Audi A4
1996
Manual transmission

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Hey guys Im having a really weird problem all of a sudden and I searched all day on google and couldnt come up with a diagnosis...

so here is what happened... I bought this car 2nd hand this year in april 2010. Everything was working fine, I did all the oil changes, transmission fluid and powersteering fluids (all the fluids) replaced asap. Even did the timing belt because previous owner wasnt sure about when the last timing belt was replaced.

Anyways, car was working perfectly all summer, I have been driving it pretty much every day without any problems (besides the flickering of the heating fan display panel) but other than that no electric problems or anything. I also got a new battery installed in the summer.

Anyways everything was fine when I last drove my car 2 days ago (no warning lights on the dashboard on or anything).

However when I went to start up my car today, the car would not start. In fact none of the electric system seems to be functioning. None of the lights will turn on, the power locks wont work unless i manually unlock or lock the car, windows wont budge, even the security light when i lock the car won't turn on (the red pulsing light).

So Im pretty sure pretty much all my electric systems just stopped working and when I turn the key in the ignition nothing happens (the engine doesnt even crank/start). However, theres no way my battery can be dead cuz I just bought the thing like 4 months ago and everything was fine till 2 days ago.

the only thing I can notice is that I live in toronto and it's gotten cold and wet recently (down to about 0 degrees) and I know audi's have some problems in the cold, but how would that lead to all my electric stuff to stop working?

TLDR; all my electronic systems suddenly stopped functioning, turning the key in the ignition doesnt do anything, none of the lights work, even the security system won't work. And the battery is new so it cant be dead right?

Any help would be greatly appreciated before I have to tow my car to a mechanic ='( I love this thing

 

Id still check the battery, do you have a volt meter?

 

go get a new battery it should be free of charge 5 year warrenty on battery's. batterys do not like fast weather change here where i live if its hot one day and freezing the next day people's batterys go out atlease 1 out of every 5 cars this happens alot weathering does alot to battery's the best thing to do is put a sheild around the battery and protect it from the weather or put it in the trunk

 

ok I didnt know sudden weather changes could screw up batteries that drastically (its my first car)

Ill get a voltmeter and check the battery as soon as I can

 

Do a search for "ignition switch" - they're known to go bad and would explain every failure you have. Easy swap. I paid $28 shipped from www.germanautoparts.com for one a couple months ago.

 

ok so I just bought a cheap canadiantire voltmeter and set it to 12v and the needle only jumps less than a volt from 0 so it seems my battery is dead

Im gonna try to jumper cable from a friend tonite and hopefully it works (and I can replace the battery since its under warranty)

altho I still dont understand how the battery drained so much so fast... oh well as long as it gets fixed =) thx for the support ill update when I jump the car

edit: yup just jump started my car with a friend

it was my battery for sure sigh now to get it replaced

couldve been a lot worse though! thank the audi gods

 

While the battery is probably bad, I would hook the multimeter up after you get the new one while the car is running to make sure it is charing (should read about 14 v).