Battery problems A3 TDi170

[Steve-A3]

Hi guys,

I've got an A3 TDi170 which has been suffering from flat batteries.

On Saturday started it in the morning and it started fine. Drove it to several places all fine. Went to supermarket, was in supermarket for 10 minutes, came out and car wouldn't start. RAC man said it was battery, tested the battery and it was flat. He jumped it and it started perfectly. He tested the alternator and the drain on the battery (when engine off) and both were within normal levels. He couldn't really advise me what to do, he said specifically that the battery was healthy and it would be a waste to buy a new one.

Yesterday same thing happened. Drove it fine in the morning to work. Drove it to the in-laws. Got out of car, picked up kids, got in car and wouldn't start. I jumped it myself this time off the in-laws van and again a healthy start.

What do I do? If there is no drain, the battery is healthy and the alternator is charging correctly i'm stumped.

The side repeater is broken. Could this potentially cause a problem? i/e water getting in etc? I'm sceptical because it wasn't raining on either day but it's the only thing i can think.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Geraldy212]

Steve a fully charged good battery does not go flat so easily. Some ideas. 1) Trickle charge the battery overnight until the charger indicates a full charge. If it goes flat quickly then 2) this battery has an internal short, high internal resistance, or some chemical problems which prevent it holding a charge. It is possible that you have somehow discharged the battery, and now the car is not running sufficiently to charge the battery to a reasonable level. Remember, a diesel takes a hugh whack of current when starting. 3) borrow another battery for a few days and see what happens. 4) not sure how the RAC man could say that the battery was 'healthy' unless he had made a proper high discharge test when the battery was fully charged. 5) if indeed the RAC man has determined that the current drain when engine off was within normal limits (small) then the side repeater would not be a problem. My guess is a bad battery.

 

[N8]

This is the only real problem I had with my car within the 3 year warranty period. It went it to Audi 3/4 times and each time they did a drain test and it would come back with no faults, even though I would state to have a new battery they said because it wasn't showing as faulty there was nothing that they could do!

I would go 3-4 weeks with it being okay and then dying. The last time it went in, they did a drain test and finally appeared faulty, so replaced it and was fine. But I recommend upgrading to a Varta Silver Dynamic, great batteries, perfect if you have lots of tech in the car for sure

 

[coxy8329]

I had a battery charging problem on my Seat Ibiza TDi basically the alternator would not start working until the engine had been over 2000 rpm after which it would charge through the entire rev range with no issues.

Probably not the same but thought I'd share.