How to change out the Touareg V10 TDI front battery (Accessory battery)

Getting Started

Tools needed: 10 mm metric socket and driver, battery, 10mm 12 point (triple square) driver, T25 torx bit. Total time for changing battery is about 30 minutes.


The V10 has two batteries, one forward under the drivers seat and one aft under the spare tire. We'll be tackling the front one.


We got a variety of stories from aftermarket battery dealers (Interstate, Optima, etc.) but no one knew what battery the V10 took without looking at it. It was also not clear if the front and rear ones were the same (they are not). We opted to replace the battery with a factory issued lead-acid type Varta battery.


The front battery (Accessories) is bigger and more powerful than the rear (Starter) battery. The dimensions are 7" wide x 7.5" tall x 15.5" long. The battery itself is 110aH and 520 Amps. The VW part number (as of 11/2008) is 000 915 105 AK which superceeded the original part number of 1J0 915 105 AK.


First thing to do is run the seat all the way back and move the front seat bottom up as high as it can go.


Carefully pry up the left side bolt cover. Once this is removed you can slide your fingers under the front carpeted trim piece and gently lift it forward. The part that curves up and back under the seat, hooks in three spots to the main seat bracket. You should be able to unclip the piece across the front between the bolt covers and then lift it up and back to un-hook the three hooks under the front of the seat. Remove the right bolt cover.


Next, use the 10mm 12pt bit and a socket wrench to remove the two seat bolts. VW recommends these bolts be replaced each time. Once the two triple square seat bolts have been removed, run the seat all the way forward and pivot the seatback all the way forward. This will allow the seat frame and seat to pivot backwards enough to get the battery out.


Once the seat is pivoted backwards and out of the way, the rear heat duct was removed and the four clips holding the battery cover on were unclipped. The cover was removed. The old battery came out by unplugging the vent tube on the front side, and using a 10mm wrench for loosening the battery hold downs, one on the front right corner and the other on the right side bottom edge.


Loosen the two 10mm nuts for the battery posts. The battery must slide slightly to the rear to unhook the front edge from the front hold down in the battery compartment and then it can be lifted up and out. Installation is the reverse. Use blue threadlock on the two seat bolts and torque to 45 Nm.

Seat slid back to access bolt covers Left side cover removed. Notice the seat bolt head. A side view of the front panel clips
Right side seat bolt and ground cable. Notice the salt residue. Bolts removed. 10mm 12 point bit is used. Seat pivoted back and out of the way
Rear heat duct. This is in a 2-way climatronic Touareg. Front Hold down on the corner of the battery Battery Bucket
Comparison of old batteries. Note the size difference.

We opted to also clean the ground terminal and apply some battery protectant to the cable end while it was easily accessible.


We also vacuumed up all the salt residue that had seeped through the carpet and under the seat bolt covers. The right hand one was particularly bad, even with monster mats!


Of note are the 20 different fault codes that were present after the battery swap. They were cleared using a VAG-COM. A MFI warning indicating the air suspension had a fault appeared as well. The Touareg was started and the suspension was raised. This cleared the MFI warning. No other warnings or fault codes were present.