Well, I wasn't expecting that - duff battery

[Peter_S]

Talk-torque, interesting point.
I have always turned it off as soon as I get in the car though.
However, I understand why some say it works great in combination with DSG - just leave it in Drive when you stop/start.   That is good.

Peter_S

I wonder if the battery is more likely to fail early if stop/start is used? We currently use it on both our cars, (my Golf and wife’s Fabia Estate) as it now works so well, but is this, maybe, a reason not to?

[Peter_S]

A really excellent article that makes a lot of sense - well, at least to a non-technical person like me.

I'm now really minded to wait a few weeks to see if things settle down.

"During the last 20 years, battery testing lagged behind other technologies. The reason: the battery is a very difficult animal to test, short of applying a full charge, discharge and recharge. The battery behaves similar to us humans. We still don't know why we perform better on certain days than others."

I'm really concerned now about the VW dealer battery test printout yesterday showing "Battery worn out".

I think this may be right.  A few months ago I heard someone on a BBC  Radio 4 science program saying the same thing.  She was a professor of physics at some celebrated university who had just won a prestigious scientific award on something to do with batteries.   Anyway, she openly admitted that we do not know anything like we should about what chemistry exactly goes on inside batteries.  It was a big problem.

Now, back to my case.  It's made me think that 8k miles pa is not a lot is it?   The car can sometimes sit in the garage for 2 or 3 days, probably three times a month.  We do the normal short runs but we do go on longer motorway journeys 3 or 4 times a month.   We do like our heated seats on low in the Winter months and the A/C is always on.   The infotainment including Car-Net and Apple CarPlay is never off.  I won't bore people with the other habits I'm ashamed to admit to that I know consume power when I'm in the car e.g. Huawei E8372 Wingle permanently hooked-up to the 12V socket in the boot.

Maybe the battery does need a damn good charge and or refresh cycle.   My CTEK 3600 battery charger is temporarily in store just now otherwise I'd go out and put on full charge after reading the article fredgroves provided for us.

Peter_S

I wonder if the battery is more likely to fail early if stop/start is used? We currently use it on both our cars, (my Golf and wife’s Fabia Estate) as it now works so well, but is this, maybe, a reason not to?

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/archive/what_causes_car_batteries_to_fail

[Peter_S]

Really good to know.  Thanks.

Very very interested in "stop /start disabled (via obdeleven)' and I'll come back to that in another separate post or PM to you if that's alright?

That's really given me confidence to pursue a warranty goodwill claim even though mine expired May 2019
Don't they test for these things at services - it's called preventative maintenance I believe.   
Short service (well not that short, as it cost me £465 I recall) was done at dealer's on 16 May this year, just before warranty ran out.

Peter_S

I wonder if the battery is more likely to fail early if stop/start is used? We currently use it on both our cars, (my Golf and wife’s Fabia Estate) as it now works so well, but is this, maybe, a reason not to?

Well my battery gave up the ghost last year at 30 months old at around 17k miles (replaced under warranty) and I’ve had stop /start disabled (via obdeleven) for most of the life of the car.  There been quite a few R owners have had the battery fail within the original warranty period, replaced under warranty.

[Peter_S]

jv, brilliant - thanks.   I'll study that link later tonight.
I left the dealer's yesterday with the impression that only they had the kit and expertise to swap batteries.
Well, I suppose they would say that wouldn't they?

Yes, it's hard for some of us to move on from those good old days isn't it?  Good times though.   

Peter_S

Info on battery types, coding etc:
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7926

Long gone are the days of a 40 quid battery from Halfords and fit in 2 mins yourself

[Peter_S]

This is getting even better, many thanks.

I'm going down there (full Halfords servicing and repair garage) tomorrow for a quote - only 5 minutes walk from where I live.  Always a very busy place so they must be doing something right. 

I know the manager of a local KwikFit (don't laugh) who has done good work for us so I'll contact them too.

I'm still not sure whether to laugh or cry at the VW quote of £328.65!

Do you think the VW dealer would price-match the Halfords or Kwikfit Price - I bet they would.

Peter_S

I had an AGM supplied and fitted by Halfords in April, £180 ish including the coding to tell the car it had a new battery.

[Peter_S]

Yes it is, isn't it?

I had an AGM supplied and fitted by Halfords in April, £180 ish including the coding to tell the car it had a new battery.

That's more like it...

[Peter_S]

At the risk of being off-topic, what was that undocumented battery condition function I recall that we can call up on our MFD?

Peter_S

what is a normal SOC % after a long drive?

[mcmaddy]

State of Charge SOC but I think it's been deleted on most models now probably due to cost cutting. My 2013 gtd had it but my 2016 GTi doesn't.

[Peter_S]

mcmaddy, thanks for that. 
I must have got it confused with my Mk V which I believe had it somewhere, hidden.

Peter_S

State of Charge SOC but I think it's been deleted on most models now probably due to cost cutting. My 2013 gtd had it but my 2016 GTi doesn't.

[Peter_S]

Philip, I've been to Halfords today.

This is it isn't it:  https://www.halfordsautocentres.com/car-batteries/halfords--096agm-start-stop-agm-12v-car-battery-5-year-guarantee

Now £157 plus £25 fitting and disposal incl VAT,  £182

No brainer really especially with it being a Yuasa and the 5 year guarantee.   
It will be interesting to see if the VW/Varta made in Korea one can match that.

Thanks again for that tip.

Peter_S

I had an AGM supplied and fitted by Halfords in April, £180 ish including the coding to tell the car it had a new battery.