New battery fitted today

[oldstan]

Helpful tip. Thanks.

 

Car is now five yrs old and the original battery is OK as we speak...but useful advice above and in the indicated thread (thanks Speedsport) to assist as and when a replacement required.

 

The Hyundai i10 battery that I recently swapped (ECP) was a piece of cake to swap and was done in ECP's car park.  The advice offered should help to do the same if a Yeti replacement is needed - or to do it at home if one ordered online

 

On my 1.2 petrol the fixing bolt looks very visible and accessible..can't see any need to remove the bits that apply to the diesel.

 

Woud be inclined to stick to a "same size" replacement - a 54AH Varta C30 - (or 012).  There's a 60AH Varta on there already as it happens.

 

If, say, a Varta Silver was bought online how would you go about seeking a replacment under warranty if needed? I rang Battery Megastore  just now to ask...forgetting it's a Bank Holiday.   Clearly ECP is an easy option i.e. take to them and deal face to face....but they don't show the 5 year Varta on the website...only the Bosch and other options.

 

Useful stuff...thanks.

[oldstan]

With apologies...(can't edit the above so must  do a bit of an "edit")....

 

Just checked again...a bit closer this time...

 

The present battery on my 1.2  2011 petrol Yeti is marked similarly to the original in the above photos. It says - 5KO 915 105 D

 

It's apparent the the last digit (the D) changes from model to model and the capacity changes accordingly.  Mine is 60AH  / 480A.

 

I would wish to swap on a like for like basis and keep the same dimensions.  My current dimensions, measured at the top of the battery, are approx 242mm x 160mm therefore  it'll be wider at the bottom including the width of the clamp / hold bars.

 

I can see batteries with similar dimensions and capacities as follows :

 

097, 075, 027.

.

In fact all three above look the same - I'll have to investigate to see how they vary.

 

Would appreciate anyone's experience changing the petrol Yeti battery rather than the diesel.  I want to keep to the same current physical size   (242mm x 160mm)   but admit to being confused as all the battery sites show the smaller battery that I quoted in the previous thread... i.e. the 012 / C30 size which is 207mm x 175mm x 190mm.

 

Thanks.

[oldstan]

Further apologies but I think I've sorted it.  (But am happy to be corrected if I'm wrong)

 

The 027 is, as far as I can see, the same dimensions as mine...242mm x 175mm and is 190mm high.... same as the one presently fitted..... 190mm high.  The other options that I mentioned above are 175mm high therefore not applicable.

 

The Varta Silver Dynamic D15 (027) is £56.95 at Battery Megastore (delivered) and has 5 yr warranty.  I'm half inclined to think about swapping it - just in case. As has been mentioned it says in the handbook "Batteries which are  more than 5 yrs old must be replaced".  I've never ever been aware of that and wouldn't ordinarily take a lot of notice but there seems to have been a lot of people having to swap batteries at or around 5 yrs. And my own Hyundai did just fail at four and a half years.  And I do quite a few short journeys in it.

[djgilson]

See photos. On my vehicle (2.0TDi 140) I didn’t need to remove any of the intake ducting. Having slackened the battery clamp bolt with the 13mm socket and long extension, I was able to reach into the gap towards rear of battery and remove the bolt and clamp plate by hand. It helps to have a long thin right arm. Photo shows where bolt and clamp plate is located.

Others have mentioned the serious effort required to lift the battery. You need a handle so you can lift with one hand and take your weight on the other. (You then need a strong right arm, but importantly you don’t risk putting your back out). See my solution - baler twine and a stick. I used 12mm dowel but almost anything strong enough would do. You could even use twine for the handle, but I prefer my de-luxe version. I also used it to install the new Duracell 096, even though the latter came with the usual fold-up handles, because my handle is more comfortable.

Note also the positive terminal tied well back out of the way (more baler twine), and the negative terminal/cable removed completely (13mm nut as shown), as the easiest way of keeping it out of the way. (And don’t drop any small bits or you’ll have to take off the engine undertray to retrieve them).

[url=http://s264.photobucket.com/user/djjgilson/media/Yeti%20Battery/2067.jpg.html]

[oldstan]

Thanks for the above.  All noted, although my petrol one has loads of space to access the securing bolt.

 

I can't get the photo to open.

[djgilson]

Sorry, yes, I'm aware the photos aren't working. There should be 4 of them. I used photobucket and a procedure that works on other foruma. But I can't find any way to edit the post anyway. Don't know WIHIH. Hope to sort it out ASAP.

[175GDY]

I clicked on the link and then removed the bracket following html. 

[oldstan]

Ah! That's done it.  And a picture is worth a thousand words...all is clear. Thanks all round - appreciated.

[speedsport]

Without looking into the specs of the various battery codes you mention Oldstan, don't forget that some codes may refer to batteries with the pos & neg terminals reversed to accommodate different manufacturer's specifications.

I'm not suggesting that's the difference here, but it's worth bearing in mind especially if ordering on-line.

Edited 29 March, 2016 by speedsport

[Fioand]

I find batterys failing after 4/5 years incredible.

I recently had a new battery fitted on my 1.9 tdi 130 Audi A4, by the RAC. This original battery lasted 12 years and 210,000 miles.

[muddyjim]

We just changed our Fiesta's battery. It was last replaced in 2005....

 

Jim

Edited 29 March, 2016 by muddyjim

[oldstan]

Without looking into the specs of the various battery codes you mention Oldstan, don't forget that some codes may refer to batteries with the pos & neg terminals reversed to accommodate different manufacturer's specifications.

I'm not suggesting that's the difference here, but it's worth bearing in mind especially if ordering on-line.

 

 

Thanks, SS.  A bit of Googling did disclose that there is, indeed, a slight difference in capacity and/or dimension in the ones I highlighted. And it turns out that for my 1.2 petrol the 012 is frequently listed as a replacement, albeit it's smaller and less well specced than that's on there now. However the 027 is bigger.... it's the same physical size as what's on there now, and is of higher capacity...and not a lot dearer either...so I now know what to fit.

 

Whether I wait until it shows signs of giving up the ghost, or change it as a matter of course as a "sensible" precaution, remains to be seen in the next week or so but given that I've committed myself to keeping the car for the foreseeable (i.e. I just renewed the warranty for a year) then £50 or £60 isn't the end of the world.

 

Thanks.

Edited 29 March, 2016 by oldstan

[freedie]

I find batterys failing after 4/5 years incredible.

I recently had a new battery fitted on my 1.9 tdi 130 Audi A4, by the RAC. This original battery lasted 12 years and 210,000 miles.

 

The clue to your situation is in your answer. Most don't do 17,500 miles per year...

[EvoT]

I think changing the battery at 5 years is not uncommon in modern cars stuffed with electronics that really are working day and night even when the car is locked

In days of old when Knights drove around in cars with no electronic engine management systems and all the rest of the items we now have on very inexpensive cars which would be science fiction 40 years ago, the humble car battery, is if you will excuse the pun 'being battered' 24/7 so its not a really big deal these days, also it does not seem to matter if you do 10 miles a day or 100 miles a day with a working as it should  alternator it really makes no difference.

[EvoT]

I forgot to say that putting in a bigger capacity battery ie a'' hgher cold crank current'' which is marked on the battery case, really does nothing to prolong the life of the battery it just means the alternator takes longer to fully charge the battery if it can? best thing is just to replace like for like on the cold crank rating as batteries are usually matched to charge output of the generator and all things electric on the vehicle.

[oldstan]

Both above points noted with thanks.

 

It's strange that the tables of suggested batteries that online suppliers publish show me that I should fit a smaller battery (both in size and capacity) than that fitted when new.  (i.e the smaller 012 rather than the bigger 027 ...the latter being very similar in capacity as well as being identical in physical size.  

 

I saw it suggested that they do that because the smaller battery is cheaper and they stand a better chance of getting your order with a cheaper battery. Seems an odd situation, but, in my case, they are almost all saying in their tables fit the smaller size.

[djgilson]

((OK, re the edit problem, Colin tells me there’s only a short window after posting in which to edit a post, the intention being to prevent abuse of the system. I’m probably the last member to know this. It means I have to re-submit the entire post.

Re the photo problem, the format of the link seems to get corrupted between copying from photobucket and pasting into the post. The following re-hashed post worked OK in the preview. I hope it works for real. Don’t want to be cluttering up the thread with dud posts)).

See photos. On my vehicle (2.0TDi 140) I didn’t need to remove any of the intake ducting. Having slackened the battery clamp bolt with the 13mm socket and long extension, I was able to reach into the gap towards rear of battery and remove the bolt and clamp plate by hand. It helps to have a long thin right arm. Photo shows where bolt and clamp plate is located.

Others have mentioned the serious effort required to lift the battery. You need a handle so you can lift with one hand and take your weight on the other. (You then need a strong right arm, but importantly you don’t risk putting your back out). See my solution - baler twine and a stick. I used 12mm dowel but almost anything strong enough would do. You could even use twine for the handle, but I prefer my de-luxe version. I also used it to install the new Duracell 096, even though the latter came with the usual fold-up handles, because my handle is more comfortable.

Note also the positive terminal tied well back out of the way (more baler twine), and the negative terminal/cable removed completely (13mm nut as shown), as the easiest way of keeping it out of the way. (And don’t drop any small bits or you’ll have to take off the engine undertray to retrieve them).

[speedsport]

It looks great deal easier when your car doesn't have the plastic box around the battery as fitted to my 2010 1.8TSi!

 

 

 

Take the lid off and you still cant get your hands round the battery without removing the box first. Like many car related things, it's easy to unclip the box to remove it - when you've worked out how it fits together & have done it once before but initially it's a Sod !

Edited 1 April, 2016 by speedsport

[VAGCF]

I forgot to say that putting in a bigger capacity battery ie a'' hgher cold crank current'' which is marked on the battery case, really does nothing to prolong the life of the battery it just means the alternator takes longer to fully charge the battery if it can? best thing is just to replace like for like on the cold crank rating as batteries are usually matched to charge output of the generator and all things electric on the vehicle.

Sometimes though, the spec. of the battery is a little borderline and there is an advantage in fitting a higher rated battery, especially for starting a diesel in the winter.

 

Triumph motorcycles are known for this (slightly different topic!) and on one of my bikes it's common for owners to change for a higher cranking spec. one. Turns over much better. My original was nearly 8 years old and still OK but I changed it.

[delitfol]

looks like you have one with a barcode on it, have you told the car it received a new battery by updating the battery the serial number in the battery regulator ecu?

[Llanigraham]

looks like you have one with a barcode on it, have you told the car it received a new battery by updating the battery the serial number in the battery regulator ecu?

 

What?

[VAGCF]

+1!

[delitfol]

like this: http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Audi_A8_(4E)_Battery_Replacement

 

Check if your car has a separate battery management module or advanced battery monitoring, if so, you need to tell the car you replaced the battery (especially if you changed its capacity), otherwise it will shutdown comfort features quicker without warning you and wont know from its previous estimates the amount of life left in the battery, but i know an equivilant VW aged car has this module so double check.

 

You need to change the battery serial number on the CAN BUS/BATTERY MODULE ECU, then the car knows you put a new one in and goes back up to 100% charge.  The QR Code on a genuine battery has a serial number on it near the part code.

 

If not, ignore me, only trying to be helpful

Edited 1 April, 2016 by delitfol

[VAGCF]

No, just never heard of that before!

 

You learn something new every day.

 

I've only ever said to the car "there you are, a nice new battery for you!"

 

Blimey, it's past wine o'clock, I spend too much time on here!

Edited 1 April, 2016 by VAGCF

[ganga]

Gulp !!! Will it be ok to fill the washer bottle, without digital intervention, on the next model ??????