EVangelist

Hi @Micky 32, it hasn't failed, but it's not as strong as it should be! I swap the old Varta back in once/twice a year for a couple of weeks to re-condition & fully re-charge the newer Yuasa battery on a smart charger. The Varta is still able to start the car, but I only get start/stop after a long journey, and not if I'm running loads such as headlights, AC or a 12V coolbox. My battery tester stopped working (cable issue?), so I don't know what a test would report for the old battery now.

Bit late to be updating this thread, but for the benefit of anyone reading: @tunedude's suggestion of keeping the car on a battery maintainer would have got me through the cold snap & lockdown, the OEM battery wasn't totally dead on a VAG forum (someone else's thread re a Golf), a poster advised against DIY, saying that disconnecting the battery without an auxiliary supply would cause loss of memory for various settings, notably that the steering angle sensor would need re-setting afterwards. I found this to be true, steering felt looser afterwards but re-adjusted itself over a week or two. I learned later that this can be re-set by the owner, e.g. this guide or this guide. In the end I did code the car (but a good while after fitting the battery, and only out of curiosity). If you're coding when fitting a Yuasa YBX9096 battery, I used OBDEleven to do it: Gateway -> Adaptations -> Battery Adaptation BEM code: YG0 (that's a zero. This code wasn't easily found on the web) Enter figures for Ah and Serial# Select 'Fleece' as battery type (for AGM).

Hi, is any expert opinion available on the expected service life of the injectors and turbocharger (and other expensive bits such as injector pump) on my Octavia Mk3, 1.6 77kW TDI CR (222,000 kms)? I have two reasons for asking - one is to do the math on keeping the car to end of life vs trading. The other reason is that my lady's Peugeot 308 1.6 e-HDi has had two injectors fail over the past year at 163,000 and 178,000 kms respectively. We get our fuel from mostly the same outlets.

Thanks all for the replies, it's been a great intro to this forum Based on @classic's input (that the car will figure out the battery's state of health and adjust itself), I'll go ahead and replace without coding, and post back if I notice anything negative. The old battery wasn't so bad that the car was disabling start-stop or other functions, but cold weather, lockdown and hence very short journeys mean the battery was needing a charge before I could use the car if it's been sitting for more than 2-3 days. And a battery tester says it needs replacing, though I was hoping to put it off until next winter.

Sorry to revive an old thread, but @BigEjit - is the Octavia's battery management really that smart? I'm about to replace the OEM battery (VARTA AGM manufactured for VAG, 68Ah, Cranking 680A EN/SAE/GS) with a Yuasa YBX9096 (AGM, 70Ah, Cranking EN1 rated at 760). Yuasa's website says coding is required, but I assumed the batteries are similar enough to make a DIY replacement ok. It never occurred to me to go to a dealer for a new battery!