Replacing battery, do I need to reset the system?

[latte]

The battery in my wife's 06 A3, just went kaput. The dealer wants to charge $250 saying they will need to reset the electrical system with the battery change.. is this for real? I was reading OOOO-A3's blog about changing the battery and on there he says you can just change it with a group 47 or group 48 battery.. and nothing about having to reset anything. I'm wondering can't I just pick up a battery at sears and just pop it in and be good to go.. or is there really such thing as resetting the electrical system. All the car's I've ever owned when the battery goes I just replace it with a new one and that's it, except for maybe enter in the radio code. I don't have any experiences with Audi, can anyone shed some light? Thanks!

[karp]

I have an 05 b6 a4, when my battery went all i did is go to autozone and swap battery and i was good to go

[mrbacardi35]

i think the dealer is full of shit..just buy the battery and swap it yourself. you should be fine.

[tpliquid]

i disconnect my and reinstalled it. no problems xcept the abs light, airbag light. those went away after like 30 seconds of driving.

[latte]

Thanks for the replies, I thought it sounded a little too excessive. Does the radio have a code or is that something of the past?

[fusionx]

I doubt you have your ECU chipped but just in case if you take the battery out or disconnect it your ECU chip will shut off.

[vince954]

I doubt you have your ECU chipped but just in case if you take the battery out or disconnect it your ECU chip will shut off.

I went for the Optima red top rather than a regular battery, acutall fit in the case, works great... the ABS light went out shortly after moving, had to reset the power windows (cycle up and down) but that was it...

[fs454]

Wait, a software flash like Revo or GIAC or something resets to stock when the battery is disconnected for an extended period of time?

...is that true?

[fusionx]

Wait, a software flash like Revo or GIAC or something resets to stock when the battery is disconnected for an extended period of time?

...is that true?

Yes

[fs454]

Ahh, are you sure, can anyone confirm this?

That sucks if true, because I bought my car chipped and have had no luck figuring out which chip it was. Recently had the battery go completely dead for a day or two while I was away(lights left on -_-).

Now i may have to drop some cash.

[fusionx]

Ahh, are you sure, can anyone confirm this?

That sucks if true, because I bought my car chipped and have had no luck figuring out which chip it was. Recently had the battery go completely dead for a day or two while I was away(lights left on -_-).

Now i may have to drop some cash.

Haha I don't see why anyone else confirming it will convince you, I was straight up told by my shop guy that it does. If you can somehow figure out which chip your car came with, you can go to a shop that flashes it and just have them turn it back on for you, its not erased or anything.

[nstotal]

1. lol this is hilarious my battery just went kaput on sunday at 33k miles. dropped in a fresh group 48 bosch from pep boys no problems so far.

2. I don't think a battery reset will erase your performance software. I have Unitronic and after i replaced my battery, i never got a CEL from my downpipe. That's the dumb way of proving it's still there.

The smart way is to realize that "chip software" is code written into solid state memory i.e. memory that retains the information even when powered down and doesn't fail mechanically. The code for your software is going to stay put on there until someone removes it. The only way you'll lose your software is if the dealer flashes you with an update.

[nstotal]

oooh sorry lemme add something.

i think what we meant to explain here is that for APR and possibly GIAC etc., when your battery dies it will reset to stock mode. however, this is only if there was more than one mode on your car like stock, 91, 93, race gas. If so, you'll have to find out the code (APR) or get a flashloader (GIAC). Otherwise if you car was chipped and only has a performance mode on it, like my unitronic, then you are fine.

[sc_flaw]

^^^ i have GIAC and i disconnected my battery to install my DV (YES I KNOW I TOOK LONG =D ) performance software still there

[bunnn]

The smart way is to realize that "chip software" is code written into solid state memory i.e. memory that retains the information even when powered down and doesn't fail mechanically. The code for your software is going to stay put on there until someone removes it. The only way you'll lose your software is if the dealer flashes you with an update.

you mean non-volatile memory?

anyways to back up what scflaw said, a friend of mine who loves to play with lights constantly disconnects - 15min to 4 hour interval, his battery on his mk5 GTI with GIAC X flash, probably done it a million times, program is still there -

[fusionx]

Alright maybe its just REVO then, and I said TURNS OFF not ERASES the file