[BuggytownVW]

My family has ALWAYS had a VW. Between me, my brother and my parents I think the only VW we haven't owned (to date anyway) is a Thing.

My wife and I just picked up a 2005 Touareg V8 basically sight-unseen. It was being sold by a dealer who knew NOTHING about Volkswagen's, so we got what I felt was a great deal. But it came with some of the typical Touareg baggage. I think we'll need to do the alternator cable replacement, and possibly a KESSY change, but first I need to get her titled in Pennsylvania and inspected.

You can all probably expect lots of questions as I sort out what we're dealing with.

Thanks

 

[Jimbuffalo]

Yeh, the kessy module ("parasitic draw") is what finally did me in with my 05 V8. One piece expensive door handle sensors was the last straw.

Some folks have bought $.75 transitors and some solder and fixed their kessy control units...I just bought a new TDI at the time.

Loved the power and pulling with that V8 for >120000 miles.

Good luck.

 

[BuggytownVW]

Jimbuffalo, when you had the kessy module problem, would it drain your battery completely down? I charged the battery Saturday, and it's been sitting, un-driven in my garage since. Last night I was able to start the car without a jump. So I don't think the batter is draining too bad. I suspect it's probably the alternator cable more than a parasitic drain.

 

[Jimbuffalo]

that was three years ago...if memory serves I replaced the battery (it was likely due)...and then the fun began. Needed to jump the car.

Very flaky symptoms diagnosed to one of the door handles. Estimates to repair were silly on a car worth under 7,500.00.

In my case, I'd replaced the front differential a year earlier (another big $$ decision) in the hopes I could get a couple years without absorbing large repair costs (granted, my extended warranty had expired). Didn't work out that way.

The T1 had some trick engineering to it...everything is fixable...but in my view throwing more money at it didn't make sense fo me (at the time). You're coming at the problem from a different place (if indeed it is the kessy door handle issue), so our situations were different.

The alternator-battery-starter cable debacle that affected 2004 and some 2005 models - IIRC - was a TSB. I believe there is a "sticky" here on the CT site of all TSBs. VW issued those...so perhaps it might still apply if yours was never replaced?