Engine Battery Change and Coding.

[Drpps]

Thank you I’ll have a look later.

Original battery should have the date of production stamped on the negative terminal post. There are photos somewhere (but I can't find them).

 

[Ch1pbutty]

I'm in the same situation as WG. 2014 SE 4Motion and the starter battery isn't holdig a charge any more. The van has hardly been used this year and has spent most of it's time on hook up as the the other half has been using it as an office working from home.
Has anyone actually used VCDS to recode a new battery? I have just connected VCDS and gone through the stages shown in the video. Into 61, 07 Coding and the drop down menu is greyed out showing option 0. So, I can't use the drop down to get option 1. Currently I assume the exisiting battery is coded in OK as everything works on the van but according to the video I should be able to check the existing coding which I can't do.
So as my question, has anyone successfully coded in a new battery or even checked the existing code?
VW quoted £268 inc VAT for supply and fit new 95AH battery but don't seem to know the make. I can get a similar battery Varta F21 80AH at £150 or Varta G14 95AH which is slightly larger but will fit at £180 so there is a considerable saving if VCDS will work OK.

Edit.
Had the battery on charge yesterday for about six hours and it got up to around 13v. Checked just now and it was 12.8v. Started OK and but voltage with it running is only 12.6v. I thought it should show more if it's charging OK. Now wondering if I have an alternator fault.

Try AA/RAC mobile fitting. We had a more powerful battery fitted to ours when it needed replacing. They can also recode whilst fitting if required.

 

[briwy]

I changed our starter battery last year without any problems with a Bosch equivalent of the Varta. Thread here, 2nd page, halfway down. Looks like you have got the VCDS sorted but it seems a bag of **** to me as the existing coding didn't match the old battery at all nut everything had worked fine.

New Leisure batteries fitted £686

Would I be correct on thinks for the last few year's new Ocean's come with 2x 110aH batteries?

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[Drpps]

I changed our starter battery last year without any problems with a Bosch equivalent of the Varta. Thread here, 2nd page, halfway down. Looks like you have got the VCDS sorted but it seems a bag of **** to me as the existing coding didn't match the old battery at all nut everything had worked fine.

New Leisure batteries fitted £686

Would I be correct on thinks for the last few year's new Ocean's come with 2x 110aH batteries?

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Thank you. I think I had read through that thread previously but as it was in a thread called leisure batteries I couldn’t find it again so thank you. As you say, original coding seems generic. Does yours have stop start? It sounds as if the only difference between T5 St/St bluemotion or not might be the coding for an AGM battery in byte 2. I’ll have a look at the Bosch.

 

[briwy]

Yes it does have stop start.

 

[Adam Jenkins]

I’m reading this thread with interest and a bit of alarm. My Cali probably needs a new starting battery as it has had a few mornings over the past weeks where I have found the starter battery flat and the engine barely capable of turning over. I have been able to trickle charge it with a battery charger but having now tested it with a Multimeter, the battery shows a Voltage of 12.7 at rest but on cranking the engine this briefly drops to 8.0 volts. I think this means that the battery is on its way out. I’m going to have it checked professionally and replaced if required. I’m a bit worried that I may need to have the Cali re coded with a new replacement battery. From this thread, I can see that if a Cali has 4Motion/BlueMotion/StopStart this is certainly seems to be the case. My Cali is standard with non of these refinements.
Could you please reassure me that I can just change the battery with a similar one without worrying about coding.

 

[WelshGas]

I’m reading this thread with interest and a bit of alarm. My Cali probably needs a new starting battery as it has had a few mornings over the past weeks where I have found the starter battery flat and the engine barely capable of turning over. I have been able to trickle charge it with a battery charger but having now tested it with a Multimeter, the battery shows a Voltage of 12.7 at rest but on cranking the engine this briefly drops to 8.0 volts. I think this means that the battery is on its way out. I’m going to have it checked professionally and replaced if required. I’m a bit worried that I may need to have the Cali re coded with a new replacement battery. From this thread, I can see that if a Cali has 4Motion/BlueMotion/StopStart this is certainly seems to be the case. My Cali is standard with non of these refinements.
Could you please reassure me that I can just change the battery with a similar one without worrying about coding.

Not knowing which vehicle or year I’m afraid not.

 

[Vagophile]

I’m going to have it checked professionally and replaced if required.

Any good motor factor that has a specialist battery department should be able to supply and fit the right battery, taking care of any coding requirement and likely at a fraction of VW cost.
It might be that where you are having the battery professionally tested could do it?

 

[briwy]

Any good motor factor that has a specialist battery department should be able to supply and fit the right battery, taking care of any coding requirement and likely at a fraction of VW cost.
It might be that where you are having the battery professionally tested could do it?

But not Halfords. A friend if ours took his Vauxhall work van for a new battery Christmas week. Electrics totally fried. Van still off the road at the main dealer while they try to sort it.

 

[Adam Jenkins]

knowing

Thanks for the prompt response. California SE TDi 140 2012.

 

[Drpps]

The battery was the original Varta 68Ah 680CCA (manufactured Sept 2013) so have changed it for a Varta F21 EGM 80Ah 800CCA on the above recommendations. T5.1 bluemotion 2014. The CAMC currently have a Tayna discount code, you also need you membership number, which was timely.
Does the T6 have the larger still 95Ah 019 battery fitted as standard? That would have been a very tight fit, particularly the cable routing.

The stop-start and alternator/braking is coded on byte 1 IIRC with a setting for enhanced recuperation or something similar and an EGM battery on byte 2. None of that needed changing.

In the battery regulation 61 long adaptation I changed the original coding of 068 to 080 for the new battery, VA0 (my drop down had a zero rather than an 'O' as the correct manufacturer code for Varta)and put the new battery serial number in. It didn't have a BEM sticker but as I mentioned above the original serial number was unrelated to the fitted battery anyway. It just needed changing so the control unit goes through a learning cycle for a new battery. All good so far.

Thanks for the prompt response. California SE TDi 140 2012.

If it is a standard battery and without bluemotion and you are changing like for like capacity wise you shouldn’t have to bother with all this palava. If you are having it tested anyway they will have the facility to do it or check if needed.

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks for the prompt response. California SE TDi 140 2012.

A said above, if changing like for like - No problem.
If you are having it changed in a garage then most competent garages would be able to check anyway.

 

[Sp0_0k]

)Both dispose of old battery if required)

You know you get PAID for giving away old batteries, right?

 

[Sp0_0k]

I changed our starter battery last year without any problems with a Bosch equivalent of the Varta. Thread here, 2nd page, halfway down. Looks like you have got the VCDS sorted but it seems a bag of **** to me as the existing coding didn't match the old battery at all nut everything had worked fine.

Sounds like a load of bs to me as well. I get it if the chemistry is changed from AGM (thus top charge voltage) but I can't imagine a single reason why would the system need specific coding.
The fact you have a 95AH sticker on a battery doesn't mean it has that capacity in 99% of cases.
Storage, manufacturing, transportation, temperatures all have a huge impact.
The system has 0 means to know how the capacity changes during a lifetime. Unless it does a full charge-discharge cycle which it 100% doesn't.
If the system was that SMART it would alert you that it is time to change a battery (based on % dropped capacity) which is the only usable feature. Though it doesn't.
Like the most important parameter is internal battery resistance, which can be measured by the system automatically.
Just another BS reason for customers to chase the dealerships IMHO.

 

[subthree]

Having spent lots of time faffing about fitting the Isotop liner and the solar panel, with the radio on , I have inadvertently managed to kill off the engine battery on our 6.1 Ocean. I have charged it twice now but it clearly isn't happy. The engine will start but it appears that when the battery drops below a certain charge the camper control panel reports "faults" - I cannot use the fridge and roof! When charged these faults clear. We are away for 5 weeks this summer so I can't be messing about.

Phoned the local VW Van Centre, they charge £294 for the battery plus £60 labour, not sure whether the labour was inc, or ex, VAT. Either way that seems fairly steep, although they were very polite.

The current battery is a Varta 75Ah, confirmed via Carista last night. Carista can now "code" the battery to the vehicle. I was going to buy this Bosch battery which has the same physical dimensions but a slightly higher capacity at 80Ah - £140. I am aware that Varta and Bosch come out of the same factory. The Varta battery has a 4 year warranty whereas the Bosch has 5 years!

Any other top tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Bosch S5A11 AGM Starter Battery: Type 115

The Bosch S5A11 battery with AGM technology provides enough power for frequent starts and stops. Backed by a 5 year car battery warranty.

www.batterymegastore.co.uk

 

[AndyP12345]

I was advised by the dealer last week that if removing a battery it needs to be done in a certain order and the connector with red arrow needs to be removed first or the Stop/Start module that it’s connected to can be damaged causing a stop/start error. This happened to mine couple weeks ago at VW dealer. There is no stock of these modules the dealer had to use a module from a new van! Would be interesting to know if other members agree if this is correct

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Having spent lots of time faffing about fitting the Isotop liner and the solar panel, with the radio on , I have inadvertently managed to kill off the engine battery on our 6.1 Ocean. I have charged it twice now but it clearly isn't happy. The engine will start but it appears that when the battery drops below a certain charge the camper control panel reports "faults" - I cannot use the fridge and roof! When charged these faults clear. We are away for 5 weeks this summer so I can't be messing about.

Phoned the local VW Van Centre, they charge £294 for the battery plus £60 labour, not sure whether the labour was inc, or ex, VAT. Either way that seems fairly steep, although they were very polite.

The current battery is a Varta 75Ah, confirmed via Carista last night. Carista can now "code" the battery to the vehicle. I was going to buy this Bosch battery which has the same physical dimensions but a slightly higher capacity at 80Ah - £140. I am aware that Varta and Bosch come out of the same factory. The Varta battery has a 4 year warranty whereas the Bosch has 5 years!

Any other top tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Bosch S5A11 AGM Starter Battery: Type 115

The Bosch S5A11 battery with AGM technology provides enough power for frequent starts and stops. Backed by a 5 year car battery warranty.

www.batterymegastore.co.uk

View attachment 93921

Get an RAC battery instead. They are made by Varta and come with 5 year warranty. RAC will come to your home to fit & will code the battery.

 

[briwy]

Having spent lots of time faffing about fitting the Isotop liner and the solar panel, with the radio on , I have inadvertently managed to kill off the engine battery on our 6.1 Ocean. I have charged it twice now but it clearly isn't happy. The engine will start but it appears that when the battery drops below a certain charge the camper control panel reports "faults" - I cannot use the fridge and roof! When charged these faults clear. We are away for 5 weeks this summer so I can't be messing about.

Phoned the local VW Van Centre, they charge £294 for the battery plus £60 labour, not sure whether the labour was inc, or ex, VAT. Either way that seems fairly steep, although they were very polite.

The current battery is a Varta 75Ah, confirmed via Carista last night. Carista can now "code" the battery to the vehicle. I was going to buy this Bosch battery which has the same physical dimensions but a slightly higher capacity at 80Ah - £140. I am aware that Varta and Bosch come out of the same factory. The Varta battery has a 4 year warranty whereas the Bosch has 5 years!

Any other top tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Bosch S5A11 AGM Starter Battery: Type 115

The Bosch S5A11 battery with AGM technology provides enough power for frequent starts and stops. Backed by a 5 year car battery warranty.

www.batterymegastore.co.uk

View attachment 93921

I changed our 5.1 engine battery last year with a Bosch equivalent of the the Varta. Bit cheaper and 5year warranty. I was prepared to code it but it didnt need it as it was like for like. Got it and new leisure batteries from Tayna for about 350 for all three.

 

[subthree]

I was advised by the dealer last week that if removing a battery it needs to be done in a certain order and the connector with red arrow needs to be removed first or the Stop/Start module that it’s connected to can be damaged causing a stop/start error. This happened to mine couple weeks ago at VW dealer. There is no stock of these modules the dealer had to use a module from a new van! Would be interesting to know if other members agree if this is correct

And that is what concerns me, the unknowns! Changing a battery used to be the easiest job, but looking at my photo above, there are a number of other cables on top of the battery. Messing up some other module weeks before I go away is not going to be good! Might just have to bite the bullet and go to the VW stealer. I hate getting fleeced!

 

[Perfectos]

And that is what concerns me, the unknowns! Changing a battery used to be the easiest job, but looking at my photo above, there are a number of other cables on top of the battery. Messing up some other module weeks before I go away is not going to be good! Might just have to bite the bullet and go to the VW stealer. I hate getting fleeced!

Dealers will price match if you can get it done cheaper (like for like )

 

[subthree]

Dealers will price match if you can get it done cheaper (like for like )

Will they? I was quoted by VW Citygate in St Albans, they have a service only facility that I was not aware of until a couple of days ago. I guess the problem is that they will be quoting for a genuine OEM VW battery £294 whereas I can get a Varta/Bosch battery for around £140. We all know they come out of the same JCB factory, but I would be surprised if they half their price. Will certainly give them a call on Monday.

 

[Perfectos]

Will they? I was quoted by VW Citygate in St Albans, they have a service only facility that I was not aware of until a couple of days ago. I guess the problem is that they will be quoting for a genuine OEM VW battery £294 whereas I can get a Varta/Bosch battery for around £140. We all know they come out of the same JCB factory, but I would be surprised if they half their price. Will certainly give them a call on Monday.

Ring around to get prices from garages, get a quote emailed to you from the cheapest (supply & fit ) then ask the dealer to price match

edit

this may be worth a go for pricing

VARTA Battery Specialists - WhoCanFixMyCar

www.whocanfixmycar.com

 

[Perfectos]

Will they? I was quoted by VW Citygate in St Albans, they have a service only facility that I was not aware of until a couple of days ago. I guess the problem is that they will be quoting for a genuine OEM VW battery £294 whereas I can get a Varta/Bosch battery for around £140. We all know they come out of the same JCB factory, but I would be surprised if they half their price. Will certainly give them a call on Monday.

Volkswagen Service Price Match Guarantee | Volkswagen UK

We will Price Match a like-for-like written quote from any other garage within 5 miles, which also includes genuine Volkswagen parts. Contact us today.

www.volkswagen.co.uk

 

[Hawthorn37]

I’m sure there are sound technical reasons to update the car coding when replacing your battery. The advice to get the car code updated is probably sound. However, last year my wife’s Golf GT needed a new battery (RAC had to recover her from her work car park). Had quotes from RAC and VW, but decided to buy from Halfords. I fitted it myself - oblivious to the complexities of the modern motor. It started, and the whole dash lit up with every fault imaginable, but it ran. After rechecking my work was good, I decided to drive a couple of miles to our nearest VW dealer. During the short 10 minutes journey, all of the alarms disappeared one by one. By the time I arrived, all was good! I still had a chat with the maintenance manager, and he said it would be okay as the car self-learns, although in the workshop they’d hook it up to clear the faults etc. Since then, we’ve had no issues, including the stop-start function.

 

[Azteccamper]

I’m sure there are sound technical reasons to update the car coding when replacing your battery. The advice to get the car code updated is probably sound. However, last year my wife’s Golf GT needed a new battery (RAC had to recover her from her work car park). Had quotes from RAC and VW, but decided to buy from Halfords. I fitted it myself - oblivious to the complexities of the modern motor. It started, and the whole dash lit up with every fault imaginable, but it ran. After rechecking my work was good, I decided to drive a couple of miles to our nearest VW dealer. During the short 10 minutes journey, all of the alarms disappeared one by one. By the time I arrived, all was good! I still had a chat with the maintenance manager, and he said it would be okay as the car self-learns, although in the workshop they’d hook it up to clear the faults etc. Since then, we’ve had no issues, including the stop-start function.

Yep. Same with me. Bought battery from Tayna and fitted as per protocol and went for a 20 min spin to sort out coding. No problems.