When I shut down my 98 1.8T A4 Sedan, a battery light remains lit on the console and within 4-5 hours the car is completely drained of power. Also, the window buttons remain lit on both the passenger and driver door panel. The windows can even be operated long after the car has been shut down.

I am hoping someone on the forum might have some idea how to track down this problem before a multitude of hours are wasted. I know the problem is not the battery itself, because I had a brand new one given to me and swapping it in caused no change in the current condition.

 

you have a short probably in the wires under the steering wheel. i hate electrical problems like that. there's like thousands of wires on the daym car lol

 

I realize that it is probably a short, I was just hoping someone else may have had a similar short and I could save some time by learning from them

 

I haven't had that problem, but one thing you can do to narrow down the problem circuit is to put a light bulb between the negative terminal of the battery and the negative wire (disconnect the neg cable, connect a bulb in there). The bulb will be lit since you have a short somewhere and that circuit is draining juice.

Now, pull one fuse at a time and see what happens with the bulb. If you pull the correct fuse, for the circuit containing the short, you'll break that circuit and the bulb will extinguish. Put it back in and the light should come back on. That may help you narrow down where to look at least. From there, it's a matter of sweat and digging.