Hey guys,

The "ding" sound my A4 is supposed to make when the lights are on doesn't work anymore. I accidentally left my lights on over the weekend and now the battery is dead. Whoever designed this car is an absolute genius - the doors won't unlock with the key when the battery is toast. I can unlock the trunk but the rear seats are latched shut, so I can't get into the car that way. The windows are rolled up and I can't get to the hood latch.

How can I get the hood open to jump the battery?

 

I have a 1997 A4 1.8T and I have had that happen to me,

Fortunatly, I dont know if it applies to all, but the passenger door does open when the battery is dead...... hope it helps....

 

There must be a vacuum leak or something of the sort, because I tried that this morning and it was a no go. Who the hell designed this crap?

From here I think there are a few options, please correct me if I'm wrong:

1. I heard of some mythical "emergency battery posts" under the hood, where I could hook up some jumper cables and unlock the doors.

2. Go in through the trunk and kick the back seats in (bad idea)

3. Break a window (worse idea)

4. Get under the car and try to pop the hood from underneath with a screwdriver. I'm not sure how to do this, though.

 

Never mind, I got it.

The lock on the passenger side door works backward. So turn to right unlocks. That did it.

 

Great.... glad you got it.....

 

And for future reference, if you have AAA its free or just call the police and they will usually do it for free too. Worse case, the cops will call a garage and they will charge you like $30 to open your door without breaking your window or back seats.

 

lmao good. i was going to say you can't ever get locked out of an audi. i took my battery out and was still able to open the door with the lock. and remember this is a german car so some things will be a little backwards but the overall design is much better than most japanese and american design.