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It was a rainy day and I was bored, so I decided to warm up the old soldering iron and have some fun.
Pulled the relays two at a time and ran up the stairs (2nd floor apartment) with 'em, re-did every joint of every relay.
Found a few places that looked a little "iffy", no major destruction, but I was surprised at how much "crisper" everything seemed when I fired her up after I finished.
All in all a worthwhile experience, plus I got lots of exercise running up and down the stairs...
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Scott 'Bricking on Japan time' Night shift is ON
--------1993 945 GLT 74,000--------1973 Suzuki Jimny 'Brute' 61,000--------
A Deeper Love
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Not a bad idea. I had a new fuel pump relay die on me. Soon after I took all the new spare FP relays out of the 940s and resoldered them. (Love those fumes.) Did you resolder the bulb out relay too?
Another way to make your car run really well is by washing and waxing it. These cars just love the attention.
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I don't see how resoldering the relays would make the car run better, assuming they were piucking up to begin with. The relay contacts are either on or off. Fuel ON or Fuel OFF...
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Paul NW Indiana '89 740 Turbo 128,000
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Paul, the solder joints can reach less than optimal conductivity before any cracks become visible. Poor current conduction at any of the joints makes the electrical system work harder, and exponentially more prone to failure; some of those relays run quite warm even when in ideal condition. Any fault in either the low or high side will deteriorate the performance of whatever they are connected to.
By "crisper" I didn't mean I started running 13 second 1/4 miles, but I noticed that the fuel pumps started with a bit more "snap" and the lighting systems also seemed stronger.
Some of the perceived improvements may also be somewhat attributable to "car wash syndrome", as in the car seems to run nicer when clean... That said, the peace of mind that I gained knowing that this well-documented fault had been addressed was good enough for me.
: )
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Scott 'Bricking on Japan time' Night shift is ON
--------1993 945 GLT 74,000--------1973 Suzuki Jimny 'Brute' 61,000--------
A Deeper Love
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This set off a light bulb in my head, if you can stand the pun.
My bulb-out light is always on but it's a big fib, all lights work. could that be the result of a bad relay?
and do you happen to know where relay is on an 89 240? anyway, I can figure that part out. thanks.
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Clean all of your bulb sockets and lighting ground points, and replace any unmatched bulbs (i.e. sylvania on the right brake lamp and brand X on the left) with pairs from the same package. That bulb out relay is pretty sensitive to small differences across the system, that's how it works.
Only if that failed to fix the problem would I start fooling with the relay, getting the bulbs and grounds straight has always done it for me.
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Scott 'Bricking on Japan time' Night shift is ON
--------1993 945 GLT 74,000--------1973 Suzuki Jimny 'Brute' 61,000--------
A Deeper Love
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I didn't do the bulb out relay, have never had one of those apart and no spare; didn't want to be bulb-out less : )
Agree on the "fumes", I think that was what got me started. Just wanted so solder something AND mess with the brick, seemed like a perfect rainy day project.
Oh yeah, gained about three horsepower when I bolted my shiny new license plates on the other day too...
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Scott 'Bricking on Japan time' Night shift is ON
--------1993 945 GLT 74,000--------1973 Suzuki Jimny 'Brute' 61,000--------
A Deeper Love
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What do you mean by resoldering relays. Is this an alternative to replacement?
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Inspection and preventative maintenance. Nothing was wrong but I felt like soldering. : )
The solder joints are a known weak point and usually crack. If there is a bad connection there the contacts may receive intermittent current causing a bit of arcing, which will hasten their failure. So soldering them at home on a rainy day beats wondering where your spares are, stopped by the side of the road, on a rainy day...
The contacts on the relays will eventually fail, requiring replacement. Mine still looked good, so I wanted to keep them that way.
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Scott 'Bricking on Japan time' Night shift is ON
--------1993 945 GLT 74,000--------1973 Suzuki Jimny 'Brute' 61,000--------
A Deeper Love
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how do you open them up to do the work? Seems like they would be all sealed up.
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The covers are just held on by plastic tabs hooked over the bottom boards. A couple of small screwdrivers used with care can be used to gently pry them back, then the covers will slide off. You have to pry and pull at the same time, being careful not to break the boards. Also don't ram the drivers too far into the case or you could mess up the internals of the relay.
When you are finished the covers will snap back on, careful again not to break the bottom boards.
Piece of cake, really. You could practice on a bad relay at first if you are worried about messing something up.
: )
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Scott 'Bricking on Japan time' Night shift is ON
--------1993 945 GLT 74,000--------1973 Suzuki Jimny 'Brute' 61,000--------
A Deeper Love
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Thanks,
Might have a bad suppressor relay in a 740 which happens to be my brother-in-laws so oh well NO GUTS NO GLORY :)
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