You can call me cheap if you want, I won't be insulted, but I have trouble throwing away something which looks as pristine as the queefed out Fuel Pump relays which I have popped open. Having driven 240's for 40 years, I'm starting to amass a collection of the things.

So, I'm going to open one, clean the contacts with Deoxit (the only contact cleaner I found to be worthy of the title), reflow the solder pads then run it until it cries mercy.

I'll report back, here, in six months or once it quits, whichever occurs first.


Rich (near The Burgh)

seeing as the relays sold now fail out of the box, rehabbing old 1s is the only way to go. the kaelers i've bought in the past 10 yrs or so have not been kind to my reputation. since streibel is not doing them any more, yours is the way of the future for me. sadly, everything 240 is going away-lemforder, sachs, etc. good luck, chuck.

Now you tell me, porkface! I just bought a couple KAE's to have at the ready. I might have bought Sreibels, but I have one in place which seems to get hot to the touch when used for a period of time. That one was made in Hungary as were a couple of others which did not give the length of service I anticipated.

When I went to order replacements, I noticed that FCP had two Steibel relays listed, one made in Hungary, the other (at a couple bucks more), made in Germany. So, I saved a few bucks and bought KAE's, made in Germany, somewhere else.

Rich (near The Burgh)

Dave Barton has a great write up on his site --- how to use the Volvo OEM FP relay to "drive" a new/higher amp relay to fire the pump. It's an easy fix and takes all the current out of the OEM relay. I've changed all that out on mine (LS3 power) - but prior to that, I used a $5.99 Radio Shack 40A relay for 12 years of trouble free fuel pump switching. No more OEM FP relay failures.

Rich, if your experience is anything like mine, the relay switching contacts will not need any attention. Solder joints on the heavy terminals such as the relay frame itself and the connector pins may need re-touching, but the relay will be service-worthy after you reflow those. And any burn mark you see on the bottom (k-jet version in particular) will be explained by a poor, overheated, oxidized 1/4" female crimp terminal in the relay socket, and not by any fault of the relay itself.

What you're doing is not motivated by being cheap, it is the desire to know what actually causes car-disabling faults after 30 years or so of service.

DeoxIT wins my praise too. Consider using it on those faston terminals.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Annual Performance Review Time...
"Some drink from the fountain of knowledge; he only gargled."

Should have known: Art's been there, already. Thanks for the advice, Art, you've dispelled any trepidation I might have been harboring. Like - the renewed relay will choose to fail when my sweetheart is on a road trip to Tennessee.

Rich (near The Burgh)

"...the renewed relay will choose to fail when my sweetheart is on a road trip to Tennessee."

Possibly one reason you're delving into these is you suspect the "new" replacement parts are not as ready to give years of reliable service as well as the originals did. It is much easier to explain it to your loved one if you can shift the blame to the aftermarket part supplier. Indeed, having a big name to blame might be why someone in business to do repair work wants to use only "Genuine" parts for replacement for those customers who might find themselves needing help with a furrin car somewhere between Cookeville and Sparta.

Seriously, if you're talking about the LH relays with two inside, the newer ones are made more reliable, recognizing the faults of the first of them, using solid bars to carry the high current instead of soldered pins. And fixing bad solder connections doesn't rule out the occasional broken relay coil winding that acts up with temperature.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Annual Performance Review Time...
"If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you'd get change."