Unless you move to North Dakota or Minnesota, I doubt that it will be an issue.

 

I just installed the same battery and now face the same problem with the fit. I'm hoping to figure out something to secure the battery, I'm pretty sure I don't have any "flat stock" lying around. Meantime, I'll be driving around with a loose battery.

 

I just installed the same battery and now face the same problem with the fit. I'm hoping to figure out something to secure the battery, I'm pretty sure I don't have any "flat stock" lying around. Meantime, I'll be driving around with a loose battery.

I put in an Odyssey battery from the group buy and reused the factory clamp. The Odyssey is 5 inches shorter. Below is a pic.

 

Has anyone looked at the battery at Costco for this car (mine is a 2003 1.8T).

 

I put in an Odyssey battery from the group buy and reused the factory clamp. The Odyssey is 5 inches shorter.

Boy, the Odyssey battery is small!

I guess a little quality time with the hack saw or angle grinder tonight will allow me to modify the oem bracket enough to re-use. Thanks.

 

I shopped around a good bit and found this to be true. I went to the VW dealer and the parts guy had a hard time finding it but eventually go the part number and it came up with a $168 price. Even he agreed that was insane and that I should go elsewhere.

Yikes. I replaced my battery in March after it died in December. When I priced the battery at the dealership in December, my part # was around $150.00. Of course, my car required the more expensive of the two available batteries. I ended up purchasing the Autozone unit, but just couldn't let go of the fittiment issue. So when March rolled around, I went back to the dealership. To my surprise, they lowered the price of the battery to $99.00. I'd be happy to check the price if again if anyone needs a battery. Or, if you want to do it yourself, the dealership is Medina World Cars in Medina, Ohio. 1-800-946-0906. I know this is probably not practical for anyone outside of NE Ohio.

 

My wife just called me to tell me the Passat won't start. I'm thinking (hoping!) it's the battery since the car is 5 years old.

How hard is it replace on your own? Do you have to remove the entire plastic covering or just the sliding piece?

There's a VW dealer (Bernardsville) on my way home that has a battery for $140 (82AH/420A), and one for $99 (80A/380A). Can anyone tell me which I need with a 2001.5 variant, 2.8L (build date 3/2001).

Edit: Nvm. I got the $99 battery from my dealer, put it in myself, and the car started fine. No resetting Monsoon or TB necessary. Cheers.

 

Has anyone tried this clamp from ECS tuning? Battery Hold Down Clamp ES#2812. Does it work on a AWM 2002 1.8T?

Btwy, those who didn't buy the OEM battery, did you purchase a standard size 48 battery?

 

I have just been buying mine from the dealer for the above reason. You can usually get the dealer to sell them to you for $100. The ECS thing may be the way to go so that you aren't a slave to the dealer. The 48 battery will fit the older B5 passat but the not the B5.5.

 

48 is the correct group size for the 2002 Passat. I didn't use an aftermarket clip for my Odyssey battery.

 

There is a lot of contradictory information out there about the 2002. About a year ago, I measured the battery, and if I recall correctly, I think it was 1/2 inch longer than the standard size 48. I will double check. Of course, the actual battery size might have been a running change on during 2002

 

Battery groups are maximum sizes, as I'm sure you know. Size 48 is the following dimensions:

12 1/16"l x 6 7/8"w x 7 9/16"h.

Size 47 is as follows:

9 11/16"l x 6 7/8"w x 7 1/2"h.

Anything greater than group 47 up to max dimension of 48 would be considered size 48. My OEM 2002 battery was at the max dimensions for group 48. It wouldn't suprise me if VW themselves put in the wrong size battery. The battery bay, however, does have a bit of extra room in there. The bay looks huge with the Odyssey in there. I guess I'd recommend measuring what's in there now and finding one that's the same size.

 

Yeah, I have seen some contradiction too. People will say they bought a battery from autozone and it was a perfect fit, others like me actually took the OEM battery into autozone and none of the standard size batteries matched up. My opinion is the B5.5's use a longer non-standard size battery than the B5. Unless you get a different bracket the standard 48 battery will slide around. It may be just whatever battery the assembler grabbed and put in your car, and they use the correct bracket to make it fit. I just bought a new battery from the parts counter and they actually brought out the battery to my car and it was too short so he had to go grab a different one that matched mine. Go figure...

 

Just saw size 48 batteries at Wal-Mart (finally). They were under 60 dollars and appeared to be identical to the AZ Duralast battery made by Johnson Controls (which currently resides under my bonnet)

 

I got an Autozone size 48 battery to replace the OEM battery on my 2001.5 V6. I replaced it in their parking lot and also found that the new battery was not as long as the original. The existing hold down clamp was useless. Autozone carries a $3.99 "East Penn Side Mount Hold Down" that worked perfectly. It bolts down and fits over the ridge on the battery just like in btomkovic's picture (much thanks for that). So for those folks that aren't into fashioning their own parts out of metal, this is a cheap solution.

 

Autozone carries a $3.99 "East Penn Side Mount Hold Down" that worked perfectly.

I followed your lead. This morning my car (2002 B5.5) wouldn't start. After getting a jump start I went and bought a $66 size 48 battery. I used the Autozone hold down clamp and the bolt from the original VW battery clamp, and it worked great!

My came in a red and white packaging "Universal Type Battery Hold-Down" and had the Lynx brand name and logo and name on top. On the bottom it said East Penn manufacturing co.

 

look like this?

Lynx Battery Hold Down: Universal; For Base Mount Groups

Part Number: LBHUS