Dead Battery - What is the Solution?

2015 GSW with DSG - 74K on the car. Bought as a CPO from an out of town VW dealer, in January of 2019 in Florida. I've logged about 42K in my ownership.

Been facing some of the long crank issues for the last 6 months. Jumped in the car today and ran to work (40-mile commute @ 75mph). 5 o'clock rolled around and jumped in the car to leave. It cranks like normal (somewhat long) but keeps cranking with one or two split seconds where it sounded like it was going to go, but didn't. Tried to start the car again and its losing juice, dash go nuts and is throwing various warnings on the dash.
I went through this cycle 3 or 4 times, to the point where it wouldn't crank but would run the fan and radio.

Got a jump and drove the car home with a CEL, parked the car, and shut down. Hit the start button and it fires up no issue.

The battery is an "Enertec, 5K0 915 105 E, 12V 61AH, 330A DIN, 540A EN/SAE/GS". The optic eye feature is clear, which I believe means the battery is good. Voltmeter shows 12.66 volts, but I will check again tomorrow after it sits overnight.

I have a new Autozone battery that I pulled out of my mustang, but after some quick looking on google there is some hesitation on using that battery. I also ran across the 'larger' battery option as well, which would be good for peace of mind as I plan to daily and road trip with the car.

Given the car is a CPO with 8 months remaining, any chances my LOCAL VW dealership would replace the battery under warranty?

Give then a call and see what they say. Worst they say is take a hike and buy your own battery, but who knows they may replace it since it’s a CPO.


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I doubt they'd cover the battery under CPO, they told me it was a wear item, therefore not covered.

I'd imagine the GSW would take an H6 sized battery, same as my A3 TDI...

Walmart sells an AGM H6 for $119, 3 year free replacement, 2 years pro-rated I believe.

Bought several of their batteries through they years, they're good quality. Made by Johnson Controls, which makes several big name batteries as well.

Seems 5-6 years of life is about all we can get out of batteries in these Audi/VW's, had to replace mine last summer.

Dealer I purchased the car from said it is not covered by the CPO.


The battery tray has 3 various holes for different size batteries. I'll look into the AGM H6.

I just bought a Costco H6 battery for $140CAD (~$100USD); 4yr. replacement warranty...9yr. pro-rated. That was for my Mk4, but I made sure it'd fit in my Mk7.

Go H6 AGM and make sure you code it threw VCDS.

GreenLantern_TDI said:

Go H6 AGM and make sure you code it threw VCDS.

Click to expand...

Have a link for the coding?

Also interested in the agm coding and to see if it's worth it

How-to from Ross-Tech (VCDS):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJAScg6JrYI

If the A7 has an AGM from the get go, then you replace it with one, and recode it. If it did not have one, then there is nothing there to code. I have had an issue with ross-tech's instructions for recoding, however I have since learned that as long as you change it to SOMETHING else, it will trigger the car to register it as "new".

There are lots and lots of posts of misinformed people about this, even in this very thread.

Get the part number off the battery in the car, go to the dealer, and buy a new one with the same part number (or the updated version if there is one). Don't over think it.

Considering the OP is in Florida, I would not worry about battery size. Extra cranking power is only needed when it's freezing cold. I personally would put a good small flooded battery.

I think people overthink batteries. Just avoid bargain priced low quality ones and no need to buy agm just replace with original size. The battery cost per year equates to far less than a fillup of fuel.

Somewhat an update:

I recently bought a junk fox body mustang as a project car (LS1/6Spd) that had a 2017 battery in it. I've had this battery sitting on the trickle charger for the last month, I went ahead and threw it into the VW. The car cranks far less and is holding. The CCA rating was about double the OEM battery. While the lowest winter we get is in the low 40s, a larger battery may help with these prolonged cranking issues...

My mk7 pretty much starts right away (feels like 1 turnover no more) no matter the temperature (or at least the worst I've been was 15degree F).

Sometimes, but rarely it would start after 2 seconds. Never more.

I'm wondering if your problem is related to that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXvHdmq0reA&app=desktop&persist_app=1

Loss of oil pressure in that 'thingy' could do it.

Not sure this is an issue, but I have a CPO 2015 sportwagen and my starting issue was diagnosed as a faulty relay switch, but it turns out the switch somehow also damaged the battery and VW fully covered both the switch and the battery replacement under warranty. I'm not sure if this is a common problem or not, but if there is a fault somewhere the CPO warranty may cover the battery also. I think there was a $50 "copay", but it may be worth a dealer diagnostic.

I like the european battery specs better than the sae cca. AH is better way to determine the true capacity of a particular battery.

thundershorts said:

I like the european battery specs better than the sae cca. AH is better way to determine the true capacity of a particular battery.

Click to expand...

AH and CCA are different metrics.

AH: amp hour = capacity
CCA: cold cranking amp = max current delivered when cold.

They usually go hand in hand, the more AH the more CCA.