Charging battery on VW Passat?

Joined
Apr 23, 2003
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Location
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This is my first experience with a VW and after reading the owner's manual I'm full of questions and CAUTIONS. The book says to only let a VW dealer charge or change the battery. Can you charge the battery like most other cars? Is some special procedure required etc. The oil specs and change procedures also seem to require a fluence in German and parking the car headed toward the fatherland.
Any tips, help you can give this old man would be appreciated.
I hate to lose my BITOG membership after all these years.
TIA
Smoky
 
This is my first experience with a VW and after reading the owner's manual I'm full of questions and CAUTIONS. The book says to only let a VW dealer charge or change the battery. Can you charge the battery like most other cars? Is some special procedure required etc. The oil specs and change procedures also seem to require a fluence in German and parking the car headed toward the fatherland.
Any tips, help you can give this old man would be appreciated.
I hate to lose my BITOG membership after all these years.
TIA
Smoky
You probably should note the year etc. This may help.

 
You already have a Limited 22 Passat? Nice, I haven't seen one yet. Yes the manual will be full of lawyer speak.

I'm honestly not sure on the battery, some are in the trunk on the Passat. Disconnecting may set off a code that needs resetting. Not a deal it's brand new you can expect years of service out of it. Do you drive so little you want to trickle charge it? Can you elaborate why you are concerned about the battery on a brand new car? That may help us help you.

Oil change is nothing special. It has a shroud underneath you need to remove, virtually all do now. You'll need a couple new heads (likely T25 and T34 if I recall correctly) to remove the protective shroud. Like all cars you need to use the oil it calls for, in your case probably 0w20 that meets the VW 508 spec. You can get it from your dealer or on line. Same for filters. That's it, don't be intimidated.

If you are that old enjoy your golden years and let the dealer take care of these things would be my suggestion. Enjoy your car!
 
Why would you need to charge the battery on a 2022 model? And the main issue is the car's computer controls and monitors the charging of the alternator to gauge the state of battery charge. If you charge it externally, the computer wouldn't know that and could then overcharge it.
 
You already have a Limited 22 Passat? Nice, I haven't seen one yet. Yes the manual will be full of lawyer speak.

I'm honestly not sure on the battery, some are in the trunk on the Passat. Disconnecting may set off a code that needs resetting. Not a deal it's brand new you can expect years of service out of it. Do you drive so little you want to trickle charge it? Can you elaborate why you are concerned about the battery on a brand new car? That may help us help you.

Oil change is nothing special. It has a shroud underneath you need to remove, virtually all do now. You'll need a couple new heads (likely T25 and T34 if I recall correctly) to remove the protective shroud. Like all cars you need to use the oil it calls for, in your case probably 0w20 that meets the VW 508 spec. You can get it from your dealer or on line. Same for filters. That's it, don't be intimidated.

If you are that old enjoy your golden years and let the dealer take care of these things would be my suggestion. Enjoy your car!
Well this was a Christmas present for my bride; putting up with a BITOG for 35 years can’t be easy. It is short tripped by her 2 or3 times a week for about 7 mi per trip so I usually keep she car on a maintainer.
Yes the British Racing Green is nice. Wife has wanted a green car forever.
Smoky
 
Why would you need to charge the battery on a 2022 model? And the main issue is the car's computer controls and monitors the charging of the alternator to gauge the state of battery charge. If you charge it externally, the computer wouldn't know that and could then overcharge it.
That's not how it works.
 
Well this was a Christmas present for my bride; putting up with a BITOG for 35 years can’t be easy. It is short tripped by her 2 or3 times a week for about 7 mi per trip so I usually keep she car on a maintainer.
Yes the British Racing Green is nice. Wife has wanted a green car forever.
Smoky

Wow I'm impressed you've got one already. What a present!
small-13758-2022passatlimitededition-1626727803.jpg
 
OP asked how it works. So how does it work?
It depends on the model, how the battery is monitored and charging is modulated.

Internal resistance, voltage drop while the alternator isnt charging based on load, etc.

In zero cases will a fully charged battery upset the system. If anything, it'll prolong the life of your alternator.
 
You need to get one of those obd plugins that supplies power to the ecu when you change the battery.
 
Then why do you have to program or reset a new battery on some newer models?
The programming is so that it knows the rate it should charge. I.e. amperes max. It may taper that with ageing. The registration is so that it will indeed track ageing, make assumptions related to capacity loss, etc.
 
when my 2013 vw passat s’ original, mexican-made, battery finally and without warning died last year i called aaa. all swapped out and good to go in 15min of work for $160. no thrown codes or hiccups.
 
Nice car,, i love green on certain cars.. I would dig further online to see if the Passat would need a new battery coded, and you have years to figure it out lol. As for my A4 it will need coded some day and here is a video covering all the bases from DAP. The battery is in the trunk and I have no worries the battery will be stolen as the video shows 🤣

 
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