Chat \you really do learn something new every day - Found wile replacing battery!!!

Birchall

Birchall

Dick Chown Award 2016
Hi,

Some of you are going to laugh at me over this one, but I just discovered another little "feature" that I didn't know about the A2 !!

The battery on my wife's A2 was showing signs of failing over the last couple of weeks, slow cranking, especially when cold (earths were all fine). (Original battery so no complaints there)

So I decided to treat it to a new battery.
I have done my back in a few days ago and so decided to take it to Halfords and buy one there and let them carry and fit it.
I went for the one that was a tad more expensive but came with a 5 year warrantee, £149,99 fitted.

The guy made me smile, he assumed that because I wanted it to be fitted I wasn't mechanically minded or "A2 aware".

His first comment was "I don't know why these have such a huge battery"
He then told me that the A2 was based on the "D Class Mercedes !!!!! (I put him right)
After a struggle to get the bolts in (they can be tricky when the BOSE is in the way) he finally managed it.
He was a nice enough guy top.

But the thing I learned about the A2 that I wasn't aware of was the fact that if you fold back the "false floor" and leave it in place, it has Velcro on it that holds the battery compartment flap open for you !!!

Now such a small but useful thing like that would not have won Audi any more sales and even though the Velcro strip was just a cost of pennies, someone in the accounts department had to ok the spend for very little benefit!!!

I can imagine that there are a lot of you thinking "you didn't know that????, after owning several A2s over 14 tears!!"

But yes, it was something else that I hadn't discovered. But it yet another small thing that constantly convinces me that they did spend a lot of time, thought and money on the A2 design and someone in the team (or perhaps the whole team) actually enjoyed doing it!!

Steve B
 
nice steve, didnt know that either!

i hope we a find other special features no one has come across yet!

cammy
 
i discover new things all the time in the A2, such a cleverly designed car.

It took me years to realise there was a third sun visor.
 
I thought it might be worth clarifying what happens after you have disconnected the battery.
As ths was a 2004 with a Symphony 2 radio there was no need to use the radio code, the radio is matched to the car and so you only need the code if you put the radio into another A2.
The remote fob operation stops working and you have to pair them again, but since they were the original key fobs and had been paired before it was easy.
You just insert the key into the ignition and turn the ignition on and while the key is still in the lock you press the unlock / lock a couple of times, then switch off the ignition and the key is then fine. Repeat this for any spare key that you have and the job is done.

So anyone worried about what happens when you disconnect the battery, don't worry, it is not a major task (if your radio goes into "SAFE" mode then you just need to use your radio code (make sure you have this before disconnecting the battery, it is normally in the owners pack)

You just need to also reset the clock and reset the one touch windows.

Steve B
 
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Ah yes, the little bit of Velcro. It's a nice touch, though its long-term effectiveness is questionable. I've seen plenty of A2s where the carpet has gone fuzzy in this area, meaning the Velcro no longer grips.

It's worth noting that changing the battery is much easier in cars fitted with Bose. The subwoofer shape allows access to the battery retention bolts, but the same isn't true of the EPS toolkit holder. Please don't entrust a Halfords employee to change your battery if you don't have Bose, as the only way to do it without risking damage to one thing or another is to remove the rear trim panel and then work your way forwards.

Cheers,

Tom
 
timmus said:
It's worth noting that changing the battery is much easier in cars fitted with Bose. The subwoofer shape allows access to the battery retention bolts, but the same isn't true of the EPS toolkit holder. Please don't entrust a Halfords employee to change your battery if you don't have Bose, as the only way to do it without risking damage to one thing or another is to remove the rear trim panel and then work your way forwards.

Cheers,

Tom
Click to expand...

Yes, the tool tray is a very tight fit and tricky to get out, if you don't have BOSE, but at least once that is out it is easy to get the bolts back in to the battery holder panel.
The Halfords "Mechanic" had a terrible job getting the bolts back in to the battery holder panel and had to constantly use a magnet to retrieve the bolts. I have never had that trouble, but there is not much room to position them if they are a bit reluctant.

Steve B
 
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