Changing an A2's battery

J

jonathan layzell

Member
The time has come to change the battery on my wife's 1.4 petrol A2 as it's now letting us down.

I have the new battery but no obvious signs of how to remove the old one - it's rock solid and I cannot easily see any brackets / bolts holding it in!! Can anyone help?
 
Just bought a new battery myself today. Went for the big daddy Varta Silver HD F18 one.

Will be replacing it one evening this week so will let you know whats involved when i do mine but in the meantime i`m expecting to do something like the following;

- Remove foam surround to get proper access to battery.
- Unscrew a couple of screws holding battery in place or loosen clamp (depends how these are held in, but i think its by a couple of torx screws into the battery tray)
- loosen terminals and remove terminals one at a time. Negative first then positive.
- Insert new battery.
- Screw down
- attached terminals and tighten, again one at a time Positive first then Negative.
- insert foam surround back in place

Done

hopefully not having to reset stereo at after all done.
 
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I see your car is a year 2000 model so you will need the radio code.
Just adding to Olly's guide, there is a small breather tube to connect to the battery. Your new battery may have holes plugged off on both sides so you may need to remove one plug and fit the tube connector from your old battery.
Also, don't shut the boot lid with the battery disconnected as it will self lock and its a pain to use the tailgate emergency release.

Cheers Spike
 
I too went for the big daddy Varta Silver F18 one. (this comes up as the recommended battery through Varta's website for the A2 tdi) £99 delivered from Thompsons in Macclesfield through their ebay site. This is the one Mike recommended to me. All DIY-fitted OK, car started perfectly first time without needing to charge the battery. Those foam inserts are a pain in the bum to remove, but they do need to be removed as the battery clamps are hidden underneath them. As Spike has pointed out, there's also a breather pipe to disconnect and re-connect. Took about 30 mins having never done it before - next time I recon 10 would do it... (if there is a next time! The original Varta has lasted 10 yrs, hopefully this one will do the same)
Russ
 
russellbridge said:
I too went for the big daddy Varta Silver F18 one. (this comes up as the recommended battery through Varta's website for the A2 tdi) £99 delivered from Thompsons in Macclesfield through their ebay site. This is the one Mike recommended to me. All DIY-fitted OK, car started perfectly first time without needing to charge the battery. Those foam inserts are a pain in the bum to remove, but they do need to be removed as the battery clamps are hidden underneath them. As Spike has pointed out, there's also a breather pipe to disconnect and re-connect. Took about 30 mins having never done it before - next time I recon 10 would do it... (if there is a next time! The original Varta has lasted 10 yrs, hopefully this one will do the same)
Russ
Click to expand...

Bought from Tompsons through their website yesterday. Same price as their ebay site. Could have got a BOSCH S5 100 for £82 delivered for EuroCarparts sister website but after encountering issues/confusion with OE switches recently I`ve decided to start to original spec parts. I know it doesn`t really matter with a battery but its nice to have the extra cranking capability
 
Just got in from replacing the battery. What a pain in the arse that was. First of all, as the battery was completely flat, the Boot, and all the doors (bar the drivers doors were locked). Obvioulsy the key only unlocks the drivers door. Nothing like having to get to the boot from the back seat and remove all the crap I had it in. Not the easiest of tasks for a 6ft 1 guy at the best of time let along this time with all the crap i had in the boot. Set of axle stands and spare wheel.

Then I had to try and remove the foam surround but its seemed to be stuck under the plastic boot trim. Decided I better get the boot open before my twisted back gave out so rested the new battery on top of the old and hooked the cables up to be able to unlock the rest of the car and proceeded to complete the operation from the boot. Much easier that way but still a pain to remove the foam surround. Still have to remove the plastic trim first to access the foam. Anyway else had that problem?

Anyway all hooked up now and disconnected the brake light switch so i dont get another flat battery. Collecting the new swtich from Audi dealer tomorrow.

O yeah, it also wasnt helped by the fact it was pitch black and now got a sore mouth from holding the maglite torch.
 
I know it is a bit late, but once you've gained access to the cabin, you should only need a flat blade screwdriver to lift the little plastic cover at the top of the tail gate trim (easier to access by folding down the rear seat). Pull the emergency release cable and push the tail gate open and access the boot normally.
 
I knew about the secret release for the petrol flap and had a look around for a secret boot release but couldn't see anything. Thanks for the info. I'll check it out tomorrow just in case I need to use it in the future.
 
It's also designed so you can use the blade of your remote key if you don't have access to other tools.
 
Exacly the same for me when I replaced mine recently. Bracket out, replace battery, bracket in. Didn't have to do anything with any foam. A very simple job.

Iain
 
It is the earlier cars that have the foam issues as there is no access to the two bolts required to remove the battery bracket without removing the tool kit foam housings.

I believe there are actually four different configurations in the boot area some with easy and visible access to the bolts and some without.
 
A2Z said:
It is the earlier cars that have the foam issues as there is no access to the two bolts required to remove the battery bracket without removing the tool kit foam housings.

I believe there are actually four different configurations in the boot area some with easy and visible access to the bolts and some without.
Click to expand...

Just replaced the battery on my brothers A2. Had the bracket over the top so a lot easier. Only prob was the height of the battery.

First battery we bought was same as mine and 175mm tall.
Then took back and replaced with Bosch S5 (096) 190mm tall, and still tall short.

Whats the next battery up in the size range?
 
My emergency release cable broke

humps said:
I know it is a bit late, but once you've gained access to the cabin, you should only need a flat blade screwdriver to lift the little plastic cover at the top of the tail gate trim (easier to access by folding down the rear seat). Pull the emergency release cable and push the tail gate open and access the boot normally.
Click to expand...

Indeed good to know that this is available. When I had to open the boot after having a flat battery, luckily I remembered about the emergency release.
Unluckily though it broke when I pulled it :( . I'ts a kind of flimsy plastic, which after 11 years had become too brittle. Oops..

Then I had to wait for the battery charger (in the car, with extension cord) to charge the battery enough in order to open the boot electrically..

Not pleasant at all ..

Kind regards,
Johan
 
Olly1 said:
Just replaced the battery on my brothers A2. Had the bracket over the top so a lot easier. Only prob was the height of the battery.

First battery we bought was same as mine and 175mm tall.
Then took back and replaced with Bosch S5 (096) 190mm tall, and still tall short.

Whats the next battery up in the size range?
Click to expand...

Not sure if I'm reading this correctly but the bracket which goes over the top of the batery is only for locating the spacesaver spare on the boot floor. Its not meant to hold the battery in place - a plate which clamps the bottom flange of the battery does this.
For reference, the original Audi/Varta battery from my 2001 TDi measures 310mm long x 190 high x 175 wide.

Cheers Spike
 
spike said:
Not sure if I'm reading this correctly but the bracket which goes over the top of the batery is only for locating the spacesaver spare on the boot floor. Its not meant to hold the battery in place - a plate which clamps the bottom flange of the battery does this.
For reference, the original Audi/Varta battery from my 2001 TDi measures 310mm long x 190 high x 175 wide.

Cheers Spike
Click to expand...

Cheers Spike. All makes sense now. Brothers A2 has the factory spare wheel and mine doesn`t. Both are 1.6 and same year so couldnt understand why different configuration.

Good to know we can continue to use the 190mm one we got (which Eurocarparts kindly replaced for the same price as the 175mm we had bought off them).

Thanks
 
I want to replace my Battery soon , I have had a look on EuroCarparts for the correct one and there are few to choose from, I did use my vehicle registration to navigate the correct type.
Prices range from £70 to £100 which would be the best buy also i think there is a 15% offer on as well at the moment .
I have an A2 1.4 petrol 2001

Any ideas please
 
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