A few weeks ago when I tried to start my 2002 VDP, I had no electrics. I even had to open the car with the key in the door because the remote wouldn’t work. I opened the boot to check the battery cables which seemed tight and after tugging on the ground cable, the electrics came to life and everything worked normally until yesterday. (When I got home, I checked the connections at the battery terminals and where they attach to the car and everything was clean and tight.) Yesterday, the car started as it should, but when I tried to shut it off, the engine kept running even though I had turned the switch to “off” and removed the key! Nothing that I tried made any difference. Although the car drove normally (no warning codes appeared, either) the radio, AC and sun roof were inoperative. The side windows worked normally. I was prepared to disconnect the battery when I got home, but on the way, the engine died when I came to the first traffic light stop. I put the gearbox in park and then the engine restarted normally. Suddenly, the radio and AC sprang to life. I didn’t try the sun roof because I was afraid that it might open and not close again. When I got home, everything worked as if nothing had ever gone wrong and the engine shut off normally when I turned the switch to “off” and removed the key. Any ideas on what in the world is going on?
Fully charge the battery first then clean up the connections and retighten.
I did that when the first problem occurred.
Earth/Ground terminals spring to mind and are worth checking!
How old is the battery?
15 month old battery. I drove it home from work last evening and again it refused to shut off. I had a hell of a time getting it to stop running. When I did, it kept scrolling through all of the warning messages (electrical failure, suspension failure, ACT failure, transmission failure, limp home mode, you name it). I finally had to disconnect the battery to shut the messages off (reconnected the battery and it kept running messages). Right now, it’s being towed to the shop; I’ll update when I know more.
Ignition switch or relay sticking.
Early report is as you say, ignition switch or relay. The problem is, as so often happens, my mechanic can’t get it to act up again. He’s going to try driving it for a while and then see what happens. More to come when I know more.
So my mechanic had the car for a week and after driving it several times over the past week, couldn’t get the no shut off problem to recur. Since the most likely cause, as Jimbov8 suggested, was a sticking relay, he replaced the three power up relays. Now, it will just be a matter of keeping my fingers crossed and hope that one or more of those relays was bad.
Hope it works out for you Mark.