Need a new battery for my Golf TDI

brads

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 6, 1999
Location
Los Angeles
TDI
2010 Golf TDI 6sp W/Euro GTD-LED tails Neuspeed flash + VCDS Mods
Need a new battery for my 2010 Golf TDI

It is 4 months shy of 3 years and 60k miles in and the car is starting to crank a little slower and almost doesn't crank after a parked regen. Does anyone have any thoughts on a better battery than factory supplied one since this one is about done.
 

brads

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 6, 1999
Location
Los Angeles
TDI
2010 Golf TDI 6sp W/Euro GTD-LED tails Neuspeed flash + VCDS Mods
I'm concerned about the later model TDI's because of the REGEN that happens for like 10 minutes after the car turns off, the fans and heaters have to run etc.


I've tried several types and find the OEM battery to be as good as any.
 

DubFamily

Veteran Member
Joined
May 30, 2012
Location
Swan Point, MD
TDI
2014 BMW 328D xDrive
The only suggestion I would have is get a true maintenance free battery instead of what VW has currently.

Other than that anything rated the same or better than the OEM will be fine.
 

JSWTDI09

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2009 JSW TDI (gone but not forgotten)
I recently replaced my battery. I bought a battery at Sam's Club. It has better (higher) CCAs than the OEM, but it is physically the same size. Plus, it was about $30 cheaper than the OEM one from VW. It was $98 + tax (total under $105).

Have Fun!

Don

P.S. Where I live (in the middle of a desert) there is no such thing as a maintenance free battery. Water will always evaporate out of the battery. There is no such thing as a perfect seal. If you don't add water occasionally, batteries will not last more than 3 years here - even if they claim to be maintenance free. This is why I like batteries with a 5 year warranty.
 
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kcny

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2012
Location
NYC
TDI
2012 Golf TDI, Man.
Battery from costco is pretty decent. They're made by Johnson control and has a 3 yrs free replacement warranty.
 

c17chief

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2010
Location
NJ
TDI
2011 Golf 2dr
I think they are all pretty hit or miss with personal variables playing a good part of how long a battery will last you. I would be inclined to get a high CCA or deep cycle battery for these cars though. The glow plugs and interupted regens by itself is enough to consider paying attention to that rating (albeit not a must have of course), nevermind if you couple that with a cold climate as well. Otherwise, I think plenty of people can attest to expensive batteries not lasting long, cheap batteries lasting years and years, and any other combo you can think of. Best battery I have had yet is the factory one in my F150. It's over 10yrs old now and has yet to show any sign of slowing down.
 

Dieselducky

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2011
Location
Dunnville
TDI
88 Jetta Diesel - 2000 Jetta TDI - 04 BMW M3 - 06 Kia Rio - F350 Superduty - 87 Buick GNX - Mobile Cranes
Search this topic, There is tons of info already posted! It gets beaten to death every fall.
 
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Prophet

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 27, 2006
Bringing back this old thread. Trying to find the proper battery size for replacement on my 2010 Golf TDI.

Looking at an Odyssey AGM battery for this go around. It died on me once and had one hard start with a message on the information center prior to that. I figure I'm rolling the dice right now, and roll around with a Jump Pack in the boot.

Anybody have the proper size on hand?

-P.
 

Black11TDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2012
Location
Sedro Woolley and Spokane Valley, Wa
TDI
2011 Golf TDI (Gone But not Forgotten), 2013 Tiguan SE 4 Motion
I have been looking at a Optima Red Tops as a replacement, better CCA and maintenance free and can take a beating they don't have an exact model specific one but my parts guy is bring in a few for stock and I am going to measure them out when they get in next week.
 

dzajano

Active member
Joined
Mar 13, 1999
Location
Phoenix, MD, USA
I just replaced the battery on my '10 Golf last week - 3 years and 3 months, 47,000 miles. Shortest lifespan ever for me for a battery. Went with an Advanced Auto AGM (3 year replacement), cost about $135 plus tax. This was an exact size match, and very similar to to AutoZone Duralast ( 5 min reserve time difference was the only variant - bot made by Johnson Controls). Big factor for me was immediate availability. AGM was only about 15 bucks more than wet cells that I could find, and most of them were not exactly the same size and had lower CCAs.
 

brads

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 6, 1999
Location
Los Angeles
TDI
2010 Golf TDI 6sp W/Euro GTD-LED tails Neuspeed flash + VCDS Mods
Interstate MEGA-TRON PLUS
Exceeds factory specs
MTP-48/H6
CCA 730
CA 910
and it has nice little caps that hide the terminal clamps after you slightly mod them.
 

ClarkThaShark

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2015
Location
Charlotte NC
TDI
2011 Golf TDI
Thanks brads. Just bought the Mega-Tron from an interstate store for $140. The dealership wanted $100 for OEM but I've always been an Interstate fan and wanted the double plus 730 CAA. Perfect fit too.

Question: Have you replaced the fabric battery cover with the plastic version? didn't know if it fit or not.
 

i64w2gohome

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2010
Location
Richmond, VA
TDI
2011 Golf TDI 6MT
Made it 99.7k miles on the original battery, two months shy of five years of service. The old one croaked quickly.... Went with the Interstate MEGA-TRON PLUS MTP-48/H6. Back on the road.
 

Hyates

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 27, 1999
Location
Canada
TDI
SOLD
3 years old and need a battery...

Hi Folks. Our 2012 Golf just celebrated her third birthday yesterday. I just serviced the battery and the hydrometer was borderline between FAIR and GOOD. Water levels were OK. Resting voltage around 12.6 (out of the car). Charged overnight and load tested. Came up with WEAK on the tester. Charged again, installed in the car and measured voltage while starting the engine. 9 volts. OH OH!

So, I went on a quest to find a battery that would hopefully last longer than three years.

The MK VI TDI is tough on batteries. I'm fully convinced that the excessive engine bay heat (more than likely from the regens) combined with high amperage loads from the cooling fans / electronics when the engine is turned off aren't helping. Regens always seem to happen when we are parking the car, even though the car just had a one hour commute. Go figure.

Anyway, I decided to go with an AGM (absorbent glass mat) battery. They can take the heat, leak proof, they are truly sealed, they charge up to 5 times quicker, discharge at a much slower rate than flooded batteries, and can also take a lot of vibration. They also typically last longer than flooded batteries. I use AGM batteries in my motorcycle with excellent success and standby generator.

My cost options were $146 CDN at my VW dealer for a VW OEM replacement (Interstate); $250 for an Interstate Mega-Tron Plus; or pay a little more for an AGM. I was unable to get a price on the Interstate MT7-48/H6 from Interstate dealers here, but MSRP is about $360 CDN.

Upon researching this, I wanted the Varta Silver Dynamic AGM that has 760 CCA, and 70 Ah. It weighs 44.8 lbs. It is a direct fit with an H6 case size. Not available in Canada. The original Varta in the car had 640 CCA and 72 Ah. Weighed in at 42.5 lbs on the scale.

Contacted the local Mercedes dealership and their replacements are Varta's with the Mercedes label on top. Made in Germany.

I picked up a Mercedes (A 004 541 86 01) Varta AGM for $286 CDN. It was listed at $318. Two years free replacement, years 3 and 4 are pro-rated at 50% (in Canada, anyway).

I'm pleased with my purchase. I'm not pleased in having to replace a battery in only 3 years. So, with the various warranties being offered, VW was the worst with 1 year free replacement and I believe 4 years pro-rated. Interstate had 30 month free replacement and then 45%,25%, 10%). The MT7 AGM had 4 years free replacement. Besides, I didn't want to change the battery in 3 years again. I really wanted to have a battery that would last more than 3 years in this car. My previous car (2004 Jetta Wagon TDI) had the battery changed after 8 years, and that was just to make me feel good. It still tested OK.

So, will this battery last more than 3 years? Who knows, but by my math it seems like it makes sense to go this route.

YMMV.
H.
 
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gmcjetpilot

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2008
Location
Memphis TN
TDI
2010 JSW TDI DSG Matalic Grey
It is 4 months shy of 3 years and 60k miles in and the car is starting to crank a little slower and almost doesn't crank after a parked regen.
Does anyone have any thoughts on a better battery than factory supplied one since this one is about done.
To ease your shopping your battery it's size group 48 or H6 or L3.... with 615 CCA or better. The OEM is rated in
European units, which is EN or DIN units...

SAE
[FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold]CCA... EN ....IEN.... DIN
[/FONT]
[/FONT]
[/FONT]
600 540 390 335​
650 600 420 365​
700 640 450 395​
750 680 485 420

WOW you made it that far with OEM battery. Yep put a fork in it. That is when mine just died, almost the same as a friends 2010 TDI.
I got mine at Wal-Mart two years ago and it's working great. 3 years and sudden death is kind of par for the course for original equip Bat.

The issue with AGM batteries (Odyssey) they are GREAT, but the technology needs 14.2 volts to fully charge. A lot if cars including my
VW are going back to the old 13.8 volt range. I say old because that use to be the standard 13.8 volts, but over the years the voltage
regulator VR max voltage kept getting higher, up to 14.4 to 14.5. This cooks batteries and boils out the electrolyte, even on "maintenance
free". So it seems the voltage regulators have been dialed back. Again AGM batteries are great but COST twice as much. They will last longer,
but be aware their crank capacities listed are based on being charged to by at least 14.1 to 14.2 volts....
 
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gmcjetpilot

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2008
Location
Memphis TN
TDI
2010 JSW TDI DSG Matalic Grey
Mine is currently at ~38 months and ~124,000 miles; OEM battery and going strong... ;)
Well get ready she is going to go! I hope not, and good luck. I'd love to
use my new battery conductance tester on your battery, see it's true CCA.

You are not in bitter cold or super hot part of the country. Also if you never
fully discharged your battery (left lights on) you likely will get better life than
I did. I live in super hot climate and full discharged the battery twice in the
batteries 3 years life. Still 3 years is pretty common.

One thing about these "maintenance free" batteries is they are still flooded
lead acid. They just have a cap on it, that is suppose to minimize electrolyte
loss or recycle boil off. I popped the cap off my two year old replacement
maintenance free battery, and all but one cell level was perfect. The one
closest to Positive terminal was slightly low but not bad.

I have checked maintenance free batteries from time to time and found dry cells.
I might suggest you pry the cover off and take a look, for the purpose of getting
record life out of this OEM battery. Add distilled water if low. If they are real low
you may want to measure the specific gravity and add battery acid (diluted sulfuric
acid, distilled water/acid in a 63/37 mix.) Most of the time just distilled water is OK.
However if for some reason the level is low, water only will kill it.
 
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993er

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2013
Location
Canada
TDI
None
Anyway, I decided to go with an AGM (absorbent glass mat) battery.

They can take the heat, leak proof, they are truly sealed, they charge up to 5 times quicker, discharge at a much slower rate than flooded batteries, and can also take a lot of vibration. They also typically last longer than flooded batteries.
Not really. They are not truly sealed.

As far as a slower discharge rate, true if they are sitting on a store shelf, but when installed in a car, the standby currents are far greater, so it really isn't a factor.

My regular factory fitted flooded car batteries have lasted 16 and 15 years respectively. That is hard to beat at half the cost.
 

Timmins11

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 23, 2011
Location
Seattle, WA
TDI
2012 Golf TDI
need new battery

My 2012 Golf has 101k. For the past week, it has been getting slower to crank in the AM during a cold start. I will be getting a new battery this week.
 

DubFamily

Veteran Member
Joined
May 30, 2012
Location
Swan Point, MD
TDI
2014 BMW 328D xDrive
Well get ready she is going to go! I hope not, and good luck. I'd love to
use my new battery conductance tester on your battery, see it's true CCA.

You are not in bitter cold or super hot part of the country. Also if you never
fully discharged your battery (left lights on) you likely will get better life than
I did.
This thread just popped back up in my list, so figured I would comment with an update.

When I turned my car in to VW (Buyback) it had 57 months and 171,000 miles on it and the OEM battery was still going strong ;)

Summers here can easily reach 100 degrees, while I am sitting here typing this it is 10 degrees outside. Not sure what you consider bitter cold or super hot, but I think we see a pretty wide variation here, which is generally worse for a battery than one or the other.
 
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calimustang

Veteran Member
Joined
May 17, 2010
Location
Central FL
TDI
2011 JSW DSG (buyback, RIP), 2014 JSW TDI, 2015 Passat TDI, 2013 Jetta TDI.
I'm on 3rd Battery, First OEM battery lasted shy of 3 years, then got myself an Interstate Battery, lasted a bit more than 3 years and died on the very day when I was talking to a friend about how old the battery is and it croaked on me few hours later after the conversation. the irony.... LOL now I got myself another Interstate battery. FL climate and driving a ton of miles, cranking a lot. average 5x per day as an videophone technician. 266k miles to report. :)
 

ihatespeed

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Location
holbrook, ma
TDI
11 tdi wagon 6mt 15 golf 6mt (Wife's) 2000 Ford 350 7.3l 6mt 4x4 (technically a TDI)
My original 38th week of 2010 battery just died, after a very hot summer here in VA, I got this car winter of 16 when I lost my first JSW (also an '11 and also on its first battery) and its been no problem until about 4-5 days ago, noticed a couple slow starts, then it crapped out after a parked regen. I bought another vw battery, same spec and manufacture, (enertec or something) figure Ive gotten 2 good ones Ill roll the dice again, price here in va was somewhere between the inferior rated and bells and whistles agm the parts store sells, guess Ill see.



My only real advice is to make sure your charging system is working right, a cheap digital volt meter will tell you a world of info about how well your alternator is working, if you know how to work it (test on the battery posts to take all the connections out of the mix)
 

robertsparker

Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2010
Location
Indianapolis, IN
TDI
2010 JSW 6m CandyWhite 17"
I bought a autozone duralast platnum H6-AGM 760 cold cranking amps 950 cranking amps 120reserve capacity and 70 amp hours on Nov 2014. At 4 years its never failed and still going strong. I was nervous when i bought it being an Absorbed Glass Matt battery, but no issues. Its lived past its full replacement in 3 year warranty, now soon to be 4 years. I’m glad to see TDI drivers still on forum and driving there cars!
 

vincej

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2015
Location
Calgary
TDI
2014 Golf Wagon
My VW and Rambler have been sitting for awhile so I started them up today. VW sitting because I am waiting to give it back and Rambler because I don't drive it much. The VW started right up, Rambler goes crank, crank, crank, crank, while I pump the gas pedal and she starts. That Motorcraft battery in the Rambler is 20 1/2 years old. It sits on a piece of 1/2" plywood in the battery box and stays connected all through the winter in an unheated garage and has been starting every spring for years. I believe that the plywood insulator underneath it and the fact that it is usually in a cool environment has contributed to its longevity. Perhaps it would be better in the cars that experience short battery life if the battery was moved somewhere outside the engine compartment.
 
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