Battery Level At 10%

ScottD3

I want your faulty electronics
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Monday was the first time I drove the car for almost a week, there was no issues with starting and no errors apart from brake pad warning lights.
Thats random at the moment.

Drove the car monday, left it till tuesday, drove it again and not touched it till wednesday when Lordhefner came over to look at his lights.
Looking at the cars I noticed the battery was slightly flat.
I went to start the car and just started.
I left it idling and monitored the battery level slowly climb.
I turned the car off when it was at about 60-70%.

Left the car till this morning and it went flat. No error, no lights, just a handfull of clicking.
Jump started the car and went off to work. I took the long way to work which is about 30 minutes drive.

Got in work and the battery monitor still displayed 10%.

Got VCDs out and did a scan.

All typical flat battery sort of error codes I think.

Cleared the codes and rescan

All looking better but no fault codes for the battery. So I guess that's good.

I went in to the battery regulator and checked the battery was set up correctly and it was.
Checked the measuring blocks and its charging at 14.5v, the battery is getting 14.5v volts but battery state is still 10%.

I think the battery is less than 2 years old and hopefully still under warranty if it is the battery.

Anyone got any idea why the battery level and state of charge will stick at 10%?
 
You want a BEM (Batterey Energy Manager) Software update.

http://www.audi-resource.com/mmifalsewarn.php

I'm trying to get it done for mine but the part number for the update Software CD on that page has been superseded so Audi don't have it anymore but also don't know the part number of the CD that has superseded it! Which is a bit silly, when I explained what was happening and what was needed they were like "Oh, well.... bring it in for a diagnosis and the tech will decided if something needs doing, diagnosis will be £60". Needless to say, I didn't take it in.
 
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It could be the BEM module firmware fault, or you have a power drain from one of the modules, but I don't think you are giving the battery enough time to charge. Idling the car even for an hour won't charge the battery enough, if it's fully flat then your looking at almost 24 hours for a full charge. Have a quick read of page 17 on this pdf. http://www.bosch.com.au/car_parts/en/downloads/S3_S4_S5_Broch_Final.pdf
 
You want a BEM (Batterey Energy Manager) Software update.

http://www.audi-resource.com/mmifalsewarn.php

I'm trying to get it done for mine but the part number for the update Software CD on that page has been superseded so Audi don't have it anymore but also don't know the part number of the CD that has superseded it! Which is a bit silly, when I explained what was happening and what was needed they were like "Oh, well.... bring it in for a diagnosis and the tech will decided if something needs doing, diagnosis will be £60". Needless to say, I didn't take it in.

I will get VCDs on it when the rain stops and check my software version.

I would not take them up on that either.
Just do the update as requested please!!

It could be the BEM module firmware fault, or you have a power drain from one of the modules, but I don't think you are giving the battery enough time to charge. Idling the car even for an hour won't charge the battery enough, if it's fully flat then your looking at almost 24 hours for a full charge. Have a quick read of page 17 on this pdf. http://www.bosch.com.au/car_parts/en/downloads/S3_S4_S5_Broch_Final.pdf

I took the long way home on friday which is 30-40 minutes and it appeared to be charging going by the battery monitor.
I left the car for 12 hours, went to drive it on saturday and it was dead it again.

Ignoring what the battery monitor is saying, 30-40 minute drive home should put enough power into the battery to start the car next day as long as nothing is draining the battery.

Reading the Audi Resource link it does say it sometimes affect the power.
I would pop to Audi but I'll I might go for the cheaper option of buying a new battery.
 
30-40 min drive is no where near enough time to put a good charge into the battery, you have to think about the size of the battery and amount of electronics in the A8, even at sleep they sill consume power, and also the amount of power required to turn over a V6 TDi engine. I would go for the cheapest option get a battery charger on there for 24 hours and see what happens.
 
Reading the Audi Resource link it does say it sometimes affect the power.
I would pop to Audi but I'll I might go for the cheaper option of buying a new battery.

If it is the BEM Software though it will just do the same thing with any new battery.
 
I phoned Audi and ask for a quote on updating the battery management.
I also plugged VCDS in to find out what version the software is and not sure which number is the software version.
 

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I believe your version is 0550. If the battery was tested ok just give it a dam good charge.
 
Yea, your BEM Software version is 0550, mine is 0510.

I'm going to ring Audi again and ask to speak directly to a tech instead of trying to explain everything in as simple terms as possible to a receptionist who then speaks to a tech and probably says completely the wrong thing.
 
I tried that and got the same thing back about having to go through a diag first and then if they deem it needed they will update the software and charge accordingly.

It could end up costing me £173 +vat to get software updated.

****** ridiculous.
 
It is ridiculous. Try speaking to Parts Dept instead and ask for the part number that's superseded the one given on audi-resource, if we can find out the part number of the new update disc we should be able to find it somewhere if Audi wont sell it to us. Maybe your dealer will actually know it?
 
My dealer is annoying as well and pretty crap (IMHO).
The parts department is ok but doubt they will help supplying the disc.

I did ask Audi HQ and they was a bit unsure on if they can.

I got access to ODIS, so if I can get a CD I might be able to do the update.
 
Ok so I called the parts dept, actually got someone helpful this time and within 5 minutes had the new part number and ordered it.

The new part Number is 8G0 906 961 and it's £11.50, picking mine up Friday when it comes in then I'll take it to my specialist garage as they have VAS and let them update it.
 
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Nice one RenoRanes.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

I ended up slapping in a new battery and its been fine since.
Still like to get the software updated.