My wifes GTi hasn't been used for a couple of months. I know I should have disconnected the battery, but I didn't realise it was going to be out of use for so long.

Anyway, I went to move it the other day to give it an oil change before we start using it again, but it seemed like the battery was completely dead. No alarm (which is a Toad thing), no central locking, no lights on dash and obviously, no starter motor.

So, I figured the battery had been drained. Tried charging it and still absolutely nothing. So, I thought the battery must have died.

Today, I've been and bought a new battery (£65, OUCH) and replaced the old one.

Nothing. At all. Still.

Any ideas? I'm hoping it's something simple!

Nope, there's literally NOTHING at all from any electrical system on the car.

There are a bunch of earth leads, I think. I'm just about to go to try and find them and clean them up.

I've checked the fuses, they're all fine. The wires on the positive terminal are a bit shitty, but nothing that would stop it working completely, I don't think?

When I've warmed up a bit, I'm going to go and give the connectors a good clean with some emery paper. The positive side is that shitty screw on thing. I'm not convinced it's making good contact, although I've had a play and it seems tight.

Got it working again...

I took the terminals off and used some emery paper to clean them up and when I was putting them back on, noticed the wires under the screw cap on the positive seemed a bit loose.

It wasn't making contact hardly at all. Bent it about a bit and put it back on and it was fine.

Feel a bit silly!

There are more problems since reconnecting the battery though.

The standard alarm seems to have come back into play - it never did anything before, but now, if I open the door after it's been unlocked for a while, the headlights flash, along with the green dipped beam indicator on the dash. I'm guessing it's the standard alarm going off, but the siren has been disabled/removed?

Also, when it's stood doing nothing, the car keeps making a strange noise - it sounds very much like the fuel pump priming. Haven't had chance to investigate further yet.

Oh, and the fans aren't working now, either!

Any ideas?