another cold TDI thread

[turbomeyers]

Re: another cold TDI thread

also optimas with the spiral batting are not as affected by the cold .

[stefan]

Re: another cold TDI thread

agree to disagree? have read, and spoke to a few tdi-ers dissapointed with the optimas. at -35, not plugged in, they just won't crank for long enough, especially if you have cycled the glow plugs 2-3 times. I'm a fan of optima batteries, and would likely get one for my MK3 once it's battery is done, I just don't want one in my TDI. The battery I had in my TDI was a 900cca (non optima). Much larger cranking amps then OEM, but just not up to the task of a cold start.

[forkdork]

Re: another cold TDI thread

CCA is an irrelevant rating for cold starting TDI's. When it gets really cold you need over 30 seconds of power (IE if you cycle plugs twice) which makes the entire CCA rating useless for our cars because it simply doesn't apply.

With TDI's you need to be concerned about the Ah rating as that is a more accurate indicator of the amount of charge that the battery will be able to discharge during the entire process of starting (IE throughout the glowplug cycling and engaging the starter).

Today was much more mild over here, something like -26 or so, obviously the car started without a problem.

[turbomeyers]

Re: another cold TDI thread

I talked with the optima rep he and i dis agree . since the amps a glow plug uses are very high . which would require cca. i am emailing optima . and interstate now . to find out which is better for a tdi

[stefan]

Re: another cold TDI thread

i know the amp hour rating on the interstate for a TDI is higher. I think the CCA is a little lower, if i remember right.. looked at too many batteries in the last week. Not many guys list the amp hour ratings in their spec sheets though. It is important, i mean.. you can get a 600 crank amp light weight race battery, but the amp hour is next to nothing, and and it won't likely do anything in the cold.

I'd imagine the Optima rep will say his is the best, and I'd expect Interstate to say the same really, but see what he says. I'm interested. From my experience, diesel cars aren't a big market, and it seems that not many of the sales guys have experience with them, even less of the reps on the other end of the info line live in canada and have stuck around long enough to see the the results of a -30° start.. You don't always get a straight answer.

On another note, I tried to see what Exide (partsource) was like, cause they are cheap, but their spec sheet sucks, and their info line goes to a voicemail system that doesn't seem to be working properly. They are significantly smaller then the stock VW, and if you are just comparing standard batteries (exclude optimas), there is a fairly strong relation to the dimensions of the battery and the amp hour rating, and that concerned me a bit. You can get high CCA out of a small battery, but its pretty hard to get high amp hours out of a small battery. In the end, i couldn't find a rating for the Exides, so i shied away from them.

[Red90]

Re: another cold TDI thread

If you were to get an Optima, then you want the Yellow top. It has a higher A-h rating and can better take the discharging from glowing.

A better choice (IMO) to the Yellow tops are the Exide Orbital Deep Cycle/Starting batteries. They have the same specs and a much better reputation.........

CT sells their marine version rebranded at a good price, Product #10-3490-0, $190.

This battery, http://www.exide.com/products/marine...eep_cycle.html
50 A-h, 750 CCA. It would be simlar to the Optima D34M, 750 CCA, 55 A-h. Optima does make a LARGE battery, the D31... with 75 A-h and 900 CCA, but I don't think it would fit, plus they cost two arms and three legs.

[Red90]

Re: another cold TDI thread

Oh the top of the line Exide spec chart is here...

http://www.exide.com/pdf/orbital_xcd...d_features.pdf

Lots of BIG batteries.

[mr_barbeque]

Re: another cold TDI thread

Mine had a bit of trouble if I left it after work until the next morning when it was really frickin cold like minus 30, after a couple of tries she fired up. However she's all good first try up to minus 20. Make sure the tanks full and you're running some good fresh diesel & additive in there. After that snap I am seriously thinking about a zerostart to smooth things out a little and make me sleep better lol

If you got no internal heater, one thing to try if you can and have a chance to is to take it for a drive & get it up & keep it up to operating temp between dinner time and sleeping and in the morning she'll probably fire right up first try! Worked for me. The exposure time in the cold sure plays a huge factor.

[stefan]

Re: another cold TDI thread

i had the oil pan heater, and a new battery (oem one) in by the coldest day in that snap, and it fired up pretty fast. I think i'm good to go now.