Hello,
I want to charge & repair a friends Audi A1 battery using a CTEK style charger.
For practical purposes, it will be easier to remove the battery and do it indoors (she has to park on a public street).
My question is, what do I need to consider when removing and replacing (possibly many hours later) the battery? Will all the car settings be lost? Anything else?
Thanks all!
Locking/unlocking when battery off to consider, have to use the key to lock making sure you’ve manually locked other doors/boot etc.
also paying attention to terminals when removing.,negative terminal first. When removing. Positive first when putting back on.
No option of using an extension lead?
Last edited by Anygreg; 3rd April 2021 at 13:38.
I would have thought that in order to 'repair' the battery you would need to remove it from the car.
If you are just recharging it, it may be easier to take the car to somewhere you can leave it connected while charging - assuming the car is driveable of course.
My old Audi A4 was absolutely fine when I removed the battery and replaced it, but tech has moved on since then and things may have changed of course. Dont lock the doors while removed, just in case as I did have to reprogramme a key once.
Might be better to spend £40-50 on a new battery, A1s don’t use anything too fancy/large do they?
Battery ‘repair’ or reconditioning only works in limited circumstances and it depends what’s wrong with the battery as to whether it can be revived.
It will be fine sitting without a battery, radio/infotainment are all coded to the car and will be remembered. If you set the car up to only unlock the drivers door on unlock, you should be able to remove the battery in that state and then just manually lock the drivers door so you can leave it locked on the street?
Last edited by Tooks; 3rd April 2021 at 11:43.
Exactly this.Originally Posted by Tooks
Thanks for the replies so far.
She’s elderly and has only used the car 4 times since lockdown, a year ago, and each time it has started instantly, amazingly! It’s a 2012 car with original battery.
So, after recommendations here about these CTEK chargers (where the prevailing advice was that they’re worthwhile), I thought I’d charge it up and it has an inbuilt intelligent ‘repair’ mode.
I’m not technical but it seemed sensible to give it a go, just to fully charge it if nothing else.
She parks on a busy public street and the battery is in the boot, so the car would need to be left with boot open and extension cable across the street, so it’s not practical. Hence me wanting to remove the battery and charge it in her house.
- - - Updated - - -
Pretty sure new A1 batteries are closer to £100?
Tayna have some for £75.Pretty sure new A1 batteries are closer to £100?
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
If it's only been used 4 times since lockdown I'd take it for a drive of say 30 or 40 miles on a motorway/fast A road to move oil and fluids around to lubricate engine, gearbox, seals etc. Then measure the voltage of the battery and ensure it's at least 12V. Also worth measuring the voltage with the engine running and ensuring it's being charged; the voltage should be closer to 14V with the engine running. I would also take the car for a drive every couple of weeks.
It’s a 2012 car with original battery....time to replace...it will save hassle later on.
If it is flat, and has been lying in sub-zero temps over winter - it is likely to be knacked.
Whatever type of battery it is- if you do remove it, do it gently without bashing it off things when moving it. LA batteries can suffer from oxide dropping to the bottom and shorting out cells.
Terminal removal/ replacement is this order not as above!
Negative removed first when taking battery out.
Positive cable first when replacing battery.
Doing it the wrong order can cause an expensive short
Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk
Spot on my bad, I did actually mean that way, wrote it wrong I’ll amend that now,
Unless, off course, you are working ion a pre-50’s Packard or Studebaker that has a positive ground.
My advice to the OP is to fit a new battery. Even if you get the old battery to take charge and start the car, the chances are it'll not hold charge and you'll end up getting involved again. I don`t mind helping people but you can end up 'owning' the problem, better to look for a quick reliable fix and in this case it's a new battery.
On battery for my A3 with stop/start was £160.00 online.
Just stuck a friends A1 reg plate into the Varta Battery Finder, a 2018 TSI with stop/start, and they’re in the £50-60 region. It was a Varta Blue Dynamic EFB. I’m sure it’ll be something similar on a 2012 model, diesel or petrol.
They don’t need to be AGM batteries on the a1, although plenty of places will happily sell you one, and they only have to be coded on the 2015 onwards I believe.
That's a point; find someone to disable to Stop/Start system unless you commute in London or other major city. In my view it's a huge con to pass the costs from manufacturer to owner.
My car was complaining with a low battery warning even after a 30 mile drive, so around a month ago I got an el-cheapo charger from Aldi and hooked it up. So far it was £13 or £14 well spent as after leaving it to charge and then trickle charge for a few days the car hasn’t complained since.
Point of the post, I assume the battery is the original from 2015 so even an old battery can be revived if it hasn’t frequently been discharged.
Our car (BMW 40d M Sport) e-mailed me yesterday to tell me the battery needs changing due to poor performance, most bizarre.
Booked in for a check up.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
What an odd world we now live in!
Mine was moaning at me the other day that it needed to be cleaned, as the back bumper was too dirty to work the blind spot radar thing properly.
Am I missing something here? From what the OP has said there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with the battery, he just wants to use his CTEK to charger/recondition it?
If there's not problem with it starting I'd leave well alone. Just offer to take it for a run to get the fluids moving and charge the battery.
Or a 1960's Austin 1100 which also use a positive ground. .Unless, off course, you are working ion a pre-50’s Packard or Studebaker that has a positive ground.
I'm also puzzled by everyone's eagerness to advise fitting a new battery without any evidence that the original is no longer any good.
Fair point.
But it IS 9 years old and not in the best of health either.
It doesn't owe anything, it's done it's job and logic would say replace before it lets its owner down miles from anywhere.
Unless the usage changes won’t the new battery suffer a similar fate?
Chances are it’s a stop start car that’ll need a particular kind of battery.
Also if you disconnect and remove the battery you’ll need to reprogramme everything on connecting it back up.
Buy a solar powered charger and wire it up to the battery to keep the battery in the car and hooked up.
Amazon sells them. I have one and it’s great
Jim
A trickle charger (CTEK) will get you nowhere, you need a NOCO Charger (abt 100 Pds on 'the Bay') I revitalised my totally flat battery in a 540i G30 which had been standing without the CTEK for too long -( works a treat ) - thereafter, a 30-40 mile journey to boost completley.
Good luck
Cheers, Peter
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