Battery Message & Cold Weather

[JimC64]

I'm always hesitant to post up messages that contradict others' views, especially when those views are posted by outstanding forum members like Jim. I do feel it's fair to redress the balance a little by posting up my personal experiences here though. I am driving my fourth consecutive Audi in eleven years, and over the whole of that time, none of the four cars have had battery problems or issues with starting on freezing mornings. All of them have lived outside on the drive through fair and foul weather, and just recently my current car has started first time every time on extreme cold mornings.

Jim, I'm really sorry you're having such frustrating problems - I know I'd be tearing my hair out if I was in your situation. Looks like a fair few others have been suffering with similar problems too. It's certainly true that these weather conditions will highlight and exacerbate even the smallest weakness in any car's health. I'm willing to bet there are similar high numbers of folks reporting these kinds of issues in non-Audi cars too.

Keep smiling, and here's hoping your dealer pinpoints and fixes the problem!

Cheers!

MF.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It may sound a little like mutual back slapping, but I genuinely mean it when I say I'm astounded to be complimented by some of the members of this forum. Most of the members in question having a much higher post count, longer serving and with more to offer certainly makes me feel honoured

I feel I've joined a forum with kindred spirits and made some good "friends" here. I really do enjoy this site and feel quite at home here and believe Its one of the best of its kind around with great members, good technical info, top notch techs and a good mod / admin team too.....All good!!

I must apologise, I guess for my little rant, having lost the plot momentarily due to the problems with my car, which I do really love. I do think she's a thing of beauty and a joy to drive, but have had way more than my fair share of issues with her these past 4 years, certainly in the cold start dept

Of course I do know that there will be great examples out there too, but in a moment of weakness its easy to seize onto several recent examples and promote them.........especially when your car's in the dealership with related issues...AGAIN!

Thanks fore the kind thoughts and kind words MF and also for "redressing the balance"

On the car issues - no word from the dealer today so presumably they're giving her a thorough going over to try and get to the bottom of the problem. Still have the A3 and unless something happens soon it could be in over Christmas

Fingers crossed she's back home soon!

[Red 2]

So after two days with my local dealer, car comes back with battery charged and "numerous software updates" inc something to do with battery management. Updates must be quite recent seen as car was serviced last month.

And praise be to Warrington Audi for managing to wash and valet our car whilst temperatures were well below freezing. Just got to keep it clean now!

[a8 tech]

It may sound a little like mutual back slapping, but I genuinely mean it when I say I'm astounded to be complimented by some of the members of this forum. Most of the members in question having a much higher post count, longer serving and with more to offer certainly makes me feel honoured

I feel I've joined a forum with kindred spirits and made some good "friends" here. I really do enjoy this site and feel quite at home here and believe Its one of the best of its kind around with great members, good technical info, top notch techs and a good mod / admin team too.....All good!!

I must apologise, I guess for my little rant, having lost the plot momentarily due to the problems with my car, which I do really love. I do think she's a thing of beauty and a joy to drive, but have had way more than my fair share of issues with her these past 4 years, certainly in the cold start dept

Of course I do know that there will be great examples out there too, but in a moment of weakness its easy to seize onto several recent examples and promote them.........especially when your car's in the dealership with related issues...AGAIN!

Thanks fore the kind thoughts and kind words MF and also for "redressing the balance"

On the car issues - no word from the dealer today so presumably they're giving her a thorough going over to try and get to the bottom of the problem. Still have the A3 and unless something happens soon it could be in over Christmas

Fingers crossed she's back home soon!

If you can get me the information I asked for via pm I can hopefully be of some assistance.

Need to know cranking speed

Need to know battery condition

Need to know amperage at cranking

Need to know battery drain test results after 24 hour test

Need to know correct battery and correct coding

Need to know battery manager history logs

Again with this engine it may well be a mechanical issue not the battery

If the injectors delay to fuel due low engine rpm cranking (starter motor) or defective leaking injector seals.

[a8 tech]

So after two days with my local dealer, car comes back with battery charged and "numerous software updates" inc something to do with battery management. Updates must be quite recent seen as car was serviced last month.

And praise be to Warrington Audi for managing to wash and valet our car whilst temperatures were well below freezing. Just got to keep it clean now!

And the ami still works

[JimC64]

If you can get me the information I asked for via pm I can hopefully be of some assistance.

Need to know cranking speed

Need to know battery condition

Need to know amperage at cranking

Need to know battery drain test results after 24 hour test

Need to know correct battery and correct coding

Need to know battery manager history logs

Again with this engine it may well be a mechanical issue not the battery

If the injectors delay to fuel due low engine rpm cranking (starter motor) or defective leaking injector seals.

A8 - Many many thanks for taking the time to reply, both in this thread and to my pm. The excellent free advice you give here from your pool of knowledge is fantastic and widely appreciated by all I'm sure

I know I am thankful, however, re your requirements as above I do not know how I can get these.

I don't know if the dealership has this info and if they do if they'll give it to me? I will ask the question though and see what comes back.

If I can get the info I'll let you know asap obviously

Many thanks and kudos to you for all you do here

[Red 2]

And the ami still works

AMI retrofit has been 100% reliable.....must have been down to the installer!

Happy Xmas to A8 and all at Audi Towers and all those working hard behind the scenes at the dealerships.

[Zenerdiode]

If I didn´t get you wrong your car is a 2.0 TFSI, isn´t that right? are you sure that car has a 110 ah battery? I always thought it had the 95 ah one...anyway, I´ve seen many battery tests of a4´s done with Vag-com (I was the one who posted how to do it in "Audizine" forums ) and sorry to say this, but your testing is by far the worse I think you should recharge that battery as soon as you can.Always make sure it´s not a rapid-charger, maximum 14.4 v. , it should be recharging for some hours.I did that on mine and from 60% MMI display now I have 80% , although the real state of charge in my case is not above 65%...cheers

Many thanks for your reply, I'm sorry I've not been back to the forum until today. Yes, my car's a 2.0 TFSI. I have not actually seen it for myself on the battery; but I have option code J0Z = Battery 520 A (110 Ah).

Would you post a link to the test on Audizine - or is the test just to read the measuring blocks I aready have? The battery had been charged (correctly, at the 'Emergency Start connection posts' with an intelligent charger) and that reading in my screenshots was about 4 days after. I can tell the battery gets really low as just about every convenience thing shuts down; all courtesy lights, MMI, convenience key etc. Alternator runs at a healthy 13.8V and with every conceivable electrical accessory on, there is still a charge current of 3.8A going through the battery.

It has just been in to the dealer today, they confirm I have a 'low voltage problem' but they continue to patronise me with things like 'Its a highly complex procedure to charge the battery. The systems on your car are incredibly different from anything you've had before'

I'm just leaving them to it at the moment. The Battery Monitoring Module is already at software version 0150 - I'm just waiting for that get out clause as well. I'll keep everyone posted; the car is due back in next week.

[a8 tech]

Lets do it correctly, Info taken from own personal vas diagnostic
All vcds info in address 19


Check no load current before you do anything and the battery must be showing at least 12.6 volts unloaded engine off

Measured value block 023:
Vehicle no-load current in A

This needs to be between 20 and 50 MA, check it with an amp clamp
Turn off tmc and test after 2 hours for no load current drain on the battery
earth wire

If ok check check earth offset between engine earth and body earth

If this is ok proceed with alt testing etc in mvb's in address 19


Explanations:
The words in brackets indicate the possible measured values.
0 = Communication interrupted
1 = Communication OK
1-wire = Communication in 1-wire mode
SL = Sleep Indication = Control unit is ready to shut down (= sleep)
no readout = Measured value blank



Measured value block 006:
Communication status alternator (0 / 1)
Communication status battery sensor (0 / 1)
Communication status voltage stabiliser (0 / 1)
Vacant



Measured value block 014:
Alternator specified voltage *1)
Battery voltage
DF signal (Dynamic-Field, figure as % of alternator excitation)
Load response time (between 0 and 9 seconds, default: 0 seconds)

*1) When recuperation is active the alternator voltage may drop to 12.5 V.

Measured value block 015:
Alternator, electrical status (OK / not OK)
Alternator, mechanical status (OK / not OK)
Alternator, thermal status (OK / not OK)
Vacant

Measured value block 016:
Alternator type (OK / not OK)
OK = Alternator type known
not OK = Unknown alternator type fitted
Alternator manufacturer
Alternator size
Alternator controller

Measured value block 017:
Battery identified (OK / not OK)
OK = Adapted battery known
not OK = Adaption value not known
Battery manufacturer (0-7)
Battery size (0-15)
Battery recognition (yes / no)
yes = Battery disconnected, no = Battery connected

Measured value block 018:
Battery voltage
Battery current
Current from or into battery (-400A to +100A); positive current = alternator charging battery, negative current = battery delivering current = no battery charging by alternator *2)
Temperature estimate, battery
Battery sensor temperature

*2) Active recuperation may also cause negative battery current. In this case there is no defect in the alternator.

Measured value block 019:
Battery charge in %
Battery charge in %
Corresponding to readout on MMI Car menu
Battery ageing in %
Derived from charged (0 % = very poor battery condition, 100% = very good battery condition)
Battery ageing in %
Derived from power output (0 % = very poor battery condition, 100% = very good battery condition)

Measured value block 020:
Current battery internal resistance in m
Standardised battery internal resistance in m
Battery internal resistance referred to theoretical internal resistance
Tappable charge in Ah
The higher the number, the better the battery condition
Vacant

Measured value block 021:
Idle increase (inactive / stage 1 / stage 2)
Interior blower reduction (inactive / stage 1 / stage 2 / stage 3)
Activation only possible when engine running
No-load current shut-off stage (see 1)
Auxiliary heater activatable (yes/no)

1) Possible readouts:
No-load current shut-off stage 0 (=no no-load current shut-off stage active)
No-load current shut-off stage 1
No-load current shut-off stage 2
Transport mode
No-load current shut-off stage 5
No-load current shut-off stage 6

To add look for over voltage fault codes, these normally indicate a consumer internal defect such as dash insert !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If the warning light comes on with no battery manager shut off stages listed or alt history then its most likely to be a defective dash insert

I would add you can check the voltage supplied from battery manager in address 17 (dash) when the fault occurs, this will pin point the issue

If the warning light is on and the dash mvb shows correct voltage received then its likely that the dash is defective if its under then this points to the gateway control unit/battery manger, again inputs and out puts are needed to make sure.Also further software revisions may be avaliable

I would also carry out a bench test of the battery to determine its condition

Lastly if all routes have been eliminated

I suggest the battery is replaced and encoded correctly

Warranty will not cover the replacement unless it can be proven that a defective consumer has drained the battery to a none serviceable state

[jabicho]

Many thanks for your reply, I'm sorry I've not been back to the forum until today. Yes, my car's a 2.0 TFSI. I have not actually seen it for myself on the battery; but I have option code J0Z = Battery 520 A (110 Ah).

Would you post a link to the test on Audizine - or is the test just to read the measuring blocks I aready have? The battery had been charged (correctly, at the 'Emergency Start connection posts' with an intelligent charger) and that reading in my screenshots was about 4 days after. I can tell the battery gets really low as just about every convenience thing shuts down; all courtesy lights, MMI, convenience key etc. Alternator runs at a healthy 13.8V and with every conceivable electrical accessory on, there is still a charge current of 3.8A going through the battery.

It has just been in to the dealer today, they confirm I have a 'low voltage problem' but they continue to patronise me with things like 'Its a highly complex procedure to charge the battery. The systems on your car are incredibly different from anything you've had before'

I'm just leaving them to it at the moment. The Battery Monitoring Module is already at software version 0150 - I'm just waiting for that get out clause as well. I'll keep everyone posted; the car is due back in next week.

Yes, the information is the same one as it has already been shared here, but there´s a couple of screenshots that you can compare with yours:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...uite-useful%29

[a8 tech]

post a diag log
post no load battery readings before cold crank