Battery dying

[ric04vrs]

My battery is dying, had the dreaded flat battery click from the starter motor on Saturday morning, I’ve looked online for prices, but depending on which site I put my reg in, it brings up a different battery spec, either 075 or 096, can anybody confirm the exact spec battery my car should have, it’s a 11 plate Superb 1.8tsi SE Plus,

 

also, does anybody have a preference as to which make of battery I should buy ?

I’m steering clear of Euros Lion brand, TIA 

[Lofty79]

I like yuasa 

Have never had one die on me

[DEL80Y]

I have fitted Vartas on mine great battery and as posts below says it the same battery as a Bosch S5  with a different sticker...

 096 varta  £85.50 delivered  5 year Gtee

as long it has not got start stop as you would then need AGM battery I am sure.

[sweetooth]

I've also got a varta 096 fitted would  not start the other day  called out the AA ,guy said the battery was holding  its charge ,asked me about recent journeys.I had not used the car for a week and only on short multi start. trips. He said a diesel should do at least a 30 min trip twice a week

[ric04vrs]

Got one from TPS, part of their range for older vehicles, £60, it’s actually an Exide battery, they were selling cheaper batteries too that would have done the job, but the spec was slightly different

[terrytowelling]

Mine have always died before 3 years, I don't know what these Skoda's have but they seem heavy on batteries. Normally its about 5 on other cars

[DEL80Y]

Info about re coding your battery with VCDS

[andrehj]

Coding a battery is only needed for cars with Start-Stop systems. S2's with 1.8 tsi engines don't have SS systems. So coding is not necessary, and you can simply use any battery that fits.

[DEL80Y]

Thats what I thought but my Superb has "This procedure applies to battery replacement in vehicles using a separate battery management control module"

 

Battery Replacement   A large majority of modern VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda vehicles require the configuration of replacement batteries. The diagnostic steps vary depending on the actual vehicle configuration.

[TLV]

The car should know the type (AGM, EFB or Lead Acid) and Amp Hours of the battery. AGM batteries are charged at a higher voltage than common batteries. If the car is coded for one, it can overcharge a lead acid battery. If the car is coded for a lead acid battery, it will never completely charge an AGM battery. AH and voltage is used to calculate the battery level. If the calculation is wrong, the car can be either overcharging or undercharging the battery.

 

Unless the new battery is of the same type and AH as the old one, you'll want to have the battery coded or the battery may have a significantly shortened life.

Edited 26 December, 2017 by TLV

[terrytowelling]

You're doing well on a 2011 , mine both died before they were 3

[silver1011]

I'm one of those people who ensures minimal electrical load before starting the engine, and turning everything electrical off before turning the engine off.

 

This means not leaving the light switch in Auto, disabling coming/leaving home headlights and manually turning of the Climatronic after each journey.

 

Seems to work for me, I've only ever had to replace one car battery and that was the wife's. My 2011 / 135,000 mile Superb is still on the factory battery.

 

Modern cars are getting more technically advanced which means increased electrical loads, things are only going to get worse in terms of overall battery life.

[ric04vrs]

Only just put the new battery on today, thought it best to as I had to bump start it across a car park the other day, 

my Fabia battery was about 10 years old when that died, so I’m disappointed that I’ve only had just over 6 years out of the Superb one

[WaveyDavey]

On ‎25‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 10:17, DEL80Y said:

Info about re coding your battery with VCDS

 

Stupid question...... But what do you do if you have bought a third party battery and not a VAG battery? That link says it's only valid for VAG batteries as you need the part number etc.... of the battery as part of the coding?

[DEL80Y]

There is a drop down list I put Varta and the serial number then the amp.

It was a while ago but took 2 mins with VCds

 

[terrytowelling]

The battery failed one morning, I went out and bought another one from motor factor, took old one off and replaced it, the vehicle has start stop and when I turned on the ignition all the lights came up on the dash, I drove it for a few miles and they all went out, the car still start stops

[superbdreams]

This should help a few people who have read all about coding new batteries.

 

Not all vehicles have a battery management system!

 

If it does there are three types and vcds is your friend to identify which of the three if any you have.

 

I wasted most of yesterday afternoon trying to communicate with a non existent battery management module..

[snowathlete]

This is a timely topic for me. I have just bought a Superb and this is my first potential issue.

 

The car's only 4 year's old this month but the guy I bought it off said he had to change the battery in the last year. I was surprised as I just replaced a battery on my Hyundai 4x4 after 11 years. But reading on here it sounds like this is normal on Skodas

I don't know what it came with but it now has a Varta battery fitted. 74Ah and 750 CCA.

So the question is whether this battery is suitable and whether it needs coding to the ECU? I have the L&K spec which does include the Start Stop function. The guy I bought it off didn't seem keen for me to use it, he said he always turns it off when he started the car. Maybe this is why. Perhaps it should have been replaced with an AGM battery and coding which hasn't been done. I'd appreciate some guidance from you knowledgeable folk.

[DEL80Y]

2 hours ago, superbdreams said:

 

 

Not all vehicles have a battery management system!

 

I wasted most of yesterday afternoon trying to communicate with a non existent battery management module..

Link doesn't work 
Just worked it out its not a link     Too early for me..

Edited 3 January, 2018 by DEL80Y

[DEL80Y]

47 minutes ago, snowathlete said:

This is a timely topic for me. I have just bought a Superb and this is my first potential issue.

 

The car's only 4 year's old this month but the guy I bought it off said he had to change the battery in the last year. I was surprised as I just replaced a battery on my Hyundai 4x4 after 11 years. But reading on here it sounds like this is normal on Skodas

I don't know what it came with but it now has a Varta battery fitted. 74Ah and 750 CCA.

So the question is whether this battery is suitable and whether it needs coding to the ECU? I have the L&K spec which does include the Start Stop function. The guy I bought it off didn't seem keen for me to use it, he said he always turns it off when he started the car. Maybe this is why. Perhaps it should have been replaced with an AGM battery and coding which hasn't been done. I'd appreciate some guidance from you knowledgeable folk.

Does your  battery state AGM or EFB on the top or side anywhere?
Sure you should have a AGM or EFB battery fitted as you have stop/start  maybe guy swapped due to the price difference
 

[snowathlete]

36 minutes ago, DEL80Y said:

Does your  battery state AGM or EFB on the top or side anywhere?
Sure you should have a AGM or EFB battery fitted as you have stop/start  maybe guy swapped due to the price difference
 

 

Nope. It's one of these, which as the site says, is not suitable for Start/Stop.

https://www.batterymegastore.co.uk/varta-e38.html

 

I'm sure you're right that he wanted to save on the cost by putting this battery in instead, and it's fine that he chose to save himself some money and simple turn S/S off. But I'm annoyed at being misled by him over it as he obviously knew. So the question is what to do about it. Presumably the existing battery will die quite quickly if I drive with S/S turned on? 

 

What am I looking at for the cost of a new AGM (or EFB, I don't know much about which would be best) battery and coding?

[superbdreams]

If you want to use start stop then you must fit an agm.

I have stopped looking now obviously but I was leaning towards a lifetime warranty (whatever that means) from Halfords at £150

 

It is a shame you couldn't have used start stop for a while to see if you liked it or not as spending that money and then choosing to keep turning it off would be irksome.

 If your car has start stop then it surely must have a battery management module but only a scan will tell you, it is also clear that the previous owner would not have coded the new battery so it is currently (possibly) being overcharged and wont last long if you don't code it anyway.

I SEE YOU LIVE IN "   " lol so that's too far from me to offer to do it.

 

[snowathlete]

30 minutes ago, superbdreams said:

If you want to use start stop then you must fit an agm.

I have stopped looking now obviously but I was leaning towards a lifetime warranty (whatever that means) from Halfords at £150

 

It is a shame you couldn't have used start stop for a while to see if you liked it or not as spending that money and then choosing to keep turning it off would be irksome.

 If your car has start stop then it surely must have a battery management module but only a scan will tell you, it is also clear that the previous owner would not have coded the new battery so it is currently (possibly) being overcharged and wont last long if you don't code it anyway.

I SEE YOU LIVE IN "   " lol so that's too far from me to offer to do it.

 

 

I did use S/S even though he was keen for me not to. It worked when I first pulled over shortly after driving off. Then at the traffic lights it didn't work, and he told me it doesn't always turn off if it thinks you will be starting soon. I don't think I really stopped after that till I was back from the test drive. I could live without it but if it saves fuel why not have it?

I also don't know if the current battery has been coded or not - I agree with you the answer is probably not - if not then it will presumably be getting an extra wack of charge as you say as the car will still thinks it has an AGM fitted. So at the least I will have to get the coding checked/updated. I read another post on here with the instructions for coding, presumably I need a scanner for that? If so then I'll have to read some threads about scanners!

 

LOL, I'm in Wiltshire so perhaps not too far from you? My husband used to live in South Glos. I'll update my profile.

Edited 3 January, 2018 by snowathlete

[superbdreams]

Its nice to own vcds but very expensive.

Far cheaper to use a local owner who has it and there is a map of owners willing to give their time to make alterations and coding such as myself.

here is the vcds owners map

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1Td73_uUUqscV3nRm5br_o89PmBU&msa=0&ll=51.649289500669894%2C-1.8899584252269505&z=9

 

Edited 3 January, 2018 by superbdreams
add link

[snowathlete]

1 hour ago, superbdreams said:

Its nice to own vcds but very expensive.

Far cheaper to use a local owner who has it and there is a map of owners willing to give their time to make alterations and coding such as myself.

here is the vcds owners map

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1Td73_uUUqscV3nRm5br_o89PmBU&msa=0&ll=51.649289500669894%2C-1.8899584252269505&z=9

 

 

My reaction to this: What a great forum! With great members!