Totally dead battery

[itf]

Had a weird one this evening - 8Y S-Line Saloon, 2,000 miles on the clock, 1.5 TFSI. Came out to it tonight and warning lights galore, wouldn't start. Audi breakdown came out totally dead battery - they charged it briefly and I had to go out - on the way, the stop-start had a warning light, but this was gone on the way home. On that note, I've never heard the stop-start work at all! Does it have a light when it's active?

I've had it since end of Jan (ex-demo) and only driven it maybe 4 times since then, last time about 10 days. Is this something that could naturally happen, or is this a warning sign of one of the many dread electrical issues mentioned on here?

 

[SamR92]

Had a weird one this evening - 8Y S-Line Saloon, 2,000 miles on the clock, 1.5 TFSI. Came out to it tonight and warning lights galore, wouldn't start. Audi breakdown came out totally dead battery - they charged it briefly and I had to go out - on the way, the stop-start had a warning light, but this was gone on the way home. On that note, I've never heard the stop-start work at all! Does it have a light when it's active?

I've had it since end of Jan (ex-demo) and only driven it maybe 4 times since then, last time about 10 days. Is this something that could naturally happen, or is this a warning sign of one of the many dread electrical issues mentioned on here?

How long were the four journeys since Jan? Good chance battery is never getting a proper charge, especially in the colder weather.

 

[itf]

How long were the four journeys since Jan? Good chance battery is never getting a proper charge, especially in the colder weather.

Journey back from the dealer - 100 miles, then 4x 40 mile round trips, approx every 2 weeks.

 

[Frizzley]

The Stop / Start system doesnt function if there is insufficient charge in the battery or because of other factors such as engine temp or use of driver assistance systems. LED in the button should light up when the system is switched off

 

[KXL]

I read somewhere that to charge the battery, the car needs to be going at speed doing at least 2k rpms for awhile to give the alternator a push. I must say, I was worried that I would return to a dead (non Audi) 68 plate car after leaving it for almost 4 months outside in the cold/snow etc over this last winter. Before going I did take a long ish journey an the start-stop was working, so I was convinced it had sufficient charge in the battery. After 3.5 months of the car sitting outside, I was plesantly surprised it started as if it was just yesterday when I returned to it, didnt even throw up a 'low charge.' So maybe either something is draining the battery when parked up, or the journies are just insufficient or at too low rpms for the battery to get a sufficient charge. Maybe take a motorway journey @ 2k rpms for a good 15 mins to see if that does the trick? The fact that start/stop doesn't engage even on a warm engine, may show insufficient charge in the battery. I know in my non-Audi car that would have been 60% of charge on the battery else S/S won't work.

 

[JanekK]

Journey back from the dealer - 100 miles, then 4x 40 mile round trips, approx every 2 weeks.

I'd say that battery had the right to die.
Generally i think this is a very tricky subject.. There are so many variables when it comes to the charge of car batteries these days: obvsly the weather, where it's parked, how much electronics/systems are on board, how do you utilize them, how long, often and at what revs do you drive it, is the engine always cold when you start it, Audi Connect is probably sending some updates from time to time if you've set it up - which over time will probably contribute as well and so on and so on..
But if you won't be using the car regularly perhaps it'd be worth to equip yourself with some portable battery jump starter or sth ?

 

[auzzam_crd]

Had a weird one this evening - 8Y S-Line Saloon, 2,000 miles on the clock, 1.5 TFSI. Came out to it tonight and warning lights galore, wouldn't start. Audi breakdown came out totally dead battery - they charged it briefly and I had to go out - on the way, the stop-start had a warning light, but this was gone on the way home. On that note, I've never heard the stop-start work at all! Does it have a light when it's active?

I've had it since end of Jan (ex-demo) and only driven it maybe 4 times since then, last time about 10 days. Is this something that could naturally happen, or is this a warning sign of one of the many dread electrical issues mentioned on here?

is yours an auto? if so then the chances are your MHEV controllers are malfunctioning and causing the battery to prematurely drain. This explains the random warning lights popping up to.

There is a software update under service recall: 27i4

That is supposed to address the discharge issues:

‘THERE IS A RECALL ON THE VEHICLE FOR AN OUTSTANDING SERVICE CAMPAIGN FOR THE AUDI A3 ON AUDI A3 VEHICLES WITH 48-VOLT ELECTRICAL SYSTEM MANUFACTURED WITHIN A SPECIFIC PERIOD, A SOFTWARE UPDATE MUST BE CARRIED OUT ON UP TO TWO CONTROL UNITS. THE SOFTWARE UPDATE ON THE CONTROL UNIT FOR THE BELT DRIVEN STARTER/ALTERNATOR CAN FURTHER INCREASE ITS ROBUSTNESS. THE SOFTWARE UPDATE FOR THE BATTERY CONTROL UNIT CAN SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE SELF-DISCHARGE RATE OF THE 48 VOLT BATTERY.’

 

[itf]

I read somewhere that to charge the battery, the car needs to be going at speed doing at least 2k rpms for awhile to give the alternator a push. I must say, I was worried that I would return to a dead (non Audi) 68 plate car after leaving it for almost 4 months outside in the cold/snow etc over this last winter. Before going I did take a long ish journey an the start-stop was working, so I was convinced it had sufficient charge in the battery. After 3.5 months of the car sitting outside, I was plesantly surprised it started as if it was just yesterday when I returned to it, didnt even throw up a 'low charge.' So maybe either something is draining the battery when parked up, or the journies are just insufficient or at too low rpms for the battery to get a sufficient charge. Maybe take a motorway journey @ 2k rpms for a good 15 mins to see if that does the trick? The fact that start/stop doesn't engage even on a warm engine, may show insufficient charge in the battery. I know in my non-Audi car that would have been 60% of charge on the battery else S/S won't work.

Thanks - I did the school run this morning and it started no problem (20 mile round trip, motorway, don't ask!) - I'd previously had an 18 plate A4 which had been left for a lot longer during the first lockdown with no issues so was really surprised that it didn't start after 10 days, and my other trips have been predominantly motorway too.

 

[itf]

The Stop / Start system doesnt function if there is insufficient charge in the battery or because of other factors such as engine temp or use of driver assistance systems. LED in the button should light up when the system is switched off

I've never seen the stop/start function on this vehicle so I do wonder whether the battery was low when I first got it (ex-demo) and my not running it has compounded it.

 

[itf]

is yours an auto? if so then the chances are your MHEV controllers are malfunctioning and causing the battery to prematurely drain. This explains the random warning lights popping up to.

It's the 1.5 TFSi Manual Saloon so not an Auto but thanks!

 

[Sparks43]

So many electronics on the new A3 compared to the old 8V and my friend who is a Mastertech said the other day he worries about mine sometimes and it had only been in the garage for 10 days (started fine) - I did say that if you park at an airport for 2 weeks then (not that I would) do I have to request a 240 socket to plug a battery charger in then.

Short journeys are always the worst and as suggested on here you do need to get it over 2000rpm to get that load into the system

 

[itf]

Update - dead again despite being driven for several hours last week.

AA out tonight and say it's the battery, being replaced in the morning by an Audi technician I'm told. Fingers crossed. Checked with Audi and it's not covered by the alternator recall which was Audi's first guess. Passed battery drain test and but only accepting (18 I think he said amps) - and when I said the stop/start had never worked he said it was probably the battery. Most frustrating.

 

[Q5 TRS]

Update - dead again despite being driven for several hours last week.

AA out tonight and say it's the battery, being replaced in the morning by an Audi technician I'm told. Fingers crossed. Checked with Audi and it's not covered by the alternator recall which was Audi's first guess. Passed battery drain test and but only accepting (18 I think he said amps) - and when I said the stop/start had never worked he said it was probably the battery. Most frustrating.

Might have just got a faulty battery. Might well have passed all the tests done by Audi on completion of build. Sometimes things happen afterwards. Bad luck. Hope a new one sorts all the gremlins out.


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[JohnM100]

Low mileage & lockdown kills 12v car batteries.

I guess Audi still put EFB+ batteries in the 8Y? Once discharged they rarely recover, and the battery tests are superficial.

 

[itf]

Low mileage & lockdown kills 12v car batteries.

I guess Audi still put EFB+ batteries in the 8Y? Once discharged they rarely recover, and the battery tests are superficial.

I understand that in theory - but it never killed my 2018 A4's battery and that was stood six weeks or more in the first lockdown - this has never stood more than 10 days and the auto start/stop has never worked since I got it from the dealer, not even on the way home - it was an ex-demo so was being driven previously.

 

[KXL]

I understand that in theory - but it never killed my 2018 A4's battery and that was stood six weeks or more in the first lockdown - this has never stood more than 10 days and the auto start/stop has never worked since I got it from the dealer, not even on the way home - it was an ex-demo so was being driven previously.

6 weeks not so long, my 2018 Volvo V40 stood for 16 weeks outdoors to the elements over this (surprisingly cold) UK winter. Started no problem, not even low battery warning. No start/stop when returned though. Maybe 2018 was a good year for car batteries , Covid interrupted 2019/20 year, no so much!

 

[itf]

We'll see how it goes but VW/Audi branded AA patrol came out today tested everything and plugged in diagnostic computer and decided it was definitely a faulty battery so that's been replaced.

 

[Q5 TRS]

We'll see how it goes but VW/Audi branded AA patrol came out today tested everything and plugged in diagnostic computer and decided it was definitely a faulty battery so that's been replaced.

That’s what I thought. Glad it’s sorted now though.


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