Hi there,first up is my car is a ( octy estate 2.0 tdi dsg auto 05 140 Bhp ) around the beginning of November I noted the car was getting a little lazy on could start up I.e let the heater plug light go out turn the key and it would take 3/4or5 turns to start thought the battery was on the way out so fitted a new One £70 with no change but thought its the beginning of winter leave it on so I don't have to get a new one further down the line.but just over the last phew days as the weather has got a bit colder and wet it's started to sound a bit more lazy and I am getting concerned its not going to start before running out of electricity I know it carnt be the battery it's only 2 1/2 months old could it be the heater plugs? The car has done 140000 miles I don't know if these heater plugs are the original ones or not when I turn the key in the egnition the heater plug light only stays on for about 4 seconds or so then I cranck it strait away.once the car has been started it starts great the rest of the day with good strong turnovers like the battery is full of power can anyone advise please cheers kev.

Once it's started does it run ok?

 

And does it start fine from warm/hot?

 

I'd say it points towards the glow plugs but could also be the started motor that's going a bit lazy.

 

Phil

Thanks for your reply phil yes the engine runs great what I would say is reading a phew threads on her it seems to take a phew cranks to start when warm and that seems to be the norm for these cars when warm for what ever reason?

When I start it when it has been run for a bit and nice and warm it takes a phew cranks as it has always done but starts as if there is plenty of life in the battery I.e turns over very quick 3/4 cranks and she starts

But on a cold wat morning she cranks over very slowly 3/4 cranks then starts just,with it turning over so slow I was getting a little worried it may get to the point where it just run out of power before catching so to speak and starting.

Cheers kev.

P.s if it was the starter motor wouldn't it be lazy even when it was warm?

Edited 13 January, 201610 yr by Kevgem

Sure the battery is brand new and up to spec?

 

As the temps have dropped now any weak or under powered battery will show up now. Contacts to the battery nice and clean? Earth contacts all ok?

 

Anything draining the battery over night? Glove box light as an example?

Edited 13 January, 201610 yr by Plantman

What voltage should the battery be giving out?

And would that need checking in the morning before starting the car?

Cheers kev.

Sorry forgot to ask is there a pasific battery that should be fitted to my car as the garage I took it to to have the cv joints replaced also surplid the battery is there a chance it's not the right one for my car?

They could indeed put the wrong sized battery in, if i recall correctly it should be a 70Ah battery, a lower one might cause issues, but it doesn't sound like it.

As for voltage I would expect to see ~14A when the engine is running, proving that the alternator works

Just been and had a look at the top of the new battery that was fitted and it is a (lion high performance) and the little window is a nice green color Which indecats the battery is good am I wright ?

Cheers kev.

If I am checking the battery should I check it when running ?

Or first thing in the morning before starting ?

And what voltage should it give me when running?

And first thing in the morning?

How can I check the starter motor or dose it have to be taken off and checked professionally ?

What about the heater plugs can I check them myself ?

Cheers kev.

Check first thing before starting. Ideally you should be seeing 11.5/12 volts. If you have the means you can try testing the amps. A good garage can do this for you.

I know you say you have installed a new battery. What is the specification of it? 

 

When running this will jump to 14 volts or so. I noticed with my old battery, when cranking this would drop to 6 volts or even less indicating a shot battery. 

With the new one in place this only drops slightly below the 12 volts.

 

For the glow plugs, you will ideally need to run a diagnostic scan to see if any errors on the glow plugs have popped up. Slow cranking wont be a down poor glow plugs. Glow plugs aid the 'firing' (it's a derv) to ensure combustion. providing the starter can crank the engine at sufficient speed.

 

A laboured/slow starting in the mornings would indicate either a poor performing battery (either knackered or not high enough capacity), something draining the battery over a timed duration (phone kit? light not switching off) or indeed a poor starter motor.

 

You could try hooking up another car (jump start) to see if this helps the starting.  This would show if it's the battery.

Edited 13 January, 201610 yr by Plantman

Running a scan on the car for fault codes would be a good start.

 

Failed or failing glowplugs will often log a fault.

 

Find someone close to you with VCDS or ask the garage that fitted the battery to use their diagnostic equipment to check for fault codes...

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/224376-vcds-owners-map/

 

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Fault_Codes

thanks for the help chaps !

Octavia Diesel should have an 096 battery fitted so should have similar spec to these.

 

http://www.carbatteries-online.co.uk/carbattery096a.html

 

My Passat cam new with a smaller battery fitted and I didn't realise until it was 3 years old and started to struggle. Being kept in a heated garage probably masked the problem.

 

Lee

all i know is it says lion high performance on the top of the battery sorry!

all i know is it says lion high performance on the top of the battery sorry!

 

No numbers that would indicate it's size, capacity or cranking amps?

 

Does it fill the whole battery box with no gaps?

Take another look and quote the numbers similar to those represented here underneath the VW / Skoda / SEAT logo's...

 

cheers lads but it doesn't give information like that on this one it just says its a lion high performance and yes it dose fill the battery space with no room i did manage to glimpse a number on the front of the battery near the bottom 70ah is that any good?

to be honest i am head scratching a little bit i got in the car this morning and it cranked and started first time which puzzled me a bit cos the day before it was slow cranking and just court so i am a bit confused to what the problem is am shore i turned the stereo off and the heater lights and so on before turning the key of just encase that was something to do with a bit of a drain?cheers kev

right lads bit of an update, just managed to get a bit of a look at the front of the battery without having to take it out the only numbers i can see are ( 100  70AH  EN 620 CCA ) dose that put any light on the matter? like i said earlier yesterday the car cranked very slowly and then started but today cranked fast as it should do and started strait away the only thing i can think of that was any different between the to mornings where on Wednesday there was a little frost on some cars i.e cold then this morning it was cold but not as cold as the day before if i remember wright it was 3 or 3.5 this morning when i started the car so difference being on the colder morning i.e bit of frost it cranked slowly 

cheers kev.

That's a good spec battery.

 

70Ah with 620CCA (Cold Cranking Amps), this is certainly a better spec than the battery fitted from the factory.

right lads another update my car hasn't been run since 7pm yesterday and i have just done another battery check at 4pm the following day making it 27 hours since she was last run checked battery before trying to start and it was giving 12v turned ignition on i.e heater plugs the light stayed on for about 4/5 seconds and the battery went down to 8v (why slow cranking) and she just started,within a few second more once the car was up and running the battery went up to 14.4v 

dose that point to what the problem could be?

any advice chaps cheers kev.

right lads another update my car hasn't been run since 7pm yesterday and i have just done another battery check at 4pm the following day making it 27 hours since she was last run checked battery before trying to start and it was giving 12v turned ignition on i.e heater plugs the light stayed on for about 4/5 seconds and the battery went down to 8v (why slow cranking) and she just started,within a few second more once the car was up and running the battery went up to 14.4v

dose that point to what the problem could be?

any advice chaps cheers kev.[/quote

Sorry forgot to say battery whent down to 11.5 v when heater plugs where on for a few seconds then whent down to (8v when slow cranking )

Has anyone get any idea to what the problem is before I have to put it in the garage and let them have a look!

Edited 16 January, 201610 yr by Kevgem

Battery although new has internal breakdown and so when any load applied ie starting the voltage collapses the current soars and battery really struggles. When started the car due to low battery internal resistance due to the above the voltage creeps higher beyond 14v as alternator tries to compensate and bring the battery back up but it cant due to internal breakdown of one of the plates. Best thing to do take battery back and get a bosch / varta (same batteries) but different name or an exide. I wouldnt bother with any others its just false economy. Also when its cold the cheaper batteries struggle more and if you only do short trips this situation happens alot this time of year

You need something like this

https://www.tayna.co.uk/E44-Varta-Silver-Car-Battery-577400078-P7726.html

Or from eurocarparts

http://beta.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Skoda_Octavia_2.0_2006/p/car-parts/electrical/car-electrics-and-car-lighting/car-battery/?444770966&1&e8714b3a57a85312047b2802dafd180f60730d69&000020

I have exide and great battery but i know varta 096 e44 is great upgrade for petrol or diesel octavias

Right update just been to a garage and had the car tested they recon it's the (starter motor) so going to have one fitted later today I will let you know if it's works or not after my next cold start. I hope this thread is of some use to anyone els having the same type of problem cheers kev.

Starter motor wont explain low battery volts. I dont think its that. Anyhow im sure garage knows better