Hey guys I did a search and couldn't find much about my current situation. I just obtained a 2002 gti 1.8t from a buddy who was pretty much just giving it away. The problem was it did not start and gave it to me as is. I took it right to my mechanic that's been fixing my other car for awhile, always did quality work and never had issues with him. Anyway, he diagnosed the problem as a bad battery and replaced it with a premium one. The car started up without an issue after the battery change and then we continued on to minor maintenance, oil change, fluids etc...

I was driving it for two days straight without an issue and then left for the weekend. When I got back I was able to start the car without a problem. Now here's the issue: I rolled into a parking lot to play around with this stereo settings because as of right now the head unit isn't "hooked up" as the owner original said. Mind you the original owner is not a very technical person at all. Anyway, after playing with some settings and playing around with a backup camera settings (even tho there is no back up camera, I was just playing with buttons) the car would not start up again. What happens is I turn the key and the dashboard lights flicker if I continue to engage the ignition. If I back up off it I get an EPC light and a check engine light.

One thing to note is that there is a viper alarm system that I have no idea the status of due to the fact the remote control no longer works. I'm not experienced with viper alarms and do not know how they act if it is engaged and I'm starting the car.

What I think its going on is that the stereo (has a cheesy LCD screen and can read information from the car such as RPM, speed, boost, etc...) and the turbo timer installed are draining from power from the batter irregularly - do you think this may be the case?


thanks for reading this over. I will have EPC codes tomorrow when my buddy (not the same seller) comes with his diag tools. I know it's hard to give me a good answer without the codes but seeing that the care started until I started playing with the radio - does this ring a bell for anyone?

Thanks again guys!