New EFB battery 1.2TSi

[HyperDog]

My car is a 2015 Fabia 1.2TSi.

It's still on its original EFB battery.

There is no signs its on its way out, but thinking ahead for when the time comes were I to replace it with an identical spec EFB battery would it need coding?

I have searched and some people says yes, others no.

I'd be interested to know if others have experience of this?

[rum4mo]

My understanding is, it will be beneficial to the new battery to let the car know that the failing battery has been replaced - my wife has an August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI with the same size of EFB, I thought that it was dying maybe 2 years ago, so I bought a "next size up" replacement Bosch AGM - I can see that battery ending up in my older daughter's May 2019 SEAT Leon Cupra and her buying me a smaller, ie same size Bosch AGM as this Exide/VW Group factory fit battery in the Polo seems to be still okay.

 

Also, that May 2019 SEAT Leon Cupra with its original EFB Exide/VW Group battery, is normally used for in town driving (stupid I know), I tested its battery back in the Summer time and it looked like it was on its last legs - it has been dropping off in health over the past 2 years, then that car was driven down to London and back from Scotland, now, a month later, its battery is looking okay  - how long that will last I don't know.

 

Edit:- the thing is, unless a group of people with similar cars sorted themselves out into a group that DID code in the new battery and a group that DIDN'T code in the new battery, how would you know which was the right way to approach this, in my world I find it easier to do things as advised.

Edited 7 November, 2023 by rum4mo
added content

[HyperDog]

Sometimes, with VAG UK, understanding and indeed advice can change.  For example, 12 months ago I was told by VAG UK my timing belt change was overdue.  But I listened to some people on this forum who said it was nonsense, it was not like that in the rest of Europe, it was a VAG UK anomoly.  Now VAG UK say it's not overdue and won't be for a long time.

 

VAG UK also advise a lot of things we know aren't true, they advise they don't know there is an issue with injector bolts breaking for example.

 

If you think it is wise to do as advised why did you buy a larger battery and of different spec to what VAG advise for your wife's Polo?

 

I posted on here in the hope someone may chip in and say they did it with no coding and all went swimmingly, or the opposite, they didn't code and it caused an issue.  Real life experiences, that I can make my own choice on whether to heed the advice, accepting I live with the consequences.

[nta16]

Well done on keeping your battery so long.

 

Loads  of posts and threads on this site about if there's a need to 'code' on an identical battery change (same type, i.e. EFB for EFB or AGM for AGM, same (or near enough) Ah) and real life experiences.  Short answer is some have found it not necessary.  The VW coding numbers that the old batteries had new ones don't too.

 

You can search for yourself and/or I'll put up some links to threads after I've had my/me dinner/tea. 

 

 

Edited 8 November, 2023 by nta16
add VW

[nta16]

@HyperDogsorry I've lost the knack of quick(-ish) searching on here.  There are posts where some have said they done a like-for-like battery change without coding and the car and battery charging were fine after months / years of use (IIRC) - but I offer no evidence of this and I have a poor memory.  😀

 

Perhaps given that you know about b*ll*cks 'advice' from VW and Skoda UK (wished I'd seen about the lack of need for belt changing, £460 unnecessarily added to the local Dealership's turnover, about £1,000 for a mate's VW only earlier this year too) you may be able to accept the following linked post.

 

If you have easy no-or-little-cost access to a suitable scanner then just changing a digit on the original serial number is all that's required to let the lord and masters VW cars' computers know a new battery has been fitted (see attached at bottom of this post).

 

I think you're right not to trust VW /Skoda as far as you can draw fresh breath away from one their earlier diesel products.

 

Battery coding post. -

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/499676-battery-causing-various-errors/#comment-5607340

 

Attachment. -

VCDS How to adapt a new battery.pdf

 

HTH.

 

P.S. Does your Fabia have the slight clunk/knock over humps and occasional amber triangle-of-doom warnings when not required and tardy warnings when required?

 

Edited 8 November, 2023 by nta16
spelling

[AGFalco]

23 hours ago, HyperDog said:

were I to replace it with an identical spec EFB battery would it need coding?

It doesn't NEED coding but when I need a new battery on my Fabia III I WILL code it myself.

Short term you wont notice anything but coding helps with the life of a battery long term.

 

We fit many batteries a week and all stop/start, EFB, AGM batteries with a BCM unit are coded.

If you keep a car long term and need a new battery the the bigger the better.

It only needs to save you once and the extra was worth it.

Some OE Moll batteries expired early although mine is still going strong after 7 years / 76K miles.

 

Thanks. AG Falco

[Breezy_Pete]

10 minutes ago, AGFalco said:

helps with the life of a battery long term.

I'd love to see some good evidence for this. What do you have?

[AGFalco]

Just now, Breezy_Pete said:

I'd love to see some good evidence for this. What do you have?

The battery manufactures training we had.

 

Thanks. AG Falco

[AGFalco]

The explanation we had was that the BMC will charge the new battery to the same level as the old one.

So the new battery starts its life by not being charged enough.

Hence the shorter life it might have.

So coding the battery to the car tells the BMC there is a new battery and it will charge it as a new battery.

 

Thanks. AG Falco

 

[HyperDog]

Thanks everyone for the advice.  I think if I can get it coded for a small fee, I will.  But if it's half the price of a Yuasa EFB to code I'll not bother as it will be more economical to accept a (supposed) slightly shorter battery life.

 

@nta16My Fabia does have the slight clunks over bumps but only when the car is cold, and more so in cold weather.  I have had this looked at by main dealers and independent specialists alike but they have said nothing is wrong, and it has not got any worse (or better) in 60k miles.  Once I have driven a short distance it stops.  I think (I am not an expert) it is the anti roll bar bushes.  I think when the car is cold / not moved for a bit the ARB sticks in the bushes but after a couple of clunks frees up.  That is the area of the car my noises seems to come from and both sides....

[nta16]

@HyperDog thanks for your reply.

 

To cover 'coding' the battery first, see following link for someone in your area that might be able to do this for a beer token or low cost but do check that they cover the Mk3 Fabia and double check any data entry they make.  There was a post about a paid pro auto-electrician that put 7ah instead of 70ah - now of course if the computer program was actually clever it'd never allow this as it's (so far) out of parameter but that's computer programing for ya.

 

Briskoda VCDS Owners Map (click me)

 

Our noise suggests to me it might be a bush somewhere but it's same causes as your noise, I was hoping the noise might have stopped when the poor quality factory front dampers were replaced (for more of the same) at 6 years old and 41k-miles (I know of 20 and 25+ year old Toyotas with the original dampers on them) but no such luck.

 

When my battery was 'coded' by a local chap (no longer) on that list it was also an opportunity to delete any error codes which I always think is a good idea, any minor upsets or brain-farts to and from the computers are cleared and that might settle the poor things a little (just my non-technical opinion of course).

 

ETA: I guess you might already be doing so, but, appropriate use of an appropriate battery charger will help extend the life of your current and replacement battery, AFAIK which ain't a lot, the car battery remains one of the most oversold car parts, by being replaced before it really needs to (and I'm all for replacing parts before they play up badly or fail, or even beyond optimum but still working).

Edited 8 November, 2023 by nta16
forgot link

[AGFalco]

19 hours ago, HyperDog said:

I think if I can get it coded for a small fee, I will.

Are you near North Dorset.

 

Thanks. AG Falco

[HyperDog]

No unfortunately not - I'm the other end of the country.

[briscaF1]

Interesting topic.

 

I'm on my original battery (2017 car) and have been expecting to have to replace it at any time now.

 

I think the battery is an Exide.

 

I was looking on Tanya for a replacement the other day and saw that they were a lot cheaper than when I last checked. A Varta EFB027 640A is £108 and I'm sure they were £200 last time I checked (maybe during COVID).

 

I couldn't check the link but does the battery really need to be coded to the car or is it really to reset the BCM?

 

 

 

 

[nta16]

You've got the posts above so you can decide for yourself.

 

Why not make your existing battery last longer by charging it up fully with an appropriate battery charger and maintainer now and later when required in the future, preferably before it gets too low, as a preventative and maintenance procedure. 

 

Batteries were more expensive at one point earlier  at least and that might(?) have been due a shortage because of a VW (Skoda?) rare 🙂 drop in German engineering quality with battery charging issues (? I forget) and/or the battery recall (the number I forget).

 

If you can get easy and relatively inexpensive access to a relevant 'coding' machine and someone to input the data correctly that would be best and probanly/possibly speed things up of the computer "learning" it has a new battery fitted. 

 

Edited 20 November, 2023 by nta16

[HyperDog]

I'm on my original in my 2015 car.  I rarely use the car for short runs, and as long as I remember the first thing I do after starting the car is turn off start stop.  So I think my usage pattern has helped the battery last and when I replace I will give it a go without coding it accepting that may not give me optimum battery life.

[nta16]

The following is only a thought of something I might try if I didn't have access to a coding machine, not saying anyone else need take any notice, agree or try it, just a thought.

 

I might discharge the new battery a reasonable amount with a load on it before fitting it to the car then when it's fitted to the car fully charge it up with an appropriate battery charger and maintainer connected as prescribed by the Owner's Manual so that the car's computer can see how much charge the battery can take on.  My theory, as I don't know, computers are very thick and it doesn't need to know the battery is new only what the battery parameter(s) is/are.  Perhaps whoever/team that put together the computer program for all this VW battery stuff might tell me what I've put is a load of rocks.  😄  The battery serial number/code seems to me only to be of use to VW to record factory, or perhaps Dealer (warranty), fitted batteries to record them for warranty, recall and faulty batteries or just blame the battery providers (as if a vehicle manufacturer would ever do that).  It seems with some VW cars they didn't record the battery serial/code at the factory anyway, that info could be picked up if required later, my wife's had the ten 1s, perhaps they were only interested in knowing the supplier by that point(?).

 

 

1 hour ago, HyperDog said:

when I replace I will give it a go without coding it accepting that may not give me optimum battery life.

The use of a scan tool does mean you can delete any error codes a very low battery might have caused to give the computers a fresh start without their worry pills straight off but the error codes probably go with use of the car anyway.  It's suggested that after fitting the new battery without coding that after the car is started for the first time the steering wheel is turned to full lock in both directions, I guess this informs the computer(s) that the battery has enough power to do so, and if running say the air-con at the same time it might convince the computer even more, but I don't know.

 

I think the newer the car the better it might be to have and use an appropriate battery charger and maintainer when thought necessary or needed, all those electric items and complex computer programs on and in a car, wot could possibly go wrong.  🙃