I had my car in at Skoda yesterday for its service and MOT under the 'All in' plan I have and whilst it was all fine and no particular issues, they told me the car battery was defective and needed replacing and would cost £315 for them to replace with a genuine VAG part. They didn't have one in stock and would have to order it, so I just said I'd keep my eye on it. It all seems fine to me and the battery itself isn't displaying the indicator to say it's defective. Question is what battery to get, I've read people saying got for AGM, but to fair the EFB battery is 7 years old and has been fine until now. The battery is the original one fitted and is made by Exide, but had VW references on it. It relevant numbers are 12V 59AH 320A DIN 640A EN/SAE/GS EFB. I am struggling to find a like for like as most seem to have higher AH nearest I can fine where all else seems equal is 60AH, which I understand would be fine. 

 

Also, I understand it needs to be coded to the car, but I do have an OBDEleven with VAG Pro, so understand that is a fairly simple process I can do myself. Also, do you lose anything when you unplug the battery from the car and / or is there anything special I should do to preserve any settings etc?

 

Look forward to hearing thoughts.

 

 

4 hours ago, Superbsport said:

I do have an OBDEleven with VAG Pro, so understand that is a fairly simple process I can do myself. Also, do you lose anything when you unplug the battery from the car and / or is there anything special I should do to preserve any settings etc?

Car unlocked, doors shut, windows up, key not in car and bonnet up.

 

Remove negative first and positive second and refit the reverse way round.

 

OBDeleven to code the new battery.

Set the new AH if different and change the serial number. Just add one to the original number.

Turn steering full lock both ways.

Reset clock.

Drive round the block.

 

First clue to a poor battery is that the stop/start never works.

Battery:- EFB 027

Try Tanya Batteries when you need one:-

https://www.tayna.co.uk/search/efb 027

 

Thanks.  AG Falco

 

 

 

Go with Varta

Halfrauds did mine a while back, around €180 coded and fitted.

Thanks for the replies. Just to check, will anything reset when I disconnect the battery? Trip mileage I can live with, but what other settings might be lost that i will need to reset / reconfigure?

 

Battery make wise, the current one is Exide and has done 7 years, so seems quite respectable. I have a vote for Varta, any others to consider?

I lost nothing when I did mine. That was with a full battery disconnect rather than trying to piggy-back off another battery during the changeover.

19 minutes ago, Superbsport said:

but what other settings might be lost that i will need to reset / reconfigure?

 

 

On 15/01/2025 at 21:15, AGFalco said:

Reset clock.

 

You can get a power lead to plug in to the OBD port that you power the car up during the battery change.

https://www.google.com/search?q=obd+power+supply+lead

 

Thanks.  AG Falco

 

Nothing will be lost unplugging the battery as far I remember..

 

+1 for Varta.

I replaced my OEM battery with one. (Varta Silver).

 

I didn't do any recoding as it was a like for like swap & all was fine immediately.

 

Just pay attention to whether you have an EFB or AGM now and order the same. 

But if you have OBD11 anyway you can always code the change.

Thanks for all the help. I've ordered the battery. I've actually gone for another Exide one (Exide EFB EL600), which is updated version  of what was on the car originally. I looked at others recommended, but in the end I figured it has last 7 years and still starts the car it immediately, just stop start not working much these days. It's only c. £75 as well depending where you buy from. I went with The Battery Group and ordered lunchtime yesterday and coming today. 

 

Still unsure on battery saver, it's not knowing what happens when you disconnect. I'd rather just keep power to the car if I can. I'm tempted by this which I can plug in to either OBD or cigarette power socket. Anybody foresee any issues?

 

https://www.mccormicktools.co.uk/products/sealey-vs2076-diagnostic-socket-memory-safe-eobd-12v-2?variant=41371183775825&country=GB&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAy8K8BhCZARIsAKJ8sfS9Ww2HeGrXcFmV5AZAXFMLXgXlWvN9VHk3vZFczPfooGd5tg8DkAsaAsqTEALw_wcB

1 hour ago, Superbsport said:

Still unsure on battery saver, it's not knowing what happens when you disconnect. I'd rather just keep power to the car if I can. I'm tempted by this which I can plug in to either OBD or cigarette power socket. Anybody foresee any issues?

Done a few VAG battery swaps.  All you lose is the time and trip milage. So not a big issue really.  You will get the fault light on first time, but a quick drive round the block with some lock to lock steering turns clears that.
Hence all you have to do is set the time again afterwards.

You can keep a 12v feed if you want, make sure the key remains off if you attempt that as the fuse on that can blow with the ignition on power draw. I know that as it happened to me when I tried an OBD one. Also thinking in retrospec on this, confirm your 12v backfeed method does have 12v normally with the key off. No point backfeeding to a power disconnected connection.
Personally I now don't bother because as said you only need to re-input the clock time. Also if adding an external power feed you need to be careful with that +12v Battery wire you remove, as it would be at that +12V and don't let it touch any Metalwork.

 

Edited 23 January, 20251 yr by aubrey
added last paragraph

2 hours ago, Superbsport said:

I'd rather just keep power to the car if I can. I'm tempted by this which I can plug in to either OBD or cigarette power socket.

 

I think you're over thinking it...

Just change the battery, clock will reset the time from GPS...

You will have no issues.

 

Providing an additional power supply whilst the battery is disconnected through the OBD or 12v line will only introduce the possibility to cause problem as suggested above with fuses etc

54 minutes ago, Gabbo said:

clock will reset the time from GPS...

Never knew that.  I don't have the factory SatNav, so it was no GPS for me.
Does that mean you don't have to do the manual hour plus and hour minus in march/october for GMT/BST like I do if you have GPS ?

1 hour ago, aubrey said:

Does that mean you don't have to do the manual hour plus and hour minus in march/october for GMT/BST like I do if you have GPS ?

 

Unfortunately not... (Facepalm)

The factory unit will synchronise the time via GPS but doesn't change between BST/GMT automatically. 

 

Each time zone change you need to go to the date/time settings and tick/untick the summer time option..

Changed my battery today, got the expected errors on dash so full lock left, full lock right then centered, all errors went

 

but I did have “error stop start” so went for a mini drive, turned the car off then it disappeared.

 

Everything else works and didn’t lose anything maybe trip counter but I rarely ever look at that.

 

Car starting is so smooth now, I thought my engine mounts were going because it felt quite violent

 

Basically wish I’d done it sooner

23 minutes ago, Danoid said:

Basically wish I’d done it sooner

 

I said exactly the same thing after struggling with slow starts...

For ~€100 it can make a huge difference to the car.

3 minutes ago, Gabbo said:

 

I said exactly the same thing after struggling with slow starts...

For ~€100 it can make a huge difference to the car.

I bought 10vin vcds as well, so I kept putting it off as it’s hardly cheap but then I have a habit of not spending money

Did anybody use grease on the terminals / cable clamps when they changed battery? Offered it for £2 at checkout when I bought the battery, so I bought it, but some people online saying no and some yes. Not sure whether to bother?

I guess it is to prevent corrosion between the battery and terminal but I can't see that this is worth £2 or really necessary for a battery unless you live in a very harsh environment

 

Sounds to be like an easy money grab by the garage like when they offer to fill you tyres with argon instead of air...

Edited 27 January, 20251 yr by Gabbo

2 hours ago, Gabbo said:

fill you tyres with argon instead of air.

Hope not. ✴️

Unless they don't want a repeat customer.

 

Maybe Nitrogen... 😉

 

Thanks. AG Falco

Going to bite the bullet and fit the battery this weekend. I did buy a memory saver, but have decided to follow advice and not use it. However, one thought that crossed my mind, does the alarm go off when you disconnect the battery? Should I remove the fuse first, which I believe is in the engine compartment fuse box?

13 minutes ago, Superbsport said:

does the alarm go off when you disconnect the battery?

 

Mine did. Some frantic pressing of all available buttons and switches, opening and closing of doors and a bit of swearing managed to switch it off. Don't ask which of these did the trick though as I've no idea.

Just change the battery no need to do anything special... 🤪

If the car is unlocked before you open the engine bay & you disconnect the battery there should be no alarm.

Ok I've done it. Every fault going on dash, but did as others have said left full lock, right full lock and aside from adaptive cruise everything cleared. Plugged OBD11 in found loads of faults so just cleared them and about go take it for a run. I assume these are fault logs due to reset having removed battery. One was steering angle sensor.

 

Only lost trip mileage as far as I can see. 

Yes its normal, even when the ignition is "off" many electronic modules are still powered & removing the battery will trigger faults relating to the "power supply"....

If you just ignition-off afterwards & let the car shutdown on its own they should all become "historic/passive" codes at the next ignition cycle (or you can clear them with your OBD reader).

 

After something like 40 driving cycles pending codes are automatically cleared so they would normally disappear on their own anyway.