Checked and topped off the battery

[Senseless]

NOTE: DON'T DO THIS! PLEASE SEE POSTS THAT FOLLOW FOR CLARIFICATION.

The S4 is 4 years old with 45K miles on it, so I checked the battery electrolyte level today. I had to remove the cargo floor, spare cover, spare, tools bin, battery hold down bracket and cover. The fill caps are hidden under 2 vinyl labels. I used a large slotted screwdriver to puncture through and unscrew the caps. I used about 12ozs of distilled water to fill to the bottom of the split tubes. I was surprised at how huge the battery is and the complete absence of corrosion. Batteries and terminals are usually gunked up pretty badly after 4 years. I'm thinking this battery will last a good while longer.

[Whistle]

Please tell me you didn't do this. Your battery is a sealed AGM battery that does not have free acid in it and should never be "topped off". This is also why the terminals are so clean. AGM stands for Absorbent Glass Matt, the glass mat absorbs the acid so there is none sloshing around. Make sure the screw plugs are screwed back in tight, and the vent hose is connected.

Your battery may have lasted 8-10 years without monkeying with it. No guarantees now. There is a reason these batteries are so expensive to replace, the are the best technology/quality lead acid batteries you can buy.

[14S4GWM]

^What he said, uh oh. Time to spring for a new one. Make sure you code it in vcds.

[B8 S4]

Lol

[Senseless]

Huh? This is from the maintenance schedule:
Battery – check for clean terminals (no corrosion), properly mounted housing, and no damage; replace if necessary. Also, check the acid level of battery
only if the level can be seen through the housing and fill if necessary

[Fociracr]

LoL check the forum first before screwing with you car. There's a reason why there's a seal over the top of the plugs. There's no telling what might happen to it now. Worst case scenario you might get "thermal runaway" where the battery literally melts itself from overheating, burning you're car down.

[sirsycott]

Please tell me you didn't do this. Your battery is a sealed AGM battery that does not have free acid in it and should never be "topped off". This is also why the terminals are so clean. AGM stands for Absorbent Glass Matt, the glass mat absorbs the acid so there is none sloshing around. Make sure the screw plugs are screwed back in tight, and the vent hose is connected.

Your battery may have lasted 8-10 years without monkeying with it. No guarantees now. There is a reason these batteries are so expensive to replace, the are the best technology/quality lead acid batteries you can buy.

LoL check the forum first before screwing with you car. There's a reason why there's a seal over the top of the plugs. There's no telling what might happen to it now. Worst case scenario you might get "thermal runaway" where the battery literally melts itself from overheating, burning you're car down.

technically you're assuming every audi has AGM batteries


his car is 4 years old, could be a 2010-2011, when they still used a traditional type fluid battery and were slowly phasing them out

there have been documented cases where 2012 and some 2013 a4 and s4's have the fluid battery as opposed to the AGM batteries

the ones made by Varta actually have the same part number with no indicator of whether it was AGM or fluid type aside from physical properties

[Fociracr]

My 2005 A6 Had a AGM battery (from the factory) so I highly doubt his 2011 has a traditional lead acid, my 2010 S4 only has a AGM as well so I'm not assuming anything, just providing facts.

technically you're assuming every audi has AGM batteries


his car is 4 years old, could be a 2010-2011, when they still used a traditional type fluid battery and were slowly phasing them out

there have been documented cases where 2012 and some 2013 a4 and s4's have the fluid battery as opposed to the AGM batteries

the ones made by Varta actually have the same part number with no indicator of whether it was AGM or fluid type aside from physical properties

[Senseless]

My battery is a Varta and the car is a 2012. What do I need to check now?

[sirsycott]

My battery is a Varta and the car is a 2012. What do I need to check now?

check ur battery see if it has AGM anywhere on it

including the side

[sirsycott]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...-a-B8-A4/page2

btw here's a good read, and yes there are guys who in this thread had lead acid batteries on their cars on their b8 a4 or s4

[Senseless]

check ur battery see if it has AGM anywhere on it

Thanks for the info. If I screwed up, I'll replace and recode the battery tomorrow. I was confused by the Audi maintenance schedule and still don't know what they mean by check and "refill"?

[Senseless]

I looked all around the battery and the labels have no mention of AGM anywhere. However, this doesn't necessarily mean it's not actually AGM. It's a Varta mfg in 2011 and they said if it's Audi OEM and has the vinyl label over the filler screws, then it's AGM. The numbers on it are 8K0 915 105F, 12V 110Ah 520A Din, 850A EN/SAE/GS

[jygesq]

Check part number with audi parts, possibly it is not. AGM , even old fashioned lead acid have pastic labels over caps that peel off.

[blbroo]

I don't t think your battery is AGM, OP. This thread mentions the same part number as lead-acid and googling the part number you listed suggests the same.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...-a-B8-A4/page2


So.... Senseless, may not have been.

[q5 dave]

I used about 12ozs of distilled water .

should have used Smart Water!

[Whistle]

technically you're assuming every audi has AGM batteries


his car is 4 years old, could be a 2010-2011, when they still used a traditional type fluid battery and were slowly phasing them out

there have been documented cases where 2012 and some 2013 a4 and s4's have the fluid battery as opposed to the AGM batteries

the ones made by Varta actually have the same part number with no indicator of whether it was AGM or fluid type aside from physical properties

Thanks for the heads up on this. I did assume we all had AGM's. Sounds like we all learned something here today.

Could be that Audi fitted AGM batteries based on trim/option level also.

Senseless- didn't mean to come off sounding harsh in my first post, may have, my apologies.

If your battery is an AGM and you added distilled water to it you need not run out right away and replace and recode. Your battery won't have as good performance for sure, and will not be recombinant until it gases off the excess water, but it may still continue working just fine.

If in fact it is a traditional flooded battery, then you've done a great job!

For folks with flooded batteries just a friendly reminder to ONLY use distilled water to top up your battery. Tap water, bottled water etc has impurities that despite very small, can drastically reduce your battery life/performance.

Regards,
Nick

[Senseless]

Thanks for the heads up on this. I did assume we all had AGM's. Sounds like we all learned something here today.

Could be that Audi fitted AGM batteries based on trim/option level also.

Senseless- didn't mean to come off sounding harsh in my first post, may have, my apologies.

If your battery is an AGM and you added distilled water to it you need not run out right away and replace and recode. Your battery won't have as good performance for sure, and will not be recombinant until it gases off the excess water, but it may still continue working just fine.

If in fact it is a traditional flooded battery, then you've done a great job!

For folks with flooded batteries just a friendly reminder to ONLY use distilled water to top up your battery. Tap water, bottled water etc has impurities that despite very small, can drastically reduce your battery life/performance.

Regards,
Nick

Hey, thanks for that! I'm hoping it will be ok and appreciate all your help.

[Senseless]

I don't t think your battery is AGM, OP. This thread mentions the same part number as lead-acid and googling the part number you listed suggests the same.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...-a-B8-A4/page2
So.... Senseless, may not have been.

I did read this; thanks. I have noticed a big VCDS change, since doing this, but I think it's more because our weather suddenly changed from 70 degrees (F) to 45 degrees.
Both tests with engine off.
70 degrees: 12.2 volts, 57 AH battery capacity.
45 degrees: 12 volts, 38 AH battery capacity.
I'm not sure if this is normal or if the battery is truly on it's way out.

[sirsycott]

I did read this; thanks. I have noticed a big VCDS change, since doing this, but I think it's more because our weather suddenly changed from 70 degrees (F) to 45 degrees.
Both tests with engine off.
70 degrees: 12.2 volts, 57 AH battery capacity.
45 degrees: 12 volts, 38 AH battery capacity.
I'm not sure if this is normal or if the battery is truly on it's way out.

are you going through measuring blocks 28-32 in can-gateway?
i do know the AH is directly in relation to voltage, the one that you also may wanna check just for inquisitive knowledge is the positive and negative draw , this is helpful if you have any issues with aftermarket equipment draining after shutoff (coolant systems, sound systems, including dashcams )


12 flat is enough to start the car, i noticed issues after anything less than 11.3 (battery was on it's way out , AGM with 2 failed cells)

if you really would like to put things to the test, see if you can hook up a trickle charger, have it charge the battery to full over time, measure voltage at full level then leave car alone for 1 night and measure again

if it drops severly , then you may have a battery on its way out, i know mine when it was dying was that i would have 12.1v and starting the car would bring it down to 10.8 , after struggling to start the car

[Senseless]

I don't have any aftermarket equipment connected. I'm using blocks 18,19 and 20 for the battery info.

Anyway, with 68 degree weather today (I know, it's crazy), the battery capacity is back up to 52AH. It appears to be normal that these readings will drop dramatically, as the battery gets colder:
"A battery that provides 100 percent capacity at 27°C (80°F) will typically deliver only 50 percent at –18°C (0°F). The momentary capacity decrease differs with battery chemistry."
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...w_temperatures

[PerimeterJones]

Bought a New B8.5 from dealer 10 days ago, parked in my garage and put my favorite Battery Maintainer, CTEK 4.3 MUS, on it and noticed it took over a full day and a half to charge. This is on a brand new car. I'd put your battery on a maintainer with a nice desulphation mode and see it then.