Home from Iraq and '05 A4 Audi wont start after 12 months in storage...
 

I stored it in it's own storage unit for $181 a month. The car is dusty but looks great, no leaks or anything. I had new tired put on it before I put it in storage, I disconnected the battery and put sta-bil in the gas tank.

Today I got back from Iraq and went to get my car out of storage. My keyless remote would not work, so I opened the doors with the key itself. If I lock the car with the key it turns on the alarm and the red light on the door blinks. I reconnected the battery and everything seems fine, the system check is OK, the stereo works and everything, but when I go to start her up she cranks, but doesn't fire. The local Audi dealership thinks I need to have it towed in to them and they have to reset the alarm and keys. This is going to be frustrating, because the car is in a tight spot even if I roll it out of the storage unit itself.

What do you guys think is the problem? Is it possible that the key itself might have a dead battery or something? I only have the one key unfortunately. The others are in California and I am in Colorado Springs.

-Nathaniel

Immobilizer prolly...

Supposedly you can sync the key by hitting lock while you turn it from off to on. How long did you crank it? Maybe the fuel is not primed. Also, try replacing the battery in the remote.

Iraq huh? 12MOS tour? Marine? anyways, the immobilizer should start the car and then it'll say safe on it then it shuts down. If no one started your car for a year then maybe you should run the VAG on it see what codes it pops out. Maybe you have a fuel pump issue or multiple coul packs failure.

So I put the car in neutral and pushed it out of the storage unit, I called AAA and waited 30 minutes for the tow truck to arrive. When he gets there we are about to load up the car, but then we go into the trunk and the tow hook is MIA. The tow truck driver was pretty awesome, so he drove me down to the dealership about five miles down the road and we borrowed one from the service department. We get back to the my storage unit and it turns out they gave us the wrong tow hook. So we drove back, got one and tested it on a B6 model they had there. We went back and hooked it up and towed it in. This whole process took about an hour. I didn't pay anything to the driver AAA covered it all, except the tip I gave him since he went out of his way for me.

I waited in line for Dan the service guy to help me. I told him the story, and he didn't seem convinced about the alarm. We walked our there and he got in the drivers seat, he put the key in and cranked it, the car made all sorts of sounds trying to start up for about a minute and then BLAM! it fired up. I couldn't believe it. He said it was just an issue with the fuel. I had put five gallons of fresh fuel in the car before we towed it in, I am not sure if that helped or not.

Sure enough both keyless remotes needed to be re-synced, shane.trammell was right about that, but it wasn't as easy as that. Dan did it no less than twenty times before it finally it worked. Those damn things are finicky.

In response to Dan1969, I am active duty, an MP attached to 4ID, I was at FOB Echo for five months and the rest at CSC Scania.

Well at least it wasn't anything that bad.

Welcome! yeah some old stale fuel can do that. I used to store my old Mustang for the winter and I'd fill the tank up to the brim and I added some fuel stabilizer. I filled it to keep condensation out. Then later I found out from some friends that the condensation in the tank isn't an issue anymore with the newer cars. They recommended that the fuel be at a minimum during long storage then put some fresh fuel in before starting.

Marine 7mos tour Iraq Parker, Co
 

I'm positive it was Phil Long Audi you went to??? How are they? My opinion on the whole situation is... Gravity. Sitting for 12 months all liquids will fall to the lowest point they can reach, dry out everything up top, and it could take a few crankings to relube everything. Also a non lubed engine and then cranking on it can be very harmful to the engine. FYI

Well.. if theres Ethanol in fuel it will absorb water outta the air which then settles to the bottom of the tank (gas floats). Its the main reason Ethanol mixed fuel cannot be used for flying.