Flat battery....again!

[cetane]

And it's absolutely flat! It looks like the same thing that happened to my TDI 2 years ago. That time it had been standing for 3 days, however this time only 1. With 3 months of warranty left on it I have to get this dealt with quick!

VW did a recall on all Mk5 TDIs because it turned out that there was a software fault and the stereos were drawing enough current to flatten the battery. This is a bit incredible to me as it takes a LOT of current draw to flatten a diesel's battery in 18hrs! Anyway, when I took it in to get the re-flash done I was sent away with the words....."It's fixed...This won't happen again!".... And it has. I'm not impressed as it's a 300km round trip to my nearest VW dealer workshop and God knows what damage it's done to my now 2.75 yo battery.

Has anybody else had this happen a second time?

[greygolf8]

My MK5 2l tdi has not been recalled. When did this happen ?

[cetane]

Reflash

February 2007

[Golf Loon]

That Sucks, are you sure its not just the battery dying a death?

Be good to take it back to VW tho.

[Russ59]

My MK5 2l tdi has not been recalled. When did this happen ?

I think this might have been an issue in earlier models mate, as you can see from the first post Cetane has had his car at least 2.75 years so at a guess it would have to be a late 2005 or early 2006 model

As Golf Loon said it could be a problem with the battery, some of them last for donkeys years some of them don't, it's worth considering anyway.
I'd definitely be taking it back to the dealer and getting it checked to make sure first though, there's no point putting in a new battery if there's an issue with keeping it charged.


Russ

[jets]

I had the recall done on my early '06 2.0 TDI model [made late 05]. Didn't have a problem then & haven't since. Flattening a starting battery as opposed to a deep cycle could finish it off, although I have on a calcium battery on my T4 [measured .19 volts remaining] & that has survived.

[Transporter]

And it's absolutely flat! It looks like the same thing that happened to my TDI 2 years ago. That time it had been standing for 3 days, however this time only 1. With 3 months of warranty left on it I have to get this dealt with quick!

VW did a recall on all Mk5 TDIs because it turned out that there was a software fault and the stereos were drawing enough current to flatten the battery. This is a bit incredible to me as it takes a LOT of current draw to flatten a diesel's battery in 18hrs! Anyway, when I took it in to get the re-flash done I was sent away with the words....."It's fixed...This won't happen again!".... And it has. I'm not impressed as it's a 300km round trip to my nearest VW dealer workshop and God knows what damage it's done to my now 2.75 yo battery.

Has anybody else had this happen a second time?

Not in Golf but in my T5 battery did last only 2 years and it was replaced under the warranty and I don’t have the power hungry stereo or any other accessories fitted which could drain the battery. I just don’t drive long enough trips and with the second battery I noticed that after one year the engine was cranking a bit longer and slower during winter. Now I fully charge the battery every 2 weeks using CTEK battery charger (I’d recommend XS7000 rather than XS3600 I’ve both).

When the battery is aging it's capacity is decreasing, so the battery after 2 years could have only 60% capacity available, the alternator in any vehicle petrol or diesel will always charge to 80% available capacity only, than you need 50% capacity to start in above 0 deg. C. So it could be your battery on the way out especially if you do many short trips your battery would never receive a good charge.

You can use ordinary digital voltmeter from **** Smith Electronics or Tandy store to monitor how is your battery doing.

Battery state of charge test:

1. Turn the ignition to OFF position
2. Turn the headlights ON for 30 seconds to dissipate the surface charge.
3. Turn the lights and accessories OFF

Than observe the battery voltage with Voltmeter connected to battery for measuring the Volts (positive lead to positive and negative to negative battery terminal:

12.6V or above fully charged
12.4V – 12.5V 50 – 70 % charged
Under 12.3V needs charging

Also if you have Voltmeter you can check Battery voltage after driving after you put the car in the garage for night. The battery Volts should be 12.6 V or above-measured at the battery terminals (up to 13.5V immediately after you switch the engine OFF and removing the key from ignition - some circuits could be still active, but that should not cause the battery voltage of the good battery to fall below 12.5V The following morning check the voltage on the battery it should be 12.6V or higher if not and you don't have starting problems yet the battery has decreased capacity and it will not reach fully charged state, if it's 12V or less in the morning suspect one dead cell but I'm sure that the diesel engine wouldn't start with such battery.


Yes, the diesel engine's battery is bigger but the diesel engine will put more demand on the battery during starting since the glow plugs are in use during starting and the diesel engine has also much higher compression. So the bigger battery is needed.

[cetane]

She's going!

Got VW Assist out this morning after having the charger on for 24hrs and still not having enough to turn the starter over. He had a power pack and she went first pop so I check the alternator and it was putting out 14.5v so no problem there. Took her for a 10km spin and she started first pop after that, but when I put the charger back on it showed only 25% charged. Sure that was a short run and it takes much more to get an absolutely flat battery absolutely charged, I know.

So, as I don't believe the battery's cactus I'll see how she goes this week and if it completely discharges again it's back to the dealer with her, but I'll get a battery check first! (I still believe it's an electronics/computer problem.)

Ironically I have my old GLD parked next to her in the shed and when I wanted to try jumper leads the old girl started first pop after sitting there for a couple of months! And yes... the battery's 4 years old!

[Transporter]

And it's absolutely flat! It looks like the same thing that happened to my TDI 2 years ago. That time it had been standing for 3 days, however this time only 1. With 3 months of warranty left on it I have to get this dealt with quick!

VW did a recall on all Mk5 TDIs because it turned out that there was a software fault and the stereos were drawing enough current to flatten the battery. This is a bit incredible to me as it takes a LOT of current draw to flatten a diesel's battery in 18hrs! Anyway, when I took it in to get the re-flash done I was sent away with the words....."It's fixed...This won't happen again!".... And it has. I'm not impressed as it's a 300km round trip to my nearest VW dealer workshop and God knows what damage it's done to my now 2.75 yo battery.

Has anybody else had this happen a second time?

They should replaced the battery if it is faulty and you still have some warranty left.

[Transporter]

Got VW Assist out this morning after having the charger on for 24hrs and still not having enough to turn the starter over. He had a power pack and she went first pop so I check the alternator and it was putting out 14.5v so no problem there. Took her for a 10km spin and she started first pop after that, but when I put the charger back on it showed only 25% charged. Sure that was a short run and it takes much more to get an absolutely flat battery absolutely charged, I know.

So, as I don't believe the battery's cactus I'll see how she goes this week and if it completely discharges again it's back to the dealer with her, but I'll get a battery check first! (I still believe it's an electronics/computer problem.)

Ironically I have my old GLD parked next to her in the shed and when I wanted to try jumper leads the old girl started first pop after sitting there for a couple of months! And yes... the battery's 4 years old!

I agree with you it is most likely the battery.
Now back to your charger.
How many Amps is battery charger rated? Some battery chargers will take for ever to charge the battery.
Also be sure that you disconnect the battery or take it out of the car if the battery charger is not designed to charge the battery connect to the car (damage to electronic circuits).
To my knowledge only CTEK charger is suitable and APPROVED for in the vehicle charging.
When my battery was cranking too slow and almost didn't start it took 2 trips to the dealer since they didn't find the fault first and than not even 5 days later after long weekend the battery didn't start at all (I had to use The Thumper Pack to jump start it). Than back to the dealer and 2 days later after they ordered a new battery for me. They swapped the battery while I was waiting there.
I wish you luck that you get it fixed right away.

[cetane]

Cheers for the input!

"Transporter"....Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed reply. You're right about the age of a battery and it's capacity to accept charge and hold it. The 640CCA battery in the TDI can take a fair bit of punishment; all of my trips are long and the car (usually) starts instantly.

Let's see what the week brings.....

[cetane]

Update....

The charger did its job and the battery was fully charged this morning. It started the car with gusto first pop. I'll ring the dealer today and hope that something constructive happens.

Just in case anybody's wondering, I'm keeping this thread updated so that it may help someone with a similar problem in the future.

[Transporter]

The charger did its job and the battery was fully charged this morning. It started the car with gusto first pop. I'll ring the dealer today and hope that something constructive happens.

Just in case anybody's wondering, I'm keeping this thread updated so that it may help someone with a similar problem in the future.

When you're at the dealer make sure that you get the paper work that you visited them with the concerning the battery and charging system, just in case that a couple weeks later out of warranty there would be the issue with the battery or charging system.

[cetane]

Update 2

She's started first pop all week....even in early morning temps of 4 degrees twice. Kinda discounts the failed battery hypothesis

No chance to get to the dealer this week and I doubt if VAGCOM could trace the fault if she started and is going anyway. I guess I'll have to wait for her to fail again and get VW Assist to truck the car to the dealer. (Do they do that??)

[Russ59]

She's started first pop all week....even in early morning temps of 4 degrees twice. Kinda discounts the failed battery hypothesis

No chance to get to the dealer this week and I doubt if VAGCOM could trace the fault if she started and is going anyway. I guess I'll have to wait for her to fail again and get VW Assist to truck the car to the dealer. (Do they do that??)

As long as you still have warranty they will arrange a truck to pick it up and take it the dealer. Might I suggest though that as soon as it shows signs of not wanting to start, leave it completely alone, call roadside assist and tell them you've had the problem for a while and that it was suggested to you, by the dealer, that next time it did it to arrange straight away to have it picked up and taken to the service dept for diagnosis. As you said earlier, if it shows no error codes they won't touch it, if it does it then and there while they have it then they'll have to work it out.

Russ