I'm going to be away for 8 weeks and wonder if the battery will last out on my 1997 A6 Quattro. I've left it for 4 weeks on a few occasions and not had any problems, but I'm thinking this time I should disconnect the battery.

If I do disconnect I have a couple of questions, can I lock and unlock the car with the door key without power, and do the electronics need to be reset when connecting up again?

I did read here that when reconnecting turn the ignition to position 2 for a few minutes and all will be well. Anyone know about this?

I have the radio code so not concerned about that.

Any advice appreciated.

I would not do anything anything special but would not be suprised if it needed ajump to get it going. If your really concerned and have access to power, purchase a battery maintainer (trickle charger) but that is not necessary.

I would make sure the gas tank is full so there is little chance for condensation. If you want to be really anal you could put Stabil in the gas.

Thanks for the reply.

8 weeks isn't so long, though if the battery did run flat and sulphated it would be a gonner, this is all I want to avoid. I've decided to attach a small 'hobby type' PSU I've got and using a time switch let it apply about an amp for an hour a day. That'll get around any issues about resetting electronics and running flat.

Now I'm off on holiday for 8 weeks and will forget about it...