lauk0dg

So 3 weeks of inactivity on my A4 caused the battery to totally drain down.....so much that the alarm system turned itself off (though all doors are still locked, thank God), dome lights inoperable, and engine won't even crank when key was turned.

Got a jump start from my coworker and car went back to life. Radio incredibly retained the security code and even the preset channels, although the clock reset itself. Hey how come the odometer kept the mileage.....anyhow. Weird things started to happen afterwards.....

1. The one-touch up and down functions were gone. Windows still went up and down, but the one-touch functions were gone.

2. Armed the car and 5 minutes later, the alarm went off by itself. Weird, all doors were slammed shut and windows closed tight.

Forced to go to the dealership right away, as I park my car in a public parking lot and can't afford to have the alarm going off continuously or have the car sitting there with its doors all unlocked. The weirdest thing was, the one-touch functions went from totally inoperable to intermittently operable to totally normal on my way to the dealership.

Dealership checked the battery performance and they claimed normal and recharged it. They also blamed the alarm going off because the motion sensor sensitivity was reset to MAX by default when the battery died. Turned out the slightest wind motion rocking the car already set off the alarm.

And hopefully those are the only observations. Be those lessons to everybody. So apparently 3 weeks of inactivity coupled with all the power depleting devices on our cars can drain the battery out.

And my car is only 2 yrs old....is this normal?? Anyone experienced this?

Oh, and the XM module screwed up too.....tons of background noises.....hopefully that's not because of the jump start.

ex-quattro PETE

Otherwise Audi would have serious issues with the DMV :-)

I left my '01.5 for 3 weeks once. When I returned, everthing was in perfect order and the car started immediately. The volt-meter was also showing above 12v before I started the engine.

Make sure your aftermarket electronics gadgets (like the V1 or the XM radio) don't drain the battery while the car is parked.

WJM

yup...

lauk0dg

Yeah I checked the XM and the V1. Although the V1 is hardwired, it goes off along with the engine. Maybe the gremlins inside it were partaying all 3 wks long.....The XM also goes out when the radio is out.

I guess I'll have friends starting my car every wk if I am not in town for extended periods of time.

Thx for the insight tho.

Jretal

it did crank a lil slow, but that was cuz it was the original battery and was getting a lil tired.

I know that it does happen with some cars though... my mom's S-type goes dead after sitting for about a month due to all it's gadgets...

mvp12547

My 00 Avant sat for 10 weeks through sub and near zero temps. Fired right up with no problems. You have a drain somewhere or a battery thats on its last legs. I am still running the oem batt in mine.

65GT350R

is was that dead, it's crap now. I wouldn't trust it.

akatz

Make sure it is filled with water...it could be dry inside.