Is this possible?

 

I wanted to remove the battery with the central locking keeping the doors closed. My partners A3 has a switch for temporarily deactivating the alarm.

Are you sure that that switch on the A3 and most other VW Group cars that have an alarm fitted, is not just for the "interior monitoring function" of the car's alarm.

 

Have you worked out or discovered how you lock up the car after the battery has been removed, it is quite easy to do though the car will be deadlocked, I've done that on a 2009 SEAT Ibiza without having any problems.

 

Can you not remove the battery then lock the car with the metal key?

34 minutes ago, Stonekeeper said:

Can you not remove the battery then lock the car with the metal key?

 Probably not if all doors unlocking is set. How would you lock the passenger doors with a key being used in the drivers door (and lock the boot)?

1. Unlock the car with the keyfob.
2. Pull the bonnet release latch.
3. Lock the car with the keyfob.
4. Remove the battery.
5. Close the bonnet.

Car is now fully locked.

 

To unlock.

1. Use the key in the drivers door to open the deadlock.
2. Pull the bonnet release latch.
3. Replace the battery.

All good again.

 

 

23 minutes ago, tetley said:

 Probably not if all doors unlocking is set. How would you lock the passenger doors with a key being used in the drivers door (and lock the boot)?

1. Unlock the car with the keyfob.
2. Pull the bonnet release latch.
3. Lock the car with the keyfob.
4. Remove the battery.
5. Close the bonnet.

Car is now fully locked.

 

To unlock.

1. Use the key in the drivers door to open the deadlock.
2. Pull the bonnet release latch.
3. Replace the battery.

All good again.

 

 

 

The world loves  a Pedant. 😉

 

I simply meant the key could be used

 

Apologies for not saying un-lock

1 hour ago, tetley said:

 Probably not if all doors unlocking is set. How would you lock the passenger doors with a key being used in the drivers door (and lock the boot)?

1. Unlock the car with the keyfob.
2. Pull the bonnet release latch.
3. Lock the car with the keyfob.
4. Remove the battery.
5. Close the bonnet.

Car is now fully locked.

 

To unlock.

1. Use the key in the drivers door to open the deadlock.
2. Pull the bonnet release latch.
3. Replace the battery.

All good again.

 

 

This was exactly what I thought I could do. It's what I used to do on my 2004 Clio, but thinking about it now, that car only had an immobiliser (no alarm).

 

When I did this and took the negative lead off the battery, it set the alarm off.

2 hours ago, Stonekeeper said:

Can you not remove the battery then lock the car with the metal key?

 

You can lock the drivers door with the key, but not the others and my Fabia doesn't have interior lock buttons like some older cars which enable you to lock the three non drivers doors then use the key to lock the drivers door (and unlock it when ready to re-fit the battery).

2 hours ago, rum4mo said:

Have you worked out or discovered how you lock up the car after the battery has been removed, it is quite easy to do though the car will be deadlocked, I've done that on a 2009 SEAT Ibiza without having any problems.

 

I think what @rum4mo is intimating at here is there's some kind of mechanism on the inside of each door that allows you to lock doors individually, effectively what used to be a child-lock. It appears that you have to remove a cap to access the mechanism. I'll have a look tomorrow.

Yes, if your lucky, there will be a soft black rubber bung with maybe the outline of a padlock moulded into its outer face, just pick them off, use the key blade or similar shaped implement to flick that "exposed head" over, then close that door - it should now be locked from being able to open it from the outside, from the inside you should still be able to open the door, either directly by pulling the "door opening handle" or by pulling it, release it, it it fully a second time.

 

I was holding back on offering too much info originally just in case it confused you, so was really just trying to force you to read the owner's handbook so that you had that to support you if you ended up being confused - that is all.

Thanks @rum4mo

 

Here it is;

 

 

Remove the 2nd from the top plastic cap, insert key in slot and turn quarter turn, anticlockwise I think it was. Door was then locked from the outside as @rum4mo says.

 

Not to be confused with the child lock;

 

Anyway, in the end I didn't need to know. I removed the battery and left the car unlocked. I thought it would take at least 2 days to charge the 60amp battery with my partners 0.6amp Optimate Battery Conditioner (she used to own motor cycles). That was why I wanted to try and lock it. I actually woke up to a green light this morning telling me the battery was now "Good" although a test result of 12.58v (off the charger for an hour) was a bit below what I was hoping for (12.7v) but can't really complain considering it's the original battery (12 years old).

 

What's the top (larger) bung for?

I think that is where the retaining screw for the lock barrel is located.