Failed Jump Start - ESC Light / No Start

[Suff]

Hi All,

So in ~17 years car ownership I have had the opportunity to jump start many a car (mainly thanks to my affection for old cars, that invariably spend more time on stands than they do the road). In that time I have never had an issue jumping car (new, old or inbetween).. so I am rather embarrassed to say that I am having huge issues with my MY14.5 Passat (118TSI) and getting it going.

Long story short, I left the keys in the car over night, which has resulted in a drained battery (confirmed by clicking when trying to turn the engine over).. No big issue I thought, I grabbed one of the other cars, did the usual jumper lead setup (+ to +, - to chassis), this immediately gave the Passat enough power to boot up all the electronics etc.. however when I tried to crank the car over, I get nothing (i.e. not even the clicking sound of the starter motor solenoid trying to engage).

Thinking I had a bad connection, I removed the jumper leads and started again, same result.. I get power but no ignition. Once I removed the jumper leads entirely, I tried to start the car again, same result, electrical power (low) but absolutely no sign of ignition. Paying a little closer attention, I note that the car is through a couple of codes (ESC Disabled amongst others) and there is a flashing spanner on the MFD.

So, my embarrassing question is.. WTF have I done? I am not a VW knowledge base, and dont have a VAG tool, is this issue simply a result of the battery pushing low voltage and the car through codes as a result.. I'm assuming I cant clear the codes through an OBD scanner? I will trickle charge the battery tonight, so that will hopefully address the local power issues.. any guidance you lot can offer would be VERY welcome!

Thanks in advance

Chris

[brad]

I can't advise about the battery but stop faffing around yourself & ring the roadside assist service that is provided as part of the warranty.

If the battery is cactus it will be warranty too

[AALocksmiths]

Ignore the fault codes as they do funny things when they have low power. Try connect the jumper leads straight to the battery cables and don't have the battery connected. I have had a few times where the battery is draining power through the jumper leads and the car wont have enough volts to start. Or with the leads connected have the good car running for 10 or so minutes so it will put some charge in the dead battery.

[kleung]

Try connect the jumper leads straight to the battery cables and don't have the battery connected.

I always thought that was a bad idea. As I understand it, the battery sort of acts like a surge protector, and connecting or disconnecting the vehicle battery with the engine running might result in damage to the vehicle electronics. Something about spikes. Having said that, that was based on having no battery connected at all, so if you re-connect the vehicle battery while the donor vehicle is still connected, you'd probably be ok.

[Guest001]

Mine was down like yours after not being used for 9 weeks.

I have a set of spike protected jumper leads. Hooked them up the recommended way and turned donor car (The Polo) on and left it running for about 20 mins
Got in the Passat with Polo still connected and running and cranked it and it went. Removed jumpers carefully and left it running for a half hour and then went for a drive. Did get some icons on the dash which I got cleared at service the following week They said it was as a result of low voltage Nothing else. Had no troubles since