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Battery Query

dsutlieff

New member
Location
UK
Car(s)
Mk7 GTD
Hi. I have a 2016 Golf GTD with stop/start.
Lately its been really sluggish to turn over at times and stop start causing stalls (not sure if related).
VW dealership just said the battery is fecked without doing much more in the way of tests - even tried to blame it on my dashcam - so I am resigned to buying a new battery.
The dealer said it had to be exactly the same spec battery (Varta 68Ah 380A DIN 680A EN/SAE/GS) or else it would throw errors, and wanted to charge me £300.
I said "no thank you."
However I cant find any battery with that spec on the old interweb. Closest I can find is Halfords say the right battery for my car is

Halfords 096AGM Start/Stop AGM 12V Car Battery 5 Year Guarantee Extra Info
  • Starting Power (CCA): 760amps
  • AH Value: 70ah
Do you think this will be ok ????
 

Dervdave

Ready to race!
Location
uk
Car(s)
Golf MK7 GTD
Personally I`d probably buy from the dealer but the Halfords battery would certainly do the job.
 
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dsutlieff

New member
Location
UK
Car(s)
Mk7 GTD
The dealer battery is literally twice the price (£300 as opposed to just under £150 for Halfords) and as its a lease car going back in a year or so im loathed to spend more than necessary. I am just a bit concerned by the Dealer saying it had to be exactly the same spec. Not sure if they were just trying to get me to buy their battery but concerned that the Halfords battery will cause me issue as its a slighlty higher Amp and Ah
 

DV52

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Australia
@dsutlief: IMO, dealer's batteries are just high priced rip-offs!!

If your car has Start-Stop, you do need the more advanced EHP, or AGM batteries because of the additional engine cranking that happens and because of the regeneration function in the car. But there are lots of alternative suppliers.

The other point that is worth noting if you are going to change your battery is that regardless where you purchase - you will need to tell the car that a new battery is installed. If you are not aware, there are a bunch of non-volatile memory locations in one of the car's control modules that record battery information like - battery capacity, manufacture-type, serial number etc.

When you change the battery on a car with SS, you need to reset the old battery serial number that's recorded in the car's memory (and re-align the other battery information) so that the energy management system re-starts its calculations afresh. If this reset isn't done, the energy management system in the car thinks that its still controlling the old battery and the wrong charging profile will be used. This will compromise the longevity and the capacity of the new battery.

To make the required changes, a diagnostic cable is needed. I suggest that before purchasing - you check with the battery supplier that they can complete this process as part of their new battery fitment. If you intend to install the new battery yourself, I suggest that you find someone close-by that has a diagnostic cable (perhaps ask on this forum). The net has lots of sites that explain how to reset these variables - it ain't difficult!

Don
 
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dsutlieff

New member
Location
UK
Car(s)
Mk7 GTD
Don,
Thank you so much. Sounds like this is what the Dealer was referring to (he had a thick Polish accent which didn't help). The new battery I was looking at was AGM (like the old) and had slightly higher CCA so hopefully it'll fit. I see Halfords do a battery fitting service - i'd never have considered such a thing back in the day but it seems you need all kids of gizmo's to tell ECU this that and the other.
Its a long way since my first mini with the battery rattling around under the back seat.
 

DV52

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Australia
@dsutlieff: LOL! yes, you are correct -stuff was much simpler in my early days (with my MINI-cooper S).

Don
PS: I have fond memories of cutting the finger ends off a rubber glove and fitting it over the distibutor cap to stop water ingress from the fan blades when it rained! Who's idea was it to place the distributor in that silly position in the engine-bay?
 

Finglonga

Drag Racing Champion

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
096 case size in AGM will fit perfect..thats the size & type I have.....just need to tell the ECU the capacity of the battery & change the serial number by one digit..use OB11 or VCDS...& a good diagnostics place..but £300..really??....
 

LuckyGTD

New member
Location
UK
Car(s)
VW Golf GTD mk7
Had a similar Issue just last week. I had the battery replaced for free on the RAC ( they also running a promotion now for free battery replace)
Anyway the battery they fitted was a varta Battery and actually is pushing more power than the original one fitted from VW. I think the guy said something like 70Amp and 750w capacity. get it changed quick though because when that battery gets fecked it does so very very quickly. when the RAC man came out to me the battery only had 30v out of its 680!. all in it cost me £30
 
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