Grrr... Battery?

B8 S4
#1

So… need to do some testing/logging and the weather was great today… Jetted out of the office and got home hurried to install the stock TB and intake and then went around to connect the battery… as soon as I hooked up the negative cable I knew something was up, as there was total silence… WTF! I last drove the car in early Dec. and disconnected the battery around then and it is 100% dead or so I think? No electric to the car at all… I did the same last year and for longer and the car was fine… wondering if something else is up?

I have a call into the service manager at the dealership, who I have a great relationship with so will see what he says… Sure I can charge it or jump it but little leary if the battery has died like that… Car is burried in my garage and it would/will be really hard to tow if needed… No way it froze either… Bad battery maybe. who knows… For ****s and gigles I hooked up my mustang battery and it started on the first try… I think I bought that battery from Autozone 8 years ago!

May look at a lightweight battery if this one is bad and not covered… Thoughts? Am I missing someting?

#2

Audi batteries just love to die early. Yours is now what…2 full years old, and sits around a lot? Not surprised.

Good news is you can grab a 30lb Optima and save 30 lbs (assuming the B8 has a monster 60 lb battery like all the B6/7 cars did.

#3

First grab a multimeter and check to make sure that you have at least 12 volts.

If you have that, lock the car and then unlock the car … I know that mine sometimes wants that before it’ll talk to you

Also, stoopid question time … but has to be asked … did you connect the battery up the right way around ?

#4

Saki, 2 years in June… it just doesn’t make sense it dies that early… quality is that poor… oh well… If I am paying yes a much lighter battery… Dark and cold out so I didn’t pursue but this thing is a PITA to get out… bolted into the trunk… Again, no light so I am sure I’ll figure it out…

lout, thanks… no gauge… tried the lock unlock… no dice… couldn’t get it to lock with the remote so I manually used the metal key… no dice… It is 100% DEAD! lol… Something just isn’t right as I have never had a car die like this… Oh and yeah the battery is connected correctly…

#5

oh yeah, the B8 is awful to get to. Sucks.

invest in a trickle charger!

#6

I’ve killed mine a couple of times. It’s such a gut wrenching feeling when you hit the unlock button and get no response. I instantly know what’s up and just start getting pissed b/c it usually means a lot of work to get a jump at an inopportune time (and a jump at that point means hooked up for 10 min prior to attempting to start even!).

#7

Saki, Yeah your probably right… just have never had to use one on other cars so I figured this would be no different… I let it set last year and it was fine… just surprised actually shocked it died in about 2 months… waiting to see what the dealer says and then go from there… Good source on these Optima batteries you mention?

Maddog, Yeah the bigger pain for me is where and how the car is in my garage… I looked and can jump/charge it from the front of the car so I should be ok… Gonna see what the dealer says and go from there… Maybe I’ll call Roadside and have them come jump me… lol

#8

21 lb braille has done me well for years. ive used it twice and the first time it only died due to a dead alternator that killed it for all its got. have one on now and it no matter how cold outside it cranks right up.

#9

the optima I think guys usually buy it from WAL MART.

Start a lightweight battery thread. Always good for a Braille vs. Deka argument. :smiley:

#10

I purchased my optima 35 from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Optima-Batteries-8020-164-Starting-Battery/dp/B000MS9VZK

The 35 & 34R are the ones with reversed terminals like you would find in the S4. Local stores almost never carry the reverse terminal optimas.

Dave

#11

crew is full of good info lately!

#12

They’ve got very mixed reviews about the shipping via amazon. I was going to do the same, but there were a lot of complaints about damage during shipping, and then people getting the run around with who should replace it. I got what I needed at O’Rileys (but that location is a distribution store, so they have about everything).

#13

Dealership is sending a tech to my house to swap the battery Thur… I told them they didn’t have to do that but they said that is how they wanted to handle it since it couldn’t easily be towed… I am dealing with the SM who I have a great relationship with and is well aware of what I have done to the car mod wise and how I take care of it… He told me I acted like a typical Porsche customer! LOL

He also told me I will need to bring the car in once I decide to drive it(weather…) for a quick code scan and some system check… I asked him what he meant but I had to cut the call short as my boss stopped into my office… I told him I would call in the AM… He started to describe some of the “systems” as reading certain voltage levels and getting thrown off by the power loss and then a battery change??? Like I said I got cut short so I will have more detail in the morning as I didn’t really get it… Sure the car throws plenty of codes when you disconnect the battery but I have done that like 10 times with taking the car down for winter and the 6 or 7 times the ECU has been to AL… Probably just need to go there to make the service official or something, who knows… But if it’s just to clear codes and such I can do that and they can test it when I get the 15K service with under 6K on the odometer…

#14

Figured I would give an update… Tech showed up and swapped out the battery in about 30 minutes… we were bsing about the car as he did the APR CPS install and helped on the HFC’s… Been a Porsche/Audi tech for 30 years… He is going to come drag racing with me this spring…

I asked him and he wasn’t positive… does anyone know what the ecu type unit that is attached to the back of the battery is? It’s incased in the plastic unit behind the battery that you need to remove before you can take the battery out…

Car fired right up and seems fine… I didn’t drive it but will do that on the next clear day and clear codes… He said the SM wants me to bring it in to just test all of the electronics… not sure I agree but will be having them do some things soon anyway so the car will be there either way…

EDIT: Forgot to mention the stock battery weighs 57lbs… OUCH!