RoyM

I got back to the Pittsburgh airport after a 4 day vacation. My wife, my 9 year old daughter and I got to our 06 A4 3.2 and it did not respond to the key fob. I had to unlock with the key and I knew something was very wrong. No lights when I entered the car and when I tried the starter dead silence. We were all in shock. First time this has occured. The car is 3.5 year old with 17K miles on it. Called Audi roadisde and they told me the airport had a free jump service which they did and I was under way in about 5 minutes. Audi did call back three times to ask if I was ok. First time in over 11 years and 5 new Audi's that I used the roadside service.

My big question is what happened. The car is now running and starting fine. I have been using it daily so it has not sat for very long. I need to get to my dealer for a full check. Any ideas of what happened?? I'm sure all electric devises were off. It was cold (in the 20) but I have left the car at the airport in zero degrees and it has always been fine. Quite a shock because the A4 has always been 100% reliable. Is the battery still under warranty??

irenesbob

Consider the following: I once unknowingly, accidentally hit the overhead reading light switch near the mirror on the way out of my car. I am assuming that is what happened. I never saw the light on because I was sure everything was off and it was daylight. Next day I got in and the light was on. I realized that reaching over to fold up the passenger visor (which I had done when last leaving the car) could have hit the light switch. It is difficult to be sure you did not do something unintended under the pressures of leaving on a plane trip with family. My 2 cents.

q-car

I had a friend whose child accidentally turned a map light on in the very back of their SUV. Same story, came back a few days later and car wouldn't start. As soon as we put the jumper cables on it, we saw that one light in the back come on. That was the culprit.

emerged

and no problems. Nothing to worry about, unless this is something frequently occurring.

RoyM

but I doubt it. After the car was jumpped no reading lights were on. I did think about that one and you are right when you park at the airport and it was difficult to find a "safe" parking spot way, way out you could do something stupid like that. I did talk to my Audi Tech and he feels the battery most likely has a bad cell and needs replaced and his understanding is that will be done under warranty. Next step is to take the A4 in for a service check. Thanks for your help.

Tanner

These kind of batteries hate being drained and when they do get drained completely you'll probably have problems later down the road.

I drained my battery because I left one of the interior lights on and not even a year goes by, the battery lost the ability to hold a charge and I had to replace it.

RoyM

Thanks for your advise.

dave405nyc

I know for the B7 A4's, if you leave a reading light on or have the door open, after half an hour, the lights will turn off to prevent battery drainage

irenesbob

Good approach. These "new" high tech cars have everything electronic and the battery must be at full charge (amps and voltage) for optimum performance. Not like the 1970 cars I drove as a younger guy. lol!!

irenesbob

Wow - you are absolutley right. I forgot! When I had hit my reading light switch I did not see the light on when I came in, I simply noticed something wasn't lined up right in terms of the little buttons. Also, one of the the door activateed light had not come on one time and at first I thought the lamp was burned out. But after checking out the buttons once again I had hit a rocker-type button up there which disabled the door-activated light. RoyM probably does just have a bad battery - three years is a pretty long life for a battery these days I guess.