Replacing the battery in my 01 TTR was not as smooth as I had hoped
10-23-2005, 05:14 PM
#1
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Replacing the battery in my 01 TTR was not as smooth as I had hoped
I checked out the Wall Mart battery ($40 and recommended by Consumer Reports)and its outside dimension measurements indicated no problem fitting without any need to drill away part of the battery cover for the cables to fit. I would learn later that the configuration of the little flairs at the bottom front and back of the battery are equally important.
I started by installing the 9V battery back-up via the cigarette lighter so I would not have to reset a bunch of stuff. The old battery came out easy but the new one would not slde into place. Closer inspection found that the plastic holder for the battery flair nearest the fire wall had a notch in the middle to keep the battery from sliding sideways. The WM battery flair did not have this notch so I had to grind away the middle of the flair to get it to slide into place. Then I noticed that on the side nearest the grill my holder had two plastic posts to hold the battery in and these were obstructed by the extended width of the front flair of the WM battery. So I had to grind each side of the WM battery front flair to get it to fit between the posts. Then I tightened the metal hold down. (Of course I dropped the holder and its bolt to the bottom of the car and had to fish them out because I did not want to remove the undercarriage cover too. Murphy's Law!)
The battery back-up protected everything except the radio was now in the safe mode. I forgot that the dealer had replaced the radio. I used the old code and it locked up. Of course the dealer never gave me the new code but I called and got it and fixed the problem after waiting an hour to let it allow me to try again. I did not have to reset my saved favorite stations.
Sorry I have no photos of this because the problems with the flairs were completely unexpected. I read on this forum that others had no problem installing this battery but I have also learned that various models and years have different battery holders that could cause complications.
I started by installing the 9V battery back-up via the cigarette lighter so I would not have to reset a bunch of stuff. The old battery came out easy but the new one would not slde into place. Closer inspection found that the plastic holder for the battery flair nearest the fire wall had a notch in the middle to keep the battery from sliding sideways. The WM battery flair did not have this notch so I had to grind away the middle of the flair to get it to slide into place. Then I noticed that on the side nearest the grill my holder had two plastic posts to hold the battery in and these were obstructed by the extended width of the front flair of the WM battery. So I had to grind each side of the WM battery front flair to get it to fit between the posts. Then I tightened the metal hold down. (Of course I dropped the holder and its bolt to the bottom of the car and had to fish them out because I did not want to remove the undercarriage cover too. Murphy's Law!)
The battery back-up protected everything except the radio was now in the safe mode. I forgot that the dealer had replaced the radio. I used the old code and it locked up. Of course the dealer never gave me the new code but I called and got it and fixed the problem after waiting an hour to let it allow me to try again. I did not have to reset my saved favorite stations.
Sorry I have no photos of this because the problems with the flairs were completely unexpected. I read on this forum that others had no problem installing this battery but I have also learned that various models and years have different battery holders that could cause complications.
10-23-2005, 05:19 PM
#2
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Sorry to hear of your problems.
It make no sense to me what Audi was thinking when they built these seemingly "identical" cars with very dissimilar parts.
10-24-2005, 02:37 AM
#6
my 01 roadster had those 3 annoying little blips as well
dremel on the edge of the battery (sears diehard) made it all work but it was annoying. funny, my radio didn't wink out on me with the 9volt lighter trick.
clearly a vag mix/match parts bin game
clearly a vag mix/match parts bin game
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