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is the battery discharging in those 3-4 days? if so i would think you have a short somewhere that is draining the battery.

Sounds like either a draw on the battery or a bad battery. To determine which disconnect the ground next time the car is parked for this length of time. If the engine cranks over after reconnecting then the problem is a draw. If it makes no difference and it still goes dead replace the battery.
If you find it to be a draw let us know and we`ll help you trace it to the source. Good luck. Bob Ingman

A quick way to check if a battery is probably bad is to look at the sides. If they bulge out (not a huge bulge but a fairly slight bulge) the battery is likely toast.

A simple test for battery draw at rest is to remove the POS(+) battery terminal and just touch it to the positive post. If you get a light spark, just as it touches, you have a draw. Now with tht said, many stereos and the clock will have a constant draw. You can momentarily disconnect those at the backs for testing purposes.

Searching out causes for draw can be frustrating, but if you go about it in a methodical manner, they can be found. You may want to remove one fuse from the terminal block at a time and do the afore mentioned test. As you work through the fuse block you will find which fuse circuits are drawing, then you can check a wiring diagram and find which components are on that circuit and further narrow the search. Good Luck!!

hmmm that last post made me think that your starter my just stick and not do anything then when you touch the termanls you may get more power seeing the batter is so close


see if you have enough power going from the switch to the starter or from the batter to the starter


does anything else work or is every thing dead?

To test it next time it wont start get a hammer give the solenoid a little wack if it works then you know its going out


but if everything else works it has to be the starter

This is the classic VW resistance-through-twentysix-feet-of-wire-plus-ignition-switch to the solenoid no start issue. It often shows up as a hot no-start. You do have a likely drain on the battery, and yes it will kill the starter solenoid circuit through that afore-mentioned wiring long before the rest of the system shows a problem.
Colin
( remote relays do a good job of taking care of that problem)

tranny ground strap isnt tight

good point, clean the contact surfaces for the strap and tighten it...

can be check by touching an ohmmeter to the tranny and the negative terminal on the battery, should be in the hundreTHS of ohms (if strap and connection points are clean... FYI, the starter is grounded through it's housing via the transmission which is grounded through the strap, no strap, no ground, no go

Bean There Done That..Got the T-shirt..Lost the Hat...
Im Saying Its your Starter........It Sounds Like it took A poopy on you...
I would pull it out And Take to a shop and have them test it..
OR....you could go to your tool box Grab the biggest HAMMER you got...
And BEAT THE SHIZA OUT OF IT.....ITs a great TEMP FIX..

MY Ghia Did this to Me about a month ago....I found that My starter was about 15 Years old......Atleast......"All I can SAY is..IF you buy a new one get a BOSCH..."I went With the Cheep One they Had had the auto parts store.... YAh it Worked for 2 weeks......I got a BOSCH....No problems since......GOOD LUCK........

easy banging on the starter if it's hot.. stuff breaks. mine was getting stuck so i gave it a couple of blows with a homemade wooden mallet.. then it did nothing (i'm assuming the stuff was on it's way out anyways) when i took it apart random broken pieces fell out... Taking apart a starter and cleaning up connections and cleaning it out is not hard, it's worth a shot..

If this vehicle has ever had significant differntial side cover leaks...or CV boot leaks, its common to have grease get into the solenoid cover. As it cools, it solidifys and becomes a non-conductor. It could also have water or corrosion inside that keeps the resistance high to making contact in the solenoid. The same can go for a bad ignition switch. Get an extra ignition switch...pull the plug from the back of the one in the column and pop the new one into the plug. Turn it with a screwdriver. If that solves the problem...then its the switch. Ray