Hi All

My battery just died, happy to replace it myself looking at bosch, varta or yuasa.

Can anyone recommend a cheap tool just to code the new battery to the car? Never had to do this before so new to me.

Battery recommendations also welcome.

Thanks in advance

Edited 22 April, 20251 yr by RajaStyle

Current battery pic attached

Sorry, no cheap way, you need a vagcom

i changed mine for a varta AGM battery five years ago and is still ok.

Stock one was efb like yours.

I codded with a Chinese vagcom cable.

Other way is have it done by your dealer

Just now, nickytheshaft said:

Sorry, no cheap way, you need a vagcom

i changed mine for a varta AGM battery five years ago and is still ok.

Stock one was efb like yours.

I codded with a Chinese vagcom cable.

Other way is have it done by your dealer

A couple of pointers on this:

1) You do need VCDS, but you can also code in new batteries with ODBEleven as well.

2) I cannot stress how much of a bad thing using the rip/off VCDS 12.x software is. It was pirated software that was cracked from Ross-Tech and if you really care for your Skoda, I highly recommend not touching that software as you don't know what its doing to your car. Please...please...please don't support dodgy software pirates, as it supports illegal activities and has the potential to brick your car.

3) For those of you who are running things on a budget, you can get a basic dongle from 51 UKP from ODBEleven; this is not expensive and that pays back for itself after the first use.

17 hours ago, RajaStyle said:

Hi All

My battery just died, happy to replace it myself looking at bosch, varta or yuasa.

Can anyone recommend a cheap tool just to code the new battery to the car? Never had to do this before so new to me.

Battery recommendations also welcome.

Thanks in advance

Mine is still on the original Varta AGM battery, so I'd recommend Varta

4 hours ago, varaderoguy said:

3) For those of you who are running things on a budget, you can get a basic dongle from 51 UKP from ODBEleven; this is not expensive and that pays back for itself after the first use.

Could you highlight which one I need to do it please, I was looking on this link

https://obdeleven.com/products?carBrand=Skoda

You'll want the PRO Pack (NextGen device and PRO VAG plan), no need for credits. The credits are only for the one-click-apps (which personally I would stay away from!)

You can't do any coding/adaptations without the plan.

@RajaStyle Yes, that is correct. The dongle actually works on ALL VAG cars - i.e. VW, Seat, Skoda, Audi, Bentley.

Edited 23 April, 20251 yr by varaderoguy

I believe that they also work on Toyota and BMW now, too.

On 23/04/2025 at 14:22, varaderoguy said:

@RajaStyle Yes, that is correct. The dongle actually works on ALL VAG cars - i.e. VW, Seat, Skoda, Audi, Bentley.

So this is the background and dilemma I have and it is a bit concerning.

1. Garage I use to just do my service items planned to just change the battery, I asked them if they would code it to the car and they said they don't have the machine for that better I go to Halfords. Only when I questioned them, makes me think they just change people's batteries and people are none the wiser. Some people even said Halfords just change the battery and don't code.

2. Rang about 4 garages locally and they said that their diagnostic machine can reset the battery monitoring system to tell the car there is a new battery but can't do anything else. Considering I wanted an agm battery they are saying I should buy like for like as in EFB with same cca etc. I thought you had to change Ah as part of coding even if I buy EFB, my current one is 69ah most new ones are 70 or 75. Also a bit worrying. Couple even said your can't change to agm as your car isn't designed for it, different charging system etc

3. I buy the pro kit for £100 and try and do it properly myself.

Seems a real lack of knowledge out there in my local area

Thoughts?

On 23/04/2025 at 14:22, varaderoguy said:

@RajaStyle Yes, that is correct. The dongle actually works on ALL VAG cars - i.e. VW, Seat, Skoda, Audi, Bentley.

Personally I would buy the pro kit and do it myself. Not only do you then know the job has been done correctly, but in my experience OBDeleven is an invaluable tool to have for many other reasons.

Wondering if I should just another EFB like a yuasa and pay local garage to reset bms, but the ah and cca will be different, any issues with that?

Generally you need an 096 battery which works out at generally 70Ah. I would go for a Varta or Bosch (same difference). EFB battery is fine. An S04 E08 Bosch battery is perfect. Even made in Czechia.

and yes to buying your own Pro ODBeleven and doing it properly yourself.

PS ..avoid Halfords at all costs.

https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/bosch/s4e08/

Go for agm and ofbeleven.

The people saying you can't change the type are idiots.

I went from efb to agm and there is a code for the battery type

I had the problem with the battery after nearly 5 years of having my Scala 1.0 TSI (Start-Stop Function) with Base Hold Down B3.

(1) EFB (old - VARTA/ VAO was installed not JCB (!) as VAG coded) - (see picture no. 1)

(2) New installation & coding to -> AGM/vlies (NEW! - BOSCH) -> LN4 installed (800 Ah) but LN3 (760 Ah) should be enough :-) - (see picture no. 2)

(3) Coding was made with Ancel-Tablet.

I figured out different methods to get the fine way. VCDS is one variant. But it is very expensive and only usable as software on windows PC. As a Linux user i wanted to get a universal variant (e.g. with a virtual machine).
The ordered a product from Autophix. The product is not recommended. It is cheaply and bad programmed and you have to install the .exe-file (interface to use autophix). So i send it back after nearly one day as i saw the misery. -> Final Product (Tablet with OBD-II pin) was from ANCEL website.

2 minutes ago, Arch1 said:

I had the problem with the battery after nearly 5 years of having my Scala 1.0 TSI (Start-Stop Function) with Base Hold Down B3.

(1) EFB (old - VARTA/ VAO was installed not JCB (!) as VAG coded) - (see picture no. 1)

(2) New installation & coding to -> AGM/vlies (NEW! - BOSCH) -> LN4 installed (800 Ah) but LN3 (760 Ah) should be enough :-) - (see picture no. 2)

(3) Coding was made with Ancel-Tablet.

I figured out different methods to get the fine way. VCDS is one variant. But it is very expensive and only usable as software on windows PC. As a Linux user i wanted to get a universal variant (e.g. with a virtual machine).
The ordered a product from Autophix. The product is not recommended. It is cheaply and bad programmed and you have to install the .exe-file (interface to use autophix). So i send it back after nearly one day as i saw the misery. -> Final Product (Tablet with OBD-II pin) was from ANCEL website.

agm_battery_flyer.pdf Datasheet Bosch AGM PA011 80Ah with 800A.pdf

FYI (source: Ross-Tech Wiki - VCDS)

Battery Replacement - Ross-Tech Wiki.pdf

FYI (source: VARTA - Battery replacement)

The right code of the BEM for Battery replacement _ VARTA Automotive Batteries_20250327.pdf

The actual manufacturers code of the battery is not critical, the only critical information when adapting a new battery to the BCM is type (AGM (fleece) or EFB) capacity (AH) and registering the change by altering the last digit of the existing battery serial number.

16 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

The actual manufacturers code of the battery is not critical, the only critical information when adapting a new battery to the BCM is type (AGM (fleece) or EFB) capacity (AH) and registering the change by altering the last digit of the existing battery serial number.

Thanks for your short explanation. 👌. My battery is a S05 (BOSCH)/PA011. On VCDS-Forum i read that the same as you said: (I) AGM-> fleece (engl.) / vlies (german)). (II) 59 Ah (EFB/Varta) -> 80 Ah (AGM/BOSCH) (III) +1 digit -> 10th position.
In my Case. The problem was the code for the battery producer for me. I read that you can take VAO (Varta) for the aftermarket variant from Bosch.

But since the battery parameter is made up of numbers, I wanted to know what the number for the Bosch batteries is and how it is made up. My guess is that the number is possibly derived from the UK part no.! In my case I found the UK part no. 115 (battery type: Bosch Power AGM S05 / Short code: PA011).

Does anyone have a precise idea?

If I understand your question correctly, just leave the vendors code as it was/is.

Not really :-)
See my picture of vendor list codes. A lot of vendor codes are listed with my software (VARTA, Exice, Akuma, JCI/JCB, Moll, JFF, Banner, EPN). I bought an aftermarket BOSCH Battery. For this one there was no code listed. So I have read that you can take VAO/Varta for this one. (source for example for further reading: https://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Battery_Replacement)....
In my case I have bought/tried different OBD-II types. In the end i was a bit frustrated and bought a product from Ancel to let it work correctly. This Tablet/Software (graphical surface) with OBD-II pin has done the job a bit easier than VCDS-Software. But in the end it does nearly the same as it is described from the guys of VCDS-community (cmd/terminal-based)...... .
As you described before: 1) Important is -> the Nominal capacity: XX Ah (in my case 80 Ah)

2) -> Battery technology (NEW) / (vlies NOT binary AGM!!!) = vlies (!!!)
3) -> VAG coded JCB in my car (!!!), but this is wrong! It was a VARTA/VAO build in from the beginning.

4) -> + 1 digit for serial number (Scala (2019) / Kamiq (2019) & Octavia 2018)

For the change of the battery module i have read the maintanance (e.g.) documents of Skoda (Scala). Cause i had also different faults before. I had also to change the air filter and so on cause the car repair shop (Skoda) have not found the correct faults before. So I took matters into my own hands and got it the right way......
Sorry for the mass of information.
I hope this helps....
Best regards....

I believe there may be some misunderstanding in translation - Brand / manufacturer code is totally unimportant.

Fleece/EFB, battery capacity and an alteration to the last digit of the existing battery serial number is the ONLY relevant data when replacing the battery.

Can you drive the car while your wait for the obdeleven? Says delivery up to 14 days, ok to change battery and drive it while I wait for delivery and code after?

Also OK to keep the sleeve if changing to agm, think current sleeve is only for EFB ok to leave in place?