Ford Fiesta WP battery

[au^dude]

Hey looking at getting a new battery for the fiesta, just need a little advice. I have been doing some research and found out that i need a calcium battery, something to do with the electronics. But then i have read some people say that the calcium battery are no good, and that i should just use a normal lead acid battery. So yea what do people think?

Thanks

[russellw]

Silver Calcium (usually referred to as Ca Batteries) are becoming more common in late model European sourced vehicles as a replacement for the more traditional Lead-Acid (Pb) batteries.

Ford strongly recommends not replacing Silver Calcium batteries with normal Lead Acid ones and warns of fairly severe consequences if you do so.

There is a good reason for that too. Silver Calcium batteries are designed for higher charge rates and the smart charging systems will not adjust if that battery type isn't used and thus there is a considerable risk of overcharging the battery with potentially catastrophic results.

They should have different shaped terminal posts to stop you putting in a standard battery but there is plenty of up side with these batteries including a longer life (typically 5 years+).

Something like the Federal DIN45 ($189) or the Eastern Batteries SuperCharge Silver SMF44 ($129) will suit the Fiesta at not much more cost than a lead acid battery.

Cheers
Russ