Problems, problems after battery change - Kodiaq 2018 5-seater 20 TSi 4x4

[andrewclark55]

Having had finger burned previously changing a battery on my old Octavia VRS and ending up having to take it to a dealer to reset DTC codes I approached it more cautiously with my Kodiaq.

 

I bought an Autophix 7610 scanner that can reset VAG codes and do Battery Registration.

I used a small 12V SLA battery to keep the electronics alive (or so I thought) while the battery was disconnected,

 

Yet on fitting the new (Varta EFB) battery and entering the details in registration I started the engine with high hopes only to find the warning lights for most of the sensors went crazy!

This included a steering angle sensor fault and a brake fault which did not clear after running Erase all codes.

 

I then tried a suggestion from another forum to turn the steering from lock to lock.

That did indeed clear the steering angle sensor fault and I took the car for a test drive to check all was working which it seemed to be.

Until tonight that is when the car sitting in the garage started emitting a series of three beeps every so often. On checking with the code reader I found it was now showing a Gateway Fault, namely "UI40600 Static Current, too high" Checked the battery drain with a clamp multimeter and it was 160mA initially then rose to around 500mA without me changing anything! I cleared the Fault code and it stays cleared but the beeps are still sounding. I have had to put the battery on charge overnight just so it will start in the morning as at that level of discharge it otherwise might not.
I wondered if it had somehow blown the alternator diodes but it seems to be charging OK at over 14v when the engine is running.
Anyone got any ideas what might be wrong here? These damn vehicles are so complex now that it will be a matter of experience to know where to look! I am reluctant to start randomly unplugging fuses to test the current draw as I could end up with an undriveable vehicle, and I have it booked in for its MOT on Monday!

 

Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

Regards

Andrew

[silver1011]

The three low volume beeps are a warning that the battery is close to not being able to start the engine.

 

the U140600 fault code suggests that the car is detecting a higher than expected current draw.

 

What was the reason for changing the battery?

 

What non-standard electrical items are fitted to the car i.e. dash cam, phone charger, anything plugged into the 12V sockets?

[andrewclark55]

Hi @Silver1011

 

Thanks for taking time to respond.

 

>the U140600 fault code suggests that the car is detecting a higher than expected current draw.

That is indeed the case.  After a run this morning I checked the current draw and it was around 550mA steadily, which is far too high.

 

>What was the reason for changing the battery?

5 years old and was dropping overnight to 11.5v.  Yet there were no beeps prior to the battery change.  It was just struggling to start the engine even in the garage, and would not have coped with a frost.

I was however putting it on an intelligent Optimate 4  trickle charger once or twice a week (without disconnecting it) but that does not charge above 1A so I assumed would not damage the alternator diodes.

 

>What non-standard electrical items are fitted to the car i.e. dash cam, phone charger, anything plugged into the 12V sockets?

1. Dashcam yes, but it does not draw much and I have unplugged it for the time being anyway.  No difference, still beeps.

2. Because of the issues with the previous battery I bought a small cigar-socket digital voltmeter,  Likewise now unplugged, no difference.

 

I am trying to think of the best way to track down whatever is pulling around 0.5A of additional current without upsetting the car systems,

If I pull out one fuse at a time are there any critical ones I should avoid pulling altogether?  If so could I try just measuring  the very small voltage drop across the fuse for those, or is that going to be too small to be reliable?

[J.R.]

0.55 amps would be what you would see if you measured the current draw at the battery terminal with an in line current meter or clamp meter unless you took the correct precautions to allow the systems to shut down.

 

You need to engage the bonnet lock catch with a screwdriver or similar to fool the vehicle that the bonnet is closed after setting up your current tester, then lock the vehicle with the remote and take current readings straight away whch will be the 0.55 amps, then after 5 minutes and 20 minutes, it should drop to a lower current within 5 minutes and to the proper standby current of around 30-45 mA within the 20 minutes, my car does it within 5 minutes but many say its longer.

 

It sounds like you have a battery drain but I did not want you chasing a false trail, equally the warning lights were normal until the car had been driven; it should not have happened with the back up battery but something must have disconnected.

 

I would suspect what you did to "register" the battery, do you have a print out of what coding the battery management module has?

 

 

[andrewclark55]

JR - That's really helpful!

 

I didn't realise about the bonnet open stopping it from going to sleep!

 

That makes sense as yesterday I was getting readings of around 200mA (still too high) after working on the diagnostics for some time.

 

>I would suspect what you did to "register" the battery, do you have a print out of what coding the battery management module has?

I have attached a few photos of the scanner screen, including the original battery parameters,
69Ah, EFB, Manuf. JCB, Serial 1111111111 now replaced with

70Ah, EFB, Manuf. Varta Serial 1111111111

And the the U140600 fault code (now cleared by using the Erase Code facility on the scanner)

 

Did I miss something on setting up the new battery? (BMS Registration menu option on the Autophix 7610)

 

[andrewclark55]

...thought I had better add a photo of the new Varta battery

 

Slightly higher Ah at 70 and CCA of 760A vs. 680A for the old battery.

[linni]

Why did you replace it with EFB battery, not the AGM one, which should be more effective?

I am just about changing the battery too.

[DGW]

Shouldn't the new battery have been coded differently to the old one, eg 1111111112, to let the system know it has been changed?

[andrewclark55]

3 hours ago, linni said:

Why did you replace it with EFB battery, not the AGM one, which should be more effective?

I am just about changing the battery too.

The original Skoda battery was EFM so I just kept the new one as close as possible in spec to avoid problems.  Hmmmmph!

[Warrior193]

2 hours ago, DGW said:

Shouldn't the new battery have been coded differently to the old one, eg 1111111112, to let the system know it has been changed?

Ideally yes - but this shouldn't give rise to the apparent current drain issue.

Edited 7 January by Warrior193
grammar

[andrewclark55]

2 hours ago, DGW said:

Shouldn't the new battery have been coded differently to the old one, eg 1111111112, to let the system know it has been changed?

Yes, and I did originally put the actual battery serial number in.  When things started going pear shaped I went back in and set it to what it had been but you have a good point, and I will try changing it again,

[andrewclark55]

5 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

Ideally yes - but this shouldn't give rise to the apparent current drain issue.

Can anyone suggest how best to track down what is causing the drain?

 

I have the necessary meter tools including the AutoPhix 7610/Ancel VD700 (they are the same).

Edited 7 January by andrewclark55

[Warrior193]

The only way I have seen is to systematically pull the fuse on the various modules - first making sure that the vehicle has entered 'sleep mode' to eliminate false readings from control modules that are still active.

Opening a door to access interior fuse panel will, of course, wake them up again - so it may be a prolonged process. Good luck.

Edited 7 January by Warrior193
added information

[andrewclark55]

@Warrior193

 

Thanks.  That's what I suspected.  Another challenge!

 

Are there any specific fuses that I should NOT risk pulling out?

[Warrior193]

I've never had to do this operation, but I'd suspect none - apart from the alarm system (which has own battery) all circuits lose voltage when the battery is disconnected. Hopefully other forum members will be able to better advise. I'd suggest killing the infotainment system first, as this apparently can cause this type of issue. Remember to always leave sufficient time for live modules to enter sleep mode after switching off.

[andrewclark55]

Thanks Warrior.  

 

I must admit I'm getting to the point of not messing with it any more.  It is going in to the dealer tomorrow anyway for MOT and oil service so I will probably just have to get the chequebook out and write a blank cheque(!) for an investigation,  While I was out in the garage resetting the battery serial number and (apparently successfully) after a short while it started with VERY loud beeping that I could do nothing to stop.

 

I plugged in the scanner again and it came up with a new fault as per photo attached...  Does that mean I need to provide authorisation for something?  Who knows!!

 

Ever get the feeling of being out of your depth...

[skomaz]

1 hour ago, Warrior193 said:

 I'd suggest killing the infotainment system first, as this apparently can cause this type of issue.

 

I think that would be my first starting point too given the experience of others...  Maybe tr y a factory reset of it to start with, as well as checking everything else has been switched on and off Tvlesst once just in case  something has got itself in an in-between state. 

[Warrior193]

Could the loud alarm sound have been from the onboard security system activating? Possibly not connected to that new fault code.

[andrewclark55]

18 minutes ago, skomaz said:

 

I think that would be my first starting point too given the experience of others...  Maybe tr y a factory reset of it to start with, as well as checking everything else has been switched on and off Tvlesst once just in case  something has got itself in an in-between state. 

OK.  I will try that. and let you know if it has any effect.

 

 

[andrewclark55]

19 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

Could the loud alarm sound have been from the onboard security system activating? Possibly not connected to that new fault code.

I'm really not sure but as I had the bonnet open for a long while trying to see if there was any way to measure the static current with it closed I wondered if it was just warning me that the battery was running down to a more critical level?

 

On the other hand I have had it on trickle charge again all night so it was fully charged (about 12,8v) till a few hours ago when I took it off.

[Kenny R]

1 hour ago, andrewclark55 said:

I'm really not sure but as I had the bonnet open for a long while trying to see if there was any way to measure the static current with it closed I wondered if it was just warning me that the battery was running down to a more critical level?

 

On the other hand I have had it on trickle charge again all night so it was fully charged (about 12,8v) till a few hours ago when I took it off.

When you are charging the battery are you connecting the 

-ve from the charger to the dedicated point on the bulkhead and not to the battery -ve terminal.

[andrewclark55]

Just now, Kenny R said:

When you are charging the battery are you connecting the 

-ve from the charger to the dedicated point on the bulkhead and not to the battery -ve terminal.

Yes, I am connecting to the bulkhead point.  Not sure entirely why - is it because of where the current is monitored by the system on the terminal?

 

I possibly did not note that point when first using charger... so many things to know!

[Warrior193]

Yes, there is a current monitor tagged (small plug-in) on the battery neg. terminal. 

[andrewclark55]

2 hours ago, andrewclark55 said:

>OK.  I will try that (reset of Infotainment) and let you know if it has any effect.

Just took the car out for a run to ensure battery was topped up and then set back to Factory the Radio and Media (I assume that is how to do it?)

Sadly it is still beeping quietly every minute so its off to the dealer tomorrow who should at least  be better equipped, I hope!

 

 

[linni]

Found an interesting video: