Lancia Delta Integrale specialists and enthusiasts
KEEPING
DELTAS
DRIVING
Battery woes solved!
Jason mentions 'BCI' above, this is the
Battery Council International, based in Chicago,
which organises US battery specifications.
The Delta being European with an ETN
spec 063 battery, means there's no
US size equivalent.
The original battery is the 'Emperor', yeh right!!
Good friend of our site Jason had real problems sourcing a battery in USA to fit his Lancia Delta, Jason shares his solution below....
One year later (to the date) after snapping my clutch cable I decided to conquer my fears
and revisited Bear Mountain for another cruise night.
Like last time, the ride up was perfect: low humidity, minimal traffic, nice scenery and a
coworker following me on his BMW R1200gs. We arrived, we enjoyed ourselves, and
I consistently worried about the ride home as the entire day was suspiciously calm.
My gut was right (again).
On the way home as the sun was setting, I noticed the voltage meter slowly begin to drop. Being over 30 miles (~50km) from home with the sun setting and minimal street lighting meant I went into battery conservation mode. Needless to say the voltage eventually dropped to 9v and didn’t go any lower. As I got closer to home, my confidence returned and I started to turn on more lights and by the time I got home, I had every electrical draw trying to kill the car….fortunately my alternator is better than I thought because it just wouldn’t die.
The second I turned the car off though, I immediately went to restart it and my fears were confirmed….battery was completely dead as I got no response out of the car, no lights, no clicking, nothing.
Then I began digging, I found out after not too long that a Euro spec group 063 battery would be an OEM replacement for my 8v integrale. The only small hang-up being that nobody will ship a lead battery overseas. So that wasn’t an option.
So then I looked up NA battery sizing, and according to a BCI battery group size chart which I found on Jegs (https://www.jegs.com/Sizecharts/bcigroup.html ) the smallest battery commercially available was a Group Sized 22F battery (normally utilized in tractors and other lawn care equipment) looked like it might fit. About an inch longer and higher but the right width, nearly double the OEM cranking power and terminals on the right side. Needless to say the inch longer was what killed the 22F’s chances as although I was able to make it fit, the terminals were making contact with the hood and the front crossmeber. I didn’t feel like deep frying myself or the car, so I continued to look deeper.
I figured I would go with a Braille race battery. Small enough to fit in the confined space, yet enough cranking power to get the car started. All I would have to do is make my own bracket for the battery. So I went out and purchased a Braille Battery Advanced AGM 11.5 lb battery (https://www.braillebattery.com/index.php/braille/product_batteries/b14115) and it certainly fitted, but the search didn’t end there, as I returned it the next day.
Why the change of heart you might ask?
The next day, I had done some investigative work and it turns out that Braille Is owned by a parent company called East Penn Manufacturing, which also owns multiple other battery companies including Deka. And then I found this on a Noble forum that confirmed my suspicions: http://www.nobleforums.com/showthread.php?11264-Braille-B2317-vs-Deka-ETX16-battery-comparison
Snooping around internet it appears that the Braille battery may actually be a rebadged Deka battery. See: http://www.iwsti.com/forums/2-5-lite...a-battery.html
I never did find confirmation this is the case, but the price was a lot less so I figured I'd give it a try. The equivalent Deka is the ETX16 which is identical in measurements, weight, post orientation, etc. It is listed as 325CCA, while the Braille is listed at 475CCA.
The Deka ETX16 can be found for $77.95 plus shipping (cost me $85.51 to door)
Both batteries are sealed Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries. There is an online discussion that speculates that Braille overestimates CCA (and they way they calculate is different) and that Deka may under report CCA.
I took a good look at both batteries side by side. The cases are literally identical except for the dates on the markings. As near as I can tell, these are the same batteries with different brand stickers. I installed and car cranks up immediately, just like when I had fresh Braille.
I have turned on/off several times, cranked stereo and so far can tell no problems. My non scientific 'seat of pants' eval suggest CCA must not be much different or identical.”
Needless to say I immediately purchased the Deka ETX16 equivalent and it's identical in dimensions, weight, cranking power and all for about half the cost. I was sold. The only thing that needed to be purchased were these conversion posts so that it can be used on automotive terminals (even better they can be put as top OR side mount posts!)
Battery: https://www.amazon.com/Deka-Sports-Power-ETX-16/dp/B004D8P2BC
Posts: (YOU WILL NEED TO PURCHASE 2 PAIRS OF POSTS) The negative posts is a
little too small to be clamped down perfectly with the integrale terminals, so what you need
are 4 posts in total, and utilize both POSITIVE posts.
I then went about making my own tray for the battery to sit on. After attempting to hack up a cheap $6 autozone universal tray to size, I ended up using it as a template instead. My father sourced an old marine grade 1/4" aluminum trim tab as my material of choice and we got to fabricating. I remounted it to the factory L bracket using some leftover hardware I had and utilized an old battery tie-down I had by mounting the battery laying down. (With AGM you can lay them down safely in the car)
The only small catch with the AGM batteries is that you should have a battery tender on them when not in use.
Overall I was able to source a battery that is readily available stateside, has more cranking power than the OEM battery by at least 110ccm AND despite the heavy duty custom bracket, I still managed to drop ~20+lbs off the front of the cars weight while lowering the center mass of the battery.
Success!
JS
For those who didn't know, like me,
this is a BMW R1200gs
Here's Jason's Deka battery next to his original. The Deka battery can be mounted at any angle, but it needs Euro spec terminal posts fitting.
Here's the nearest size standard battery Jason could find in the US to fit in his Delta. He's squeezed it in place, but it's obviously too big.
As Jason reports, the lowered hood hits the front terminal.
The compact Deka motorsport battery Jason found is much smaller, and lighter too, so Jason's installation has saved weight and increased battery power.
Bear Mountain is one of the best-known peaks of New York's Hudson Highlands. Located partially in Orange County in the town of Highlands and partially in Rockland County in the town of Stony point.
Named for looking like a sleeping bear, the steep eastern face of the mountain overlooks the Hudson River. The eastern side of the mountain consists of a pile of massive boulders, often the size of houses, that culminate in a 50-foot (15 m) cliff face at approximately the 1,000-foot (300 m) level. From the summit, one can see as far as Manhattan.
The Deka installation
in Jason's Delta
As always, Jason has found a way to solve a Lancia Delta problem without the benefit of European parts stores. Thank you for your info Jason, we hope you can now get out on the highway and show that car who's the boss!
