Bazaar electrical problem. Is my car possessed

Just bought a 99 TDI
beetle for my wife. In excellent shape and well kept. 150 thousand miles.
Last night I installed an Alpine stereo and everything seemed to go OK. Although I think it has nothing to do with it I also changed all the vacuum lines. The car seems to run great last night. In the morning my wife said the car wouldn't start and the hazards were on. When I got home the battery was dead so I charged it. When the battery is charged the car would not start but the lights were acting bizarre as well as the hazards were going off and on. Any ideas? Thank you very much Sarah Sara any ideas?
Thank you

Take out the stereo and see if it's any better, might have upset something in there.

Seatman said:

Take out the stereo and see if it's any better, might have upset something in there.

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I just took out the stereo and the problem is still happening. The car won't start and the hazard lights are being bizarre other lights seem to function somewhat normally.

Does the beetle have the wring through into the boot lid? On the golfs the wires can break inside the rubber boots causing all kinds of electrical problems due to shorting.

Seatman said:

Does the beetle have the wring through into the boot lid? On the golfs the wires can break inside the rubber boots causing all kinds of electrical problems due to shorting.

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Sorry I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about.

Better bust out the holy water

ColdStartTDI said:

Sorry I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about.

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What you call the trunk, we call it the boot. In the likes of the golf there's wiring that goes through to the boot/trunk lid and the wiring can get broken where it flexes causing electrical shorts which can result in strange electrical problems.

I've no idea if the beetle has the wiring through the rubber boots into the trunk lid like the golf but if it does I'd check the wiring.

Is the dash cluster immobilizer light on/flashing?? I believe it looks like a traditional key shaped icon.
I'm assuming the starter cranks, but engine won't start??

Unrelated, hopefully, but anytime someone buys a used TDI: what sort of documentation do you have on the TB replacement?

blackjedi said:

better bust out the holy water

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:d:d:d

Did you alter ANY of the wiring when you did the stereo install?

It's also possible that you just bumped/dislodged something. I'd go over all your relays and such: maybe out favorite suspect, the 109 relay?

Well I can't believe it. I did not tighten up the negative battery cable terminal tight enough when I finished. How dumb is that!!!!!!

Ahhh the simple fix is always the best fix

Gotta love a simple fix!

And battery/ground issues are often near the top of many bizarre issues.

You wouldn't believe the trouble a bad fan control module can cause. I'm glad you got sorted out w/o too much trouble!

Most things are simple, we make them complicated