Dead battery now won't start

So my neighbor went out of the country for a few months and his 2002 Golf TDI has been sitting for 2 months. I need to move it for him and I was given a key. I went to start it and the battery was dead. So I put a charger on it overnight and tried to start it the next day. The key that I was given did not have the chip in it so it set off the immobilizer. I got the right key, disconnected the battery for 30 minutes, reconnected it and tried to start it. It cranks over no problem, but does not start. The immobilizer light on the dash is off, so I know I got the right key. Car has 1/4 tank of diesel in it, so maybe it's not getting fuel? I don't know where to start on this thing. I know that with my bigger diesel trucks if you run them low on fuel they would sometimes be hard to start.

The glow plug indicator comes on when I turn the key, but only illuminates for about 2 seconds. I don't hear any type of fuel pump but if I read right it's just the IP that sucks all the way from the tank.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am new to the VW Diesels and new to the forum.

Thanks in advance!

-Crash

From my experience, which isnt a lot. Once the battery is disconnected and re connected, the immo kicks in. Disallowing the car to start, even with the correct key. But I dont know beyond that.

Good Luck,
Justin

Well the immo light was on when I was using the incorrect key. When I switched to the chip key the immo light went off and has not come back on. So I'm thinking the immo is ok now?

If you were having still having immobilizer issues the car would start, run fine for 2-3 seconds, and then shut off with the immobilizer light flashing.

Since you're just cranking endlessly without actually starting your issue lies elsewhere. Two months is enough time for the fuel to drain back out of the IP, so one place to start might be to read up on re-priming the IP.

And yup, no other fuel pump on your 2002 other than the IP, so that's why you're not hearing anything when you turn the key on.

Problem solved. Thank you Vince. I used a vacuum pump and re-primed the IP, then bled the injectors. She's running fine now. Thank you!

Great to hear you figured it out... and thanks for reporting back.

It's not all great . It shouldn't loose its prime