Main Relay

[bijanmaleki]

Local honda dealer wanted $99 for the part and had to special order it. After taking the main relay apart it was just as the writeup read. One of the solder joints went bad. Spent ten seconds warming up the iron and just touched to the joint. Reinstalled in the car and fired up no problems at all.

 

[junior40er]

Same happened to me few months ago. I resoldered every single joint to be safe. 6 month later and no issues.

 

[bijanmaleki]

Yup, also cleaned up the points on the ignition switch while I was in there.

 

[davidf]

Just my .02, but depending on year model, main relays can be up to 21 years old. While it "is" resoldered, the electronics part of it is still 21 years old. I'm not preaching here but a new one is a very cheap insurance and it is "new".:biggrin:

 

[clr1024]

Just my .02, but depending on year model, main relays can be up to 21 years old. While it "is" resoldered, the electronics part of it is still 21 years old. I'm not preaching here but a new one is a very cheap insurance and it is "new".:biggrin:

I agree, I had one go bad and my mechanic just resoldered it for me. A year later it went bad again, I just bought a new one for around $80 and put it in myself. Have not had a problem since.

 

[bijanmaleki]

I can see your point of view however the after visual inspection on mine the whole thing looked relatively solid with the exception of the bad joint. So if push comes to shove and you are forced to order one at least this repair can get you by until the new piece comes in. Just another option.

 

[PHOEN$X]

Thanks, I ordered a new one but will keep the old one as a spare.

 

[junior40er]

a relay is not a complex device. 21 years old or not, if you resolder the relay properly it will not go back any sooner than a new one.

 

[junior40er]

Yup, also cleaned up the points on the ignition switch while I was in there.

I did the exact same thing when I did my relay.

 

[NSX2398]

I've been having some weird electrical problems so I just put in an order for one yesterday and they said it would be about 6 weeks delivery. The rest of you guys probably got in line first and sucked up all the stock.:frown:

 

[clr1024]

I've been having some weird electrical problems so I just put in an order for one yesterday and they said it would be about 6 weeks delivery. The rest of you guys probably got in line first and sucked up all the stock.:frown:

Not sure what year your car is, but here's one for $70 plus shipping if you buy it now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1991-1994-A...es&fits=Model:NSX&hash=item3f15098585&vxp=mtr

 

[ftuhy]

The solder joints fail because of vibration. I encountered this with my designs as an engineer in the telecom industry. There, relays are secured to the board in applications where vibration can be a problem. For someone who tracks their car, it might make sense to hot glue the body of the relay to the circuit board for added ruggedness.

As long as the relay contacts are not pitted, re-soldering the connections should result in a reliable device with a good service life.

One last note - I just finished re-soldering the relay connections to the circuit board on a relay that controls the power seats in my wife's SLK. And, while we don't have the problem yet, there's a similar problem in a relay that controls the fuel injection. So, Acura is not alone with solder joint problems and relays.

 

[JW]

I've been having some weird electrical problems so I just put in an order for one yesterday and they said it would be about 6 weeks delivery. The rest of you guys probably got in line first and sucked up all the stock.:frown:

Hi Ian:

I ordered one from Acura of Peoria, just in case. It was $63.98 plus shipping, which put the total at just under $100.00. Was here in about 10 days.

91 NSX Red/Black
09 VW Jetta White