Upgrading Starter Battery - how to guide

[BikerPa]

Just fitted a new 80A Bosch A11 AGM to my 2020 6.1 as the factory fitted EFB 70A wasn’t holding charge well.

I think it’s an ideal size as I think the A13 95A would have been a real pain to squeeze in IMO

Coded easily with Carista as a Varta 80A AGM

 

[mherkin]

Fitted the larger Bosch AGM 95ah today. It's a squeeze but helped by taking out the sliding dividers. I replaced the jacket and stuff some foam at the back then wrapped it with shock cord.

Just an idea, I changed the battery serial number to YYYYMMDD00 so I know when it was last changed. I usually write that in marker on the top of the battery too.

 

[Drive Wayne]

Fitted the larger Bosch AGM 95ah today. It's a squeeze but helped by taking out the sliding dividers. I replaced the jacket and stuff some foam at the back then wrapped it with shock cord.

Just an idea, I changed the battery serial number to YYYYMMDD00 so I know when it was last changed. I usually write that in marker on the top of the battery too. View attachment 243805View attachment 243806

Well done, great battery! Took some forearm strength to get that one in!

 

[bobbybasic]

The Exide 95ah EK950 is currently available at Parts in Motion for £128.39 delivered with a £5 off coupon.

Exide EK950 Car Battery

Buy Exide EK950 online. We are Exide authorised stockists. Free and fast UK delivery.

www.partsinmotion.co.uk

 

[bobbybasic]

Alright gang, I've installed a larger 95ah battery (to replace a 68) and sucessfully coded it using VCDS. I've tripple checked its correct after forgetting to save the first time.

- Battery was showing 87% on the MB2

- I then went for a 35 minute drive.

- After the drive battery is now showing 79%

- Attached are my BM2 screenshots showing 'low charging system voltage', these were taken after the drive.

Now, I have a feeling I need to be patient while the BCM re-calibrates the new battery size, is this correct? The green spikes appear to show charging, right?

 

[TallPaul_S]

Ignore the charging test on the BM2.

You can also ignore the % on the BM2, that never seems to be correct either! Voltage is what you want to check - it'll take a little while for the surface charge to dissipate after you switch the van off, that 12.6v will probably go down to 12.5v after an hour, which is 80% soc. Which is correct for an EU6 smart alternator system.

 

[EdH]

Hi all. Just taken my 2020 T6.1 campervan for it's major service to VW Wrexham. They conducted that complimentary health check and the starter battery was flagged up as needing the replacement. I hardly used the campervan since the last year as I was not in the country, but the campervan was plugged into ctec charger most of that time to keep the battery charged/topped up. The campervan is not used for daily commute as we have another car. Currently it has factory fitted EBF battery.

I was really surprised when they indicated that the battery is at 70% and according to the battery tester needs replacement (in the red zone).

Start/stop works completely fine and the campervan starts normally. BM2 is it showing healthy percentage/voltage. The engine was turned off 3hrs ago, and the battery it's at 12.68v. Having had a look into the battery voltage history over the last few weeks the lowest it has been was 12.1v (not plugged in the ctek charger for the last 4 wks, as I did use it for few short town journeys).

We are driving to France in 3 weeks and now the wife is panicking about it and saying that we need to have it changed before we go as she doesn't want to risk it camper not starting while on holiday. Our local trusted garage can change it for us if we wish. Having just seen what @BikerPa did with his, I might ask my garage if they could do the same perhaps.

So, I really don't know what to do, do we change it before we go on our two week France road trip or change it on our return? I am really surprised that 3 1/2 y old battery requires replacement keeping in mind that the campervan has only done 8k.

In respect of coding, will my local garage be able to do this or do I need to take it to VW? I do have a Carista module (no subscription).

Sorry for the long post.

 

[ginkster]

Hi all. Just taken my 2020 T6.1 campervan for it's major service to VW Wrexham. They conducted that complimentary health check and the starter battery was flagged up as needing the replacement. I hardly used the campervan since the last year as I was not in the country, but the campervan was plugged into ctec charger most of that time to keep the battery charged/topped up. The campervan is not used for daily commute as we have another car. Currently it has factory fitted EBF battery.

I was really surprised when they indicated that the battery is at 70% and according to the battery tester needs replacement (in the red zone).

Start/stop works completely fine and the campervan starts normally. BM2 is it showing healthy percentage/voltage. The engine was turned off 3hrs ago, and the battery it's at 12.68v. Having had a look into the battery voltage history over the last few weeks the lowest it has been was 12.1v (not plugged in the ctek charger for the last 4 wks, as I did use it for few short town journeys).

We are driving to France in 3 weeks and now the wife is panicking about it and saying that we need to have it changed before we go as she doesn't want to risk it camper not starting while on holiday. Our local trusted garage can change it for us if we wish. Having just seen what @BikerPa did with his, I might ask my garage if they could do the same perhaps.

So, I really don't know what to do, do we change it before we go on our two week France road trip or change it on our return? I am really surprised that 3 1/2 y old battery requires replacement keeping in mind that the campervan has only done 8k.

In respect of coding, will my local garage be able to do this or do I need to take it to VW? I do have a Carista module (no subscription).

Sorry for the long post.

View attachment 250011

I’d say 12.68v is very healthy and lasting 4 weeks and not dropping below 12.1c is good too. Absolutely no need to worry or replace for a long time yet. As a reference my battery settles at about 12.3v and drops to just over 12v over a couple of weeks. Starts first time every time.

 

[EdH]

I’d say 12.68v is very healthy and lasting 4 weeks and not dropping below 12.1c is good too. Absolutely no need to worry or replace for a long time yet. As a reference my battery settles at about 12.3v and drops to just over 12v over a couple of weeks. Starts first time every time.

I thought that as well. But why the battery tester is indicating that a replacement is required? Perhaps the battery is degraded due to not being cycled/charged/discharged often as we are not using the campervan often.

 

[Drive Wayne]

I thought that as well. But why the battery tester is indicating that a replacement is required? Perhaps the battery is degraded due to not being cycled/charged/discharged often as we are not using the campervan often.

There's a reason they are called Main Stealers... 12.68 is good after 3 hours! Keep your eye on what it goes down to though. Like @ginkster , my year old battery tends to settle around 12.3V. For £40 odd a year I would recommend you renew your Carista membership. You can code your own battery when the time is right, and look at error codes and save yourself a fortune instead of visiting those slightly dubious characters!

 

[EdH]

There's a reason they are called Main Stealers... 12.68 is good after 3 hours! Keep your eye on what it goes down to though. Like @ginkster , my year old battery tends to settle around 12.3V. For £40 odd a year I would recommend you renew your Carista membership. You can code your own battery when the time is right, and look at error codes and save yourself a fortune instead of visiting those slightly dubious characters!

After the VW service (I had a service plan with VW as a part of the deal when we bought it), I called to my local garage which we use for our car for a 2nd opinion. They also confirmed that the battery is in the red zone/ replacement required and the mechanic was doing the test before me and showed me on the display that the battery it's on 70% health.

 

[Drive Wayne]

After the VW service (I had a service plan with VW as a part of the deal when we bought it), I called to my local garage which we use for our car for a 2nd opinion. They also confirmed that the battery is in the red zone/ replacement required and the mechanic was doing the test before me and showed me on the display that the battery it's on 70% health.

Make the wife happy and get a new AGM starter battery! Halfords will code it in, but so could you with a functioning Carista.

 

[whodat]

Are you going to squeeze a 95A battery in?
Wondering whether to go that way as mine settles at 11.9v after 3 or 4 days. Main dealers (have tried 2 of them) said there was nothing wrong with it though.

 

[Dellmassive]

Ignore the charging test on the BM2.

You can also ignore the % on the BM2, that never seems to be correct either! Voltage is what you want to check - it'll take a little while for the surface charge to dissipate after you switch the van off, that 12.6v will probably go down to 12.5v after an hour, which is 80% soc. Which is correct for an EU6 smart alternator system.

Exactly what he said. . .

 

[EdH]

There's a reason they are called Main Stealers... 12.68 is good after 3 hours! Keep your eye on what it goes down to though. Like @ginkster , my year old battery tends to settle around 12.3V. For £40 odd a year I would recommend you renew your Carista membership. You can code your own battery when the time is right, and look at error codes and save yourself a fortune instead of visiting those slightly dubious characters!

6hrs after I turned the engine off

 

[EdH]

@Dellmassive what's your verdict on this issue with my starter battery? Two different garage battery testers are saying to replace the battery as it has reached/got 70% of health, while the battery monitor indicates normal parameters?

Well confused about it to be honest, especially this issue crops up 3wks before our first ever long distance trip to France. Do we risk it or fiddle with it before or after?

 

[TallPaul_S]

@Dellmassive what's your verdict on this issue with my starter battery? Two different garage battery testers are saying to replace the battery as it has reached/got 70% of health, while the battery monitor indicates normal parameters?

Well confused about it to be honest, especially this issue crops up 3wks before our first ever long distance trip to France. Do we risk it or fiddle with it before or after?

How long are you going to be staying on a campsite for without starting the engine or driving anywhere?

That battery seems to be perfectly fine, the only risk you might have is if you're parked up with no charge going to the SB, and doors opening, van being locked and unlocked etc for a few days, which will run the battery down.

If it's really not going below 12v after 4 weeks of sitting with zero charging then you've got nothing to worry about imo.

 

[ginkster]

that the battery it's on 70% health.

It will only ever be 80% due to the smart alternator. Unless they are meaning 70% of 80%

 

[EdH]

How long are you going to be staying on a campsite for without starting the engine or driving anywhere?

That battery seems to be perfectly fine, the only risk you might have is if you're parked up with no charge going to the SB, and doors opening, van being locked and unlocked etc for a few days, which will run the battery down.

If it's really not going below 12v after 4 weeks of sitting with zero charging then you've got nothing to worry about imo.

Once we get to our 1st campsite we will stay there for 6 nights (will probably go out in a van 2-3 times), then we are traveling about 200 miles to different region (stay 3 nights), then travel up north towards Brittany 170 miles and stay 2-3 nights on different campsites and then travel 100 miles towards Normandy and stay 2 nights before sailing back to the UK. On the first two campsites (longest stays) we will have EHU when I can plug my CTEC battery charger anyway to top up the starter battery.

Definitely it has never dropped below 12v for the last 4 weeks according to the data in battery monitor. Lowest it went was 12.1v.

 

[ginkster]

Once we get to our 1st campsite we will stay there for 6 nights (will probably go out in a van 2-3 times), then we are traveling about 200 miles to different region (stay 3 nights), then travel up north towards Brittany 170 miles and stay 2-3 nights on different campsites and then travel 100 miles towards Normandy and stay 2 nights before sailing back to the UK. On the first two campsites (longest stays) we will have EHU when I can plug my CTEC battery charger anyway to top up the starter battery.

Definitely it has never dropped below 12v for the last 4 weeks according to the data in battery monitor. Lowest it went was 12.1v.

You’ll be fine. You could always fit an Ablemail AMT12-2 (£65) at a later date and get years more from the battery. The AMT keeps the starter battery topped up from the leisure battery.