I know there's a lot of threads about this, but haven't read about what I experienced today.

So I just changed out my old FLA battery for a Duralast H8-AGM battery . . . .

I called the dealer to ask about coding and they quoted $125. Then called an independent shop and they quoted $34 . . . . They said they could code it over from FLA to AGM . . .

Figured why not? Dropped off the car and 10 minutes later it was ready. I asked about the coding and the guy explained to me that their software was just updated and no longer needs to code in the exact battery info. Rather it just tells the car there's an AGM battery in there vs. FLA

Based on all the threads I've read this seems way too simple.

What do you guys think?

-dd

 

you code in type and capacity, if the capacitys the same then you only neeed to change the type IIRC. My gear all still asks for capacity and type, but not all aftermarket machines are the same, some do things differently and its not necesarrily a bad thing. If your worried findo someone local with inpa to read out the battery stuff, but personally I wouldnt be too bothered. the battery construction is the biggie that affects how it should be charged.

 

Look at images posted by member balbs. The vehicle does track battery capacity, type, state of charge, five day's worth of power and mileage data. Use translate.google.com to easily translate German phrases to English.

Coding and registering new battery

 

Yes, that's all you need to do.

The only time the difference between AGM and FLA batteries will come up is if the battery acid temperature is low (sensed by IBS) and the battery is low on charge (sensed by IBS) then to accelerate battery charging the ECM will send the voltage regulator a command to set the target system voltage high to accelerate battery charging (only until the battery acid temperature comes up indicating that continued accelerated charging could cause degassing).

AGM batteries shouldn't be charged using a voltage higher than 14.8V. However FLA batteries can easily sustain 15.5V+. If the car thinks the battery on board is an FLA and conditions are right (cold battery/low charge) it could set the target system voltage high enough (higher than 14.8V) to damage the AGM battery.

So if you move from FLA to AGM it is a good idea to tell the computer. Everything else about registering battery rating and cold cranking amps is BS.