A3 help

[Jamie_STi]

Hello,

I have a starting issue with my 09 a3 8p. After a journey if i park for a short period (under an hour) it will not start as if i had a flat battery... but will start if i use my jumper cables and a good samaritan. However if i leave it parked for a long period of time then it starts perfectly.

This has me leaving it running for short shop trips and fuelling at the petrol station which is not really what i want to be doing.

Any help would be fantastic

Thanks, J.

[Magnet]

Hello Jamie,

Since you having (occasional) symptoms akin to battery failure, then the first port of call in an investigation is to have the battery checked. Process of elimination. 

Either charge the battery overnight, or take it for a 20 mile run, to ensure it should be fully charged, then get the battery efficiency checked - Halfords will do this. 

If the battery is found to be suspect - would I buy a replacement from Halfords??

I always buy either Varta or Bosch (same) batteries at competitive prices from on-line quick delivery battery specialist suppliers - not from three worded on line motor factors offering high discounts on inflated ‘retail’ prices! 

If the battery proves to be serviceable then let us know, or better still, let us know anyway. 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[seanfinn]

mine did the same thing, finished up calling aa out my car is a 2009 1.9 td and on checking the battery was the original one (11 years old) new battery fitted no problems now

[Magnet]

Many thanks Sean, 

The original poster joined, had advice within 24 hrs, and has not returned to the forum since 24 hrs after that, so we have no idea whether he followed the advice, leave alone whether it worked, so many thanks for sharing your experience for the benefit of others.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Jamie_STi]

On 2/1/2020 at 9:35 AM, Magnet said:

Hello Jamie,

Since you having (occasional) symptoms akin to battery failure, then the first port of call in an investigation is to have the battery checked. Process of elimination. 

Either charge the battery overnight, or take it for a 20 mile run, to ensure it should be fully charged, then get the battery efficiency checked - Halfords will do this. 

If the battery is found to be suspect - would I buy a replacement from Halfords??

I always buy either Varta or Bosch (same) batteries at competitive prices from on-line quick delivery battery specialist suppliers - not from three worded on line motor factors offering high discounts on inflated ‘retail’ prices! 

If the battery proves to be serviceable then let us know, or better still, let us know anyway. 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Gareth,

Thank you very much for your detailed response. I will try charging the battery overnight as a 20mile run would result in her not starting... the hot cold thing is a thing in this situation. Hot she struggles and cold, no problems. After charging i may just go ahead and replace the battery based on Sean's experience. I will let you know if charging helps this week then if i change the battery next month.

6 hours ago, seanfinn said:

mine did the same thing, finished up calling aa out my car is a 2009 1.9 td and on checking the battery was the original one (11 years old) new battery fitted no problems now

Sean,

Thank you, I will try charging it up this week before I go away for work but tbh I'll probably be taking a leaf from your book and replacing the battery in March.

4 hours ago, Magnet said:

Many thanks Sean, 

The original poster joined, had advice within 24 hrs, and has not returned to the forum since 24 hrs after that, so we have no idea whether he followed the advice, leave alone whether it worked, so many thanks for sharing your experience for the benefit of others.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

To you both... please accept my apologies for the delayed response... my job finds me away from irregularly and often and without a phone, therefore my responses may be slow.

 

Thanks again,

Regards

Jamie.

[Magnet]

Thanks for coming back on this Jamie. 

I notice you might intend to change the battery anyway - personally, I wouldn’t - I would go through the charging and testing procedure first, and only change it if it proves to be at fault. 

Come back to the forum when you’ve done that, and then we can address your hot starting issue. 

Meanwhile, does the car appear to be heavier on fuel than it has been?

Kind regards,

Gareth.