K... So, just picked up my car from the dealership 11 days ago... brand new 2008 Q7... Drove it around and it was fine... Went to start it on the 11th day and nothing... The battery was completely dead....I jumped it (although it took 4 attempts)... Now it is at the dealership and they are telling me that nothing is wrong with the car... That the parking light was left on and that is what killed it.... I never used the parking light and the lights were on auto since the sales person gave us the car.... Then I was told that it could have been the turn lights... That i left the turn signal arm down overnight and that drained the battery... I asked how that is possible if the car is off... He noted that there is s feature in Europe that allows the signal to be on when the car is off... Seems suspect.... I refused to pick of the car and asked them to "test" that theory... So, they are going to hook a computer and leave the turn signal handle down overnight and see if that works... I am open to any other suggestions of what it might be.... I have read through this forum and it seems that battery issues with the Audi are not that uncommon... I would like to know if anyone else found the root cause of the battery issue...

 

Thats odd, especially considering the vehicle is equiped with a battery management system that helps prevent that situation. That system will shut off items(some items such as headlamps cannot be turned off due to safety issues)to preserve battery power for starting. It will also prevent items from working untill the car is started. Did the remote unlock the car? If your battery was that dead it should have prevented the central locking from operating. First thing that comes to mind is a loose connection at the battery. If most of the electronics were working when you got to the car, it may just have a bad starter or a problem with the starting electronics.

 

So, I finally picked it up from the dealer... They had a computer on it for 2.5 days and it was at 100%.... Average draw down of 40 miliamps, which is within parameters.... They couldn't tell me what happened.... I don't know if it wasfluke or if there is some sort of connection problem... Perhaps I should have them check for a loose connection... The battery was soooo dead, however, that it took four attempts to jump it... Everything was dead....

 

I had a mysterious dead battery with my allroad and turned out to be a faulty brake light switch. The lights would come on on their own at any given time and stay on until the batt died. Usually happened after it sat for a little while. I couldn't figure it out until, I happened to be driving up in my other car and noticed the brake lights were on when they hadn't been on before. Replaced switch and the problem went away.

 

Q7 is a tottaly different beast. The brake light switch is just an input to a control module, which tells another control module to turn on the lights. Both of which should go to sleep when the key is removed. Theres no hardwire connection between the switch and the light.

 

Ok, that makes sense. Never mind what I said before...My brake light switch theory hasbeen shot to hell.

 

I had the same problem after my brother tried mine. Let me guess, you have the keyless ignition. It is possible to leave the ignition on (engine stopped). If you don't lock the door when you leave the car, the ignition stays on and draws up to 45A.

I called the Audi engineer out and he stared the car and told me of the problem. Ever since, the starter has been a little sluggish.

It's a design fault. One of only two I have found. The other (not serious, just irksome) is that you cannot retract the door mirrors with the ignition off. Otherwise, it's the most fabulous machine to ever grace the roads.

 

I purchased a 2007 Q7 in august of last year and have some small problems with until now. On march 27 2008 I went to start my car and nothing completely dead battery. My wife and I assumed that the kids left a reading light on in the back seat. Audi cam out and jumped the car and we went on our way. Now on april 15 2008 the battery was dead again. audi jumped the car and we took it to the dealer. The dealer could find nothing wrong with it and fixed nothing stating that if you use the keyless start and do not hold the stop button down for more than two seconds the accesories are all still active. The showed us in the owners manual but it states that pressing the stop engine button once stops the engine and the ignition and that pressing and holding the button will lock the steering wheel. Nothing is said about the accessories. Need some imput this car is really starting to suck. I always thought of audi as a great car and well made maybe it is time to rethinks this.

Any help or comments would be welcomed.

 

Similar problem here. I own an earlier model 2007 Q7 (purchased new nov. 2006). We had left the Q7 in the dealer for minor service with the valet key. When we picked it up, my wife drove it to work and forgot about the valet key since we always use the smart key fob. So, she actually left the valet key in the ignition all day long while she went to work in her shop. The engine was off and the ignition switch was in the off position. Since she's used to the radio and all electronics, lights, etc. shutting off on a delay, especially with the smart key, she didn't think anything of it when she left the car for the day. She locked the car and walked away. Anyway, with the valet key still in the ignition, the radio remained on all day until the battery was drained. We had to jump start it in the evening.

I took it into the dealer and had them look at it. I was under the assumption that the Q7 has a smart computer which is supposed to shutdown all non-essential equipment if there's a chance that the battery is being drawn down too far. They said that it was normal and also showed me the same on a 2008 Q7. I had a copy of a TSB that mentioned something to the fact that it wasn't normal and was fixed by a software upgrade. They still denied anything was wrong and also stated that my software versions were all up-to-date and didn'tneed an upgrade.

He even tried explaining that Audi designed it that way so you could sit in your car and listen to the radio without turning the engine on. Their explanation didn't really make any sense at all. I may not know much about the electronics, but it seems odd that any manufacturer would leave stuff "on" with the ignition switch in the off position, regardless if the key was in the ignition or not. Usually, ignition switches have an "off", "on", and "accessory on" position. If I wanted to sit in the car and listen to the radio without the engine on, then I'd turn it to the "accessory on" position -- not the "off" position.

 

have you had any success in resolving this. I have a relation with same battery drain issue (in Australia) and nothing seems to be solving it..