recommended battery?

BahnStormer77

BahnStormer77

BahnStormer
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I've seen the "Brake!" ligth a few times over the last month and after a weeks lack of use, and a few short-trips last night, it refused to start this morning (battery utterly dead).... it's okay-ish now, but with the missus 7 months preggers, I'm thinking a new battery might be sensible!!

Recommendations for a replacement for a 2.5TDI quattro? Just after an OEM equivalent and would rather pay reasonable money than try to scrimp, just don't want to pay garage mark-up!
 
Bosch Silvertop would be my recommendation. Give GSF a call should be about £75.
 
Halfrauds looking for £119, el-cheapo models seem to be around £70.

Vanta Blue for £94 and Vanta silver for £107.

Given I'm worried that all the extra toys (iPod's charging, powered coolerbox(!) and freeview+ recording after the car is off, etc) might be draining the battery and putting extra wear on it, so maybe the Vanta Silver isn't a bad idea?
 
Er

Bosch Silvertop would be my recommendation. Give GSF a call.
:laugh:

Heres a Bosch Battery Guide.


If you are keeping a car, cheap parts are usually a false economy imho.
 
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Thanks AndyMac as far as I can tell, the Bosch and Vanta Silvertop are the same battery... if that's the price for the TDI V6 version (85Ah and 800 CCA), then u just saved me £30 and here's a GSF depot a mile down the road now (nearest one used to be over an hour away!!).
 
Do you know anyone with a Halford's Trade card?

If so, then you could get the Bosch Silver top for around £75. Thats the price I got quoted a for the bosch silver top about 6 months ago.
 
Okay, the extra £20 or £30 isn't as important as getting the right one...

There's a variety of Bosch batteries, from the fitting guide above, it looks like there's these three that are suitable, not sure which one is the "Silvertop":
95Ah 850CCA model S6 002
100Ah 830CCA model S5 013
74Ah 680CCA model S4 008

I'd prefer the Ah's, rather than the CCA's :)

Car Battery - Car Batteries - Motorcycle Batteries - Leisure Batteries - Cheap Prices!.uk have this (link) as the Varta / "Bosch equivalent " of the "S5 013" for £101+£9 delivery.

...and if Costco have them in stock, they are apparently £90-odd for the Bosch "S5 013" if that's preferable.... although it is a bit more hassle.

Are Varta really the same as the Bosch?

I'll check which one of those Bosch's GSF does for £75-ish... otherwise there's the Varta H3 for £100-ish...

The link before to eBay looks like the Varta version ofthe "Bosch S5 013" is a "VARTA H3 (019/017)" :)
 
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Worth checkin the spec sheet inside the spare wheel as it should tell you what battery spec you need.

Someone on here will have the link to the code sheet so you can find out what the code means.

Something comes to mind that you also have to keep the spec of the battery inline with your alternator, not sure how true that is.
 
GSF offered a Banner for £74.50 (+VAT) and when I asked about Ah capacity, he suggested a 100Ah Bosch S4 013 (even though the Bosch guide states S5 013 for my car) for £86.50+VAT = £103.80, so very competitive with the online prices and there's no waiting.

Both are in stock at my local GSF (a mile or so up the road), so I might head home early-ish and if the car gives the slightest hint of an issue when starting ("Brake!" warning, etc), I'll pop down the road and replace it there tonight / tomorrow.

Thanks for the help all!! (and I'll update you with the final outcome)
 
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I recently bought a battery for our 03 2.5TDi from Halfords.

Normally I'd avoid them like the plague for parts however I knew they did free battery tests so trundled down and after showing the chap how to actually work his little machine, found the battery was indeed defunct. I bought their standard battery (a 096 if I remember correctly) which normally retails at £96 (ish) however with the Trade Card it came down to a reasonable £64 inc the Vat.

I did have a little laugh as the chap at the till very quickly pointed out it's company policy NOT to offer their fitting service to Audi drivers. Now, at first I thought he meant actual "Audi drivers" but then he back tracked and explained due to the complexity of the job, they don't offer the service and I quote "You need to remove some plastic bits"

So, I aquired a 10mm spanner and suitable long reach Allen key driver from their bike department, opened the bonnet, lifted the scuttle cover clear and the loom that clips to the bulkhead, whipped the old one off and dropped the new one in and put everything together again. Took all of 5 minutes... if fact that quick the kids hadn't even thrown a tantrum in the back yet.

All is well, also... since changing the battery the traction control light that was on constantly has since disappeared and the button on the dash functions again.
 
Thanks for the info, I've got a Halfords very nearby, but I'm not gettting trade prices and if I'm not getting help installing it, then I need one, I'll definitely get mine from GSF just up the road and they have the Bosch 100Ah ones in stock for t'internet prices.

FYI All the "Brake!" warning is a common fault on the TDI for starting in cold weather and is NOT an indication of a battery that is due to fail!!

I've just been talking to an Audi tech and apparently the higher current required to warm up the glow plugs in cold weather caused the brake warning sensor to trigger a false alert - he said it's very common on TDI's - in particular the V6's. It is often associated with a "failing" battery as the car usually puts a lot more strain on the battery when starting in colder temperatures, so you can get the battery warning just before a failed crank and then if the car fails to start again after that, people blame the "Brake!" warning as the main symptom they saw before the battery gave up. By itself, it is NOT an indication the battery is about to die, if anything, the opposite!

Audi are able to fix it (for free, I assume), but the guy said they just put a little relay that stops the brake failure sensor from working for the first few seconds until the (until the current to the glow plugs has dropped) - don't think I'll bother getting mine done, but good to know now that I should take that as a sign of a healthy battery that's just warming up the glow plugs nice and fast, albeit from a sub-zero temp :)

Holding off getting a new battery for now as the car seems to be starting just fine! First sign of any probs and I'll pop up the road and replace it!
 
Thats interesting that, all I can say is since I replaced my battery about a year ago the three beeps haven't happened once, and it's been pretty cold this year.
 
I started seeing the brake warning light and then the battry died a few days later. I've suspected its been on its way out and the cold last month finished it off. Ordered my battery from tayna and it was delivered next, first thing in the morning so real quick there. I went for: 110TE Exide Car Battery X-Tra Plus (XTra Plus) (EA852) - Car Batteries - Exide Car Batteries
although this one Type 110 Varta Silver Dynamic 12V 85Ah (F18) 585 200 080 - Car Batteries - Varta Car Batteries looks just as good
 
Hmmm, I replaced the battery (as above) about a month or so back. The other half is now reporting the "Brake" warning icon occasionally appears on cold start but always goes off immediately and there are no starting concerns. Hopefully this isn't advance warning that the new battery is also going to give us problems. That said and done, for the past week or so it's only ever been started from sub-freezing, all the electrics are fired up and it drives about 2 miles... I wonder if perhaps, she's just not giving the car a decent enough run to allow the battery to recover from it's hard work every single morning?

Another ****** issue to add to the list!
 
That would be the problem, short trips in sub zero won't allow the battery a decent charge to recover properly.
 
audi upgrades
DavieMac, when you changed your battery did you buy the allen key or borrow it from the bike dept. Do they sell the suitable one needed.I need to buy one, does anyone know where I can buy a suitable one from.

Many Thanks,
 
update (about 6 weeks later).... no probs at all... but I have all this info tucked away ready in case I need it!

James - no idea on the "Brake!" issue just being a false alarm - I'm just going on what the bloke at Audi (Walton-upon-Thames) told me: I can ignore it for a few seconds after I first start the car.
 
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