Battery drain?

sandydeb

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Location
NJ
TDI
2014 Passat SE 6MT Black
When I got to my car this afternoon, the key would not unlock the doors. Thankfully the trunk release worked, and I crawled into the car through the trunk.

Key in ignition, all the dashboard lights came on but then there was a series of loud chimes - Brake fail, Airbag fail etc etc. And no crank when I tried to start the car.

I noticed that I had left the headlight switch in the on position this morning (it was raining, wipers on lights on but I forgot to switch it off).

My best guess us that the battery got drained and I will have to jump start it.

But what is troubling me is the fact that the battery (potentially) got drained because I left the headlight on. Hello - this is a 2014 model car! Any battery draining component left on is automatically shut down to prevent battery drain, even in the lowliest economy car.

Can it be possible that VW does not have such a cut-off?
 

Rico567

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Location
Central IL
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium (Turned in 7/7/18)
Well, our 2013 Passat doesn't. During the first year, I left the headlights on inadvertently. I was used to our SAAB, which has the simple and commonsense feature that the headlights go off when the car is turned off. I discovered my error before the battery was completely drained, but it didn't have enough juice left to crank the car. I threw a charger on it immediately, charged it up, and the battery -somewhat to my surprise- is still going strong after nearly 4 years.
I am in complete agreement that this is an idiot design.
 

Mark_J

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Location
Deer Park, Washington
TDI
2015 TDI Passat SEL Premium, 2017 Fiat Spider, 2017 Ford F350 6.7 Diesel crew cab PU, 2016 Harley Trike, 2016 Tesla Model X P90D (I know went to the dark side)
We had a 2013 Passat SEL Premium and a 2014 Passat SE 6 speed manual and in both of them, the lights automatically go off if the light switch is in the auto position. If it is turned to the on position they will not turn off. Auto position is straight up and down if I remember correctly.
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
Volkswagen seems to subscribe to Darwinism and assumes that the driver does things intentionally. If you left the lights on, you must have meant to do it, therefore you deal with the consequences.

It would be nice if they'd turn all of the lights off when you turn the car off, and then allow you to turn the parking lights back on by turning the headlight switch off and back on. Several other brands do this, but not VW.
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
When I got to my car this afternoon, the key would not unlock the doors. Thankfully the trunk release worked, and I crawled into the car through the trunk.
Just thinking, on the drivers side door handle at the very right is a small cap you pop off and then you use the key to open your door. At least that works on the KESSY.
No need to climb through the trunk.
 

tadawson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Location
Lewisville, TX
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL, 2015 Passat TDI SEL
Volkswagen seems to subscribe to Darwinism and assumes that the driver does things intentionally. If you left the lights on, you must have meant to do it, therefore you deal with the consequences.

It would be nice if they'd turn all of the lights off when you turn the car off, and then allow you to turn the parking lights back on by turning the headlight switch off and back on. Several other brands do this, but not VW.
Myself, I'm glad they do! When they try to dumb this stuff down, I find I typically fight it,
and prefer light controls to do exactly what *I* tell them to do, and nothing more. And I'm perfectly OK with if I goof, I get a dead battery . . . My RAM does this with parking lights (which also feed the worklights in my trailer) and if I had a buck for everytime I got left in the dark with a 600lb road case, I'd be rich. (And if I ever meet the fool who designed this with no way to disable it, he'd likely be dead . . . .)
 

bobthefarmer

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Location
Indianapolis
TDI
2006.5 Jetta Mk 5 192K miles; 2012 Car of the Year, Passat Tdi SE+Nav in blue nightgown, shod in 18 inch heels

sandydeb

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Location
NJ
TDI
2014 Passat SE 6MT Black
I am not talking about automatically turning off the headlights.

Most modern day vehicles monitor battery drainage when the car is switched off and once it reaches a critical level (where a car may not restart), all battery draining applications (lights, stereo, climate cobtrol etc) are switched off.

I know because my 2010 Infiniti does it.

Good god - the cultism is scary. VW did something stupid so it must be good and the whole world is full of idiots.
 

tadawson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Location
Lewisville, TX
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL, 2015 Passat TDI SEL
Not in the VW, granted, but when you come close to seriously injuring yourself because some dimwit thought he/she better knew when you needed power/light than you do, that's not 'cultism', that's safety and sanity. For years folks managed to turn the lights of . . . what's changed? Has John Q. Public gotten that much dumber? An audible 'your lighs are on' warning is fine and gets the job done, but still gives *me* the choice, as it should be!
 

sandydeb

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Location
NJ
TDI
2014 Passat SE 6MT Black
Not in the VW, granted, but when you come close to seriously injuring yourself because some dimwit thought he/she better knew when you needed power/light than you do, that's not 'cultism', that's safety and sanity. For years folks managed to turn the lights of . . . what's changed? Has John Q. Public gotten that much dumber? An audible 'your lighs are on' warning is fine and gets the job done, but still gives *me* the choice, as it should be!
If we are going full luddite then i should also point out that for years people also drove without abs and esc - things that are standard and cannot be switched off on most vws.

In the grand scheme of things, preventing a battety from discharging seems seems to be much much muuuuuch lower in the universe of things that will 'injure you because some dimwit knew better' that those things.

And to be clear, other manufacturers will let you run the battery to the ground if you so wish. But they put a common sense shut-off in place just to prevent aggravation in 95% of the cases.
 

tadawson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Location
Lewisville, TX
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL, 2015 Passat TDI SEL
And there are times it would be beneficial to be able to disable at least ESC as well . . . but once again, John Q. Public is regarded as being too stupid to make that choice . . . Offering a feature is fine . . . forcing it isn't . . . this crap should be configurable based on the user and use case!
 

Windex

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Location
Cambridge
TDI
05 B5V 01E FRF
Soooo... You left your lights on, and the battery drained.

Right?

Answer seems simple, read the owners manual to determine how your car operates, and then use it appropriately.

I highly suspect the issue with your car is between the seat and the steering wheel.
 
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