2002 Golf Battery advice needed

I've been looking through battery threads here and they all seem to end up turning into a debate about whether Optima can hold up to TDI requirements. I don't want an Optima, but need advice.

Our 02 Golf seems to be pooping out, one day fine, the next day too low to start, but not completely dead. Happens about twice a year for about a year and a half. I always put it on the charger and then its good, this time I think it might be done.

So, I called around looking for an aftermarket battery and everyone is telling me that the Golf battery is smaller than the Jetta. They're saying to put a 47DL in??? What's up, I thought 94R was for both? Duralast 47 DL and Interstate MT47 seem to have the right AH, but the length is about 3 inches shorter than the OEM. Any thoughts?

Why not run the Optima? I have used Optimas in all the cars I've owned and they work perfect... Actually better than perfect!

Just slightly concerned about the 20 below zero mornings that are coming 6 months. The dealership I bought our other TDI from put a smaller battery in with 70Ah when we bought it. It had been leftover on the lot and had a dead battery when we picked it up. I was comparing sizes of the two and realized this morning that the Jetta actually has a smaller battery in it than the Golf. This all makes sense since the Jetta has never started well in anything worse than 5 below zero.

Back to the Golf, I want something that says 80Ah and I know will fit. The group 47 has the right specs, but is really small. Anyone know if I am doing the right thing by putting a 94R in the Golf?

Optima vs Odyssey vs other brands -- you might as well be debating chip vs chip vs tuning box -- the debate will never go away.

After having 3 Optimas fail quickly in other cars over the years, I figured something was wrong, like maybe despite the continuous advertising, they aren't suitable for automotive charging characteristics and they aren't actually quite AGM technology (with enough persistent googling you'll turn up this information). Just my personal opinion, though. Don't actually expect me to be right. YMMV.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=176232

And yes, it spins it relentlessly, for as long as you dare if necessary -- tested this yesterday when I lost prime on the fuel pump (another story for another time and place).

One of my neighbors has a heavily modified Golf TDI and he has a noticeably smaller battery. I'm wondering if it's a gasser battery and battery box by mistake??? Just curiosity on my part, but anyone else with a Golf have the small battery???

And as far as I can see, there doesn't appear to be a reason why the larger battery box wouldn't fit in.

Al

chewbacca said:

...Back to the Golf, I want something that says 80Ah and I know will fit. The group 47 has the right specs, but is really small. Anyone know if I am doing the right thing by putting a 94R in the Golf?

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First off, yes, you are doing the right thing by putting the 94R into the Golf. That is the OE size for these vehicles.

I'm confused by the bolded statement above. Do you mean that you have found a group 47 that has the 80Ah capability? (that's the spec that matters, BTW)

It's down to a duralast 94R (119.99) or a stealer OEM (I will install of course). I'm leaning toward the OEM since this is the original battery that I am just now replacing after 51/2 years with a few seriously cold winters. Anyone care to chime in?

what are the warranties?

Tom, I can't confirm it because I haven't seen the battery, but someone on the phone told me their 47 had 85Ah. Maybe its too good to be true or they're plain stupid. Lots of dead silence when I ask about Ah.

tditom said:

what are the warranties?

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I think 70 months on the Duralast.

they probably meant RC instead of Ah.

I'm really not into who makes a better quality of lead... It's cranking amps and what kind of guarantee they give.

As it turns out, Interstate has the right size battery. What is really great is that a bunch of Interstate's batteries sat on the shelf long enough that Interstate had to rebuild them. That makes them 'used' and they are unable to sell them retail. $60 and away you go.

Don't get hung up on a name. Buy the battery that gives you the most bang for the buck.

Correction, the Duralast is an 8 years warranty, 3 year free replacement. The OEM is probably way lower, but they're closed today so I can't check.

I checked around for an interstate, but they're looking like about 60 dollars more. Are they really worth it?

chewbacca said:

...I checked around for an interstate, but they're looking like about 60 dollars more. Are they really worth it?

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only if they last 50-60% longer. How much longer do you plan on holding onto this car?

tditom said:

only if they last 50-60% longer. How much longer do you plan on holding onto this car?

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Hopefully, until the body falls apart. Tranny will probably go well before that, but I plan to either replace or swap for a manual when the day comes.

well I wouldn't count on the Interstate to last that much longer than an OE. But if you can find a reman like frank was talking about then that's a no-brainer.

Thanks, the current battery just finished charging so I'll see what I can do for a few days and try to pick up a 94R this week. Anyone had bad experience with a Duralast?

dead dead dead

Nope, its a gonner, guess I have to pick up something today. Will go with the Duralast since their warranty/replacement sounds pretty good to me. I'll post again if I have problems with the install. Thanks everyone.

I found an Energizer battery at Wal-Mart rated at 875 amp CCA. Now, I'm just wondering if it's dangerous to fry the starter with a battery so powerful. What is the maximum amp we can put in our diesel car? I want to get the most powerful battery as possible because I don't want to get stranded on a cold winter night in january.

OK, as I found out by reading on this site, the AH rating is more important than the CCA amp on a TDI battery. I'm searching for infos on the web but it seem to be really hard to find this kind of info. Would it be easier to just buy an OEM battery at the stealer? They seem to have something for VW at Carquest: http://www.carquest.com/partsBatteries.html "CARQUEST OE EXACT FIT EURO IMPORT" but no other informations are available even in the pdf document they offer for download. This search is becoming quite frustrating as it's really hard to find a manufacturer which I could buy in Quebec.

Battery capacity

Nico3d3 said:

I found an Energizer battery at Wal-Mart rated at 875 amp CCA. Now, I'm just wondering if it's dangerous to fry the starter with a battery so powerful. What is the maximum amp we can put in our diesel car? I want to get the most powerful battery as possible because I don't want to get stranded on a cold winter night in january.

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The amperage the battery can put out is irrelevant since it will only draw the current that it requires to crank the engine. If you were to connect a huge industial battery capable of putting out several thousand amps it will draw the same current as it would hooked to the OEM battery. The current draw is dictated by something called CEMF or counter electromotive force. As the speed of the starter motor increases and lines of magnetic flux are being cut it also becomes a generator and the generated current opposes the current draw reducing the total current being drawn.

Due to the CEMF if one persists in cranking with a weak battery the motor can't develop the speed it needs for the CEMF to become a factor and high current draw is maintained generating intense heat and damaging motor components, cables, connections etc.

VW oem battery from dealership $99 retail. just get that.

jokila said:

VW oem battery from dealership $99 retail. just get that.

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Is this any better for our cars than say a Diehard from Sears? I will be due before the cold weather settles in and don't wind to find out the old way that the battery I used to use 20 years ago is now crap or is not a good mate for our vehicle.

Tickbait said:

Is this any better for our cars than say a Diehard from Sears? I will be due before the cold weather settles in and don't wind to find out the old way that the battery I used to use 20 years ago is now crap or is not a good mate for our vehicle.

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YES IT IS DIFFERENT!

Newer cars DEMAND MORE POWER even when the car is SHUT OFF! CCA simply tells you how many amps the battery can deliver when fully charged at a given temperature for a SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. A capacitor can deliver a lot of amps...but it sure as hell won't start your car!

Batteries in MODERN cars are required to have a larger Ah (Amp hour) rating to deliver power TO THE CAR'S SYSTEMS WHEN OFF, THEN BE ABLE TO START THE car while running all the systems in the car while POWERING THE STARTER!

Stop and think folks, We keep telling you guys that CCA is MEANINGLESS, PAY ATTENTION!

You car has to power:

-ECU (always drawing power)
-Immobilizer (always drawing power)
-Instrument cluster (Always drawing power)
-Fuel pump (2004+)
-miriad of engine sensors
-GLOW PLUGS (50amps sustained load)
-Glow plug heaters (30 amps SUSTAINED LOAD)
-Multiple relays (A/C clutch, fan control relays etc)
-Seat heaters
-Side mirror heaters (Which most people leave on)
-Climate control fan
-RADIO (500 watts)

Hell, you haven't even USED THE STARTER YET!
-Starter 250-300 amps

DB

So would you say that either based on your own experience -or- information from previous threads, etc. that enough information exists to rule out any Diehard battery that could be analogous in terms of power and/or capability for our vehicles?

You tell us, does the Diehard have at MINIMUM 72 Ah or ideally 80 Ah ratings?

DB

Tick, does SEARS have a battery listed for A4, etc. cars? I didn't think there was one listed.

Interstate has the battery as does Autozone, Batteries Plus and a few others.

Here is what Sears has to say about TDI battery availability:

Sears battery finder said:

We're sorry, we currently do not have Batteries...that fit your requirements

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DB

http://www.autobatteries.com/brands/index.asp

All batteries on that list are pretty much the same. regardless of what the rating is, hundreds of people on here have been using cheap 41 and 47 batteries without a problem for years.

I even used an old deep cycle to run my car for a few days until I could make it to the store and get a new battery.. no problems.

Drivbiwire said:

Here is what Sears has to say about TDI battery availability:




DB

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Yeah, I saw the above (we're sorry) just now when I searched for a battery at Sears too.

DB: There is another issue here... I should get a battery for my '02 NB 106K miles for this winter. Checked out the local Autozone, and the sales guy there was showing me all the CCA figures. I asked about Ah rating, and all I got was a blank stare. He sd. the Ah figs werent posted on the material he was referencing. I looked.. they werent.

So, for better or worse, CCA is selling batteries. Not Ah.

And soo... Im going to the dealer to pick up an OEM. It will fit. It will have the correct Ah rating and while there may be an optimal battery out there, the OEM will be "good 'nuff".