Low Battery Warnings Again

[BigEjit]

3 hours ago, KevC_Derby said:

A charging voltage of 14.9v is way too high! 13.8v is the standard output from an Alternator for a nominal 12v system (1.2v per cell for 12 cells).

I doubt the plug in gadget is calibrated or as accurate as a DVM. For indication only!!!

[flybynite]

Well, as mentioned before mine has been bleating at me, doom and gloom, but to be fair it has only had a couple of short runs in the dark with all of the lights and other electrics on, (and there are a lot of other electrics, seats, front and rear screens etc etc) so was not really surprised.

 

Leaving a battery low for whatever reason is not a good idea though, so I thought I would throw a couple of meters on it and treat it to a gentle charge with one of the cteks. To be honest nothing I have seen says there is anything wrong with the battery other than it not being the best they could have fitted. (standard Moll efb)

 

The warnings can be a sign of a dying battery but they do come on quite easily. These cars do drain them while parked.

 

Don't get me wrong when it does go there is a decent Varta AGM with my name on it but not yet. Bit of a charge and the old one has been fine for a day or so now, even standing in the cold.

 

 

[SWBoy]

2 hours ago, flybynite said:

Don't get me wrong when it does go there is a decent Varta AGM with my name on it but not yet.

Same here

 

Had a Varta AGM battery in my RS4 and starting was Sooooooo much easier than with the OEM battery, plus got a Varta AGM battery in my Citroen C1 and that starts immediately every time even when left for weeks at a time.

Edited 11 December, 2017 by SWBoy

[ahenners]

Mine warned me yesterday that the battery was low after being parked up for a couple of days - first time I've seen that message in over a year of ownership. Mine's a 63 so assuming battery is still the original and probably due replacement in the near future. Hasn't popped back up since.

[Orville]

I just replaced the 69Ah Varta EFB battery within my VRS, with a 70Ah Varta AGM equivelent. The EFB battery was 4-years old but has been giving more and more frequent low-battery warnings over the past year. One hour after a full-charge unloaded volts would read just 12.4v (80% SOC), but left overnignt it would drop to 12.0v (60% SOC), and after a few days rest would read 11.6v to 11.7v (20% SOC). Start-stop has rarely opererated within the past year.

 

The new AGM battery read 80% SOC and 12.7v upon first install (and recoding), and now reads 100% and 13.2v to 13.5v after a short drive and overnight rest.

 

EFB life-expectancy is rated as 3-5 years, so I cannot really complain about replacing it after 4-years. I may have been able to stretch out replacement for another year, but for the sake of £135 the risk of it letting me down wasn't worth it. The car has started every time, and apart from the low-battery warnings and lack of start-stop (which I did not really miss) I never would have known it was on the way out. I also run a dash-cam 24/7 so this may have contibuted towards ageing.

 

[flybynite]

On 12/22/2017 at 12:53, Orville said:

I just replaced the 69Ah Varta EFB battery within my VRS, with a 70Ah Varta AGM equivelent

 

Yep can see me doing the same before next year is out. Best way of going IMHO. Should have been factory fitted

[ahenners]

On 22/12/2017 at 12:53, Orville said:

I just replaced the 69Ah Varta EFB battery within my VRS, with a 70Ah Varta AGM equivelent. 

 

 

Sounds like the new battery is a massive improvement over the aging one it replaced!

Where did you buy from? And what

is required for the coding; is it just the settings of the make, serial number and capacity?

 

 

[Orville]

49 minutes ago, ahenners said:

 

Sounds like the new battery is a massive improvement over the aging one it replaced!

Where did you buy from? And what

is required for the coding; is it just the settings of the make, serial number and capacity?

 

 

I ordered it from Battery Megastore for £135 delivered, and had a friendly Audi specialist code it for me. He told me that Varta are actually made by Yuasa, who are a top-end Japanese battery manufacturer.

[BigEjit]

26 minutes ago, Orville said:

I ordered it from Battery Megastore for £135 delivered, and had a friendly Audi specialist code it for me. He told me that Varta are actually made by Yuasa, who are a top-end Japanese battery manufacturer.

That’s not right! Varta AGM batteries are made in Germany. Johnson Controls own them. The serial code starts with Z for Zwickau which is the plant location. 

Edited 23 December, 2017 by BigEjit

[Orville]

33 minutes ago, BigEjit said:

That’s not right! Varta AGM batteries are made in Germany. Johnson Controls own them. The serial code starts with Z for Zwickau which is the plant location. 

Maybe I misunderstood or was misinformed. We also talked about Halfords batteries, so perhaps he said Halfords use Yuasa and I wasn't listening properly.

 

edit: It is Halfords who use Yuasa as their supplier for AGM batteries. Just found these pictures and Yuasa/Halfords are identical except for stickers. Varta are German but Yuasa (and Halfords AGM) are Japanese. Halfords may be a decent option if they can code the battery correctly.

 

Edited 23 December, 2017 by Orville

[ahenners]

40 minutes ago, Orville said:

I ordered it from Battery Megastore for £135 delivered, and had a friendly Audi specialist code it for me. He told me that Varta are actually made by Yuasa, who are a top-end Japanese battery manufacturer.

 

That seems like a decent price! Think my dealer quoted £200 all in for a replacement fitted and coded, but probably another EFB rather than AGM.

[BigEjit]

23 minutes ago, Orville said:

Maybe I misunderstood or was misinformed. We also talked about Halfords batteries, so perhaps he said Halfords use Yuasa and I wasn't listening properly.

 

edit: It is Halfords who use Yuasa as their supplier for AGM batteries. Just found thes pictures. Varta are German but Yuasa (and Halfords AGM) are Japanese.

 

That’s right. Halfords used to buy in Varta batteries with their own brand labels fitted but went for cost savings by switching to Yuasa as a supplier instead. 

Edited 23 December, 2017 by BigEjit

[Orville]

Looking at online pricing it seems Varta are slightly cheaper than Yuasa but there is only a few quid in it. Both have identical specs, both are highly-rated by owners, and both are OEM for many manufacturers.

 

I think silver looks nicest.

Edited 23 December, 2017 by Orville

[flybynite]

AFAIK Varta make the batteries and Bosch use Varta batteries and re-brand them - maybe that is where some confusion came from.

 

I've found Tayna pretty good on price and delivery

[ms10]

Has anyone used Halfords? Their prices seem good, but I'm a little concerned they won't have the expertise to reprogram a stop start car. 

[MoggyTech]

5 hours ago, ms10 said:

Has anyone used Halfords? Their prices seem good, but I'm a little concerned they won't have the expertise to reprogram a stop start car. 

Depends on the branch you use. Some of their techs are actually good. I stick to my local Skoda dealer who really are top notch. 

[ms10]

Well, I just retrieved the car from the dealer to be told the battery is at 75% health so can't be replaced on warrantee.

What puzzled me however is that they told me that swapping my old EFL battery for an AGM one is simple to do and requires no reprogramming of the car, which contradicts much of what I've read here.

[ahenners]

When changing the battery, do you need to leave a power source connected so the car doesn't lose power to some of its modules etc.?

 

Or can you just rip the battery out fully and leave it unpowered until the new one is connected up?

Edited 28 December, 2017 by ahenners

[Orville]

First off, the car needs reprogramming after a battery change, Even if you change the battery for an identical new battery, you need to change the serial number so that the car forgets old battery performance metrics,. If you swap it for a different type of battery there are 3 or 4 settings that need to be changed, otherwise the battery will not perform at it's max.

 

You can fully disconnect the battery / power source when changing. You may lose your favourites within the Satnav, and the car may throw up some warnings upon first start/drive, but everything will work as normal and warnings will clear/reset afterwards.

 

Regarding getting Halfords to install the battery, just check that they have the correct kit to reprogram an Octavia MkIII beforehand. Replacing the battery itself is a doddle, and reprogramming will be easy so long as the garage has the correct dongle. It's just a matter of pushing a few buttons and selecting the correct battery. I would have no qualms about buying an Halfords 096AGM (Yuasa rebrand) battery, It will be every bit the equal of a Bosch or Varta E39 AGM 096. They use the same tach, share identical specs, and all come from well-respected brands. Just go for the cheapest, or whichever is most practical for supply and install.

Edited 28 December, 2017 by Orville

[ahenners]

Thanks @Orville didn't want to remove the battery and end up with a bunch more issues! I can clear any warnings with OBDEleven.

 

Wish I'd taken the plunge on a Varta from Tayna's eBay shop earlier today with the 20% discount. Was close to £100 for the 096 AGM. 

[ms10]

Thanks @Orville,  succinct and the perfect post.

[SWBoy]

16 hours ago, ms10 said:

What puzzled me however is that they told me that swapping my old EFL battery for an AGM one is simple to do and requires no reprogramming of the car, which contradicts much of what I've read here.

And they are completely wrong, on any car with a battery management system you MUST at the very least change the stored battery serial number - otherwise the system will contnue to try to manage the old battery in it's poor state of health rather than resetting itself to fully use the new healthy battery.

[Nedge68]

Thats progress, you can't just change a battery...

 

You used to be able to change headlight bulbs in 2 minutes flat, now you need a box of tools and about 2 hours

how long before they are coded

Edited 21 January, 2018 by Nedge68

[fabdavrav]

Couple of things as I did this to my MK7 Golf 3yrs ago..

 

Bosch & Varta are the same batteries...Bosch technical told me they use Varta batteries....I fitted Bosch AGM as I could get it cheaper & easier locally...

 

If your car has stop start & even if it does not there is a very good chance your car has a Battery control module (BCM) in the CAN system..

 

Therefore it DOES require telling what the type of battery it is, the AH rating, & even if these are the same as the original one, it most importantly requires the serial number changing (one digit) ...otherwise the BCM will still think the old battery is fitted & will keep the learned charging values which are now incorrect for this new battery..

 

I did a "how to guide" 3yrs ago on the MK7 Golf forum here:-

 

http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7926

 

 

Edited 22 January, 2018 by fabdavrav

[Nedge68]

Thanks for the useful info Favdavrav, I am sure i will have to change my battery at some point, the Delco Remy batteries were very good, I believe Vauxhall used them, they had a green, yellow or black condition indicator