Changing a s/s battery?

[Phoenixboy]

I had a s/s fault warning appear on my dash this morning prior to starting it after finishing work. So I decided to go to a garage and have it load tested. They said it needed replacing. It's sitting at 12.2v prior to starting. I'm going to double check this when I get home using my multi meter. 

I'm also considering replacing it myself, dependant on price. 

If I do replace it myself, is it a straight swap or is there anything else involved?

Garage quoted £160 to replace it, which I thought was very reasonable.

I also have a dealer extended warranty, but I doubt it'll cover the battery, but I'll check. 

My Octavia is just over 4 years old with 26k on the clock, so a little disappointing, but a battery could go at anytime. 

[varooom]

This is what is involved

[Phoenixboy]

1 hour ago, varooom said:

This is what is involved

Thanks for that.

Now I'm home got the multi meter out, on idle it's 14.5v, which would be normal I presume, prior to starting 12.28v. So I'm thinking it's a little down? Had to double check, just incase. I'll probably have it fitted, doubt I'd be able to buy a new one for much less than £160. 

[varooom]

You need to wait about 2hrs for the car to settle before getting readings, or overnight.

I changed mine early, as it was sitting around 12.1V after being left for days in the cold of Winter, it never struggled to start, but you could tell it getting towards end of life.

 

You might be able to get battery cheaper, but if you don't have VCDS or similar, adapting battery could be an issue.

£160 is not too bad (but depends on what is fitted now!)

[Phoenixboy]

2 hours ago, varooom said:

You need to wait about 2hrs for the car to settle before getting readings, or overnight.

I changed mine early, as it was sitting around 12.1V after being left for days in the cold of Winter, it never struggled to start, but you could tell it getting towards end of life.

 

You might be able to get battery cheaper, but if you don't have VCDS or similar, adapting battery could be an issue.

£160 is not too bad (but depends on what is fitted now!)

Thanks for the info, no I don't have vcds. It's booked in tomorrow and I'll get a 3 year guarantee with the s/s battery. 

It's a trusted garage I've used within the past, they generally service and repair a lot of Octavia taxi's. They are also a dsg repair specialist. 

Just one of those things I suppose with batteries, I once had one fail at 18 months from new on an vauxhall. 

As predicted the dealer extended warranty doesn't cover batteries, so I haven't took it there for a replacement. 

 

[varooom]

Sounds good, best of luck.

[Phoenixboy]

Pic of old battery, presumably it must have been on from new.

 

[varooom]

Yes that's original fitment.

[YMe]

i replaced this exact EFB battery on my 2017 Octavia within the last few weeks. The Octavia I had before my current model had an AGM battery. I imagine the EFB battery is now fitted as a cheaper alternative. The battery I fitted was an AGM and I have VCDS so updated the battery information using the guide above. I can recommend it except VCDS wouldn't accept the serial number in the way illustrated. I removed the "/" in the date and left spaces and VCDS was happy.

[Phoenixboy]

6 minutes ago, YMe said:

i replaced this exact EFB battery on my 2017 Octavia within the last few weeks. The Octavia I had before my current model had an AGM battery. I imagine the EFB battery is now fitted as a cheaper alternative. The battery I fitted was an AGM and I have VCDS so updated the battery information using the guide above. I can recommend it except VCDS wouldn't accept the serial number in the way illustrated. I removed the "/" in the date and left spaces and VCDS was happy.

Yes we have another car within the household & that has an AGM battery, no doubt that would be more expensive to replace. The garage will be replacing mine tomorrow, so they'll be adapting the battery. 

My s/s has been all over the place over the last 6 months, so hopefully the new battery may help with that, too. 

[Phoenixboy]

New battery now fitted (EFB), they'd ordered an AGM in by mistake, 20 mins later had an EFB dropped off. So in the end had it supplied, fitted and adapted for £150 all in, so was pleased with that and a 2 year guarantee on the battery. They used a type of cloned system to adapt the battery. New battery showing 12.7v with engine switched off.

 

[ords]

Did it cure the s/s fault?

[Phoenixboy]

5 minutes ago, ords said:

Did it cure the s/s fault?

So far, yes, although it's early days.