Battery Failure? (Long)

Friday evening we went into the garage to start our 2012 Passat TDI SEL for the first time in about 30 hours and there was apparently not even enough voltage to energize the multiple components let alone the starter. All lights on the display flashed; clock kept resetting; trip meter reset; and display alternated between " key out of range" and "press the brake to start." Since we had somewhere to go that evening, we just switched everything off and took the wife's Mercedes, instead.
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Saturday morning I hooked up my portable battery jump starter. That gave enough juice to avoid the flashing display lights, but not enough to even try to turn over the starter. So I connected my VCDS to see what was going on. There were a couple low/insufficient voltage faults, and most components could not even be reached. I cleared those faults. No joy trying to start using the jumper. And the jump starter ran down very quickly.
So, while it still had some power available, I shifted the DSG transmission into neutral so it would be possible to push the Passat out of the garage.
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Called my dealer service department to give them a heads up, and then VW Roadside Assistance. My plan was to have the Passat flatbedded to the dealership. Roadside Assistance told me that since it was a 2012 Passat (without tow hooks) it could not be flatbedded. They instead wanted the front wheels to be placed on a carriage (like lots of folks use to tow a car behind their motor home) and then towed to the dealership. I did not want to do that for fear of damage to the Passat. So, once VW Roadside Assistance gave me the name and number of the tow service that they dispatched to my home, I called the tow company directly and told them to bring a flatbed, instead. I also searched on the Internet while waiting for the tow service to arrive (only took about 10 minutes) and found excellent instructions for how to hook up tows on a 2012 Passat. One such option was for a flatbed. So I printed that out, with pictures of connection points, and provided it to the flatbed driver.
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It was very easy to flatbed the Passat--even without tow hooks. The driver was able to attach his winch cable to the appropriate frame points in the instructions and just pull the Passat, read end first, up onto the flatbed.
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Dealer gave me 2012 Jetta Sportwagan as a free loaner. Got my Passat back midday on Monday. They had removed and tested the battery Saturday afternoon. After about an hour on their charger/tester, the display said the battery was defective and needed to be replaced. So they put in a new battery. Passat started right up. They tested the charging system. All was good. They let the Passat sit until Monday morning to be certain that the new battery would not drain down. It did not. And they confirmed that there was no drain on the battery while the Passat was turned off.
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Everything seems back to normal now. Even my rain-sensing wipers still work without having to re-code with VCDS. Will run a full auto-scan tomorrow morning, just to be sure that there are no stored faults.
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Has anyone else had their Passat battery fail after only two months and about 2500 miles?

Yours is the first I've read of in this forum.

Sounds like a straightforward battery failure. I'm sure it's rare, just as I'm certain (as with any other device) it happens. And, in answer to the question, I've been driving since the 1950's and have never had a new battery fail (20 cars or so, not counting rentals, etc.).

I am more curious about the dealer's procedures for checking the new battery.

1. Install the new battery and test it out. Check. But keep it over a weekend? Putting an ammeter in series with the battery after the car is shut off will give you any spurious drains, and can be done in 10-15 minutes.

2. If they told you there was NO drain on the battery when the car is turned off, something else is wrong. There should be a standard drain for that particular model, right in their service documentation, of the current draw of the ant-theft, KESSY standby, etc. Contemporary cars have some current draw from the battery, even when turned off.

I noticed you have an SEL. Did you happen to leave a keyfob inside the car? My family's habit is to leave the key for whatever vehicle in the car inside the garage. No his and hers keys (always keep the spare in a file with paperwork). I had to change the habit with my SEL and always take it in for fear of draining the battery.

Rico567 said:

Sounds like a straightforward battery failure. I'm sure it's rare, just as I'm certain (as with any other device) it happens. And, in answer to the question, I've been driving since the 1950's and have never had a new battery fail (20 cars or so, not counting rentals, etc.).

I am more curious about the dealer's procedures for checking the new battery.

1. Install the new battery and test it out. Check. But keep it over a weekend? Putting an ammeter in series with the battery after the car is shut off will give you any spurious drains, and can be done in 10-15 minutes.

2. If they told you there was NO drain on the battery when the car is turned off, something else is wrong. There should be a standard drain for that particular model, right in their service documentation, of the current draw of the ant-theft, KESSY standby, etc. Contemporary cars have some current draw from the battery, even when turned off.

Click to expand...

It takes a while for the can-bus cars to enter sleep mode.. so your 10-15 minutes is incorrect.

Bill

I had the battery replaced in my JSW within the first year. Did the dealer leave the metal shipping loops (screw into the holes in the front and read bumper)? That's what my tow truck drive told me they are supposed to hook on to so they can get it up on the flatbed.

kjclow said:

I had the battery replaced in my JSW within the first year. Did the dealer leave the metal shipping loops (screw into the holes in the front and read bumper)? That's what my tow truck drive told me they are supposed to hook on to so they can get it up on the flatbed.

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2012 Passat does not have any such shipping loops. I guess another de-content item.

I think we're picking nits about the battery drain issue. Most systems should go to sleep after 5 minutes of the car being locked and FOB being out of range (SEL) or car locked (SE). After that, parasitic drain should be minimal... perhaps a few milliamps. I think when the OP mentioned the dealer saying there was no drain, they meant no appreciable or abnormal drain - the car will obviously use some power in standby.

FWIW, my Passat SEL was in my garage unlocked but keyfob in the house for a vacation. It was parked for over 9 days and started up fine. While there should be some drain for the clock and controller for the keyless entry, they are minimal. Something went wrong with OP's car, maybe just a low charged battery, or operator error of leaving car not in park, or keyfob in, whatever. Hopefully it does not happen again.

Tech thought the battery failed. Acted like an internal short.

I also went through three batteries within about 6 months on my beetle. The diesel engines seem to put a higher strain on the batteries when starting. So if you get a marginal battery, it may fail quicker in these cars. My opinion with no facts to back it up.

Always a possibility of a sticky relay causing the drain. Not common, but it does happen.

1500 miles. Car stays in the garage for three weeks at a time while I'm out of town. Been like this for three months I've owned it. Go out of town every month.
This morning, battery completely dead. No lights at all. Can't even put it into neutral to roll out of the garage to jump it. At the dealer now, we'll see. They are also looking into a paint defect in my hood while I'm here.

Got back from service today. Says nothing wrong with battery, nothing draining the battery either. Thinks my not driving for three weeks at a time has something to do with it???? I told him, three months of no problems. Just drove it the day before for 50miles or so. And the battery was totally dead, as in no instrument light at all!
Guess I'm going to be buying a trickle charger in the near future.....
As for the paint. Took pics and submitted it to corporate, and they'll get back to me.

Go to your local auto parts store and ask them to check the battery. It should be free and will give you another opinion on the state of the battery.

Hmm. As I mentioned in another thread, my battery died the morning after I got the car. I figured that I had done something stupid, like leave the car on in "accessory" mode (because I'm too dumb to be trusted with a pushbutton starter ), and while that's still probably the strongest possibility, I think I might head down to AutoZone and have them test it, just to be on the safe side.

X2 I'm wondering if I left the ignition on...if I could only remember what I was doing that day to the car. Programming mirrors down?? I have just installed my RVC, but that was last week, about six days ago. And I have driven the car 150 miles+ since then.

I have not had any problem since the new battery. But I have also been much more careful. Wife and I used to leave our keys on the counter in the kitchen, which is directly above our garage. Not any longer! Now keep the keys on the far side of the house. Also, I used VCDS to turn back off the rain closure feature. Got to thinking, that with rain closure active, a computer somewhere has to be constantly checking for rain sensor input; and the rain sensor has to have power, also. Will be leaving on an international flight in a couple of weeks and won't be back until a couple weeks later. Rather than leaving the Passat at the airport while we are gone, I decided to leave it at home and do one-way car rentals instead. Cost is about the same as parking fees, but at least I won't have to worry about the Passat's battery being drained at the airport.

ColoradoDriver said:

I have not had any problem since the new battery. But I have also been much more careful. Wife and I used to leave our keys on the counter in the kitchen, which is directly above our garage. Not any longer! Now keep the keys on the far side of the house.

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FWIW, both of my keys were out of range when my battery died.

ColoradoDriver said:

I have not had any problem since the new battery... Got to thinking, that with rain closure active, a computer somewhere has to be constantly checking for rain sensor input; and the rain sensor has to have power, also.

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Interesting observation. I too just activated both rain closure and auto wipers just a few days ago. To be safe, I am also going to disable both functions. As I didn't have a problem before activation.
I am also leaving next week for three weeks. And don't want to come home to a dead battery either. So this will be a good test.

The rain closure times out after 24 hours... it rolls the windows up and stops checking for rain.

-J

once again, compu 85 to the rescue! Thanks!

My opinion about this thread? ...a couple of bad batteries...

A friend has a 2013 TDI SEL being delivered Friday. When I looked at VW.com to see what the new prices are, I noticed a "Basic Alarm" option now. This also got me thinking that VW appears to be adding a separate alarm kit rather than just activating the alarm the way we have done. Our approach, by its very nature, requires the car's computer to be constantly checking for a door/hood to open. That means the computer must be powered up--draining some from the battery. Perhaps the optional alarm uses much less power?

In any event, I am going to turn the alarm back off.

The alarm did not drain your battery. VW's alarm "kit" is just the meeper alarm horn and a hood switch (which the SEL already has). I don't know what their basic alarm option is, but I bet it goes through the BCM.

When you lock the car / arm the alarm all the modules go to sleep after some time. Yes, it's still looking for a door open event, but it's always looking for that anyway so it can turn the interior lights on. Having the alarm active just changes the events that happen after the door open event is registered by the BCM.

Rico567 said:

Putting an ammeter in series with the battery after the car is shut off will give you any spurious drains, and can be done in 10-15 minutes.

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An ammeter in series?

really? wow!

Good way to fry your meter, they are usally fused at 5-10amp, so if you do have an issue with your car you'd have to deal with a discharge issue as well as fixing your meter.

There's a reason many meters have differnt test ports for looking current

What's wrong with looking at voltage drop across a fuse like the VW tech manual states to do.

740GLE said:

What's wrong with looking at voltage drop across a fuse like the VW tech manual states to do.

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Nothing, because this is the only way to get an accurate measurement on newer cars. If you reboot all the modules fussing around with an amp meter they won't go to sleep... and will draw too much power.

-J

Two thoughts: One is that it seems I hear about a lot more battery failures on '09 and later cars than on the earlier cars. I wonder if the battery type/manufacturer/assembly line for these cars is more problematic.

Second, with the increasing focus on fuel economy standards, I wonder if manufacturers are going to pay more attention to power consumption when cars are not running, as it takes energy to recharge the battery after the car sits for a while. I guess the EPA measuring system would never capture that.

ColoradoDriver said:

A friend has a 2013 TDI SEL being delivered Friday. When I looked at VW.com to see what the new prices are, I noticed a "Basic Alarm" option now. This also got me thinking that VW appears to be adding a separate alarm kit rather than just activating the alarm the way we have done.

Click to expand...

Wait - the alarm isn't activated on the SEL? The little red light flashes when I lock it, so I thought that meant that the alarm was active.

No, there is no alarm from the factory. Try it out... roll down a window, lock the car (on the SEL keep the key away from the car), and open the door from the inside.

-J

compu_85 said:

No, there is no alarm from the factory. Try it out... roll down a window, lock the car (on the SEL keep the key away from the car), and open the door from the inside.

Click to expand...

That is crazy on a vehicle in the Passat's class and at its price point. I haven't had a car without a basic alarm in like 15 years, and it's not like I was buying Maseratis.