2008 MKV 2.0 Turbo: Battery out for one year- DO I NEED TO UN-IMMOBILIZE IT?

[dougwa]

2008 GT turbo, VIN: WVWFV71K88W330692, Body Type: "2.0 200HP 6S DSG".
I let it sit in the driveway for a year with the battery removed. Today I put in a fully charged battery and now if I turn the key it's as if the starter is not installed. Just nothing.
The dashboard lights come on when I turn the key to the RUN position, and DRL shows on the speedometer.
If I turn the key to RUN and step on the brake I can not take it out of Park.
I tried turning on the key and plugged in a scanner. It said, "Communicating with vehicle, please wait..." then after a spell it said "OPERATION ERROR Check Connection".
Is there some kind of initialization sequence I should do after installing the battery?
If not, I suppose I have wiring damage somewhere. Ya think?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Blessings to you all ~
Doug

 

[GTI's]

2008 GT turbo, VIN: WVWFV71K88W330692, Body Type: "2.0 200HP 6S DSG".
I let it sit in the driveway for a year with the battery removed. Today I put in a fully charged battery and now if I turn the key it's as if the starter is not installed. Just nothing.
The dashboard lights come on when I turn the key to the RUN position, and DRL shows on the speedometer.
If I turn the key to RUN and step on the brake I can not take it out of Park.
I tried turning on the key and plugged in a scanner. It said, "Communicating with vehicle, please wait..." then after a spell it said "OPERATION ERROR Check Connection".
Is there some kind of initialization sequence I should do after installing the battery?
If not, I suppose I have wiring damage somewhere. Ya think?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Blessings to you all ~
Doug

What scan tool did you use?

 

[dougwa]

Hey GTI's and thanks for the reply. I used an Acton scan tool, not one of those super-advanced ones some garages have. Still, it's always shown me results before. Looks like I have a wiring issue, corrosion or rodent damage. Unless someone else has a suggestion... do I need to re-initialize something after removing and re-installing the battery?

 

[Eric6014]

Curious to see if you've made any progress with this. My car has been out of commission for a while and is sitting in my driveway with a dead battery. Didn't occur to me that I might need to reprogram the immobilizer.

If your car is stuck in park there is a manual override on the right side of the shifter under the trim piece. Should be a yellow or green plastic switch. Flip the switch and you should be able to get it in gear.

 

[dougwa]

Hey Eric,
Thanks for thinking of me but I haven't had ANY LUCK.
Would you be so kind as to use jumper cables and see if your GTI starts? That would tell us for sure.
Here's what I've done so far:
I called a well-respected garage, who recommended who they thought was the go-to place, whom I phoned. No one alive ever answers - the voice message said the only way to reach them was to leave a detailed message. And... they never called back.
What I'd told them was, the battery had been out for a year and now it was as if there was no starter installed. I asked if there was an immobilizer they could reset. No return call, so you can assume they didn't see any money in it. (I'd only pay them for disabling the immobilizer and do all other repairs myself.)
Go0gle search found half a dozen hokey ways to disable an immobilizer, NONE of which worked - Lock/unlock the car five times with the fob. Leave the key in the ignition overnight. Unhook the battery, tap the clamps together, open the driver's door and then connect the battery. None of that crud worked. lol

 

[GTI's]

Try and find someone that has a actual Ross-tech Vcds scan tool and do an Auto scan on this GTI and see what you pull and post complete scan. Make sure the battery is fully charged before you start.

 

[Eric6014]

Try and find someone that has a actual Ross-tech Vcds scan tool and do an Auto scan on this GTI and see what you pull and post complete scan. Make sure the battery is fully charged before you start.

He's not going to be able to get much data if he can't get the car started is he?

 

[Eric6014]

Hey Eric,
Thanks for thinking of me but I haven't had ANY LUCK.
Would you be so kind as to use jumper cables and see if your GTI starts? That would tell us for sure.
Here's what I've done so far:
I called a well-respected garage, who recommended who they thought was the go-to place, whom I phoned. No one alive ever answers - the voice message said the only way to reach them was to leave a detailed message. And... they never called back.
What I'd told them was, the battery had been out for a year and now it was as if there was no starter installed. I asked if there was an immobilizer they could reset. No return call, so you can assume they didn't see any money in it. (I'd only pay them for disabling the immobilizer and do all other repairs myself.)

Yes, I can start my car and get it into gear using the manual override that I mentioned. But that's the only way I can get into gear. I've been having issues with my S4 so I've been focused on that but I'm planning to spend a weekend on the GTI soon.

See if you can get it in neutral and try starting it. Probably won't work, but worth a shot.

Have you tried calling a dealer? They'll be expensive but they should be able to help with the immobilizer if that is the issue.

 

[GTI's]

He's not going to be able to get much data if he can't get the car started is he?

Just because a car does not start or turn over does not mean no coms with a scan tool, a good scan tool is going to look at all the modules that is can in an Auto scan and give you that info. If that scan tool is not able to communicate try another scan tool and or check the ODB plug for power & ground etc.

 

[GTI's]

If you had the immo kick in the dash would tell you that it is active either by the icon in dash or the word safe in Mfd or both etc.