[Captain Spongeworthy]

There is a well-documented problem with early Treg batteries draining due to bad MOSFETs in the kessy module. I had this problem when I first bought my 05 V8 back in April. The keyless entry didn't work and the battery would die within 24 hrs. if the car was locked and within a few days if the car was unlocked and not driven. I replaced the battery, and that didn't help.

I fixed this problem for under $40, so I would start there if you have lost keyless functionality (plus you get your door buttons working again!). You can buy the 2 MOSFET chips for $1/each online and then I had a local electronic shop solder them onto the circuit board for me (charged me $35). Just search the forum for the kessy repair DIY; it has the link to the needed chips and a great write-up on how to do the repair.

I have had no more battery-draining problems since I had this fixed, and I love the keyless entry! I highly recommend you check into this.

I didnt think that leaving the car unlocked made a difference, I was under the impression that it locked itself after 30 seconds automatically. I will have to try that as I recently started experiencing issues with the kessy module and battery drain.

Ordered the MOSFET and resistors yesterday, crossing fingers....

 

[woody525]

I didnt think that leaving the car unlocked made a difference, I was under the impression that it locked itself after 30 seconds automatically. I will have to try that as I recently started experiencing issues with the kessy module and battery drain.

Ordered the MOSFET and resistors yesterday, crossing fingers....

I was just saying that if the car was parked in the garage (unlocked) for a few days, the battery would eventually run down -- as opposed to the much shorter time the battery took to discharge when the car was locked. That is how it affected my Treg anyway, but I suppose the bad-kessy symptoms would vary from vehicle to vehicle based on which components of the module actually are faulty.

Speaking of, I bought the resistors too (they're ridiculously cheap), but they're tiny so I didn't even want the guy who was soldering for me to bother with them unnecessarily. Apparently, I didn't need the resistors to be replaced since my kessy functionality seems perfect, so you might start with just the 2 MOSFETs. They are much easier to work with (but still fairly tricky to a novice solderer like me). At least I have the resistors on hand though in case of future issues.

Let us know how your situation turns out. I hope it works for you, Cap'n.

 

[Captain Spongeworthy]

I was just saying that if the car was parked in the garage (unlocked) for a few days, the battery would eventually run down -- as opposed to the much shorter time the battery took to discharge when the car was locked. That is how it affected my Treg anyway, but I suppose the bad-kessy symptoms would vary from vehicle to vehicle based on which components of the module actually are faulty.

Speaking of, I bought the resistors too (they're ridiculously cheap), but they're tiny so I didn't even want the guy who was soldering for me to bother with them unnecessarily. Apparently, I didn't need the resistors to be replaced since my kessy functionality seems perfect, so you might start with just the 2 MOSFETs. They are much easier to work with (but still fairly tricky to a novice solderer like me). At least I have the resistors on hand though in case of future issues.

Let us know how your situation turns out. I hope it works for you, Cap'n.

BTW you were correct, it was really helpful to know, the battery would hold charge if I didn't lock the doors. Before it was a pain to get security at work to jumpstart my car 2 days in the row. Replaced the MOSFETs today, crossing fingers.....

 

[Fonzi]

Battery dead again, but in cold? I've never started it this cold and ice is on it. The CCA on my battery is definitely good. :/ If it happens again, where should I go? The dealer? Ill definitely check around but I'm guessing they'll need it a while.


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[Fonzi]

Car is in the shop, turns out kessy is fried. The kessy unit is around 800$, does that sound good? At least my door handles and what not will work now! (Hopefully those don't go out). I went ahead and got my 100k service out of the way. Bill was over 4 grand. Woo!

 

[that_kid]

Is the kessy fried as in someone let the smoke out or is it just draining the battery? I ask because $5 in parts and some time with a soldering iron sounds much better than $800.

 

[noobytoogy]

Car is in the shop, turns out kessy is fried. The kessy unit is around 800$, does that sound good? At least my door handles and what not will work now! (Hopefully those don't go out). I went ahead and got my 100k service out of the way. Bill was over 4 grand. Woo!

What the hell was the other $3,200 for?

 

[Fonzi]

What the hell was the other $3,200 for?

Brakes, timing belt, other fluid flushes, some thermostats and what not. The kessy and installation was a big chunk of it though. Almost 2 grand. Don't know why. Maybe because they need to program it or something.

Is the kessy fried as in someone let the smoke out or is it just draining the battery? I ask because $5 in parts and some time with a soldering iron sounds much better than $800.

Apparently soldering wouldn't help a battery draining issue. (From what I've been told at the dealer).

 

[Fonzi]

Question: is the dealer the only one who can program a kessy? (Secret code I think it's called)?

 

[Theodore]

Chipping in a few cents on this. I battled it for two years and burned through three batteries in the process. It is now fixed and going on a year with no problems. First there is a chicken and egg phenomenon which makes it horribly confusing for everyone and makes it appear to be lots of things, most notably the $800 kessy...which the dealer originally said it was....but wasn't. TG I didn't want to cough up the green on that. A small voltage drain will over the long term kill your battery lowering the cranking amps and ability to hold a charge. As this happens the sensitive gizmos which the car is chock full of like the kessy end up not having the juice they need to start up properly and seem to get confused. Note the post earlier about all the bells and warnings firing off when the car starts with a low battery. Our battery is huge but even with a full charge it is still considered only adequate given the car's needs. Stress it a bit and well... AAA said that the first freeze of the year is the biggest day for battery calls as the cold kicks sick batteries over the edge. BTW they charge $98 for the touareg battery but are forbidden at least in WA from installing in our cars, cayennes or q5/7 because of the labor and liability involved in removing a $2000 leather seat. HA. The mechanic needed to put a voltage sensor on the battery and slowly go through the circuits to find which one is the drain. It takes some time because every time you open the door or lock or unlock the car the computer resets a timer which, depending on what you have done eventually leads to "sleep" mode. It must be in sleep mode for the active circuits to be apparent. Leaving the keys in the car like described earlier is apparently the worst because the car thinks you are there and leaves a bunch of power consuming functions active. Locking, arming the alarm 2x to turn off the motion sensors and taking the keys more than about 20 feet away gets it to sleep fastest. I watched and tested this myself by putting the voltage sensor on the battery and watching it through the window. Spooky that when the car senses you getting near it starts firing up systems to get ready for you. Mine ended up being a short or bad ground or something in the rear right taillight and a defective fuse. Sounded questionable but the charge from the dealer was minimal and I'm a year down the road with no problems. After a few days my kessy came back to life and quirky things stopped happening. Peace has returned to my garage.

 

[Devon]

Installing a circulating heater

I am looking to find out if anyone has installed a circulating heater. I have a 2007 v6. Want to make it easier on to starting in -40 C. I live on the Canadian prairies. I have installed a stick on oil pan heater and still does not start that good . If anyone could help that would be great.

 

[Fonzi]

The Treg doesn't have a motion sensor..?


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[Touareg MNE]

North American Touareg don't have it..

 

[Fonzi]

Then I guess Theodore bought his up north.. I've been thinking about importing a W12, but it sounds like a load of work. Anyway.. I hope this fixes it. Maybe in the future the navi or something will go bad.


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[Touareg MNE]

Don't know how much will be to import it in US.. Here if I want to import a car from US I need to pay about 5000$ for a V8 for example.. But who has American citizenship can do it for under 2000$

 

[Theodore]

Well, go figure. I do know why it would have odd options. I bought it used through a buying service. Had 18k and was 5 years old. I called the local VW dealer to get a build sheet to see what options it had as I kept on finding new gadgets. The lady told me I didn't have the car I said I did, actually argued. Finally said that based on the vin and port of import record it was a corporate car or something originally owned by VW of America. Got the impression it was a toy for their staff.

 

[92c2targa#119]

I am looking to find out if anyone has installed a circulating heater. I have a 2007 v6. Want to make it easier on to starting in -40 C. I live on the Canadian prairies. I have installed a stick on oil pan heater and still does not start that good . If anyone could help that would be great.

I purchased a interior car warmer that I plug in when the touareg is left out @ -25 and it works good at keeping the battery warm. I mounted it under the drivers dash and now have a 4 year old battery that can still start the Touareg after a cold Canadian winter night.

 

[Devon]

I am looking to find out if anyone has installed a circulating heater. I have a 2007 v6. Want to make it easier on to starting in -40 C. I live on the Canadian prairies. I have installed a stick on oil pan heater and still does not start that good . If anyone could help that would be great.

I am wanting to install a coolant heater that will heat coolant and circulate while sitting over night. Similar to a block heater. The dealer here said there is no frost plug to put a block heater in. The battery has lots of juice. I just want the engine to be warm. Read that some TDI 's have a wabasto. This is similar to what I want to install but it would need to be plugged in.

 

[Devon]

Then I guess Theodore bought his up north.. I've been thinking about importing a W12, but it sounds like a load of work. Anyway.. I hope this fixes it. Maybe in the future the navi or something will go bad.

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I imported my 2007 V6 from the US to Canada and it cost me about 1000 Canadian to get across the broader. I learned that the fuel milage is what they base to cost to import on. The touareg is not that great on fuel and anything sold after march of 07 you will have to pay a levy based of the fuel consumption. Witch this can get pricey up to a max of $5000.

 

[Fonzi]

Car has been in for a few weeks now, I guess they have problems programming the kessy.