Battery Date

[bigb]

My battery has 0915 stamped into the top near the negative terminal (see red circle). I assume this is the mfg date but it does confuse me a bit as Carfax shows the car delivered in 0415 and registered to it's owner in 0515 so if that is indeed the battery date it must have been replaced shortly after it was sold. Either that or when VW pulled it out of the field for the emissions fix they had to swap in another battery. Does anyone know if that is indeed the mfg date?

Yesterday I had a slow crank and thinking it may be time for a battery, if it is really 4 years old it's a no brainer, hasn't even turned cold here yet.

 

[gwc]

Mine has 4914 stamped in the same place. So probably not a month/year combo.

It wouldn’t surprise me if my battery is 4 years old (2015 Golf TDI here). I’ve had the car for about 1 1/2 years now and there was no record of replacement on any paperwork I saw when I bought it.

I am betting my battery will be done within the next year or so.

 

[oilhammer]

It is the week/year.

So yes, that battery is likely on its last legs.

Sometimes the week/year is stamped directly on the top of the metal post, sometimes it is etched in the case, sometimes there is a little round sticker on it.

So a battery that has 0915 on it was manufactured sometime in early March, 2015. Chances are your car was assembled in March or shortly thereafter (the build tag in the door jam will show this, and that is month/year).

 

[bigb]

It is the week/year.

So yes, that battery is likely on its last legs.

Sometimes the week/year is stamped directly on the top of the metal post, sometimes it is etched in the case, sometimes there is a little round sticker on it.

So a battery that has 0915 on it was manufactured sometime in early March, 2015. Chances are your car was assembled in March or shortly thereafter (the build tag in the door jam will show this, and that is month/year).

That makes perfect sense and I don't know why I didn't think of it
It's just like tire dates! Thanks!

 

[bigb]

Went and got my new battery today. First time I've ever paid to have a battery installed but I wanted them to do the ECM reset or whatever they are supposed to do so I ended up paying $197 for a battery, installed by VW.

Sitting in the waiting room here comes the service manager with my new Frecious cabin filter that I installed two months ago, with a few leaves and some dust in the pleats. Tells me I really need a new one. I tell her have them put it back and I hope they are using the cookie sheet per VW'a instructions so no debris falls in and gets to the evaporator drain, she says "Of course". If I would have known they would be trying to sell me a cabin filter when I went in for just a battery I would have taped a sign on the glove box saying keep your mitts off I maintain my own thank you.

Anyways I am walking out to see if the car is ready and here comes the kid, parks it and gets out. I ask him do you guys use the VW cookie sheet tool on the cabin filters? He says "the what?" and after I explained it he says "that would be nice, I never heard of it". I even bought the tool so I could do it right myself at home and he never heard of it? Now I am not even sure if they reset the ECM.

Then I went to the car wash. If they really wanted to do something useful they could have washed the car like every other dealership I have been to in this town does.

I guess my expectations are too high?

 

[pebjr]

I have a quick question.
Can you explain what the VW cookie sheet is and part number.
I never heard of it, I tried to Google it but nothing related comes up in the search.
Thanks

 

[bigb]

Go to post #40 in this thread: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=496363&page=3 Then go to post #42 and follow Nuje's link to buy one under $20. I was going to make one till I found that one.

 

[jerrymander]

Went and got my new battery today. First time I've ever paid to have a battery installed but I wanted them to do the ECM reset or whatever they are supposed to do so I ended up paying $197 for a battery, installed by VW.

[...]

I guess my expectations are too high?

$197 is a pretty good price, but the price for the battery alone from VW is $140 which means you paid $60 to loosen 2 10mm bolts and tighten them...

Your expectations are way too high: car dealerships are universally sucky. I think they used to be great but now they are a step above Jiffy Lube but below most independent shops. They don't need to foster relationships or maintain good customers because they draw business in with their brand image.

There are diamonds but it's rare.