[GreenHornetvr6]

Guys...my meighbors 96 Passat won't start. The car was sitting fo like a month or so, but the negative terminal was unhooked while he was away. When he returned he started the car fine and drove it around the blocka couple times adn parke it up agian overnight this time with the battery hooked up with the intent to use it the next day. When he tried to start it the next day he got nothing but a click. I figure if it was the alternator he'd be able to go a little longer without it charging the battery so i think something is draining it. Is there anything on the passat that tends to get stuck on while the car is off? Maybe the auxillary water pump or maybe his power windows are stuck on up since the driver side won't roll down anymore? If you guys can give some input it would help out a lot.
Thanks

 

[jcorallo]

Re: Battery Drain? (GreenHornetvr6)

open the inspection hatches in the top of the battery.
I bet you its all furred up.
Mine was and i did the same as your friend - I had my battery on the bench while i had the engine out. After a week of use, the battery gave up and died.
I think that the furr builds up when its not used but the battery still works - then after a few high drain starts, and then being charged (ie: the battery gets cycled) the furr expands out completely and shorts the plates out.
try it and see...!
Jules


[Modified by jcorallo, 10:22 AM 11-28-2001]