VW Golf Diesel 60 plate - Battery life

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Tue 18 Aug 2015 17:10
VW Golf Diesel 60 plate - Battery life - Rowland

How long can the battery stay sufficiently charged without the engine being run? What can one expect after 4 weeks?

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Tue 18 Aug 2015 18:58
VW Golf Diesel 60 plate - Battery life - elekie&a/c doctor

If it is the original battery,it could be at least 5 years old.Perhaps it has come to the end of its useful life.

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Tue 18 Aug 2015 20:49
VW Golf Diesel 60 plate - Battery life - RT

If it is the original battery,it could be at least 5 years old.Perhaps it has come to the end of its useful life.

What is the useful life of a car battery - I've got a battery that did 8 years on the car and a further 12 years as a caravan leisure battery - still got it as a back up, just put the smart charger on it overnight once/month - still performs well on the drop test.

Just a standard Vauxhall battery by the way.

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Tue 18 Aug 2015 22:50
VW Golf Diesel 60 plate - Battery life - old-school-tech

not sure this is what the OP was asking, the phrase "without the engine running" is the clue.

I'm guessing he wants to know how long the battery should last if the car is left for any length of time (while on holiday for example)

In answer to this I would say it should last a good few months at least assuming the cars electrics are in good order and you have no external devices draining the power (phone chargers etc)

If the battery is dead after only a couple of weeks then you have a problem somewhere.

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Tue 18 Aug 2015 23:15
VW Golf Diesel 60 plate - Battery life - Bolt

No one can answer that question, they can fail during warranty and they can carry on for 15-20 years without a problem,

though I personaly think nowadays only battery capacity that is needed to start the car is fitted now, rather than a larger capacity as fitted on older motors capable of running a radio/stereo for 20 mins and not going flat

I noticed a while ago some drivers in car parks called AA out because the battery run flat after 20 to 30 minutes sitting in car listening to stereo

Not one car was older than 4 years..

Edited by bolt on 18/08/2015 at 23:16

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Wed 19 Aug 2015 08:40
VW Golf Diesel 60 plate - Battery life - Oli rag

I suspect the op meant how long will the battery be ok without using the car?

Providing the battery is in good condition and there isn't any drain on it, I'd have thought it would be ok for a couple of months. I left a car standing for almost 4 months and it still turned over easily.

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Wed 19 Aug 2015 09:36
VW Golf Diesel 60 plate - Battery life - KenC

This time of the year I would expect a healthy battery to hold a charge sufficient to start an engine for several weeks +. Provided that there is no drain on it eg power sapping alarm or stuck on courtesy lamp

Winter time with freezing temperature is a far diffrent scenario because Engine Oil thickens as temperature drops, Battery Voltage also drops with temperature. Batterys have to work Harder in cold weather and face far more demands ( heated seats/screens/fans/headlights etc)

A battery that functions ( just) in the summer may well fail to start on the first icey morning.

This is why the RAC/AA etc are always overworked with home start requests when the air temperatures drop below freezing and all the battery prices increase ! ( or discounts dissappear)

These figures relate to 20degrees C 68 F (wikapedia)

12.66 V 6.32 V 100% 12.35 V 6.22 V 75% 12.10 V 6.12 V 50% 11.95 V 6.03 V 25% 11.70 V 6.00 V 0%
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Wed 19 Aug 2015 19:11
VW Golf Diesel 60 plate - Battery life - quizman

In my experience batteries are much better now than years ago. When I bought Ford cars the battery only used to last about 13 months and now my wife's Golf is over 7 years old with the original battery.

My John Deere tractor is 11 years old and is still on it's original battery.

To answer the original question I would say that the car should start after 3 months if the battery is OK and fully charged.

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