Changing the Battery

I had my A2 from 8 month old and when I replaced the battery at 10 years the thread was crossed. Heavy handed worker on the production line I think! A fellow A2 owner with a scrappy gave me a replacement and it was fixed with epoxy. Easy but it meant taking the battery out again.

Changed my battery for the 2nd time yesterday. Radio was OK (it's 2004 with CANBUS). Had to re-pair both keys and reset the clock. Haven't checked the windows. As Proghound says, long socket extension and some blutak. I dropped one bolt and even with thin hands it was difficult to retrieve it.

Disconnect the negative first on the old battery and reconnect the negative last on the new battery.

If you look at the photo in this post you will see the large bracket and the two bolts

Thanks Alan. Most useful info.
 
the bolts on mine are 13mm, I had them out earlier as I lost one of the 10mm bolts from teh main fuse down the side of the battery and had to fish it out.
 
the bolts on mine are 13mm, I had them out earlier as I lost one of the 10mm bolts from teh main fuse down the side of the battery and had to fish it out.
Bret, you're right, don't know why 10mm stuck in my mind. Still a pain in whatever size aren't they :rolleyes:
 
I had my A2 from 8 month old and when I replaced the battery at 10 years the thread was crossed. Heavy handed worker on the production line I think! A fellow A2 owner with a scrappy gave me a replacement and it was fixed with epoxy. Easy but it meant taking the battery out again.

Changed my battery for the 2nd time yesterday. Radio was OK (it's 2004 with CANBUS). Had to re-pair both keys and reset the clock. Haven't checked the windows. As Proghound says, long socket extension and some blutak. I dropped one bolt and even with thin hands it was difficult to retrieve it.

Disconnect the negative first on the old battery and reconnect the negative last on the new battery.

If you look at the photo in this post you will see the large bracket and the two bolts

I bought a telescopic magnet, almost like an old car aerial with a magnet on the end which has helped me more than once in this dept, in fact i use it to lower the bolts down and locate them into the threads as it is rather tight and you do have to be very, very careful not to cross the thread.

Apply no force, wiggling and patience is the secret.

A highly recommended bit of kit to have in the toolbox though, just a shame it's no good for those fiddly plastic c clips that i always seem to drop ? ?
 
I bought a telescopic magnet, almost like an old car aerial with a magnet on the end which has helped me more than once in this dept, in fact i use it to lower the bolts down and locate them into the threads as it is rather tight and you do have to be very, very careful not to cross the thread.

Apply no force, wiggling and patience is the secret.

A highly recommended bit of kit to have in the toolbox though, just a shame it's no good for those fiddly plastic c clips that i always seem to drop ? ?

I have one of these, which was always referred to as "the long-range nose picker" :) Has saved my life many times.
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Seems that mine (2001 petrol) is missing that metal plate which keeps the battery in its place. Are those still available or other possibilities for securing the battery?
 
Seems that mine (2001 petrol) is missing that metal plate which keeps the battery in its place. Are those still available or other possibilities for securing the battery?

You have probably seen some pictures of A2 batteries with a plate across the top, but this only applies if you have a space saver spare wheel, something for the spare wheel retainer to screw into. If you do not have a space saver wheel the battery is secured by the renovable side wall with its ledge which clamps the battery base as it is bolted down. Post a pic if you need further advice.

Andy
 
Seems that mine (2001 petrol) is missing that metal plate which keeps the battery in its place. Are those still available or other possibilities for securing the battery?

Hi @Tim147 , do you have the same design as shown below? (part #3)

None of the A2s I have seen have had this solution. From the illustration it looks like a much used part on a variety of other VAG cars.

image_2021-01-07_154937.png
 
I think 7zap has thrown a wobbly there, that's nothing like the battery clamp arrangement in any A2 that I know of.
 
Many thanks for your detailed explanation. I will be pre-armed just in case the mechanic is unfamiliar with the A2. (I will also hunt out the blue tak).
I did mine this time last week. It was a quick and easy job. I ended up unscrewing the inside boot lip plastic to move the foam, but I trust the others when they say you can do it with an extension and blue tack.
 
I don't know whether there's anything in the A2 which would be at risk if the engine was left running whilst the battery was changed but I've had the battery on my 1998 Land Rover Discovery - for which I didn't have the radio code - swapped like that without any issues.

This reminded me of that youtube video of a guy changing a belt on a Beetle with the engine idling - did it with a tyre iron
 
I did mine this time last week. It was a quick and easy job. I ended up unscrewing the inside boot lip plastic to move the foam, but I trust the others when they say you can do it with an extension and blue tack.
I did mine over xmas, exactly as you said, and I’m far from mechanically minded !
 
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