Which battery is correct?

adyRE

Registered User
Joined
Jul 22, 2017
Messages
16
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Hi all, just been on the phone to the audi dealer and he is saying that the battery which has been put in my car by my local garage is incorrect. Currently I have a Bosch S5 battery 110Ah 920A CCA. Now the dealer is saying that the battery should be 520A CCA. He quoted me the OEN which is 000915105DL. Now when I've done a search for the OEN battery funnily enough my Bosch S5 920A CCA comes up as a comparable match?? So my question is...Is the dearer incorrect in saying my 920A CCA battery is wrong or is the website wrong which says it is suitable?
 
while the dealer might be technically correct I have never thought that having more CCA was a bad thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: audiwaterpump
Are you having issues with the car?

Yes mate been having issues for about a year lol. All started off with battery drain. Took it to **** fit as a last resort and they just put any old battery on and I later found out that it needed to be coded after it went flat again. Took it to another garage to test for any drains and they couldn't find any. Went to another garage who put the new bosch battery on and they also replaced the starter motor as the VCDS was showing issues. I thought that was it but again after a few weeks the car started displaying low power issues, lights flickering, arrive lights not coming on etc... Then battery would be dead. Replaced the alternator thinking maybe that was alt fault. No difference battery died a few days later. However after reading posts on here the MMI could be causing issues and maybe not fully shutting down.... So I have not turned the mmi/radio on for over a week and the battery hasn't failed and car has started every time. So I thought it take it to the stealers to fault find they wouldn't look at it until 'the right' battery was put on and quoted £1044 to put a new battery on and code it and diagnose. So I've taken the car back and the hunt continues but I feel like the radio could be the culprit but need to find out for definite
 
  • Like
Reactions: audiwaterpump
Yes mate been having issues for about a year lol. All started off with battery drain. Took it to **** fit as a last resort and they just put any old battery on and I later found out that it needed to be coded after it went flat again. Took it to another garage to test for any drains and they couldn't find any. Went to another garage who put the new bosch battery on and they also replaced the starter motor as the VCDS was showing issues. I thought that was it but again after a few weeks the car started displaying low power issues, lights flickering, arrive lights not coming on etc... Then battery would be dead. Replaced the alternator thinking maybe that was alt fault. No difference battery died a few days later. However after reading posts on here the MMI could be causing issues and maybe not fully shutting down.... So I have not turned the mmi/radio on for over a week and the battery hasn't failed and car has started every time. So I thought it take it to the stealers to fault find they wouldn't look at it until 'the right' battery was put on and quoted £1044 to put a new battery on and code it and diagnose. So I've taken the car back and the hunt continues but I feel like the radio could be the culprit but need to find out for definite
That sounds like a nightmare.
As you say you may have a parasitic drain from the MMI/radio.
As long as the battery is the same type (ie. AGM, etc) as the original factory battery then it should be ok, if it has been coded in.

The main stealers will try and milk it as much as they can.
 
  • Like
Reactions: adyRE
I think "WTF" captures my reaction to reading this. CCA refers to the capacity of a battery to start a cold engine. Having a CCA higher than spec will never be a problem.

With issues like this the first things to test are battery and alternator, and if both are OK then it has to be a "rogue" drain. Unfortunately barring sheer luck there is no shortcut to identifying a drain - each component needs to isolated one by one to check effect on idle current. However most importantly it is necessary to check those components with phased idle. I had this problem myself on my B5 S4 where the SatNav/audio system had an intermittent issue where it might not shut down but stay in "standby" with a high idle current to match. So I can certainly believe that the OP could have such an issue with the MMI.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Simon and audiwaterpump
Took it to **** fit as a last resort and they just put any old battery on and I later found out that it needed to be coded after it went flat again.
K--k fit-up are just as bad as the main stealers for milking a problem.
But if a customer is happy with their service then that's fine.
 
I think "WTF" captures my reaction to reading this. CCA refers to the capacity of a battery to start a cold engine. Having a CCA higher than spec will never be a problem.

With issues like this the first things to test are battery and alternator, and if both are OK then it has to be a "rogue" drain. Unfortunately barring sheer luck there is no shortcut to identifying a drain - each component needs to isolated one by one to check effect on idle current. However most importantly it is necessary to check those components with phased idle. I had this problem myself on my B5 S4 where the SatNav/audio system had an intermittent issue where it might not shut down but stay in "standby" with a high idle current to match. So I can certainly believe that the OP could have such an issue with the MMI.

Haha thanks for your reply yeah I'm in the same WTF thinking too... I've tried testing for a parasitic drain with my multimeter in series and I can't see any drain but it may be intermittent. Been seeing around 20mA. But maybe I need to wait longer before carrying out the test. New battery as said and new alternator fitted and still drained. However its been around 9 days now of having the radio/mmi off and it hasn't failed once so it's got to be something to do with it...... Surely...

This will make you laugh too the dealer quoted £357 for a cv boot replacement!!! Got the part from euro parts last night £2.97 and will fit next weekend = mental!!
 
Don't the batteries have to be coded in quite a particular way? Like if you miss a space character or something then it doesn't work properly? I think the issue is less likely the battey and more likely to do with whether it's been recoded properly.
 
Haha thanks for your reply yeah I'm in the same WTF thinking too... I've tried testing for a parasitic drain with my multimeter in series and I can't see any drain but it may be intermittent. Been seeing around 20mA. But maybe I need to wait longer before carrying out the test. New battery as said and new alternator fitted and still drained. However its been around 9 days now of having the radio/mmi off and it hasn't failed once so it's got to be something to do with it...... Surely...

This will make you laugh too the dealer quoted £357 for a cv boot replacement!!! Got the part from euro parts last night £2.97 and will fit next weekend = mental!!

If the idle current is usually low after the car has been sitting for a while then it has to be an intermittent issue. You have done the right thing by experimenting and if its been OK with MMI off then you can indeed be fairly sure it is to blame. To prove it you are going to need to test and record the current draw as the car shuts down. You may need to remove lighting fuses to stop them interfering. If its like what I had on my B5, you'll have at least one occasion where the current stays high. I'm not sure at what battery capacity the car would struggle to start, but let's say it is 50%. So to lose 55Ah after 2-3 weeks the current would need to be up in the region of 100mA-150mA.

Of course what you do then depends on finances - replacing MMI won't be cheap. It is possible that a firmware update might help.
 
So I'm taking it to my local garage today for them to have a look at an issue I've also found. I'm losing 1.3vdc between the alternator and the jump start point and the battery was only charging at 13.1vdc. But I sorted that by running a temporary cable between the alternator and jump start point. So the cable must be faulty or corroded connection causing resistance and volt drop. I don't think thats the main issue for the battery drain though as its about 11 days since my last battery drain and the common theme is I haven't turned the radio on once.

The wife told me this morning however, that the MMI came on itself when she was getting out the car ready to lock it, so keys out etc. She says she's done it twice this week. What could cause the radio to come on itself?
 
That seems to be further evidence that the power control functionality within the radio has an intermittent fault. For all you know the radio might have been turning itself on and off randomly, causing the drain.
 
  • Like
Reactions: audiwaterpump
possibly dodgy switch on the center console? might be worth removing and cleaning it
 
  • Like
Reactions: audiwaterpump


Still having issues. The car ran fine for 4 weeks until tonight. No idea what do to now
 
Is the car an Estate? . Common issue is water leaks in the rear passenger side where the Bose amps and other amps are. This can damage these and result in power drains. That battery is so flat it won't even support the ignition load let alone anything else. Needs charging for several hours at least. The wiring between the alternator and start point goes via the starter motor. There are no fuses and they are pretty stout wires. Could be a loose connection on the starter motor terminal but then I would expect issues with that.
Upload 2021 2 2 20 1 38
 
  • Like
Reactions: spartacus68
Can't help with the battery drain - but have private messaged you a contact regards update MMI update. I upgraded the maps on my 2012 Allroad to 2020 which included a firmware upgrade. If anything else it may rule it out? You can only do this once the battery is re-charged and chances are you'll need to run it on a trickle charge while you do the update, takes a couple of hours if you can get the car in a driveway.