REDD - battery question.
 

I believe that this is the battery you installed in your Q5

AutoCraft Platinum AGM Battery, Group Size H8, 900A CCA

I'm getting close to getting a battery and will buy this one as there is a 25% off coupon code available for $50 off.

The question I have is that I believe that the OEM battery has a battery vent tube that goes from the battery to the outside of the Q5. I need to remove the spare and a lot of stored junk around my spare to see this.

So the questions are.....
1. Was the OEM battery vented from the battery to the outside of the Q5?
2. Does this AutoCraft battery also have the provision to vent form the battery to the outside?

Thanks,

Bob can't answer your questions to Redd re swap process,still on original,14 Tdi,can you take a couple of pics of this procedure,I just realized, man have things changed/evolved, I'm asking you to document a battery swap !

I will take photos, but it is still old school removal/replace after removing the spare tire......

Hook up 12 V charger to battery jump start terminals under the hood to save settings, remove battery NEG terminal, remove POS terminal, loosen 2 battery hold down bolts, remove vent hose and battery, then do the opposite to replace.

I will then program the new battery into the Q5 BMS with VCDS by just incrementing the last digit of the old battery BEM code serial number shown on VCDS by 1 digit.

Bob-
Yes, that's the battery and yes, that's the $50 discount they offered me too, when I didn't purchase it right away.
In the glare from the sunlight and the shadows in the trunk, I couldn't see squat for a vent tube, so I didn't reconnect it. In the weeks afterward, I saw where the tube is supposed to go, I just haven't dug back in there to see if the battery actually has a vent nub in that spot. Horribly negligent of me, I know. But after many years of AGM batteries, I'm hoping that this one won't be venting anything--since it IS sealed. And treated respectfully.

I think you may be looking at that battery before I do (G) so please do let me know. BE WARNED- the AutoZombie guys are helpful but that battery is made in three grades (Gold, Silver, Platinum) that all pretty much look alike, and when I went into the store to pick mine up, first the Zombiw was going to give me the wrong one (hey, they were on the shelf and said AGM and H8, right?) then he was going into the back to look for the right one...which was racked on the opposite corner of the battery rack, instead of with the other H8 AGMs. Go figure.

But the car hasn't raised an eyebrow, let alone a complaint, about that battery. Which apparently IS a Varta, even if that means "A JCI built under contract to US Varta specs". Like anyone else, JCI builds "to a price" for their contractors, but they're competitive with anyone else, IMO.

Well I'll let you know if there is a vent tube connection. If the battery does vent you do realize that it is hydrogen gas! I would think venting a battery located in the closed off cabin is a good thing!

Just to let you know that I have used the 25% off on multiple $100+ purchases in the same day (bought 4 batteries in the same super cold day last winter for 4 relatives), did multiple single orders. There are always Advance Auto discount codes every day on the net. This one is MKT25
I normally find and use $40 off a $100 purchase codes, but in this case 25% off $200 is the better deal.

My local AA was an independent Ma/Pa auto store a few years ago and then became an AA store, thus the same 25+ year old veterans still run the store without any new blood employees added. They give me the great AA deals even if I'm not aware of them and know their stuff.............

Yes, well acquainted with battery issues like hydrogen gas. BMW also vents their trunk-mounted AGMs under the car. In theory an AGM will never outgas unless there's a massive charging system problem but the hose can't hurt. Fiat proved to the world that a conventional battery in the trunk could eat a car apart. Not that they needed much help for that. But that's why the Mazda Miata's had AGM batteries in their trunks, to avoid battery acid problems. Don't know if they bothered venting them. I've previously never had a problem with AGM outgassing in closed spaces, but if the hose fitting is there, it is cheap enough to hook it up, right?

Well you are usually super cautious and I'm surprised that you have total faith that the new battery, made very cheaply of course, may just outgas.

I just ordered the battery and read the fine print with the AA listing.

They state...........

"Battery is vented to outside"

It's too bad that no AA store in my area stocks the H9 version, 950 CCA, 100 Ah, as it will fit, and is the same $199 price.

It isn't that I have faith in the battery, just that I couldn't see anyplace to hook up the hose, and it was "about damn time to button this thing up and get out of here". I can appreciate the weight balance issues and all, but batteries down in a hole in the trunk....Nah. Not my idea of engineering. (And those cheap *stards at Audi didn't even include a battery compartment light!(G)

Bob, perhaps you can order the H9 online and have it shipped to your store? You probably already thought of that, just suggesting in case.