battr

[rdh@sli.com (Robert D. Houk)]

   Recently there was some mention of under-the-seat batteries for the
   5000/100 series Audis;  I skimmed over the postings and then deleted
   them. Well, mea culpa, this morning when I turned my ignition key, all
   I got was a "chattering" from the starter.  Methinks that my battery
   ('89 100Q) is retiring after 5 years of service.  I managed to jump-start
   the vehicle (there's SOME advantage to having a house on a hill!),  but
   am concerned about impending COLD weather.  Can anyone point me to a
   non-Audi (non-dealer) OEM-style battery with the built-in vent?  Or
   will I have to bite the bullet and get the obscenely-priced battery
   from the dealer?

Just installed a Sears "DieHard International" in my UrQ. It appears to
be ever so slightly larger than the Autobahn (? German / OEM / $$$$$$)
battery, by maybe 1/4 to 1/8 inch -- it fits, but with noticeably less
play; the holddown clamp is almost not needed (and barely manages to
squeeze down besides the battery); and the vent tube has to run along
the outside of the battery side to get to the vent tube (Plenty of room
along the long side of the battery). The only real "gripe" is that the
Sears won't accept the right-angle male/male vent fitting that fits inside
the OEM battery vent "tube" and inside the clear plastic vent tubing; it
is in essence the same id (inside diameter) as the vent tubing itself,
but mine wasn't long enough to stretch to the battery vent; an inch or
so of new plastic tubing however nicely attached to the battery vent
and the old right-angle male fitting.

The car cranks *significantly* faster than it *ever* did before ('tis
a balmy 40F this morning here in the Royal Duchy, and with the engine
overnight cold it cranked faster than when it was hot in CA 100F heat)!

I begin to suspect (read: "pray!") that it might even condescend to start
when it actually gets cold (0F), should Winter ever make an appearance.
We'll see . . .

I did one other "mod" at the same time (which unfortunately makes it hard
to unequivocally credit the battery with the wonderous new performance).
I replaced the short (8 inch or so) grounding strap with a nice new random
auto store 'Murican cable, cleaning the body contact down to nice shiny
bare steel first. (Of course this now means that I have a 10mm positive
nut and a 7/16" negative nut...sigh...shades of my ole Lotus...)

I've had good luck in the past with Sears DieHards (readily started my
other cars at -15 to -20F, on the one or two nights it actually got that
cold here). I heartily recommend them.

					-RDH