I've previously posted about stop start and the wee battery monitor module, linked of course to a computer somewhere in the vehicle, and how you have to be careful about where you connect in either a charger (smart charger only please) or jump starter when a vehicle is equipped with one of these - and if you've got stop/start it probably does.
Well My Ibiza has this setup and it's battery has been very slowly dropping off in performance for some time now. I've been meaning to do something about buying a new battery for some time but put off because a) it was still starting and running Ok(ish) and b) the new battery has to be coded to the car so, in theory, you need to get a main agent, or competent indy, to do it for you. You also need to buy a battery with the BEM code sticker on it so you have the info needed to code it in:
There are claims about that you can use VAG-COM (VCDS), which I have, to alter the coding so you can use a non BEM coded battery (thus saving a shed load of money by buying from such as Tayna) but I never really understood what you needed to do. The main agent and all 3 indies up here in Edinburgh were quoting around £230 to £260 to supply and fit - I was pleased to see it was my favourite AVW who quoted cheapest price - but as she was still running fine and staring Ok(ish) I stupidly did nothing about it before we set of some 3 weeks ago to visit both daughter and family near Salisbury and then over to Mrs J's sister up near Exmoor in the hills behind Barnstaple in Devon.
The car ran beautifully all the way down on it's brand new Falken tyres and returned the usual 60mpg but on E10 petrol for the first time - saw no change in consumption at all which surprised me? Spent a week with daughter and her family - a week is probably just about right with 2 teenagers! - then over to sister in law in Devon. 2nd day there she was very slightly slow on the crank but I didn't think anything of it as she fired up quickly and ran fine. Next few days she seemed fine but then I didn't use her for a couple of days and she barely started on the Friday. Luckily I'd taken my CTEK smart charger so I put her on charge over night and she started Ok on the Saturday but cranked a bit slow. I let her sit for a couple of hours when we returned to the house (to allow plate surface charge to dissipate) and she was showing 11.9 flickering to 12 volts on my multimeter. B****r! New battery needed without a doubt!
So I rang the nearest Seat Main agent - Croyde Motors: https://www.croydemotors.co.uk/ - explained my situation and what I'd observed with the battery and could they supply fit and code a new one in time for us to set of back home the following week. I've copied the garage's website above because I've been so pleased with their response. Not surprisingly they don't hold batteries in stock but could get one next day. Did I realise this needs to be a "proper" VAG battery due to the need for it to be coded? Yes I did. And the cost? Well, as I'm completely unknown to them and they are unlikely to ever darken their door again, I was expecting a "maximum possible" price, but no, £250 all in coding, subsequent check for DTC's following coding and running and VAT. Pretty much what I would have paid at home. Of course being a main agent I have a national 2 year guarantee valid at any SEAT agency.
If you come in first thing in the morning we'll do it while you wait. I was on their door at 08.30hrs yesterday and back on the road just over half an hour later with a wallet £255 the lighter - something to do with the VAT? - thank goodness for credit cards! The garage was quite small, showroom only big enough for 2 cars and their new electric scooter, more like a family type business than a main agent. Chris, the chap who dealt with me was exceptionally nice and even allowed me to go round into the workshop to speak with the chap who did the work and take a couple of photos of the old battery which was bulging out on one end due to swelling of the sulphated plates. I'd been speaking to Chris at the reception desk and mentioned that I did my own services and some repairs and he made sure they checked the car for updates to software free of charge which I greatly appreciated as this has not been done, due to me doing home servicing, since it came out of warrant over 3 years ago. No updates were found to be needed.
The difference in cranking speed is very noticeable - no great surprise there - and stop start is again now available right from the turn of the key - although I still cancel it when I remember, in deference to the starter and turbo amongst other components. I'd opened the bonnet and had a quick "shufty" at it before driving away from the garage but, once back at wife's sister's house I gave things a more in depth examination and I have to say I'm very impressed. The battery is fitted very nice and square into the little ledges which hold against the bottom fixings and the clamp is positioned nice and square on to the battery (it's been squint from the day I bought it new) The clamps are properly pushed fully onto the posts and the clamps haven't been overtightened to the extent that the clamps are distorted - something I've often seen when replacement batteries are fitted by less skilled fitters. I like to use Holts NoCorode on the terminals and clamps and it could be plainly seen that a similar product had been sprayed over the clamps and posts on the new battery. The whole job just couldn't have been done better. Then I noticed a wee white plug in the top of the battery facing the engine:
That looks like a vent plug to me - they fit these to stop electrolyte leaking when the battery is being transported but they are normally removed when the battery is fitted to a vehicle - Oh dear. However then I looked at the other end of the battery, which faces the N/S inner wing and:
Oh, just a hole, no plug. Wonder if they just forgot the other one? maybe I should just remove the other one? Oh but maybe I shouldn't because they were so good and gave such attention to detail surely they wouldn't have forgotten this? So, today I rang Chris and asked him, apologizing for wasting his time with such a mundane query. He was very nice and said it was no waste of time to keep a customer happy. Yes only the vent plug nearest the inner wing is opened to avoid the possibility of combustible/explosive gasses being directed towards hot engine parts. So that plug on the engine side of the battery should remain installed - so glad I rang.
So I'm now set for another 6 years, hopefully longer, before I need to worry about the battery again. I'm going to keep a very careful eye on voltages if I don't plan to use the car for more than a couple of days and probably couple up the CTEK more often.
Many of you will know I'm interested in exploring these "finer details" about our cars. I've been especially interested in inlet carbon fouling on direct injection petrol engines recently and found a lot of stuff on line and you tube about it. Tyres is another area of particular interest. Now I'm going to get into what all this battery coding is all about and try to find a reliable way round it. I'll come back on this subject if I manage to make any headway.
Well My Ibiza has this setup and it's battery has been very slowly dropping off in performance for some time now. I've been meaning to do something about buying a new battery for some time but put off because a) it was still starting and running Ok(ish) and b) the new battery has to be coded to the car so, in theory, you need to get a main agent, or competent indy, to do it for you. You also need to buy a battery with the BEM code sticker on it so you have the info needed to code it in:
There are claims about that you can use VAG-COM (VCDS), which I have, to alter the coding so you can use a non BEM coded battery (thus saving a shed load of money by buying from such as Tayna) but I never really understood what you needed to do. The main agent and all 3 indies up here in Edinburgh were quoting around £230 to £260 to supply and fit - I was pleased to see it was my favourite AVW who quoted cheapest price - but as she was still running fine and staring Ok(ish) I stupidly did nothing about it before we set of some 3 weeks ago to visit both daughter and family near Salisbury and then over to Mrs J's sister up near Exmoor in the hills behind Barnstaple in Devon.
The car ran beautifully all the way down on it's brand new Falken tyres and returned the usual 60mpg but on E10 petrol for the first time - saw no change in consumption at all which surprised me? Spent a week with daughter and her family - a week is probably just about right with 2 teenagers! - then over to sister in law in Devon. 2nd day there she was very slightly slow on the crank but I didn't think anything of it as she fired up quickly and ran fine. Next few days she seemed fine but then I didn't use her for a couple of days and she barely started on the Friday. Luckily I'd taken my CTEK smart charger so I put her on charge over night and she started Ok on the Saturday but cranked a bit slow. I let her sit for a couple of hours when we returned to the house (to allow plate surface charge to dissipate) and she was showing 11.9 flickering to 12 volts on my multimeter. B****r! New battery needed without a doubt!
So I rang the nearest Seat Main agent - Croyde Motors: https://www.croydemotors.co.uk/ - explained my situation and what I'd observed with the battery and could they supply fit and code a new one in time for us to set of back home the following week. I've copied the garage's website above because I've been so pleased with their response. Not surprisingly they don't hold batteries in stock but could get one next day. Did I realise this needs to be a "proper" VAG battery due to the need for it to be coded? Yes I did. And the cost? Well, as I'm completely unknown to them and they are unlikely to ever darken their door again, I was expecting a "maximum possible" price, but no, £250 all in coding, subsequent check for DTC's following coding and running and VAT. Pretty much what I would have paid at home. Of course being a main agent I have a national 2 year guarantee valid at any SEAT agency.
If you come in first thing in the morning we'll do it while you wait. I was on their door at 08.30hrs yesterday and back on the road just over half an hour later with a wallet £255 the lighter - something to do with the VAT? - thank goodness for credit cards! The garage was quite small, showroom only big enough for 2 cars and their new electric scooter, more like a family type business than a main agent. Chris, the chap who dealt with me was exceptionally nice and even allowed me to go round into the workshop to speak with the chap who did the work and take a couple of photos of the old battery which was bulging out on one end due to swelling of the sulphated plates. I'd been speaking to Chris at the reception desk and mentioned that I did my own services and some repairs and he made sure they checked the car for updates to software free of charge which I greatly appreciated as this has not been done, due to me doing home servicing, since it came out of warrant over 3 years ago. No updates were found to be needed.
The difference in cranking speed is very noticeable - no great surprise there - and stop start is again now available right from the turn of the key - although I still cancel it when I remember, in deference to the starter and turbo amongst other components. I'd opened the bonnet and had a quick "shufty" at it before driving away from the garage but, once back at wife's sister's house I gave things a more in depth examination and I have to say I'm very impressed. The battery is fitted very nice and square into the little ledges which hold against the bottom fixings and the clamp is positioned nice and square on to the battery (it's been squint from the day I bought it new) The clamps are properly pushed fully onto the posts and the clamps haven't been overtightened to the extent that the clamps are distorted - something I've often seen when replacement batteries are fitted by less skilled fitters. I like to use Holts NoCorode on the terminals and clamps and it could be plainly seen that a similar product had been sprayed over the clamps and posts on the new battery. The whole job just couldn't have been done better. Then I noticed a wee white plug in the top of the battery facing the engine:
That looks like a vent plug to me - they fit these to stop electrolyte leaking when the battery is being transported but they are normally removed when the battery is fitted to a vehicle - Oh dear. However then I looked at the other end of the battery, which faces the N/S inner wing and:
Oh, just a hole, no plug. Wonder if they just forgot the other one? maybe I should just remove the other one? Oh but maybe I shouldn't because they were so good and gave such attention to detail surely they wouldn't have forgotten this? So, today I rang Chris and asked him, apologizing for wasting his time with such a mundane query. He was very nice and said it was no waste of time to keep a customer happy. Yes only the vent plug nearest the inner wing is opened to avoid the possibility of combustible/explosive gasses being directed towards hot engine parts. So that plug on the engine side of the battery should remain installed - so glad I rang.
So I'm now set for another 6 years, hopefully longer, before I need to worry about the battery again. I'm going to keep a very careful eye on voltages if I don't plan to use the car for more than a couple of days and probably couple up the CTEK more often.
Many of you will know I'm interested in exploring these "finer details" about our cars. I've been especially interested in inlet carbon fouling on direct injection petrol engines recently and found a lot of stuff on line and you tube about it. Tyres is another area of particular interest. Now I'm going to get into what all this battery coding is all about and try to find a reliable way round it. I'll come back on this subject if I manage to make any headway.