Electrical problems with TDI

[nav]

Over the last couple of months, the car has intermittently been going into 'electrical shutdown' for a minute after the car has been parked but before the key has been taken out of the ignition.

When I say electrical shutdown, I mean
- All cabin lights turn off
- all lights and the MFD on the dash turn off
- the stereo turns off
- all external lights turn off
- sometimes the alarm arms itself
- the door locks still seem to work
- the car cannot be started (doesn't even fire or turn over)

It is an eerie feeling...

The only modification I've made to the car is to add a Pioneer DEHP80BT aftermarket head unit (from the states). It has the Connects2 CTSVW002 steering wheel adaptor and Fakra antenna adaptor. I also have a VW harness which i had to solder to the pioneer harness (with shrink wrap for isolation) so technically, no wires were cut

Two questions:

Q. Anyway...has anyone else experienced any of these issues particularly if you have an aftermarket head unit?

Q. Do you recommend that I swap back to the factory HU before taking it into VW to prevent any warranty issues?

Thanks guys and sorry for the long post.

Cheers,
Nav

[h100vw]

With that amount of stuff going off, it has to be something close to the battery. Did you fit the HU? Did you take a battery lead off. Have a look either way.

Gavin

[nav]

With that amount of stuff going off, it has to be something close to the battery. Did you fit the HU?

Yeah I fitted the head unit I've done it several times before but i've got to say that VW don't make it easy.

Did you take a battery lead off. Have a look either way.
Gavin

Yep, I disconnected the lead during installation.

[h100vw]

Yep, I disconnected the lead during installation.

For sure, check those leads again. Even take them off and make sure the stud and the clamp are clean and bright.

I have seen what looked like a perfect contacts fail.

It was a TR7 (shocking electrics anyway) it stated and ran great when we picked it up. I drive it 30 miles and it died as I turned a lefthander. Took me ages to work it out. The terminal was quite warm, not due to engine heat but the high resistance.

I had no tools so just jammed it on by hand and got it going again.

Gavin

[nav]

For sure, check those leads again. Even take them off and make sure the stud and the clamp are clean and bright.

Gavin

Thanks Gavin.

Just checked em and the contact looks fine. I would've thought that if it was loosing power at the battery, the locks and the alarm probably wouldn't work. In my case, sometimes the alarm arms and then goes off.

Anyway, just swapped out the stereo. I'll try and find out what the VW service guys see in terms of error logs.

F**K. The RCD300 with BT adaptor sucks.

[SUN56TI]

I had that same problem last friday, but the different is my GTI is brand new and nothing has done to the car, i still might just check all the connection and then head up to the vw service guys since my free service is due later this month

[Greg Roles]

Weird problem, I have an Alpine 9887 via a specific Celestine adaptor from the UK, ignition from the cig lighter and illumination from a front headlight ( yeah, long story ) PAC steer control boxes, and a stand alone amp direct from the battery, yet no electrical problems in my TDI whatsoever.

Sounds like a loose connector in a major junction to me!

[Big Yellow]

wasnt there someone else with a battery drain problem after they fitted a different headunit??

[nav]

wasnt there someone else with a battery drain problem after they fitted a different headunit??

Don't think its a battery drain problem because the car starts up with no issues. It seems to maintain charge fine. The problem is similar to a major fuse blowing and everything going black so I tend to agree with Cogdoc right now.