RS3 Won't turn over after trickle charging battery (video)

[sniqow]

Had a cold snap because I live in cold hell, tried starting the car and it would barely turn over. Trickle charged now it wont even turn over (with errors)

Next day I take the battery out, let it warm up, put it on a trickle charger then wait.

Next day put battery in & all the warning lights come on, car wont even turn over, or click & I get the following errors

ESC Malfunction
Parking Brake Malfunction
Suspension Malfunction
and more!

Tried boosting it, same thing, car turns on fully, just isnt trying to turn the engine at all, car just turns on, no engine

Called Audi (the guys who told me to go ahead and trickle charget the bettery itll be fine) and they said I'd have to pay to tow it 2 hours away to the nearest audi dealership to have them figure out if its even something they cover.

What's the likeliness the battery is fucked? (sat out a couple of nights in -36C and lower) before I brought it in.

Would it be worth my time to go get a new battery?

[MikTip]

If the battery is doing that its gone. Replace.

[sniqow]

Thanks, will the engine start with a new battery installed while still spitting out errors?

[MikTip]

Thanks, will the engine start with a new battery installed while still spitting out errors?

Yes. The errors are common when replacing battery.

[sniqow]

Thanks, I've had this car 2 weeks... just one more question

I have the new battery & the ODB11 comes on the 30th, is it safe to put the new battery in to see if the car will start or should I hold off?

[XMetal]

If your new battery is close in specs of the old battery, then you should be fine for a few days running the old battery settings. Just install the new battery and drive.

[sniqow]

Thanks, I hooked up the new battery and tried to fire up the engine, but nothing, same error.

Hooked up old battery, called audi roadside assistance, they can figure it out, not much warranty left so I'd better get it in now.

Then randomly I hook up the new battery (out of boredom) and try again, this time it starts (for the first time since it died) I drive it around for half an hour then park it, start it again (just incase) and it starts.

I call off audi, think its good, then later in the day I decide to do an errand, same shit again lol.

Back to square one, so I hook up the old battery again and pack the new one in the car so they can put in the new one if that's part of the problem.

Old battery hooked up, car starts....

Drive it around & let it idle for half an hour, shut it off. same issue again, starter wont engage, a bunch of error messages.

lol

[glintoz]

I am suspecting you have a similar (but worse) issue to me. I had accidentally left the door ajar and the car stayed awake and eventually went into a shutdown state where it prioritised starting the car. This caused problems with the comfort access and untold other things not working after a couple of minutes of turning off the car.

I then trickle charged the battery but kept getting battery low will charge while driving errors. Eventually I disconnected the battery and charged it overnight then reconnected it. It didn’t error the first time as the battery was fully charged to well over the normal 12.7/12.8 of a fully charged battery.

I took it the dealer and eventually got them to replace the battery under warranty as they had no clue as to what the issue was. The battery tested fine and the car was always quick to start so it wasn’t a dying battery.

Anyway, the issue went away after the battery was replaced until 9 months later when I did the same stupid thing. This time I tried many things without success to try and trick the car into thinking it had a correctly charged battery but couldn’t do it.

in the end I had the neighbor come over with his VCDS and just recode the battery serial number. This reset the battery control module so it now recognised the battery as properly charged and all of the issues went away.

So I am guessing that if you recode the battery serial number it will all work happily again. But I would be doing it with the new battery’s installed and write the old one off as dead.

[Slow_Q5]

What dates are on the old battery?

I ask as my dad owns a 18ram dually, just replaced the batterys
& found out that they were made in 2013
I’m just curious

[sniqow]

I am suspecting you have a similar (but worse) issue to me. I had accidentally left the door ajar and the car stayed awake and eventually went into a shutdown state where it prioritised starting the car. This caused problems with the comfort access and untold other things not working after a couple of minutes of turning off the car.

I then trickle charged the battery but kept getting battery low will charge while driving errors. Eventually I disconnected the battery and charged it overnight then reconnected it. It didn’t error the first time as the battery was fully charged to well over the normal 12.7/12.8 of a fully charged battery.

I took it the dealer and eventually got them to replace the battery under warranty as they had no clue as to what the issue was. The battery tested fine and the car was always quick to start so it wasn’t a dying battery.

Anyway, the issue went away after the battery was replaced until 9 months later when I did the same stupid thing. This time I tried many things without success to try and trick the car into thinking it had a correctly charged battery but couldn’t do it.

in the end I had the neighbor come over with his VCDS and just recode the battery serial number. This reset the battery control module so it now recognised the battery as properly charged and all of the issues went away.

So I am guessing that if you recode the battery serial number it will all work happily again. But I would be doing it with the new battery’s installed and write the old one off as dead.

WOW!!

This is exactly what I did... I left a back door open because I couldn't get the trunk open from the outside after the battery died, the next day the interior of the car was covered in frost... This was when the problems began...

Sad thing is Audi charges 1.5 hrs to basically go into a laptop input a serial number, plus 3 bolts & moving a battery which takes 10 minutes...

I am going to take this one in the chin, because warranty runs out very soon & on the off chance it's anything else it's covered.

Thanks for your post.

ODB11 in the mail.

[glintoz]

Thanks, I hooked up the new battery and tried to fire up the engine, but nothing, same error.

Hooked up old battery, called audi roadside assistance, they can figure it out, not much warranty left so I'd better get it in now.

Then randomly I hook up the new battery (out of boredom) and try again, this time it starts (for the first time since it died) I drive it around for half an hour then park it, start it again (just incase) and it starts.

I call off audi, think its good, then later in the day I decide to do an errand, same shit again lol.

Back to square one, so I hook up the old battery again and pack the new one in the car so they can put in the new one if that's part of the problem.

Old battery hooked up, car starts....

Drive it around & let it idle for half an hour, shut it off. same issue again, starter wont engage, a bunch of error messages.

lol

WOW!!

This is exactly what I did... I left a back door open because I couldn't get the trunk open from the outside after the battery died, the next day the interior of the car was covered in frost... This was when the problems began...

Sad thing is Audi charges 1.5 hrs to basically go into a laptop input a serial number, plus 3 bolts & moving a battery which takes 10 minutes...

I am going to take this one in the chin, because warranty runs out very soon & on the off chance it's anything else it's covered.

Thanks for your post.

ODB11 in the mail.

I am actually wondering if this is a simple software bug or the next VW/Audi attempt to do something unethical - aka ‘dieselgate’ so if you ever have an issue where you discharge your battery you have to go to them and get a new battery.

FYI, I was lucky and the dealer did the battery as a warranty job so got a perfectly good (at a guess) 3YO battery replaced with a new factory one so shouldn’t have to worry about replacing it for many years to come. It did take a very long process of proving that there was an issue as they never believed the weird problems I was describing until I provided them a 10 page document with timelines, videos and Picts of all of the issues.

Hopefully you can get a similar outcome.

[MikTip]

Severe cold wrecks havoc on water filled lead acid batteries. As does extreme heat.

If you are in the car business... you see every winter and every summer car battery issues.

[glintoz]

Severe cold wrecks havoc on water filled lead acid batteries. As does extreme heat.

If you are in the car business... you see every winter and every summer car battery issues.

100% agree which is why I suggested not even trying it with the old battery.

The reason for my scepticism is that both times my issue occurred it was mild temperatures and both times it was a battery being discharged and not recovering using the Audi smart charging within the car. Even fully charging the battery using a trickle charger didn’t see the issue disappear. I do think it is more a software issue but having seen/experienced the shady processes that go on within the car industry brings out the cynic in me.

[sniqow]

Well Audi replaced the battery and everything was fine for a bit.

Then while waiting in line @ the car wash I got an error: Electrical system malfunction: battery not charging

Drove around for a bit, the message dissapeared. Drove some more, to ensure the battery was being charged & parked it.

Went to start it the next day & the same exact problem happened, same error messages, same zero cranking on the engine (on a new battery)

[sniqow]

I also managed to get a reset email for my ODBeleven (the "new" one i ordered was used and had to wait for that) in the middle of this, while driving the battery was showing charging, but while parked @ idle the battery was draining, turned all the accessories off same thing.

Audi service manager says alternator or a 48v system needs to be looked at.

Either way, Audi is towing it to the city and looking at it.

Looks like I'll be without my RS3 for another 2 weeks, fucking pissed now, alternators are on a 3 month backorder (if it's that)

[o1turbo30v]

I also managed to get a reset email for my ODBeleven (the "new" one i ordered was used and had to wait for that) in the middle of this, while driving the battery was showing charging, but while parked @ idle the battery was draining, turned all the accessories off same thing.

Audi service manager says alternator or a 48v system needs to be looked at.

Either way, Audi is towing it to the city and looking at it.

Looks like I'll be without my RS3 for another 2 weeks, fucking pissed now, alternators are on a 3 month backorder (if it's that)

If its the alternator (07K-903-023-J) maybe get one from the USA, https://www.audiusaparts.com/v-2018-...al--alternator

[sniqow]

If its the alternator (07K-903-023-J) maybe get one from the USA, https://www.audiusaparts.com/v-2018-...al--alternator

Thank you kind stranger...

This may be a better solution than waiting for 3 months...

[sniqow]

Turns out terminal 30 was loose & causing all the issues.

[dkel]

Sorry, new user here but when you say terminal 30 was loose do you mean on the ECU or is that one of the main fuses under the hood?

Thanks for the information!