we couldn't seek the device that holds the battery in. It's not like any battery hold down I've seen before, and I've never had to fool with the battery before in this car.

Reply to
Rocco

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