2006 Jetta with possible electrical issues.

So I have an 06 TDI that has approximately 160k on it. I have had a drain issue on the battery for awhile and haven't had the time to look at it. In the interim I installed a ground cutoff switch to keep the battery from draining. The other day we had a rain storm and getting out of the car I left the lights on AND the battery switch engaged and I killed the battery. After a jump start I noticed I have a couple of issues. 1. The a.c. isn't working and I don't hear the compressor running and (not a climatronic) 2. The check air bag light is on. I also wanted to check the fuses on both the internal and external panels but my factory manual is nowhere close to what I actually have. Help please ... Mike

Well you'll need a scan tool first.

Battery drain issues and how to track them down are well documented here, there is a nice TSB about it too, involves measuring the voltage drop across the fuses.

You need to see if your CAN bus is still remaining active after you lock the car. You could simply have a bad door latch or door harness problem. Both very common and easily fixed.

May God have mercy on you, from my experience with this car, electrical problems are a nightmare.

Lucky for you, I have experienced the same problem, and it took me 1 year to find the issue and fix it. This is what happened, after I've found one morning the battery dead, out of nowhere: jump started the car, and the AC quit working right then, plus I've got the airbag light on. One of the fuses inside the cabin is blown, as you will open the fuse cover on the side of the dashboard, is one of the 5 amp fuses on the top row (I don't remember which one). Don't replace it yet, as it will blow as soon as you turn the key on.

Open the hood of the car, on the passenger side you will see a harness that goes from the body of the car to the hood (it warms up the nozzles in the winter). Remove the insulation and you will see 4 wires, some of them/all are "cut" for the lack of a better word, due to the harness being too short (cheap ass VW). This happened due to repeatedly opening-closing the hood. The wires are touching each other creating a short, that gives you the AC and the airbag faults. How in the hell are all of them related, I don't know. Use some new wire to extend them and reconnect the broken wires (if any of them is still intact, might as well cut it and extend it now, while you are at it). Replace the blown fuse. Turn the car on, if the fuse doesn't blow again, you're good.

This will fix the problem, only thing left to do is find someone that has a VCDS and reset the airbags, clear the AC codes. The airbag code will not go away, unless you clear it. For the airbags, the error will be related to the front passenger seat, something related to the module that recognize it when the seat is occupied, for the AC, the error will be related to the G65 sensor. You will not have to do anything about those errors, besides clearing them with VCDS.
If you don't have anyone nearby, I will lend you mine for free, all you have to do is pay for shipping and a deposit that I will return to you once you'll send me the cable back.

I have 2 messages out to guys that are within an hour of my home that I've messages to. I have swapped the door harness on the drivers side front door and it was easyish. I have also swapped 2 door latches but I think the back door on the passenger side might be the culprit. I'll check the wiring going to the hood when I get off work tonight. If I don't hear anything from these gents I'll get ahold of you about loaning of the VCDS. Thanks for the responses. I dread taking it to the dealer but if I have to I have to. Thanks again y'all. Mike

shuddyssoup said:

So I have an 06 TDI that has approximately 160k on it. I have had a drain issue on the battery for awhile and haven't had the time to look at it.

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When I bought my 06 Jetta last year, it came with a "battery drain" issue. I was told that the car randomly wouldn't start, and had to be boosted to get going. This had been going on for quite some time...a couple months at least.

I dragged the thing home and started checking things, and found out that there was no battery drain at all. The problem was that the car was not charging fully. I don't remember exactly, but when running I think it was charging around 12.9 volts (or maybe 11.9, I can't remember now).

The problem ended up being a bad ground where the main big ground cable connects to the engine. It was all burned and charred looking. I cleaned the lug on the cable and the bolt it attaches to, and boom...14.6 volts or there about, and it has been fine ever since.

Just FYI is all, in case you haven't checked all your grounds. The PO of my 06 thought it had a drain issue because some mornings the car would not start. When the car was warm, it would typically start OK. Cold, no dice.

I'll check the battery voltage too when I get home. Never thought of it that way. I know on the forum here somewhere is a ground list and I have tightened some that weren't really bad but that previous owner sold me the car with an ant issue. I hope that isn't going to be an issue with the wiring. Thanks for the tip.

Don't go to the dealership, they'll rape your wallet. I guess a good start would be to check the top row of fuses by the dashboard. At least you'll know if you have a good lead in identifying the problem.

So how do I go about finding the TSB'S and other posts pertaining to battery drain issues. Thanks for any information you long timers could help with ... Thanks, Mike

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=254875

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=367932

PDF link here...

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/500/TSB_27_08_04_Matrix.pdf

Rembrant said:

Just FYI is all, in case you haven't checked all your grounds. The PO of my 06 thought it had a drain issue because some mornings the car would not start. When the car was warm, it would typically start OK. Cold, no dice.

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Good advice. My BRM started to again manifest some slight electrical oddities. After cleaning (all) the grounds and links one the battery box exterior front face, all is well again.

So is there a link on here somewhere that lists the grounds for my car ???

shuddyssoup said:

So is there a link on here somewhere that lists the grounds for my car ???

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The main ones
- Under the wiper arm / cover in the cowl area
- Under the air box on the left front frame rail behind the headlight
- The one next to the battery
- One more on the passenger frame rail behind the headlight

I usually wire brush clean all surfaces then spray with a liberal coating of Dexoit.

Thanks for the input. Next day off I will be ground cleaning and checking. Mike

Did you win? Can you report on your findings?

shuddyssoup said:

Thanks for the input. Next day off I will be ground cleaning and checking. Mike

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This is a great thread, but user feedback is important, so we can all benefit from experiences. If it was merely a grounding issue, can you tell us what condition may have lead up to the problem?

OP sent me a PM, he will post complete details when he figures out the battery drain issue (which I suspect is caused by a bad ground):

shuddyssoup said:

You were so right about the wiring harness going to the hood. Right on !!! My question is, because I live in the south and we only get maybe 15 days a year with freezing temperatures. Can I just cut them and leave those out of the circuit or will that create other issues with the vcds ??? It's just as easy for me to cut them and terminate. Your input is greatly appreciated. I still might take you up on the offer of the vcds. I still want to check grounds for the drain or charging issues that started this whole issue.

Thanks ... Mike

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Any Updates? Another Premium 7 radio Battery drain here. TSB was only way to find problem, I had Jumped radio fuse under dash to Ignition on fuse for a while because I didnt want to give up my Lifetime XM radio. Last week I Changed out unit with Ebay HIZPO 8" Car DVD Player Radio Stereo. Amazing what you get for $169. This was a plug and play Can Bus with Nav and MFD that displays miles and RPM. Biggest Draw back is FM reception bad AM nonexistent. Antenna upgade next.