GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: sjw on 23 January 2021, 09:31
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Battery is reading 11V switched off. It's been sitting for probably a couple of weeks, no activity from the engine at all when trying to start.
Is it worth buying a charger and giving it a go, or shall I just buy a new battery and be done with it? The car is about 3 and a half years old. Don't want to buy both a charger and a battery if only one of them is needed!
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Batteries generally last three to four years. If its winter and maybe there is a global pandemic that means less car use, it will kill it for sure.
You could try jump starting it and taking it for a drive to your local supermarket and onto a local park, visit your relative for a care check and go home. If after that it's not held any charge to sufficiently restart the car then its knackered.
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If you are not going to be driving the car often, you are most likely on the slippery slope toward a new battery.
VW fitted batteries are generaly second tier anyway, 3.5 years sounds about right?
Search on here for threads suggesting upgrade to AGM type battery & necessity to code the new battery into the car to funtion correctly.
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Batteries generally last three to four years. If its winter and maybe there is a global pandemic that means less car use, it will kill it for sure.
You could try jump starting it and taking it for a drive to your local supermarket and onto a local park, visit your relative for a care check and go home. If after that it's not held any charge to sufficiently restart the car then its knackered.
What's a good length journey to get it charged back up? I don't want to stop, really, in case I can't get going again.
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If you are not going to be driving the car often, you are most likely on the slippery slope toward a new battery.
VW fitted batteries are generaly second tier anyway, 3.5 years sounds about right?
Search on here for threads suggesting upgrade to AGM type battery & necessity to code the new battery into the car to funtion correctly.
Thanks for the recommendation. I did wonder if coding was necessary. Can it be done with an OBDEleven? I've been thinking about getting one for ages anyway
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Yes, I coded mine with OBD 11, it literally takes a couple of minutes.
I appreciate it is a US spec car and video, but I watched this to code the new battery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36OB96OtUsE&t=235s
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If it's a Sebang they are rubbish. VW fitted them in 2017, mine lasted 2.5 years but I got it replaced by a Varta under warranty. It's another EFB battery, but it was free and it's a good make.
If I was buying one, I'd probably go for an AGM battery as they are better technology, but it will need coding in as already mentioned. That said I believe Halfords do an EFB battery with a 5 year warranty and they are cheaper. (An EFB battery may need coding as well?)
As I do so few miles I've now got my battery hooked up to a CTEK 5.0 to keep the battery in good condition.
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Between 6 & 9 miles of driving depending upon conditions & how much the car is using (heated seats, light etc) to charge for a re-start.
I would give it a go with a battery charger if it has been sitting for a while, you may get some more use out of it, they are always handy to have, esp if you are going to be using an OBD11 as they eat batteries whilst connected.
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I replaced mine a couple of weeks ago. It was the original 'Sebang', so about 3.5 years old.
I replaced it with a Yuasa 096 900 AGM from GSF and used OBDEleven to recode it; piece of piss!!
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In my experience when a battery goes flat once, it will never recover 100%.
I’d just get a agm battery from Halfords. Think I paid around £140 before Christmas.
Any car I wasn’t driving regularly, I’d stick my ctek charger on once in a while to keep the battery topped up.
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My battery started playing up a few months ago due to lack of use. It’s a Sebang and the car is just over 4 years old. I bought a CTEK battery charger-optimiser for around £50 and the battery has been fine since but I do give it a weekly charge, which is good for any battery in a car not being used regularly so I viewed the purchase as an investment for my new battery which will most likely be this year.
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I replaced the battery on my wife’s Polo 1.2 TDI last week, 9 years old, 40k on the clock and only used for tootling around locally, started failing a few months ago - I was well impressed TBH for a battery on a diesel that needs a bit of cranking and has been a bit abused in terms of charging.
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Don't the later GTi's have regenerative braking? No idea how much that charges the battery while on a normal daily drive to and from work.
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I have start stop permanently disabled on my car. Is an AGM battery worth it? Halfords say they have one battery that will fit my car, and it's EFB. The only AGM batteries they have are their own brand. Any good?
Just cause I'm going to be passing a Halfords tomorrow
EDIT: Sorry, never had to do this before! The battery Halfords picks out is an EFB096 - they have an AGM096, I assume these are the same size and will fit my car? And the fact that's it Halfords branded will not matter so much as who makes the actual battery, right? Regardless, a 5 year warranty seems pretty good
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I have start stop permanently disabled on my car. Is an AGM battery worth it? Halfords say they have one battery that will fit my car, and it's EFB. The only AGM batteries they have are their own brand. Any good?
Just cause I'm going to be passing a Halfords tomorrow
EDIT: Sorry, never had to do this before! The battery Halfords picks out is an EFB096 - they have an AGM096, I assume these are the same size and will fit my car? And the fact that's it Halfords branded will not matter so much as who makes the actual battery, right? Regardless, a 5 year warranty seems pretty good
AGM are safer in an accident & a higher number of cold crank starts..096 is the case size which is the biggest size that fits the battery tray....
all info here in my old thread from Feb 2015 (different forum)
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-to-retro-fit-a-bigger-capacity-battery-to-a-mk7-golf.320084/
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That's great, thanks. Is the battery cover/box ultra necessary? Would it be ok to drive without it to go and pick it up if ordered from a dealer? What's the best place to order from, and how long does it take? Cheers!
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That's great, thanks. Is the battery cover/box ultra necessary? Would it be ok to drive without it to go and pick it up if ordered from a dealer? What's the best place to order from, and how long does it take? Cheers!
If you have a mid or smaller size battery obviously you'll need the cover...should be fine for a few weeks with out one.....I just order mine (along with most parts) from my local dealer as I know the parts dept very well...usually stuff is 2 days if in stock in UK, or 2 weeks max if special order from Germany...BUT with the current port delays etc. I have no idea...
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I have start stop permanently disabled on my car. Is an AGM battery worth it? Halfords say they have one battery that will fit my car, and it's EFB. The only AGM batteries they have are their own brand. Any good?
Just cause I'm going to be passing a Halfords tomorrow
EDIT: Sorry, never had to do this before! The battery Halfords picks out is an EFB096 - they have an AGM096, I assume these are the same size and will fit my car? And the fact that's it Halfords branded will not matter so much as who makes the actual battery, right? Regardless, a 5 year warranty seems pretty good
Halfords branded batteries are very good value in my experience. I think they are made by Yuasa.
I’d also go with the principle that duration of warranty is a very good indication of a manufacturer’s confidence in the quality of their product. I don’t think you’ll get better than 5 years.
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I can get a Bosch or Varta 096 AGM battery for about 30 quid less than Halfords, with a 5 and 4 year warranty respectively. That's from batterymegastore. Interestingly they also have a Yuasa for a similar price (less than Halfords)
How does the warranty work, what does it mean? Their warranty says it won't cover "normal wear and tear"
I assume Bosch batteries are good? And I know I've read a lot of people using Varta
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I can get a Bosch or Varta 096 AGM battery for about 30 quid less than Halfords, with a 5 and 4 year warranty respectively. That's from batterymegastore. Interestingly they also have a Yuasa for a similar price (less than Halfords)
How does the warranty work, what does it mean? Their warranty says it won't cover "normal wear and tear"
I assume Bosch batteries are good? And I know I've read a lot of people using Varta
Not sure how "normal wear and tear" applies to a battery with a 5 year warranty, it'll either hold X amount of charge at 5 years or it eon't. Have you tried Costco for batteries if you know someone who's a number?
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I have a Duracell AGM on mine from these guys https://www.batterycharged.co.uk/ it's £119 at the moment. Very happy with it.
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I can get a Bosch or Varta 096 AGM battery for about 30 quid less than Halfords, with a 5 and 4 year warranty respectively. That's from batterymegastore. Interestingly they also have a Yuasa for a similar price (less than Halfords)
How does the warranty work, what does it mean? Their warranty says it won't cover "normal wear and tear"
I assume Bosch batteries are good? And I know I've read a lot of people using Varta
Bosch/Varta is the same company...I installed a Bosch AGM 096 case in Jan 2015..still going ok.....don't know about their warranties & I got mine from eurocarparts on one of their big% sales...
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I've gone for Bosch. A pound more than Varta for a year's extra warranty. With free next day delivery, I've also picked up an OBDEleven for a total price of what a battery would have cost fitted from Halfords. Now I can also code the things I've been after for a while - pace car lights etc
Thanks all!
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May I ask how much you paid for battery and obdeleven, and where you bought?
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May I ask how much you paid for battery and obdeleven, and where you bought?
Paid £128.95 for the battery from batterymegastore.co.uk, seems good service, DPD delivery with an hour window this afternoon.
OBDEleven I got off Amazon for, I think, about £42. That is before the Pro key, though, which I believe is another 20 quid.
So about £192 in total. £184 for an equivalent AGM battery fitted by Halfords, but I have the ODBEleven now.
May be able to get the battery cheaper, admittedly I only peeked at 2 or 3 sites and they were all fairly similarly priced
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Yusee, you can also try OBD11 direct as they sometimes have combined offers on the for the pro version, the wait is longer than Amazon, but sometimes works out cheaper.
I personally went direct and got their Black Friday offer c.£90 for Pro with 1k credits.
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Weird though that my battery is original and will be 8 years old this August. It also healthy as i regularly check it. I had had stop/start disabled since 2015. Wonder how long I can get out of it!
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Yusee, you can also try OBD11 direct as they sometimes have combined offers on the for the pro version, the wait is longer than Amazon, but sometimes works out cheaper.
I personally went direct and got their Black Friday offer c.£90 for Pro with 1k credits.
That's for the new version, though. I bought Gen 1 as I don't need iOS support, nor the support for newer vehicles. The next gen version is over £100 on Amazon
Weird though that my battery is original and will be 8 years old this August. It also healthy as i regularly check it. I had had stop/start disabled since 2015. Wonder how long I can get out of it!
Good luck!
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Good point SJW well spotted :smiley:
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Yusee, you can also try OBD11 direct as they sometimes have combined offers on the for the pro version, the wait is longer than Amazon, but sometimes works out cheaper.
I personally went direct and got their Black Friday offer c.£90 for Pro with 1k credits.
That's for the new version, though. I bought Gen 1 as I don't need iOS support, nor the support for newer vehicles. The next gen version is over £100 on Amazon
Weird though that my battery is original and will be 8 years old this August. It also healthy as i regularly check it. I had had stop/start disabled since 2015. Wonder how long I can get out of it!
Good luck!
Gen 1 and Gen 2 devices both do the same cars. Gen2 device is as you have said iOS compatible but it's also got a slightly quicker processor.
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Yusee, you can also try OBD11 direct as they sometimes have combined offers on the for the pro version, the wait is longer than Amazon, but sometimes works out cheaper.
I personally went direct and got their Black Friday offer c.£90 for Pro with 1k credits.
That's for the new version, though. I bought Gen 1 as I don't need iOS support, nor the support for newer vehicles. The next gen version is over £100 on Amazon
Weird though that my battery is original and will be 8 years old this August. It also healthy as i regularly check it. I had had stop/start disabled since 2015. Wonder how long I can get out of it!
Good luck!
Gen 1 and Gen 2 devices both do the same cars. Gen2 device is as you have said iOS compatible but it's also got a slightly quicker processor.
They're looking to add BMW to the list as well, though, which will obviously only be added to the new device. I don't need that, so I bought Gen 1, and I recommend that most people do, really. Does NOT seem worth the extra money to get the new one, IMHO
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I'm not bothered about BMW's either. I've had the Gen 1 device for well over a year now and it's worked perfectly every time. Got no need for iOS either so like you can't see the need to change 👍👍
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Thanks all for the useful info.
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For an AGM battery, do I select "Fleece" or "Binary - AGM"? This seems to be a point of contention online
Edit: after some googling, I went for Fleece. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Also, I didn't need the Pro version of OBDEleven to do the adaptation, think it came with some credits
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For an AGM battery, do I select "Fleece" or "Binary - AGM"? This seems to be a point of contention online
Edit: after some googling, I went for Fleece. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Also, I didn't need the Pro version of OBDEleven to do the adaptation, think it came with some credits
When I am changing mine using OBD11 pro I will also select “fleece” after some google action 👍🏻👍🏻
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Weird though that my battery is original and will be 8 years old this August. It also healthy as i regularly check it. I had had stop/start disabled since 2015. Wonder how long I can get out of it!
Interesting, mine is coming up 5 years old and still testing good on my battery tester. This is from last November at over 4 years old!
(https://i.postimg.cc/CL83hnbb/battery-11-20.jpg)
Why are so many people killing batteries so quickly I wonder?
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Weird though that my battery is original and will be 8 years old this August. It also healthy as i regularly check it. I had had stop/start disabled since 2015. Wonder how long I can get out of it!
Interesting, mine is coming up 5 years old and still testing good on my battery tester. This is from last November at over 4 years old!
Why are so many people killing batteries so quickly I wonder?
I’m now on my fifth VW since 2002. Each of the previous four cars I kept for four or more years and when I’ve sold them, they’ve all still been on the original battery.
The only things I do that might impact battery life are a) I always switch off stop start and b) I garage my car so it’s protected from extremely cold weather this time of year, so that possibly puts less strain on the battery when starting the engine from cold during the winter months.
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For an AGM battery, do I select "Fleece" or "Binary - AGM"? This seems to be a point of contention online
Edit: after some googling, I went for Fleece. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Also, I didn't need the Pro version of OBDEleven to do the adaptation, think it came with some credits
I'll have to keep that option in mind Lol. What's the difference between the regular and the Pro besides credits?. Planning on buying an OBD11 soon but confused as to what the difference is as I don't understand what 'Long coding' on the Pro is :grin:. Google isn't very good for explaining the difference clearly
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For an AGM battery, do I select "Fleece" or "Binary - AGM"? This seems to be a point of contention online
Edit: after some googling, I went for Fleece. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Also, I didn't need the Pro version of OBDEleven to do the adaptation, think it came with some credits
I'll have to keep that option in mind Lol. What's the difference between the regular and the Pro besides credits?. Planning on buying an OBD11 soon but confused as to what the difference is as I don't understand what 'Long coding' on the Pro is :grin:. Google isn't very good for explaining the difference clearly
Originally I didn't think you could code at all with the regular, but it seems you can, you just have to use credits. I'm not sure of the exact difference any more. It's not described very well anywhere, and the app is a bit confusing in that regard. I'd just say buy the regular and only upgrade to Pro if you find something you can't do