Battery. EDIT: Possible Alternator

ScottD3

ScottD3

I want your faulty electronics
Supporter
Joined
Nov 24, 2010
Messages
15,084
Reaction score
1,131
Points
113
Location
Plymouth
Website
wheelsnwires.blogspot.com
I need a new battery as this current one is borderline failing.

Any recommendations on size, amps and make?

Also, is this battery the right way round?
IMAG0791_zps923184ef.jpg

Its really annoying that the terminals are under the scuttle plate, it seems wrong.
Surely they should be towards the engine, so you can access them when you remove battery cover.
 
Last edited:
that looks the wrong way round compared to how my passat was

make wise as long as it has a 4 year warrennty and you keep the recipt you cant go wrong
 
:iagree:

There should also be plastic gas vent pipes that plug in the side of it (ay least, my two have them)

If you're looking for a bigger capacity, go for the 2.5TDi battery as it has a huge cranking requirement. The one I fitted to the Avant is massive (struggled to get it in!) but the car will just about drive to Aberdeen on the starter now!
 
Ste_Nova said:
that looks the wrong way round compared to how my passat was

make wise as long as it has a 4 year warrennty and you keep the recipt you cant go wrong
Click to expand...

PAULF said:
:iagree:

There should also be plastic gas vent pipes that plug in the side of it (ay least, my two have them)

If you're looking for a bigger capacity, go for the 2.5TDi battery as it has a huge cranking requirement. The one I fitted to the Avant is massive (struggled to get it in!) but the car will just about drive to Aberdeen on the starter now!
Click to expand...

I did not think it was right either.

I'll take a look at the 2.5TDI batteries.
Which way was the terminals?
 
Just looked at my saloon, positive is outboard, negative inboard.
The terminals are nearest to the front of the car (engine)

I can't remember what I got for the Avant now. It was a REALLY tight fit - I didn't need the clamp- and a CCA of over 900A!

I think the 2.5TDI needs over 750 CCA, compared to the 680 in the link above.
 
PAULF said:
Just looked at my saloon, positive is outboard, negative inboard.
The terminals are nearest to the front of the car (engine)

I can't remember what I got for the Avant now. It was a REALLY tight fit - I didn't need the clamp- and a CCA of over 900A!

I think the 2.5TDI needs over 750 CCA, compared to the 680 in the link above.
Click to expand...

There's a clamp?
 
Varta batteries seem to be ok when ive used them in the past. As long as your alternator is charging and your amp rating is that of the same or slightly higger i wouldnt see a problem with any battery obviously quality looks better lol
 
Different clamp on the big old v6 Tdi batteries than the smaller petrol saloon set up..
 
096 should fit with the standard clamp afaik, it'll sit on the last of the three holes.

Theres an EVEN larger one which is probably what paul mentions above, it DOES need a clamp, its just different and attaches directly to the shell rather than to the battery tray. Running with no clamp is an MOT failure, and also 3pts and a 60quid fine if your stopped and a copper happens to notice it!

Facelifts have the terminals the other way round to PFL's which helps the confusion, the PFL batteries are awkward to find, so often you'll find that someones fitted one with FL style terminals and installed it backwards like yours.
 
Bradderz_1988 said:
Varta batteries seem to be ok when ive used them in the past. As long as your alternator is charging and your amp rating is that of the same or slightly higger i wouldnt see a problem with any battery obviously quality looks better lol
Click to expand...

After some food, a bit of thought and long drive to work I noticed that my battery gauge moves.

Get in the car and before I start it sits at 12v, start the car and it drops to about 8-10.
In the car with the engine running and everything off, its sitting just above 12v, so possible 12.5 or 13v.
with the lights on, heated seat on, stereo and redemister it started to drop down to about 11v while on my drive in to work.
After 10mins or so I turned the seat off and the rear demister and the voltage sat about 11/12v.

Is the gauge showing the volts in the batter or what the alternator is kicking out?
 
Guage is showing the voltage of the cars electrical system as a whole (or at least, the power supply to the dash cluster).

With engine off this is only the battery, with the engine running this should mostly show alternator charging voltage (14v) unless you draw more current than the alternator can supply, at which point you'll drop down to battery voltage again.

If its dropping much below 14v in normal operation the alternators faulty. You may sometimes find that at idle with everything electrical on, the voltage will drop because the alternator cant keep up, but raise the revs up and the voltage should come back up.
 
aragorn said:
Guage is showing the voltage of the cars electrical system as a whole (or at least, the power supply to the dash cluster).

With engine off this is only the battery, with the engine running this should mostly show alternator charging voltage (14v) unless you draw more current than the alternator can supply, at which point you'll drop down to battery voltage again.

If its dropping much below 14v in normal operation the alternators faulty. You may sometimes find that at idle with everything electrical on, the voltage will drop because the alternator cant keep up, but raise the revs up and the voltage should come back up.
Click to expand...

That was my thinking.

I'll slap some multimeter on the back of alternator to check what that's kicking out to make sure there is no dodgy earths or cables.
 
aragorn said:
096 should fit with the standard clamp afaik, it'll sit on the last of the three holes.

Theres an EVEN larger one which is probably what paul mentions above, it DOES need a clamp, its just different and attaches directly to the shell rather than to the battery tray. Running with no clamp is an MOT failure, and also 3pts and a 60quid fine if your stopped and a copper happens to notice it!
Click to expand...

Yes, there is a clamp that sits in on the corner of the battery, however......

I bought a battery that was a little too long, but still clamped in using that hole and a Ford clamp. After having grief with starting, I decided to get the biggest CCA I could find, so I got one that was listed as for an A4 B5, but is actually bigger, and sits solidly jammed in the tray and bodyshell, with no room for any clamp, and no movement at all. AFAIK, it's 'insecure' that is the issue, and it is VERY secure (it WILL last the life of the car as I don't know if I can remove it!)
 
PAULF said:
Yes, there is a clamp that sits in on the corner of the battery, however......

I bought a battery that was a little too long, but still clamped in using that hole and a Ford clamp. After having grief with starting, I decided to get the biggest CCA I could find, so I got one that was listed as for an A4 B5, but is actually bigger, and sits solidly jammed in the tray and bodyshell, with no room for any clamp, and no movement at all. AFAIK, it's 'insecure' that is the issue, and it is VERY secure (it WILL last the life of the car as I don't know if I can remove it!)
Click to expand...

Make, model, size, pics? :)
 
Scott, GSF have a battery sale on at the moment.

If you buy online and use the voucher code:

BAT202012

You will get 20% off of RRP

Hope you can get it sorted. The snow's a joke right?!?!?!
 
warren_S3 said:
Scott, GSF have a battery sale on at the moment.

If you buy online and use the voucher code:

BAT202012

You will get 20% off of RRP

Hope you can get it sorted. The snow's a joke right?!?!?!
Click to expand...

Thanks mate.
I'll take a look.
going to do some more testing this week to make sure what I need and take it from there
I'm in no massive rush and it still works, plus its tight month. so it can wait till it stops. lol
 
Did a bit of testing when I got home.

Its currently charging at 13.60v at any revs.
Turning on heated seats, rear demister, stereo and a lights, the charging voltage drops down to sub 13v.

With the engine off the battery will seat at about 12.4v but soon as I turn the lights on the battery will quickly lose power.

It seems definite that I need a new battery and alternator.
Due to crap at the moment, I'll have to wait till it fully dies but I guess it gives me time to find the right parts and anything else to go with it.
 
Scott,

If cash is tight, I've recovered several batteries sucessfully by testing the specific gravity, topping them up with acid (not distillled water) to give the correct SG, and dropping in the anti-sulphate tablets.

1ltr of H2SO4 at 35%(ish) was less than a fiver, and a pack of Battery Aid (or similar) about £2. A cheap battery hydrometer was about a fiver too.

However, I have also had a couple of failures over the years......

There are more advanced methods of saving it, but they get less effective and more hassle.
 
The issue hes got is the low charging voltage will be causing sulfation in the batteries cells, ie his duff alternator is making the battery worse.

Personally i'd give the battery a good charge with a proper battery charger and see if that improves its condition before writing it off as dead.
 
PAULF said:
Scott,

If cash is tight, I've recovered several batteries sucessfully by testing the specific gravity, topping them up with acid (not distillled water) to give the correct SG, and dropping in the anti-sulphate tablets.

1ltr of H2SO4 at 35%(ish) was less than a fiver, and a pack of Battery Aid (or similar) about £2. A cheap battery hydrometer was about a fiver too.

However, I have also had a couple of failures over the years......

There are more advanced methods of saving it, but they get less effective and more hassle.
Click to expand...

That's not a bad idea but with the alternator not being 100% I think it will happen again.
I'm just going to wait.
It still starts and drives, that's all what's important at the moment.

aragorn said:
The issue hes got is the low charging voltage will be causing sulfation in the batteries cells, ie his duff alternator is making the battery worse.

Personally i'd give the battery a good charge with a proper battery charger and see if that improves its condition before writing it off as dead.
Click to expand...

Good charge the battery might help but I've still got a dieing alternator.
For now it drives.
When that changes I'll change the battery and Alternator.
I got a friend of a friend who works at a Battery shop (only found out last night), he's going to take a look at batteries for me.
 
Replaced the battery and all was fine.
I could sit on the ferry for 30 mins with no issues.

On the way home sat at traffic lights the charging gauge dropped to 12.5volts.
Pull away it goes to 14v.
******!!
 
Dropping to 12.5v at idle with a lot of electrical load is acceptable, so long as it rises again when you raise the engine RPM.
 
aragorn said:
Dropping to 12.5v at idle with a lot of electrical load is acceptable, so long as it rises again when you raise the engine RPM.
Click to expand...

Stereo, lights, two heated seats and rear demister is a lot of load I guess.

On the way home I turned everything off but when I stopped at a couple of traffic lights just before home and when I got home, I turned everything off and it never moved.
Hmmm I might be paranoid.
 
yeh lots of heating elements, brake lights, headlights, blower fan etc its a lot of load, and the alternator most likely cant keep up at idle. Thats not an issue so long as it does come back up to 14 if you raise the RPM's slightly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

ZeroK66
Uprated Battery & Alternator:
Replies
8
Views
1K
ZeroK66
ZeroK66
skinz
alternator
Replies
1
Views
670
S4 IRL
S
ScottD3
Alternator Belt
Replies
6
Views
3K
aragorn
A
S4_dan
Alternator issues
Replies
3
Views
668
S4_dan
S4_dan
Rallyman
Alternator woes
Replies
7
Views
740
Rallyman
Rallyman
Top
Back