Hi all
Not a long story but some history of a problem that's seems of been brewing since Dec.

1> 200 mile drive up to Lincolnshire, all motorway. 160 miles in EPC light come on. Get to destination and realise the start stop has been disabled with an error.
Check next day, EPC light is off all looks normal. Check the battery terminal voltage and it something like 12.2V.
Check its being charged when running and appears that it is. Charge it over night, all looks good. Check voltage few days later and its dropped down to 12.2V again.
Suspect the battery at this point. Charge it for a few days so i can get home. 
EPC light back on after 60miles this time, make it home putting off using any high drain things like the lights until i had no choice...

2> At home charge it on the drive and back to work. No EPC light seems OK again.
Check it being charged again and some point later and appears to be, between 14 ~ 15V max.

3> Since been warmer not needed to charge, but aware i do need to get battery changed. VW quote £300~400, independent £150 but they don't do the battery coding.

4>  Last week, start car and engine management light is flashing for like 5 /10 secs  then goes out. Think its needs a charge again so did that. Not seen the engine management light since.  

5> Brought a new EFB Varta N60 stuff it in over the weekend. All seems good, check the terminal voltage whilst engine on idle and its sitting at 12.3V so not charging.
Leave it on the drive again and give it charge as not going anywhere for a few days.

 

6> Check this morning, voltage is at 12.7 then drops to 12.3 at idle. Then drive into work, 9mile journey. Check to see if it being charged when i park up and voltage is sitting at 12.2V. Doesn't seem to be charging....
I've stuck it on charge again so i can get home..! Confidence has gone.

How can check or provoke it into charging as it seems there's another issue and I'm not confident all is good having seen that.
I've searched on here but didn't find too much.
Any thoughts?

 

I've held off ringing the dealers yet to get them to check it out. Dash looks normal, no warning lights (yet...)

 

 

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by Gonzini

Yours is a stop/start vehicle with a battery (mis)management module.

 

It is working 100% as the manufacturers or should that be the legislators intended.

 

You did not need to charge the battery to drive home.

 

 

Thanks for the reply

No possibly not, Don't want to risk getting stuck here or on the journey home.
But how to i get it to start charging so i can measure it as proof its working? 
I know it does its own thing, I've read somewhere it doesn't even charge the battery fully when it working as intended.
As I've been having these issues over the months and then the engine management light flashing the other day seemed like it was time to change the battery out.

 

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by Gonzini

13 minutes ago, Gonzini said:

But how to i get it to start charging so i can measure it as proof its working? 

 

You do not need to, the proof that it is working is that your car has always started in the morning even when it set off on the previous journey with 12.2v.

 

Buy a plug in voltmeter (cigarette lighter socket) and you will see the charging voltage peak during braking and over-run conditions, as long as you havn't foolishly manually charged the battery again beforehand, I have a feeling that what you will observe from monitoring the battery (mis)management may only add to your current anxiety.

Are you measuring on the battery terminals.  To check charging start the car then put the air-con on, and headlights if you want, and have a look at the reading then.

 

Did you have the new EFB battery 'coded'?

 

For high consumption items just think about how many watts they might be and how long they're on but as you have a new battery depending on your driving and electric consumption you should be fine and perhaps, if required, only need a couple of  preventative chargers with an appropriate battery charger maintainer following the instructions in the car's Owner's Manual and for the charger, a couple of times a year, perhaps after hot summer and after winter (change of winter tyres if you do that).  With preventative charges as required you should get more than 5 years out of a good battery.

 

Read your Owner's Manual for info on battery charging and high consumption items. - https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models

 

They used to put that coming home leaving home lights on had a long slow drain on the battery in older Owner's Manuals whether they sorted that or just don't bother now as for a good few  years now they've put about changing the battery at 5 years old (very premature but good revenue and profit for the seller).

 

   

+1 for buying a cheap plug in DVM, doing that should give you an idea as to how your charging system is operating, I did that a few years ago, and still always have that cheap plug in DVM in whichever car I'm driving - and glance at it frequently!

Cheers for the replies guys, appreciate it

Maybe i should just chillout then and come terms that the battery will be in a semi discharged state all the time, by design or ****up by the sounds of it...
I guess it would be telling me something wasn't right, but not sure how reliable that is on these...

Good call on measuring the cigarette lighter socket voltage. I'll make a cable up at work so i can plug my DVM in if i can find a plug. If i set it to peak hold should catch the highest voltage it measured.
If i connected the laptop to the meter it can do logging, might be a bit over the top though that but an interesting exercise maybe to see what's normal behaviour.

Its just where i have measured it charging the battery before. This morning the voltage across the terminals was lower after driving the 9 miles than when i left so set the alarm bells off.

So sounds like if the aircons on and lights that should set the charging off then. None of which were this morning. 

No, not had the battery coded (yet..) I've read replacing like for like should be OK, but if i can find someone capable locally to do that i will i think. I can't talk to this car with any of the older diagnostics stuff i have kicking about.
Actually i do have a a cheapo bluetooth OBD adapter that did work with the mk2 Fabia so maybe i could at least look for any fault codes if that one works. It use's the android Torque app. 
The old battery will be 5 years old end of August, so i just presumed it was getting near the end of its useful life and with the terminal voltage dropping and EPC and engine management lighting up with the start/ stop error message at times...
I always disable the start stop / anyway, if i remember. It drive me nuts, i can't see how its doing the engine any good of time if its stuck slow moving traffic and constantly cycling.
All I've done with this car is drive it and get it serviced by Skoda every year. Maybe check the tire pressures once in while. I'm not even very good at washing it of late 😆

I'm not sold at all on all electric cars either, battery anxiety must be off the scale with those FFS.

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by Gonzini

@rum4mo Depends on the person, too much information can upset some , hence the rock steady 90c biased coolant temperature gauge and something that's familiar can be taken for granted and not noticed.  A mate had a horrible cheap looking digital gauge fitted into the dash, didn't stop him from having a flat battery when he go to France as he'd left the heated front screen switched on. 😄  He'd wired the switch on warning light so that it illuminated along with all the other dash lights rather than as a warning light, some people don't help themselves, but it's something to have a laugh about later. 😁

 

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by nta16

You can go over the top with monitoring if you want or just look on here at threads, there are a few who have put up graph readings to save you the effort.

 

No 5 years isn't necessarily the life of a battery others might only get 4 years, others will get many more than 5 years.  Even the new battery is just a store and can be depleted the more you drain the battery and the more often the shorter its useful life, you want to have the battery charged before you get any warnings on the dash or lights. On a modern car by the time the engine has difficulty starting you have probably taken the battery too far to ever recover  for much more useful trouble-free life.

 

Whilst it's definitely best to code the battery if  as you have it's the same type (EFB) and just about the same Ah (59? to 60) then I feel the car's computers will eventually sort it, a way I think you might be able to speed this process if it's required would be to follow the instructions in the car's Owner's Manual and for the charger, using an appropriate (one for start/stop, EFB) charger maintainer and fully charge the battery that was the computers know the battery is up to snuff as you've told them and they can then work out their evil ways as usual.

 

For what uses a lot of battery power just think about it as you would for home appliances, things with motors or heaters as a generality, air-con and also low users that use constantly or over very long periods, think of leaving a boot light on perhaps, very low wattage but it all adds up, the VW computers constantly looking to interfere with stuff, a camera constantly running..

 

When putting a multimeter on the battery terminals after the bonnet has ben up for say 20-30 minutes I'd still allow a .02v or 0.3v loss (use) depending on the modern vehicle type and age.

 

Batteries self discharge more in warmer weather, so I'd suggest checking after the hottest part of summer, plus air-con would be getting a hammering and of course in winter the battery doesn't do so well and heavy use from lots of electrics.  Then you have those that sit in the car after turning off the engine and parking up talking on the phone whilst charging up some other mobile device.

 

Just be sensible and there's no need to worry about the battery like other maintenance do checks when repaired or get into some regime, doesn't have to be that regular just do more checks if required, a bit of common sense (which many seem to lack in some areas).

 

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by nta16

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

, if required, only need a couple of  preventative chargers with an appropriate battery charger maintainer following the instructions in the car's Owner's Manual and for the charger, a couple of times a year, perhaps after hot summer and after winter (change of winter tyres if you do that).  With preventative charges as required you should get more than 5 years out of a good battery.

 

That is complete BS for any modern vehicle especially one with stop start.

 

"if required"........ pray tell how the OP is going to decide that Battery Man?

 

I guess it was too much to hope you might resist the temptation.

 

33 minutes ago, Gonzini said:

The old battery will be 5 years old end of August, so i just presumed it was getting near the end of its useful life and with the terminal voltage dropping and EPC and engine management lighting up with the start/ stop error message at times...

 

Yes it was certainly an indication that it no longer had the reserve capacity to allow stop-start to work under urban conditions, ironically at that point it would have adopted a standard charging profile plus the regen over-charging.

 

It would probably have carried on starting the car for another couple of years had you disabled the stop/start invoking a normal alternator charging profile (described below) which not only would have avoided the error messages but also the low voltage measurements both of which alarmed you.

 

You can disable stop/start by disconnecting the shunt resistor lead at its connection, it is in parallel with the main battery cable, the negative I think but it might be the positive, the alternator will then revert to a standard charging profile, you have been a victim of the need for the manufacturers to constantly reduce their pollution figures and all that is left for them now is kidology like stop/start.

Seemed to stack up with what was happening and with help on here.
I've strung it out since Dec, regular charging during Dec when it was cold. It's only where the engine management light came on last week i thought I'd better sort it out. (if that was what caused it...)
Pretty much had the start / stop disabled from new, just sometimes i forget only to be reminded when i stop in traffic. I usually swear at it, F'in thing...
Charged the old battery up today, but hard to measure its real capacity if i can't load it up and look at the discharge rate over time.
Can see if the open terminal voltage drops dramatically over the next few days though.
I've just made up a cigarette socket DVM adapter so can check that out later.
I'd heard about that current shunt hack on the minus terminal, someone said they just disconnected it. I guess that's one way to test it.
I'm just finding it hard to get my head around that it appears it hasn't attempted to charge the battery on the journey in today.
Hopefully the DVM should help see what's going on.

 

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by Gonzini

3 hours ago, Gonzini said:

This morning the voltage across the terminals was lower after driving the 9 miles than when i left so set the alarm bells off.

That doesn't necessarily mean the battery hasn't been charging or charged, it depends on a number of variables, and when and where you're taking the readings from.

 

 

2 hours ago, Gonzini said:

I've strung it out since Dec, regular charging during Dec when it was cold.

You probably left it too late by then for fuller recovery, what  charger were you using and how were you charging?

 

 

2 hours ago, Gonzini said:

regular charging during Dec when it was cold. It's only where the engine management light came on last week i thought I'd better sort it out.

That might confirm you'd left it too late for fuller recovery.

 

(ETA: Don't let the battery get too low, just because the car starts and the lights seem bright enough the charge can still be too low.)

 

The start/stop is only one element in this, it's about the use (and perhaps abuse and neglect) of vehicle and use/abuse/neglect of battery.  Modern cars have some many computer systems and convenience items that can get very regular use and perhaps over use that take a lot of electric power, that comes from the battery and alternator or battery alone when the engine isn't running.

 

Decades back some needed to use battery chargers then batteries and the cars' charging systems got better to nearer times and now when the batteries are very good and so are the cars' charging systems but what has changed is the loading on the cars and the drivers either don't know or have forgotten about the need for charging, by car or off-board charger maintainer.  The newer the car generally the more the likely need for charging, how much depends on the owner/driver and how the car is being used.

 

I've got a mate's battery in the shed, off his 2005 JagFord diesel which he replaced as it almost or did (I forget) not manage to start his not so often used JagFord that often only went on short journeys.  Battery was manufactured end of 2013 and went on the car not long after that.  I checked its six cells and all plates as far as I could see looked fine and 'water' level good on all so I charged it using my 20+ year old 1.8 amp charger maintainer over a week ago and its was on 12.8v Saturday and 12.7v today.  Not load or dropped tested and it never fully recharged but I'd bet it'd be fine for use on another (old) vehicle that was used more regularly. possibly not a diesel or auto though, or as a 12v supply for garage items.  Otherwise £7/8 from a scrappy but that does seem a waste.  Another distress purchase and premature battery replacement due to neglect, he has two battery charger maintainers but they're for more favoured vehicles.

 

I put the following in the 'General Maintenance' section. - 'Car battery, now is the time to check it' - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/499006-car-battery-now-is-the-time-to-check-it

 

This for the summer hot weather in Fabia Mk3 section. - Best to check your battery now - (why?) https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/506654-best-check-your-car-battery-now-why

 

This may also give you a bit more info, in the 'Handy Topics & Guides'. - 'flat batteries on the first working day of each year' - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/519903-flat-batteries-on-the-first-working-day-of-each-year

 

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by nta16
ETA:

@Gonzini, the reason I bought the cheap plug in DVM was maybe two fold, first, it lets me see the voltage at a glance as it is at a convenient angle for easy viewing from the driver's seat - and due to its construction, always in that fixed position, and second because having it plugged in at all times avoids the need to have an expensive DMM in the car when out and about and finding a way to make its screen viewable and "awake".

 

Starting with a fully charged battery, I was initially curious to observe that driving up a  long hill with moderate engine revs, the displayed battery voltage dropped slowly - then got charged on the overrun on the other side of the hill - it behaviour is pretty understandable when you think about it, and would not necessarily be the same behaviour if starting with an "not topped up with a charger" battery.

 

Another behaviour you might find is, if road traffic is flowing reasonably freely, even when stopping after a 10 miles run in daylight and the heater fan off, auto Stop/Start might not "happen", reason being that the battery is in a "just surviving" charge condition - mind you, that will only work if there has not been any or much accelerating or braking/overrunning. Obviously this will only happen "now and again" - but as I've seen this happening, I thought that I'd mention it to you.

@rum4mo I can see that getting evidence for your curiosity by using a cheap plug-in digital voltage gauge but not for keeping it after that or carrying an expensive multimeter in the car other than going out to rescue friends and relatives you haven't or can't teach enough to always get the car back or to a pub for it to be looked at in comfort.

 

You look after your cars well why would you need or want to carry any tools what so ever in the car (other than to help others).

 

The alternators and batteries are very well made now and very reliable if the alternator and battery are allowed or get to fully do their jobs they may not need any further help, just that as we know this doesn't always happen in which case prevention is better, less hassle and easier than cure most times.  If you must do any work on a car, including the very easy and virtually (clean) hands-off task or using an appropriate battery charger maintainer, then it's (very) best at your convenance and in the most comfort available.  Only macho egotists prefer roadside working, often in the cold and wet, with their underpants over their trousers.  😆

   

@rum4mo
Well having the DVM measuring the voltage while driving was an eye opener. It seems, in its present charge cycle it only charges on over run or when changing gear for a split second.
Even running the aircon on auto and windscreen wipers going (its raining and started to fog up...) it didn't persuade it into thinking that maybe putting some charge back in the battery might be a good idea.
It was getting up to 14.8V, even at quite slow speeds with the foot off the go pedal.
Battery was sitting at 12.2V whilst driving for the main part, once i got home and turned the engine off it slowly started to recover. Last i saw was 12.4V
I guess there's different charging cycles then it runs as when i checked it before i had the bonnet open and measured the terminal voltage with the engine idling and it was sitting at 14.8V. At the moment i wouldn't see that, would be like 12.2V which just looks plain wrong to me!
I think you have to drive for hours with all accessories turned off with lots of over run to put back in the battery what you took out starting. There's no way my journey home earlier put back in what got taken out starting. It was fully charged at 12.7V when i left, it seems these don't do fully charged as what i know that to be on older none previous stop / start cars I've owned. 
I always turn off the stop / start, I'm surprised the switch hasn't worn out yet 😆
Have seen the disabled behaviour though when it has been on, which i totally get why its happening.

@nta16
Cheers for the links, l'll have a read through.

As for letting the battery get too low, i don't think you get much choice with that in normal driving usage from what I've seen then.
I will now periodically give a maintenance charge over weekends when it's parked up on the drive, now I've seen how it goes about its business.
Take it there must be different charging profiles it runs over time? Overwise I wouldn't of been able to measure 14.8V across the terminals sat idling with my head under the 
bonnet. I wouldn't of measured that checking today and was the case earlier.
So going by what you guys have said i think its probably working as intended then, even though to me its seems like its being very under charged.
I'm doing a 200 mile journey up to the midlands in a few weeks so will be interesting to see what it does on a longer journey.
I guess if the EPC doesn't light up again then replacing the battery has cleared the problem.
Just been using the car for the last 4 1/2 years, other than the yearly service just left it alone to do its thing as since before Dec last year just not had any need to get involved with it. 
It seems if you were to measure the terminal voltage at anytime it would appear to be always less than fully charged. 
So i guess today I've learnt something about the charging system on this car, seems a bit bizarre setup to me TBH. But it is what it is.
Just have to see how its gets on then, I've put the battery charger back in the box....!

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by Gonzini

8 hours ago, Gonzini said:

No, not had the battery coded (yet..)

Where are you?

I am in North Dorset and I can code for beer money.

 

2 hours ago, Gonzini said:

I've put the battery charger back in the box....!

Are you connecting the charger to both battery terminals?

 

 

Thanks. AG Falco

@AGFalco
Chassis ground and positive terminal, as required.
I'm southampton way, just outside of.
What would be the main benefit of updating the battery coding seeing as its like for like?
I guess its stored a log over time of the old battery performance but imagine that will just continue to be updated and its suddenly (hopefully...) got better.
When i asked a local VAG specialist garage they quoted £150 but they didn't bother with the recoding which i queried.
I'm out the warranty now so don't care what the dealer thinks. They shouldn't charge so much for replacements.
They blind quoted me between £300 ~ £400. For a 1L f'in Fabia, what are they thinking.
Varta D60, £104 inc VAT / delivered by Bardens (now known as EcoBat) sounds much more realistic, which is what i did.

I didn't realise these charging systems are so different from the cars of old. But i understand battery technology has changed a lot of late and its charging requirements.
Its just figuring out the best way to manage the charging whilst driving in my use to get the most out of it and periodic maintenance charging. 
As of today it seems to be be keep foot off the go pedal as much as possible. Really helped understand how it works having the DVM attached.
I guess there will be times when it has a constant charge when it feels like it, I've seen that already a few months back when i was checking it out.
But obviously now i realise its not always working like that.
Been reading a few threads of all the problems people have been having with the start stop on the mk3's, all seems to be pretty much battery related and charge condition.
I mean, you just get in the car and drive right. Its starts, you go.

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by Gonzini

Every time you charge the battery yourself you are just wasting the mains electricity, the vehicle will immediately cease any charging even regenerative over-run charging until it has discharged the battery again to IIRC 70% state of charge at which point it will resume the (minimal) fuel and emissions reducing charging regime.

 

3 hours ago, Gonzini said:

I think you have to drive for hours with all accessories turned off with lots of over run to put back in the battery what you took out starting.

 

Not true, don't be misled by Battery Man and his fairy tales, it certainly wont put it back in if you have manually charged the battery as described above, otherwise if the SOC warrants then it will take a matter of seconds on the over-run to replace the energy lost in starting.

 

Even the smallest VAG vehicles have a minimum of a 90 ampere alternator, I reckon 95% of vehicles owned by forum contributors will have a 100 amp or bigger alternator, those like you with start stop much higher than that, you will have to check to see how many amps it is rated at.

 

If we take the smaller 100 ampere alternator as an easy example it has an output power of 1.2 kilowatt, that is greater than the starter motor in most cases, our generation of vehicles start in less than a second, lets say 2 seconds to be generous, that is how long the alternator at full output will take to replace the starting discharge and in certain traffic jam stop start conditions with a low SOC that is precisely what it will do.

@J.R.
I get whats going on now with it, i just didn't fully understand how these modern charging systems are working. Mainly because i haven't had to think about it until now!
I know we're dealing with a semi different battery technology with the EFB over the old school SLA, but running it at 75 or 80% charge seems bonkers. Especially with all the issues people are having related to battery charge states.
I realise now its dumping at lot charge back in on the over run, I'm used to the old school charge ways. I'll bear that in mind whilst driving now. I think i do it a lot anyway trying to save fuel.

Not sure what rating the alternator is on mine. Might be a sticker visible on there.
I'll keep an eye on it anyway, if it looks like its dropping below 70% charge at rest maybe I'll give it a maintenance charge. But I'll see where the numbers settle at in use.
 

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by Gonzini

1 hour ago, Gonzini said:

if it looks like its dropping below 70% charge at rest maybe I'll give it a maintenance charge. But I'll see where the numbers settle at in use.

 

Frankly of you are going to do that you should disconnect the shunt resistor as you are preventing the system from doing what it is intended to do and the system will immediately seek to discharge back to the lower SOC, I myself would have done it within the first 30 seconds of owning the car, I drove a stop start vehicle once only and absolutely hated it.

 

Be aware that your non engine running voltage measurements will be at least 0.7v lower than the true standing off load battery voltage and significantly more than that within 20 minutes of switching off or opening a door or the bonnet.

 

I have a multicoloured LED voltmeter in my car, the voltages written beside the LEDS are too small to be read (its positioned between the seats) but every morning it is showing only 2 or 3 red LEDS, no orange, yellow or green, the car starts just fine and all the green ones light up when charging, I preferred the predecessor that had an LED voltage readout which after factoring in the aforementioned volt drops would tell me if the voltage was low enough for me to warrant charging before starting, the battery is very good, I have an electronic plus an old school shunt resistor volt drop tester, the only reason I keep an eye on thing is that the car in the past has not be driven for weeks on end and the towing relay means I have a higher than normal parasitic discharge.

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by J.R.

@Gonzini you've got things a bit upside down with charging, if the battery is at capacity for the computer program it doesn't need to take on more charge and if much electric stuff isn't being used the alternator has less to do

 

Also I was suggesting how to speed up the battery being accepted if needed.  Not you, but as always my troll has skim-read and imagined what I'd put rather than actually read what I put, I've given up on him long along but will help you, he's beyond help, for you see pdf below.

9 hours ago, nta16 said:

Whilst it's definitely best to code the battery if  as you have it's the same type (EFB) and just about the same Ah (59? to 60) then I feel the car's computers will eventually sort it, a way I think you might be able to speed this process if it's required would be to follow the instructions in the car's Owner's Manual and for the charger, using an appropriate (one for start/stop, EFB) charger maintainer and fully charge the battery that was the computers know the battery is up to snuff as you've told them and they can then work out their evil ways as usual.

 

You shouldn't need to use a battery charger maintainer on your car for a good while unless you do the stuff to deplete it as shown in the Owner's Manual or leave some supply running for a long time with the car parked up.

 

 

4 hours ago, Gonzini said:

I guess if the EPC doesn't light up again then replacing the battery has cleared the problem.

Letting the battery get too low for the computer can cause all sorts of unexpected odd stuff warning lights and perhaps error codes all before you get the warning signs that the battery is low and before you get the actual warning message and light that the battery is low - but the engine will still start and the lights will seem bright enough, the old if you can get the engine started things will be fine is in the past.  The problem will become more noticeable (or ignored or not known about) the newer the cars, 2019 is prime period now, if the battery hasn't already been replaced,  More premature avoidable battery replacements.  Some may be happy at paying £104, or £250 or £300-£400 every 4 or 5 years to avoid any extra maintenance no matter how simple and clean near hands-free that maintenance might be.

 

Why should an EPC light be on just for a low battery you might think, perhaps it might be coincidence if it doesn't return.

 

Despite what some insisted it has been proven numerous times that for some (many?) battery charger maintainers are required, and increasingly so or more regular battery replacement, as many commercial concerns would like it.   

 

2 hours ago, Gonzini said:

What would be the main benefit of updating the battery coding seeing as its like for like?

Might not be any but a  very good side benefit is that you could have a full scan report ,then 'code' the new battery just for the few seconds it takes, also any error codes could be deleted, you can get stuff just from disconnecting and reconnect the battery most stuff should reset with a very short drive after reconnecting the battery but you'll be able to se if any were left  or more historic.  Like most mechanical servicing, maintenance and some repairs just boil down to clean and lubricate not a bad idea to clean the electronics, the computers are very dumb and already prone to brain-farts best to give them as little as possibly to worry over, they already have enough, more so on later cars.  I'd suggest if you're near enough you take up AGFalco offeror you can look for a nearer member offering the same. - 

 

On a tangent, you put you've only had the Dealership servicing (which is little more than annual engine oil and filter change and a Free look to see if they can find more chargeable work) at this age you may want the spark plugs checked/replaced (they work is divide by one less than it used to be) and certainly the engine oil filter, of course things like brake fluid change or check(s) at least, check brakes and tyres - all stuff for and on other threads.

 

As promised pdf which I hope helps you, plenty of other and similar info available on the internet, some battery manufacturers and suppliers have (had) info freely available on their sites too. - SSP-504_Vehicle_Batteries.pdf 

 

And if you want to know more about the start/stop, which does affect the battery and alternator as you've found. -  SSP-426-Start-stop-system-2009.pdf

 

@J.R.
Yeah, see what your saying. To be honest i just want to drive that car and not worry about it which is what I've done for the last 4.5 years and its been fine. 
Batteries lose capacity over time and need replacing, just a fact of life.
So at what point of SOC would you say is a trigger to externally charge it?
I am aware Im doing fairly short journeys week days, 9 miles each way. But i can get some over run charging in OK.
Always hated the stop / start, I'm surprised the disable button hasn't worn out.. 
 

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by Gonzini

@nta16
Most likely, i do with most things 😆
I know much more now about it than i knew when i first posted this thread up.
I'll have a read in the manual about this then, i looked at it ages ago but i probably glossed over that bit not realising. 
EPC light was the first sign of something going on. Before that i wasn't aware of any problems brewing.
I've never seen this low battery warning others have seen.

Done well with car batteries over the years. Might of changed 2 or 3 in 36 years of driving. I've always looked after them in the past.
I'm sure the plugs will get changed on the next major service, I've just let Skoda advise on all that.
I'll check out the PDF's, been down lots of rabbit holes tonight, there's lots of good info on here.

Those PDF's look good, I'll have a better read later! Cheers

Edited 13 May, 20242 yr by Gonzini

18 hours ago, Gonzini said:

Done well with car batteries over the years. Might of changed 2 or 3 in 36 years of driving. I've always looked after them in the past.

After brakes and tyres the battery was one of the first things I checked when getting a car new to me and very many of the cars I've had have been old or very old as I ran various "classic" (over-valued and over priced) cars as dailies for work, commuting, holidays in UK and Europe and for club events, mainly driving events.  (47 years of driving)  I checked the hire car my wife recently got particularly as it was a 2023 VW Seat 1.0, 3-cylinder, TSI (110 ps) sport (with start/stop) the engine oil as promised was at max but the coolant was just below 'min' on a warmish engine on a warmish day and as my wife was using the car on her usual very short journeys I checked the battery and fully charged it with an appropriate charger maintainer and despite a couple of 110 miles trips I later done a quick (3 or 4 hours on a 4-amp) to fully recharge it again in case it was going to stop with us longer than expected.

 

I only learnt about all this VW battery stuff when I decided to change the battery on my wife's 2015 Fabia Mk3 to save me any hassle when I think the first thing went wrong with the car, unlike many (most) here I'm not a VW fan, never have been (Golf GTi Mk1 perhaps being the only exception) and generally not a fan of German marques, this German engineering quality is literally so last century.  I also loathe working on my cars and certainly my wife's Fabia, not so much doing small simple jobs on my neighbours' cars.

 

The Mk1 Fabia seem like they were good and earlier Mk2s but by Mk3 things were lower quality still it appears.

 

 

18 hours ago, Gonzini said:

I'm sure the plugs will get changed on the next major service, I've just let Skoda advise on all that.

I think they should have already been done by now, check your records.  Below is an out of date service, maintenance schedule.

 

 

 

18 hours ago, Gonzini said:

I'll check out the PDF's, been down lots of rabbit holes tonight, there's lots of good info on here.

Hopefully the pdfs will at least make somethings clearer.

 

If you want to just disconnect the battery monitoring thing on the battery terminal, there's literally no law that says you have to have it or connected.  I was quite surprised when our neighbour got a 71 plate Honda and it didn't have start/stop, I helped persuade him to go back to a Honda after BMW and VW Seat both of which gave him hassle and expense unlike the Hondas.

 

Good luck.

   

Edited 14 May, 20242 yr by nta16
71 not 70

One thing that might be getting overlooked with predominantly low mileage running is the likelihood of plate hard sulphation as a result of persistently lower charge state (<75% SOC)  In this instance, a good case for the occasional maintenance charge to 100% with a suitable charger.