beezera10

Thanks Nigel, excellent advice, will check out everything you've said!

Cheers Are you in agreement about the necessity to get the battery coded?

Thanks mate. There are a couple of members near me. I've messaged one but he's not posted in a year or so. May well try the other guy. TBH, didn't know the Citigo had energy recuperation. I'm guessing that the battery will be ok for a short period of time prior to coding - need it back on the road asap. Appreciate your help!

Cheers! It is EFB and the replacement is 60Ah with the same CCA of 640, identical to the original apart from going from 59Ah to 60Ah. There is a lot of conflicting advice on the coding. Some say that the vehicle's computer will adapt to the new battery without coding. Also, the handbook doesn't specify recoding at all if the battery capacity and specs are the same. All the suppliers I've looked at (including Tayna) never mention it, although you would have thought they might if there's a risk to the battery. Just wondering if it's only on increasing the specs from standard that recoding may become more important? I never use the stop-start, and this seems to be the main reason for coding so that charge can be kept optimal and managed more closely. If so, I'm guessing that it may not be as important to do the coding if the battery isn't under this extra load?? What would I need if I did decide to do VCDS myself, and how much would it cost?

Cheers Aubrey, I've done that. Was looking for a better brand at a keener price. I don't suppose you know, offhand, whether the original battery is AGM or EFB - will be checking anyway. Thanks again.

Cheers Aubrey, and thanks for your quick reply. We acquired the car at 3 years old with 12k on the clock, and I doubt the battery was changed in that time. We've had the car almost 7 years so, if I'm right, the battery is coming up to 9-10 years old. It hasn't turned over as quickly just recently, that has been noticeable. Thanks for the coding advice! I haven't investigated the Ah rating just yet, and I think the original is EFB rather than AGM (again not sure just yet). I know the car isn't very heavy on power, so I'm guessing EFB. This is the item I have in mind. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254879881479?epid=2288064656&itmmeta=01HS4GGH0YP21079NAW9F4869Z&hash=item3b58065907:g:ZUIAAOSw6W9knqh-&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0HFEMV5wamrwgbzE1xlWMjSqjYc--64abuIJmFcUz2vh29A%2FYKs%2FpiI%2BxppOw%2BUN6K50feYrZiCyT5nQGlpfIKhJ51wlqKhgLqIKdV%2Fg5odxZARY1Es03gTJ%2FcOkpfCK9idmnw63KCocPJpRhqH3wrXcQ8g9Cml9l1WIYXKkSl9wEZrM15W4opogTnvK2GbrjvuGpVMiizMYlkqV2A%2BiYKEG4VSrK0nFm04XGrN25NUWNqaq%2FUOj7encNQSOh5N4oSw6d2%2Fmdw%2BGWuFLIAaNQFk%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9CQwpDJYw Thanks again! Maybe not this battery as the terminal shape doesn't look right??

My son's Citigo suddenly failed to start a couple of days after a 120m run. Dash lights still came on and windows work, but no power to turn the motor over. Used jump leads to check that it was not the starter motor or something else, started immediately. On getting home, would not start again but windows worked (slowly). The main questions/observations are as follows: 1. At no time did the battery light appear on the dash and there was no yellow colour on the battery 'window'. 2. Am I correct in thinking that a new battery really has to be recoded to the car, as per Aubrey's post a few years ago. 3. I'd like to avoid dealers or garages so, is it easy to download the software and obtain the hardware to do this myself. There are a couple of VCDS guys near me in Wakefield, one in Wakefield itself and the other in Pontefract. Would be happy to contact them if they can help. Cheers all!

Found the issue! When I jacked the car up on the offside and turned the wheel, the drive shaft didn't move. Stripped it all down again and discovered the cv joint had slipped down the shaft splines because of a dodgy circlip/snap ring (I thought it was a bit tight on the shaft when the originals were looser. Also, the n/s which had a looser snap ring seems fine). So, when I turned a corner, it pulled the joint even further down the shaft to the very edge of the splines and has slipped round lunching the splines on both the shaft and the joint in the process. I've now ordered complete shafts for both sides - n/s will be a spare just in case. When I said 'hammering' the cv joints back on, what I meant was a swift blow from a rubber mallet to seat the joint on the shaft snap ring.

Any ideas of what could have been disturbed? The procedure for replacement of the boots was normal, and all went well.

Help guys!! Changed the cv boots today and went to go for a test drive - just got round the corner and suddenly there was no drive at all, just a bit of a graunching noise on the r/h/s. Looked at my work and it seems fine - might I have disturbed something when hammering the cv joints back on? It had a new clutch recently and has been driving fine up 'til now. Any tips, fixes, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Ok folks, car is back up and running. Got the new steering lock assembly at 2.30pm and all back together before dark. Did have the yellow steering wheel warning light come on, but disappeared after a few hundred yards. Just a quick question: I managed to put the steering wheel back on just off central, and the car pulls to the left which I'd not really noticed before (not driven it for a while, but wife does). Is it conceivable that the work I've done on replacing the lock and the steering wheel being off centre has anything to do with the pulling to the left - or is it simply a case of straightening the steering wheel and having the alignment checked (+ tyres/pressures, etc). It's not bad and there's no steering wheel shake, it only happens when you let go of the wheel (briefly) Cheers all.

Cheers. I guess that applies if you're just changing the barrel not the switch?

Hi All This may have been covered elsewhere, but here's the issue. As is common with VAG ignitions, mine has developed the 'key won't turn' issue. I've researched the problem online and have now stripped the whole of the steering column to get to the steering lock/ignition assembly, and have separated the ignition switch and barrel from the steering lock. It's the lock that's failed completely, and a new one is on the way. Now the questions: If I put the existing ignition switch and barrel into the new lock assembly, will the car be ok with this. If I did replace the barrel and switch as well (meaning new keys), can I reprogramme to the car's computer myself or is this a specialist job. It should be something that can be done by the owner, but I guess people stealing cars and replacing ignitions is an issue. Having said that, I suppose you wouldn't be able to use a new key manually on the doors/boot without replacing the barrels on those too. This job was a b*****d to do first time (thank you internet). I did break a bit of plastic but was able to superglue back together (not a critical part). Thanks in advance for any help.

Drilled new hole and attached plastic string with big knot at fuel cap end and loop on the other - works perfectly.