Just a heads up for anyone even remotely considering using Halfrauds to do a car battery change.... yup, the guy doing it didn't know it needed coding and didn't have the right kit to do the coding (or simply didn't know how to use it!). My VRS is now on my drive with lots of wonderful error codes. He's driven off leaving the problem with his supervisor to see what they can do 😞

 

Sorry if this isn't a suitable post for here, please feel free to move etc.

 

...I'm now wondering whether my breakdown cover that came with the car will dig me and them out of this mess!

Good to know. Does make me think that a simple battery change should have an option in the menu for resetting.

Yeah, it really shouldn't be this difficult. I have now been on hold for an hour as well...

 

It was half the price of main dealers (they wanted £270) and couldn't get the job done until mid-December anyway - despite having already had the car with them for a full day. I miss the days when they had the capacity to get this sort of job done quickly, even at the end of the day.

 

Happy Sunday!

To be fair to them, they're getting a Team Leader out to me late this afternoon. Fingers crossed.

Might be worth a look at this, rocket science it isn't but how on earth did he manage to get all the error codes?

Thanks @peter3197. Will bookmark that for the future!

 

One of their Team Leaders has just called me and it appears to be all sorted - a small but effective trick: Start the engine, go full left lock then straight through to full right lock. All of the error codes are now cleared from the dash

 

Hopefully that's it sorted and stays that way!

@ScottyNS

 

As you have found, the full lock turns will have cleared the DASH lights but if they have not coded the new battery to the car, then it will not charge correctly (it won't go dead though so not to worry for now). There is an adaption that needs to be carried out using diagnostic software that tells the car its got a new battery and this works out the charging characteristics of the battery installed.  

 

VCDS, OBD11 can do this easily but Halfords do not have the capability to do this from what I understand but they will certainly flog you a battery and charge you to bung it in. 

 

Also you might need to check your one touch window operation, to reset, put window up and hold for 10 seconds. 

Edited 21 November, 20214 yr by paulski

Thanks @paulski, sounds like I either need to kit myself out with VCDS etc (not sure how much that will cost) or it's back to the dealer to get it coded. I'll google VCDS etc options.

Edited 21 November, 20214 yr by ScottyNS

I wouldn't trust halfrauds to pump up a push bike tyre 

find someone on the VCDS map link in my signature near you,  Private message them and see if you can get it done for Beer tokens 

 

£225 for VCDS as a minimum, or OBD 11 is cheaper but I only use VCDS, but there are plenty of posts on OBD11 and its use. 

Edited 21 November, 20214 yr by paulski

1 hour ago, ScottyNS said:

Thanks @peter3197. Will bookmark that for the future!

 

One of their Team Leaders has just called me and it appears to be all sorted - a small but effective trick: Start the engine, go full left lock then straight through to full right lock. All of the error codes are now cleared from the dash

 

Hopefully that's it sorted and stays that way!

This is far from a solution, this just reconfigured the steering sensor.

 

battery still needs coding and codes will still be present that need clearing 

Thank you everyone. I'll go to my local Halfrauds store first, see if they can finish the job. So far it's been the mobile team coming to me, hopefully I'll have better luck in the store. Failing that, I'll see if anyone is local with VCDS.

 

I'll keep reminding myself how much money I have saved, despite the hassle!

50 minutes ago, paulski said:

@ScottyNS

 

As you have found, the full lock turns will have cleared the DASH lights but if they have not coded the new battery to the car, then it will not charge correctly (it won't go dead though so not to worry for now). There is an adaption that needs to be carried out using diagnostic software that tells the car its got a new battery and this works out the charging characteristics of the battery installed.  

 

VCDS, OBD11 can do this easily but Halfords do not have the capability to do this from what I understand but they will certainly flog you a battery and charge you to bung it in. 

If the battery is the same Ah rating and the same type (EFB or AGM) then it's simply a matter of changing the battery serial number in the BMS module by 1. That's tells the BMS that a new battery is fitted.

I'm afraid I've no idea @PetrolDave, I'll hassle local store tomorrow and go from there. 

 

6 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

If the battery is the same Ah rating and the same type (EFB or AGM) then it's simply a matter of changing the battery serial number in the BMS module by 1. That's tells the BMS that a new battery is fitted.

 

1 minute ago, ScottyNS said:

I'm afraid I've no idea @PetrolDave, I'll hassle local store tomorrow and go from there. 

If Halfrauds don't automatically do this simple change then they really shouldn't be fitting batteries to any vehicle with stop/start (AFAIK they all have some form of Battery Management System).

I'll let you know how I get on in the next couple of days. It certainly shouldn't be this hard and I won't be using them again. I'm guessing a local garage type of place is going to be better - I really can't see that I need to get the dealer to do a battery change. 

Just now, ScottyNS said:

I'll let you know how I get on in the next couple of days. It certainly shouldn't be this hard and I won't be using them again. I'm guessing a local garage type of place is going to be better - I really can't see that I need to get the dealer to do a battery change. 

I changed my own battery then took it to my local independent for coding, who struggled to start with but after advice from on here, he sorted it. 

Its not hard to do; for reference, this is the link from Ross-tech on how to do it - instructions can be used with VCDS and ODBEleven PRO.

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Battery_Replacement

 

16 hours ago, varaderoguy said:

Its not hard to do; for reference, this is the link from Ross-tech on how to do it - instructions can be used with VCDS and ODBEleven PRO.

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Battery_Replacement

 

On the Octavia 3 you need to follow the section titled 19-CAN Gateway using CAN

I had exactly the same issue with Halfords\Tyres on the Drive (who fit their batteries). Had all sorts of errors including headlight. Turned out they blew the ODB2 port fuse which is on the same one as the headlight switch. They told me to go to the nearest Halfords Autocentre to resolve who spent over an hour trying. In the end I had to work it out myself. Havent got round to getting it coded but been in there over a year with no issues....

Changing a battery isnt rocket science. Its well known that spurious error lights will often come on after a battery change and simply driving around in the car park will extinguish them. Alternatively even a basic obd reader can reset them straight away.

Virtually all cars of recent vintage with stop/start (aka micro hybrid) requires battery recoding after changing to reset the battery management system. Any auto mechanic/technician should know this and should have a piece of kit to do this.

 

Recoding with an advanced OBD reader is simple, quick and shouldn't cost you anything above the cost of battery replacement though no doubt many will try to bamboozle you into paying.

 

Some mechanics will use a battery maintainer typically plugged into the 12v socket to avoid triggering errors. But it doesn't alleviate the fact that the battery management system needs to know a new battery has been fitted, only possible by recoding.

 

Neglecting to recode leads to shorter service life for the new battery particularly if its a different type like the Ah rating, EFB v AGM type etc.

 

Make sure you don't get a standard (cheap) old school battery to replace an EFB or AGM battery as it won't last long and you will end up struggling with stop/start

Given I thought a battery was a battery (within reason) and they're not it seems , I just went for this one from them:

 

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/batteries/car-batteries/halfords-efb096-start-stop-car-battery-5-year-guarantee-255862.html

 

I thought the 5 year cover would come in handy as the last one only lasted 3 years - I'm assuming it's the original, but I have no idea what type it was. 

 

I'm going into the store tomorrow to insist on coding. 

 

As ever, thanks for all the advice

 

Scotty

Edited 22 November, 20214 yr by ScottyNS

Okay - think it is worth some more info here.  If your MK3 is between 2013 and early 2015, then you DON'T need to code in your battery.  It was only from 2014/15 (MY14/MY15 build) onwards then you need your battery coded in.

 

Generally, go for a decent VARTA battery (EFM/AGM) - with a BEM code on it.  Most Halfords WON'T stock this as standard.  They do list a AGM battery - https://www.halfords.com/motoring/batteries/car-batteries/halfords--096agm-start%2Fstop-agm-12v-car-battery-5-year-guarantee-548638.html,

but that won't work with every Octavia. 

So what coding do the armchair pundits suggest should be done if fitting a second hand battery?

8 minutes ago, J.R. said:

So what coding do the armchair pundits suggest should be done if fitting a second hand battery?

 

If the battery is exactly the same spec as before just alter ther "serial number" section by one digit. This is what tells the BCM to forget all the previous learnt values....

 

If its a different battery AH rating or construction then those need altering also..

 

I did a "how to guide" way back in 2015 when I swapped my factory EFB for a bigger AGM on my MQB Mk7 Golf..basically it shares most of the same electrics/mechanicals with the Mk3 Octavia....all info in the first post..

 

How to retro-fit a bigger capacity battery to a Mk7 Golf | GOLFMK7 - VW GTI MKVII Forum / VW Golf R Forum / VW Golf MKVII Forum

 

Edited 22 November, 20214 yr by fabdavrav