Dick,

The alternator cable TSB wouldn't apply as it is only for V8 models. I haven't heard of anyone owning a V10 with battery issues yet. Just you.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably replace the easy one in the trunk first and see how it effects your issues.

 

More information...

Thanks Jim.

Today's trip to and from work saw a consistent pattern of low voltage at idle but a strong 14 at 700 RPM on up.

At a stoplight (450-500 RPM)it initially it stays at 14 but after a 5 second wait I can watch the needle drop to 13 or so. As soon as I'm on my way again, the needle moves to 14 and hangs in there as usual.

I've not seen that consumer electronics message again and I have not been shy about the consumer electronics being turned on either . I'm leaning towards a battery or two going bad.

From what I can tell there is some sort of "magic eye" on the battery that should tell me it's condition. I'll be taking a look at the trunk one this weekend.

I'll ask again for any V10 owners to reply if they have replaced one or more batteries, and if so where did they get them.

I'm also wondering about replacing just one. Good idea? Bad idea? What does the rear one power versus the front one?

 

1 battery is for starting and the other battery is for all those fancy gadgets in the cockpit and 60 plus control modules hidden throughout the vehicle. the "BAT MAN" battery managment module will allow transfer and charging of voltage to wich ever battery is requiring maintenace. use a midtronics or eqivilent battery tester at the batteries disconected from the vehicle and then perform an in car test of the batteries, NOTE: use volkswagen specs when performing in car test !!!! and see if they fail or have low CCA during the test. this will give you insight on voltage drop in the cables or a "BAT MAN" problem or just a failing battery. the diesels tend to be pretty rough on a battery with up to 250 to 450 amps during cranking depending on temp/weather conditions. are you haveing problems with coolant fan running longer than expected ?? touaregs have always had battery level maintenance problems due to the high call for voltage in the vehicles, so even a slightly low battery will set an alarm to start switching off consumers. you have alot of hungry modules in your car...

 

Thanks vwdoctor.

No, the coolant fan does not run hardly at all after shutdown. the last 2 miles of my drive are below 40 mph and we let the turbos, etc. cool down between the mailbox and the garage. We are sporting outside temps in the 40's and 50's these days wich helps too.

I suppose the use VW specs means to have the test done at the VW shop?

If not, can you enlighten me regarding what the CCA, etc. specs are for the battery so I can begin to shop around?

 

Interstate makes replacement batteries,scroll down for some posts,there are some TSB's on battery testing,but I don't know if they have specs,Marty

 

Ok, we opted to swap out the rear battery (I posted a DIY in the forum). I would say the voltage fluctuation was slightly less after the initial 5 minutes of driving after startup.

Tonight the temps were in the 20's (winter has arrived). I hopped in to go home and noticed the usual glowplug warning light stayed on a full 2 seconds, longer than it has ever been on even last year when it was -14F one night.

The engine started and ran just fine but for the first 10 or so minutes of the drive, the voltage really fluctuated unless the RPM's were 900 or more. The dash lights seemed dimmer until the voltage reading evened out.

I guess our next move will be to replace the front battery and see what that does. Heading into winter is no time to be having low voltage issues so I hope this takes care of it.

I'll keep you posted on our results. Thanks all for the comments and suggestions.

Nancy

 

Good luck Nancy. I hope you guys get this sorted before it gets cold up there!

Take care,
Matt

 

I have had 2 batteries replaced by the dealer. One under warranty and one not. The dealer test the battery , and came up wit low voltage, I don't think their test meter is the best as I can't see need a new battery every two years is right. In my case it was the under seat battery that got replaced, this is the larger of the two I believe.

Also I would think 4 years is a reasonable life for a battery, so changing them before they die is not so bad.

 

Thanks Matt!

I did the battery swap after work Wednesday night and so far that seems to have taken care of the problems I reported earlier. I added a post to the tech section which has a link to the detailed DIY writeup on our website. http://www.precisionframe.com/Touareg/batteryfront.php

Surprisingly, after the positive cable was replaced and tightened down, I got slight sparking as I replaced the ground cable. Of note were the 20+ fault codes that appeared AFTER the battery was swapped. I was able to use the VAG-COM to clear the codes.

There was also a workshop fault that appeared on the MFI pointing to the air suspension being the culprit. I backed the Touareg out of the garage and raised the suspension. This cleared the warning from the MFI.

The truck seems to be back to it's same old self and hopefully ready for winter.

Nancy

 

Great news Nancy, glad to hear the good report!

Stay warm, and take care up there!
Matt

 

I am new to the Touareg V10 family, so please forgive my lack of knowledge. I was reading about battery replacement procedure and couldn't figure out what "VAG-COM" is?

The symptoms on my Toureg are that the car all of a sudden will not start. I notice that the clock stops showing the correct time. The gauge shows 14 volts consistently. After charging the car, it would be OK for a while, and then almost without warning will not turn over. Sometimes (like today) after a few tries it will start. The funny thing is that when it doesn't start, it doesn't even attempt to turn the engine over, like in other cars.

 

Here you go.

There are others, but this is the one to buy if you want to go the route of having your own.

Otherwise find a workshop with VAGcom or VCDS - these are computerised fault and diagnosis readers specificlally for VAG [Volkswagen Auto Group] cars.

Ross-Tech: VCDS Tour

Your car has two batteries - one under the driver's seat and one in the trunk.

When the normal starting battery is low, the car will switch to the secondary battery so if you are having starting problems as you describe it may be more involved than just requiring a new battery.

 

While on vacation my '06 V10 failed to start on several occasions. I purchased one of those jump start units which started the car several times. I went to a reputable audi/vw/porsche mechanic. He replaced both batteries which lasted for 2 years. Recently experienced same issue and replaced both batteries again. Problem fixed. Both times I was told to replace both batteries. Needs to be done by someone that has the equipment to tell the computer a new battery has been installed or the unit may go into some sort of anti theft mode and not start at all.

 

All stories! Go to a different mechanic and get a proper diagnostic done.