2007 Volkswagen Jetta Dead Battery

BKERIJ

MEMBER
2007 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA

Electrical problem
2007 Volkswagen Jetta Automatic 61,000 miles

I have been dealing with dead battery issues. It started two Decembers ago when the battery died after sitting two days, charged it up and ran fine for another month or so and then had to charge it again. Last summer while in VW checking on a seperate issue I mentioned the battery with two different dealers. They said my battery was fine. Ran fine for a the next winter.

A month ago I replaced the dead battery. Drove it for two weeks and that battery was dead. Brought it into the shop and they started by checking the charging system. Charging system came out fine but battery was not (obviously). Had them check for a draw in the system, but were not able to find anything. New battery was installed and now one week later the battery is again dead, charging as we speak.
Now, two nights ago I unfortunately left my fog/low light beams on for an hour or two, but my car started fine the next day. Yesterday I did use and left on my seat heater. But this was never an issue the past 3.5 years. Battery is dead this morning.
I have read through your "why is my car battery dead overnight" section and plan to start looking through each one until I can reach VW after the holiday weekend. Until then do you have any other advice for me?

3 Replies

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,938 POSTS

Hi there,

You should start with a current draw test, this is where you place an Amp meter between the battery pos (+)and the battery cable, with doors closed and key out read off the currant draw in Amps, if above say.2 amp, start pulling fuses one at a time to see which circuit is drawing current, start here.

Mark (mhpautos)

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Sunday, September 5th, 2010 AT 11:20 PM

BKERIJ

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Mark,

So we completed a current draw test. The test light lit up and stayed lit. Then we tested each fuse in both fuse boxes and found nothing (light stayed on the entire test). My car obviously has a draw but not able to locate it. Do you have a next step to locate the problem?

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Monday, September 6th, 2010 AT 9:12 PM

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,938 POSTS

If you do the test with the Amp meter, when the excess draw is removed by taking the fuse out you will see a decreased reading, there is always a small draw down on the batter via the ECU memory, clock & radio memory, so the test light will always stay on, only with the amp meter can you actually read the current draw value.

Mark (mhpautos)

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Monday, September 6th, 2010 AT 9:23 PM