Lancia Delta Integrale battery change

Battery probs 2

We've owned our nice Evo1 for 4 years, on purchase it was fitted with a good Yuasa battery, the battery is still fitted in the car. This summer

I wanted to use the car, so I put the battery on charge the day before, but when I came to start the engine, the battery was still flat.

This Yuasa battery is a modern sealed, low maintenance type, the fluid is retained for the battery's life. Starting discharges less than three percent of the battery capacity, for this reason automotive batteries are designed to deliver maximum current for a short period of time. They are sometimes referred to as "SLI batteries", for Starting, Lighting and Ignition. SLI batteries are not designed for deep discharging, and a full discharge can reduce the battery's lifespan.

A deep discharge coats the lead plate electrodes with sulfate deposits The sulphate deposits insulate the electrodes from recharge, so when the deposits become severe, the battery resists all recharging.

Yuasa battery in our Evo1

Testing the voltage

What do you get when you're a battery in an Integrale?

answer...Boiled!

Enjoy the Human League while reading this page!

A few summers being boiled next to a hot Integrale engine, and a few winters being locked away in a garage with that Delta, with it's leaky electrical circuits discharging the battery, will finish off even the best battery.

That's what had happened here, so I needed a new one.

A Lancia Delta battery is a tight fit, it's an ETN 063 unit, no other battery will fit. (Except if you're Jason!) The ETN (European Type Number) was introduced to replace the DIN Number in the course of Europeanisation of battery standards. I obtained a correct size Exide battery from our local parts supplier, it cost just over £40. The cranking amps are slightly lower than the Yuasa, but not by much.

At the car, remove the terminals and release the plastic clip at the lower front of the battery tray. This clip is held tight by a 10mm bolt screwed into a captive nut under the plastic battery tray, this sometimes rusts up so WD it a few days before. If the captive nut turns in its plastic housing, it's sometimes possible to carefully lever the back of the battery out of the plastic tray. The tray is an ABS plastic, so has a bit of flexibility.

You'll figure out how to use a 10mm bolt and 2 nuts to replace the rusty set.

New Exide battery EB442, plastic flaps over terminals are a neat idea, but don't work on the Delta.

The tray front clip can be very tricky to assemble with the battery back in place, so locate the bolt in the captive nut just a turn or two, so the clip can still be lifted up.

Slide the battery under the clip, reach down and lift the clip up if required, then push the back of the battery into the tray rear, some force will be needed, then do the

front bolt up.

All Deltas are a bit different, but mostly the front clip securing bolt is right under the inner headlamp, a bit more persuasion is required if you're going in with a socket from on top.

When installing the battery, make sure the negative battery wire is raised and visible, if you leave it down behind the battery you won't be able to reach it without removing the battery again.

Terminals on and tight, and that's it! I will be buying a battery conditioner charger for this coming winter!

New battery in place, securely fixed.

A wobbly battery is dangerous and

an MOT failure.

I've Tippexed the fitment date

on the battery.

Come wintertime I'll disconnect the battery, and I'll be buying a battery conditioner charger before tucking the Evo away for the season.