How to replace your stock Touareg BATTERY

[Tahoe]

Hey guys, here is a step by step guide I created to show people how to replace the Toaureg stock battery. It wasn't as hard as I first thought it would be. You just have to have the 10 mm triple square bit and some free time. It took me about an hour once I had all the parts/tools.
It saved me a good chunk of money and I didn't have to bring it to the dealer which is what I liked the most.

Enjoy here: Replacing the Touareg Battery

Items needed:
-Stock battery from dealer
-10mm Triple Square bit (see below, $6)
-Socket set and maybe a long handle or a torque wrench with a long handle for leverage
-Small torx set to remove a wire harness although an allen wrench worked for me

DISCLAIMER: Don’t start this job without the proper triple square bit. There are other ways to remove the battery from the one that I describe but this just happens to be the way that I found it possible to access. Others have take the entire seat frame off at once. I decided to take the seat off the frame and than loosen two of the bolts on the frame to get the battery out. Don’t attempt this unless you have a little experience with cars.


VW recommends replacing the main triple square bolts each time you take the seat off.

1.Determine your battery needs replacement. My car battery kept dying over and over again during simple tasks such as leaving the radio on for 5 mins or the headlights.

2.Pick-up a new battery from your dealer ($150) or an after-market replacement that fits the specs and size.

3.Pick-up a 10 mm Triple Square Bit used to take off the seat bolts. I had a hard time tracking one of these down but eventually found it at Napa Auto Parts (# SER 2305 for $6) Other people have reported that Snap-On, Oriely’s and Pep Boys carries these.

4.Plug in a jump pack or jumper cables to your power socket under the hood to maintain voltage while you remove the battery. These will help to persevere your menu settings and prevent the computer from needing a possible reset.

5.Slide the driver’s seat all the way back and remove the small plastic pieces on the seat rails covering the triple square bolts.

6.Be very careful when removing these bolts. Push down all the way hard with your socket wrench and do not let the bit slip at all or it will strip your bolt easily. Mine were already stripped from the VW TSB that was performed. But by keeping the wrench perfectly 90 degrees and pushing down hard I was able to remove them still.

7.Slide the front seat forward and resume the same process to the 2 rear bolts holding the seat rail in place.

8.Remove the plastic covers on the seat rail by sliding them towards the trunk. This will prevent them from bending when you tilt the seat back out of the way.

9.Use the auto seat function to tilt the top part of the seat all the way towards the steering wheel. Now tilt the seat back towards the rear seat and fasten with a bungee cord to keep it out of the way.

10. Remove the two plastic plates that cover two more triple square bolts in the carpet floor. These are located just next to your front floor mats. This will allow you to lift the metal seat frame enough to remove the plastic battery box cover.

11.Remove the battery cover

12.Remove the Battery vent hose

13.Remove the Positive and Negative Battery terminals and store out of the way.

14.Use a small socket (not sure what size) to release the battery from its two mounts. These come of easily.

15.Flip up the two plastic handles on the battery, tilt the battery on its side and lift out of the car.

16.Re-insert the new battery in the proper direction. Note the Pos. vs. Neg cables and poles on the battery (DO NOT PLUG IT IN BACKWARDS!!!)

17.Remount battery using the two bolts.

18.Re-attach the battery vent and tighten down the two battery cables fully (DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN)

19.Put battery cover back into place

20.Re-install the two 10 mm triple square bolts to the floor. These are mounted pretty tight. Not sure if there is a torque spec. but careful not to strip the head.

21.Re-install your bolt cover near the floor mats.

22.Re-install the plastic seat frame covers on the rear of the seat.

23.Slide seat back into place.

24.Re-install two front 10mm bolts(VW replaces these each time)

25.Slide seat all the way forward and Re-install two rear 10mm bolts

26.Reinstall covers to all these 4 bolts.

27.Enjoy your new battery

[Nefarious]

Excellent DIY.

[Vegas Matt]

Nice write-up. Thanks Tahoe!

Matt

[Arkarch]

Nice DIY. Photos on your link.

Question - I see you removed the seat from the seat rails. I normally have just removed the entire assembly as one piece. Was the seat removal required to get full access to the battery well?

[Tahoe]

Originally Posted by Arkarch

Nice DIY. Photos on your link.

Question - I see you removed the seat from the seat rails. I normally have just removed the entire assembly as one piece. Was the seat removal required to get full access to the battery well?

No I don't think it is necessary. But it seemed easier at the time since I had no instructions to work from. It was more of an explorative process. And the four bolts that attach the entire seat frame are really really torqued down compared to the others attaching the seat to the frame.

In other words, either way would work.

[Arkarch]

Originally Posted by Tahoe

And the four bolts that attach the entire seat frame are really really torqued down compared to the others attaching the seat to the frame.

Yes, they are on very tight. I also discovered my seat rail was not perfectly aligned on factory install, adding to the stress. I used my Torque Wrench with about an 18" handle to break those bolts free. Soon after, I released the back bolts and realigned the frame. Its somewhat easier and cleaner now.

[Amphicar770]

Thanks for the write up! I followed it yesterday and, while I cursed the German engineers from start to finish, got it done in about an hour.

I used the Interstate battery from local parts store. $125 with 850cca and 84 month warranty. Not a 100% exact fit but close enough. It came with a vent kit that connected to the Touareg vent pipe.

After doing it I also wondered if I could have simply removed the two bolts under the plastic, just behind the floor mats, and then tilt seat back. Will try that 1st next time which I hope will not be for a long time!

[reprobate]

Let me get this straight. The battery is under the seat and not under the bonnet or hood where it belongs! &#@$%^&*(. I have been thinking about buying a Tourareg but this could kill the deal. If it is not under the bonnet it is not easy to jump start from the battery.
Carl

[nickm]

There are jump start terminals under the hood...so the battery being under the seat makes no difference for jump starts.

[Arkarch]

Yep, as NickM said, you can easily jump from the under-bonnet terminals.

However I have to say there are advantages to being in the cabin under seat - the battery is less 'in the element'; and access to direct power for high power accessories like audio and Ham Radio is easy - no firewall routing issues.