hi guys,

my audi a4 is a 3.0 model, year 2003, with 110k miles, stock battery.

this morning, the car didn't start when turing on igintion but it did make some noise and fall into dead. so it is not like you forget turning off your headlight whole night and run out of your battery, then you turn on inigtion and get no any response from the inigtion system.

then 3 minutes later, i decide to give it another shot. car did start even though with some hesitation. however, i notice the year/month/time showing in the cluster is reset back to the year 2002 (the car had not been even made).

after this, i have no problem whole day, turning off and restarting the engine around 10 times. the car is just back to normal condition as usual.

i wonder if this is a sign i should change the battery already? any suggestion and advice is welcome. if yes, for such job, should i bring the car back to the dealer or it is ok bring it to some reliable shops like Firestone?? thank you so much

 

I'm not really sure but maybe a connection is loose or has some corrosion, does your radio work fine? Normally when you loose power your radio resets itself and you'll need the code to make it work again. In any other car if the battery terminal or if the ground has minor corrosion it'll do stuff like that, sound like if there was no battery in there.

 

I have the same car and replaced the battery about one year ago. Simply died one day and would not start the car, although other electrics worked. Lost one cell (out of 6), enough to drop voltage to < 10. Six years life for a battery is normal. As mentioned in the previous post, it could also be connections. Go to an auto parts place, Firestone will work, and have them check your battery and charging system. They can figure it out. A visit to the dealer isn't required.

 

the radio works fine.

this morning the car started with hesitation but at least started in one time. four hours later driving the car go to lunch, the car started one time but still with little hesitation. open the hood, open the plastic battery cover, check the connection and it is ok but not sure about the corrosion.
then, i realize that the latch of the battery cover broke so that it can not firmly stay in place. Trying to reinstall the cover in palce couple times, and of course it won't work becuase the cover with broken latches. probably during doing this, it causes some rubbing between the base of the cover and the metal strip (and by the way, what is this for??), car started with more hesitation (still one time start) but ESP light was on. driving 2 miles, then turned off and restart more than three times, car started very nicely and ESP light off.
then going to the dealer in monroeville near pittsburgh, the receptionist gave me a quick check-up and suggested if it worked fine now, it is not necessary to replace (quoted $220 after tax). he did not know if the broken cover is the thing causing the problem. then i decided to go to the part department to buy a new cover to see what will happen. it is $21 pre tax but need to pre-order and available on next monday.

 

before your bettary dead, is there any warning lights on the intrument cluster illuminate? or any difference you can feel while starting the car and while driving??
Firestone quote me around $250 before tax and because of the special specification, they need to do pre-order. i might go to NTB and ask for price because i read a A6 owner paying around 120 for the job.

any thoughts like going to walmart, sam's club or pepboy?? thanks

 

I dont' know about Wal-Mart, maybe pepboys have it under special order, that they'll probably get from the Stealership and mark up. I believe on the Batt you're better off buying them from the Stealer... So none of the Terminals is loose or anything?? One thing for sure, if you're gonna have the dealer do it they're gonna do the connections and everthing else better than pepboys would, so if you continue to have the problem afterwards then is somehting else. What does the ESP do? I know is Electronic Stability Program but what is it for?

 

No warning lights at all, just wouldn't start one day at work. I had it jumped, ran fine all the way home and wouldn't start again. Jumped it again, took it straight to Advance Auto, a local auto parts place. I paid about $100 for the battery, it is nothing special, they put it in no problems in about 20 minutes.

 

esp is traction control. If u car wont start and all the lights work in your car it might be a relay.