cliffcoggin

I guess this is all the thanks you are going get Gareth for your time and effort in solving this fellows problem.

Fit whatever capacity is recommended by the manufacturer, but please ensure you install a good quality battery. Varta and Exide are two names that come to mind, though there are others whose names escape me. Avoid like the plague any cheapie from the internet or the likes of KwikFit.

Emily. You have had sometimes conflicting opinions from several people, none of whom have examined or tested your car, relying instead on your descriptions. That's unfortunate, but I see no point in re-iterating any arguments. Summarising what I see as the relevant facts available: your car is showing some of the classic symptoms of a dying battery, which by your own admission is the wrong one for the car.

Credit where it is due, I found Ohme to be very helpful in trying to rectify the problems I had with scheduled charging. In the end it turned out that the fault lay in the abysmal design of my car's charging system. There is a well known figure in the charge point trade, whose name I do not recall at the moment, who claims all the apps from the major suppliers are rubbish, to use a polite euphemism.

Whether it is worthwhile is a judgement only you can make, depending on how attached you are to the car. In your place I would get the cost of repair and compare it to how much you are willing to pay for a different car.

A dying battery can indeed cause all the symptoms you describe. Get it tested if you want confirmation, but in your place I would not hesitate to replace an eight year old battery. Don't forget to get it coded to the car. PS The volt meter readings tell you nothing about the internal condition of the battery.

The former member who called himself Borat has had a hissy fit and departed the forum.

Please let us know the outcome.

Ricardo. The OP has not looked at the forum for a year and a half so you will not get a reply. Please start a topic of your own. I am locking this topic.

What was the outcome Graham?

Thanks Gareth. I knew the mention of Lion batteries would pique your interest.

I advise getting the battery tested before spending any serious money it. Any auto electrician will be able to do that at little or no cost. Apparently even Halfords, though I am not a fan of the company. Bear in mind what I mentioned about coding a new battery to the car, and if the battery fitter does not know what coding is buy the battery from somebody more competant. I have no experience of Lion brand batteries, but other folk here do, and they condemn them. Buy a well known brand such as Exide or Varta amongst others. It will be more expensive, but worth it in the long run. Only once you have a proven decent battery is it worth investigating the other electrical faults, if they still exist. You may find they have disappeared.

Emily. Two possibilities come to mind: [1] The instrument panel may be faulty even if the engine stills starts. The only way to be certain is to send it to ECU for testing. [2] The 12 volt battery may be defective despite showing 12.2 volts. Your mechanic was on to something when he found low amps from it. Of the two I favour the battery. Winter always highlights deficiencies in battery capacity, so I suggest you get it professionally tested. If a new battery is required ensure you get it coded to the car.

That's exactly what Gareth, and now I, are getting at. A simple voltage reading at minimal load will not reveal defects within the battery. That is why battery testers often use deep discharge equipment which simulate the 200 or more amps drawn by the starter motor. That is not to say your battery is definitely defective, but until you prove otherwise I would regard it as suspect, because failing batteries are often the cause of unexpected electronic problems and errant error codes.

A wise choice. To have passed a test with visibly defective lights would not fill me with confidence with regard to the condition of the rest of the car.

Meaning what precisely?

Michael. The OP has not been back to the forum for more than five years so you are unlikely to get a reply. I suggest you start a topic of your own if you can not find similar topics in the forum history.

I suggest you find and test the handbrake switch as a first step. It may be seized by debris if it is on the cabin floor or under the carpet.

Thanks for letting us know.

There's little I can add to Richard's reply. Normally you would be entitled to reject the car within 30 days of purchase if it proves to be defective, however you have queered the pitch by modifying it since purchase so the dealer has a counter argument. Mapping out the Adblue system instead of repairing it makes me wonder if he really replaced the cam belt and water pump. That is an expensive job that would have eaten most of his profit.

I'll cross that bridge if I ever come to it, as I expect to expire long before the car does.

That's an odd reason. You could apply the same rationale to any other part of the car such as the engine or the suspension or the electronic systems. As long as the gearbox of any propective purchase has been correctly serviced you should have no qualms about it.

Did you code the new battery to the car? That alone may be enough to explain the fault codes.

I hope you will not be returning to the thieving sharks at Audi who wanted to sell you a new engine.

I realise that. I was agreeing with Steve Q's suggestion that the heater matrix might be blocked, and commenting on the likely cost of renewing it. The water pump and cam belt would never have cured lack of heat in the cabin, though they may well have been necessary for other reasons. Count yourself lucky the job was so cheap at only £500; it would have been half as much again at most places.