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12v battery problem


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 AGMs are fitted in the Octavia, not sure about other models. Enhanced Flooded Batteries weren't considered robust enough for the rigors of Stop-Start.  

 

I'd think that there comes a benefit/cost breakpoint and in the case of smaller engined petrol VW group cars currently being sold, the EFB battery fits the bill okay - well for my wife's car, so far so good! I think that any modern car that has regenerative braking, ie whacks up the alternator output under braking conditions, will need something other than a basic battery so that the car's battery can receive that extra charging and hold it without getting damaged.

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OK, so I bit the bullet and bought a cheap OBDII Bluetooth reader, and hooked it up to Torque on my phone. For £8 it's highly recommended!

 

Tempted to do this myself but there seem to be more OBD variants (and prices) than enough out there and there's no guarantee that some of the cheaper ones aren't filled with milk bottle tops and chewing gum.  Can you provide a link to the one you purchased? Ta.

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Yeah of course! It was from Amazon for £8.99 (Link). I have an Android phone (S7 Edge) and it works perfectly with my car, using the Torque app. I've just got the free version of Torque. The instruction sheet included a QR Code to download the 'Car Doctor' app, but I didn't bother with that as everyone says how great Torque is.

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that you need to get a WiFi version if you have an iOS device.

 

I chose this one as it had good reviews on Amazon, it was available on Prime, and had a decent returns policy (Not that it's going to get returned!). That last bit is vital- it's why I didn't even look at places other than Amazon as their customer care stuff is normally very good.

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Why dont you guys just disable that silly start-stop function at every start? Youve got a button on the dash for that.

No battery will survive the frequent drain as taken from the starter at city stop-and-go traffic, the alternator simply hasnt got capacity for that.

If you hug that function so much, keep the battery on a trickle charger over night.

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Hummmmm? 

Certainly I do seem to be switching it off a lot more than I thought I would be - well in winter anyway, I still tend to let it do its own thing in summer, maybe just a seasonal mood thing?

When is the sun coming back? (and I don't mean the low level thing that dazzles you!)

Edited by rum4mo
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Yeah of course! It was from Amazon for £8.99 (Link). I have an Android phone (S7 Edge) and it works perfectly with my car, using the Torque app. I've just got the free version of Torque. The instruction sheet included a QR Code to download the 'Car Doctor' app, but I didn't bother with that as everyone says how great Torque is.

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that you need to get a WiFi version if you have an iOS device.

 

 

Great, thanks. Just ordered one for use with my LG G3  :thumbup:

 

Why dont you guys just disable that silly start-stop function at every start? Youve got a button on the dash for that.

No battery will survive the frequent drain as taken from the starter at city stop-and-go traffic, the alternator simply hasnt got capacity for that.

If you hug that function so much, keep the battery on a trickle charger over night.

 

One of the problems my wife is having is that stop/start isn't working at all and hasn't done so properly since last June. The second problem is that KESSY keyless entry tends to fail if the car has been stood for a few days. That and the warning that the 12v supply is too low. All related...

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Great, thanks. Just ordered one for use with my LG G3 :thumbup:

One of the problems my wife is having is that stop/start isn't working at all and hasn't done so properly since last June. The second problem is that KESSY keyless entry tends to fail if the car has been stood for a few days. That and the warning that the 12v supply is too low. All related...

Fault car batteries are rare but it happens. Did you - or the shop - test the battery for acid density and current capacity (as in stress test)?

Edited by pfaff
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Fault car batteries are rare but it happens. Did you - or the shop - test the battery for acid density and current capacity (as in stress test)?

You are not going to be able to test the "acid density" (specific gravity) as the stop-start vehicles are fitted with Amalgamated Glass Mat (AGM) batteries - so, no liquid electrolyte. A load test after it has been charged will be the only way you can test. I am on my second suspect faulty battery on my MY16 Octavia, so possibly,  not so rare for failures.

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No, I'm not going to say "these small petrol engined VAG cars with Stop/Start" have EFB and not AGM again, obsolutely sure I will not!

 

I do agree that only load testing etc can be done on all these (sealed low maintenance) modern batteries though.

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My wife's 1.2 110 DSG has had some KESSY issues for a while now:i if she doesn't use it for a few days then the pull to unlock function doesn't work and she has to press the butotn on the keyfob. After a drive it locks with the touch operation and will then unlock for a few days until the cycle begins again.

 

I swapped the keyfob battery and that fixed it for a few days but now it's playing up again.

 

Start/stop is also very intermittent - sometimes she can drive for miles without it ever stopping/starting again.

 

And now, for the last few trips out she's had a Maxidot warning along the lines of "12v battery has insufficient charge. Turning off" when stopping the car.

 

oday she got in and when she started the car a message flashed up telling her that the infotainment system wouldn't start due to insufficient battery charge,

 

Evidently, something is amiss and we're popping into the dealers on Friday to see what they say.

 

Has anyone else experience anything such as I have described?  :wonder: I've seen the keyfob battery threads but they are are very specific and don't mention the other two issues.

 

I suspect that something is draining the battery and her infrequent use means it's not getting charged often enough to mask the issue

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Message: 12volt battery very low infotainment turned off. Keyless system also not working.

Emailed Skoda Assist,received phone call 8 days later, to say that because I am only doing 2600 miles a year the battery is draining and this is causing the problem,as the advance technology used in the new Fabia Mark 3 needed fully charged battery.

I was advised that if I was'nt able to do more mileage I should start the car and let the engine turn over for 15-20 minutes every day to charge up the battery.I was also advised that if the battery gave up on me it would not be covered by the warranty.

I now have a £16000 car that has all the bits and bobs with a battery that's not up to the job

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Please post the name and qualification and job of the person that advised running the engine for 15-20 minutes every day.

 

Skoda UK Senior Management can maybe get the Technical Department to have a word with this pillock.

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Wow!  I have a car that I keep for special/long trips away, and it only does about 3K miles a year - but I understand that it needs to get connected to a CTEK maintenance charger to keep its AMG battery in good health.  I'm guessing that your car only needs filled up with petrol once every 2 months, and if you believe what you read about the useful "life" of petrol now that it has biostuff in it, I'm guessing that engine problems from fuel breakdown will be next on your list of woes (luckily for me my car is a bit greedier than your so gets through its fuel a bit quicker).

 

Launch plan B - buy an electric car!

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Please post the name and qualification and job of the person that advised running the engine for 15-20 minutes every day.

 

Skoda UK Senior Management can maybe get the Technical Department to have a word with this pillock.

 

Yes, that is quite a good plan to keep the engine wear up without needing to run the miles!

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Please post the name and qualification and job of the person that advised running the engine for 15-20 minutes every day.

 

Skoda UK Senior Management can maybe get the Technical Department to have a word with this pillock.[/quote

I did not get the guys name,but he said he had spoken to someone from the Tecnical department who also had a Fabia and was passing on his advise]

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Wow!  I have a car that I keep for special/long trips away, and it only does about 3K miles a year - but I understand that it needs to get connected to a CTEK maintenance charger to keep its AMG battery in good health.  I'm guessing that your car only needs filled up with petrol once every 2 months, and if you believe what you read about the useful "life" of petrol now that it has biostuff in it, I'm guessing that engine problems from fuel breakdown will be next on your list of woes (luckily for me my car is a bit greedier than your so gets through its fuel a bit quicker).

 

Launch plan B - buy an electric car!

£20000+ would come in handy for an electric one

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eiggol,  that will be one of those in the Technical Department that must have all these 'Management Cars' that Skoda UK have to sell.

 

I can just imagine the Skoda HQ car park with hundreds of Skoda 'Management cars' sitting being run for 15-20 minutes every day because there are not enough employees in Management for the Approved Used / Management Cars sold,  same in the VW, Audi & SEAT HQ Car parks..

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Fabia comes with a battery that is too small IMO for the car. I removed our Fabia's battery and installed the one from my Superb III (and installed an even larger AGM one in the Superb).

 

Now both cars' start/stop works perfectly and I don't have low battery issues anymore even when I leave the cars sitting for a few days.

 

Just have in mind that replacing the batteries on both cars with larger/different type ones required VCDS coding (took a few minutes max)

 

Original Fabia III 1.2tsi battery - EFB 59Ah 640A 

post-87006-0-80591800-1484302756_thumb.jpg

 

Original Superb III 280 battery (now in Fabia) - EFB 69Ah 680A 

post-87006-0-75140000-1484302790_thumb.jpg

 

New Superb battery - AGM 70Ah 760Ah

post-87006-0-10688100-1484302801_thumb.jpg

Edited by micloi
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Fabia comes with a battery that is too small IMO for the car. I removed our Fabia's battery and installed the one from my Superb III (and installed an even larger AGM one in the Superb).

 

Now both cars' start/stop works perfectly and I don't have low battery issues anymore even when I leave the cars sitting for a few days.

 

Just have in mind that replacing the batteries on both cars with larger/different type ones required VCDS coding (took a few minutes max)

 

In my world timing was bad, if the late 2009 Ibiza in my "fleet" had needed a new battery after I had bought my wife a new Polo, I think that I would have dumped that EFB into the older Ibiza and bought a bigger and AGM battery for the Stop/Start Polo - but so far so good - I even noticed a newish exGolf(?) AGM battery being sold on this forum, so I genuinely considered grabbing it!

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Skoda have jus replied with an apology for the delay.They do not recommend fitting a bigger battery but recommend buying a trickle charger to charge the battery overnight.Maybe they should supply one with every new car as it seems they accept the one they fit in the car is not up to job

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That's mad.

 

I'm still having trouble with mine, I'm not convinced it's charging properly. Drove down to my parents on Tuesday and back on Wednesday morning. Round trip of about ~400 miles, mostly motorway. That charged the battery up enough to last through a journey to work and back, but the next day it stopped happily at the lights about 1/2 mile down the road (while still cold, so the weather hasn't got anything to do with it) and then a couple of times again, before giving up completely. And hasn't worked since. 

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