Sigh, it's that time of the year again. Main Relay issues?

The_HeadThe_Head familEE
in Engine & Drivetrain
You gotta love it. I just had my gf's brown wagon with a Master honda mechanic for a couple weeks and had $500 worth of work done on it. Now after I get it home (he lives 170 miles away) it seems like the main relay is starting to go. The car takes longer than it should to start sometimes. It just cranks and cranks, then fires up.

I'm going to replace the main relay. Does anyone know of the person on Honda-tech who was resoldering main relays, then selling them? Or should I just go with a brand new one?

Comments

  • turbo_tegturbo_teg Council Member
    junkyard?
  • doitdubdoitdub familEE
    The problem with junkyard, is that one will end up going out as well.

    Contact Tom at Wicked Innovation, he'll repair it better than new. http://www.wickedinnovation.net/product ... rvice.html
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    Don't be cheap.

    $35 is worth not getting stranded.
  • The_HeadThe_Head familEE
    It's going to be more than $35. $56 from linlinefour.com so far. I haven't checked Majestic Honda yet. I think it would be cheaper there.

    I can't just go walk into a Honda dealership like you can. The closest one is over the mountain in Sheridan, about 130 miles away.

    Wasn't there a guy on Honda-tech who resoldered them and resold them? I was wondering if anyone ran one of those and if they had good expereiences with it.
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    Why would I just go walking into a Honda dealership for a main relay?

    Actually, I just pulled my receipt. $46 from O'Reilly's.
  • The_HeadThe_Head familEE
    hmmm well, I want one from Honda but maybe I should consider a Napa clone? It already has a Napa starter and alternator. :lol:
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    I don't see why not.

    I'm a slut for OE Honda stuff, but sometimes it's just not worth dealing with going to a dealership.

    I'm sure they come with some sort of warranty, though I don't have anything but a receipt for mine currently.
  • 3rd4ce3rd4ce Council Member
    guys mine went last night on my initial road test.. I purchased it only 25 days ago... but i got a new one now questions asked...
    11.jpg
  • The_HeadThe_Head familEE
    A warranty is great but you gotta go thru the hassle of taking the old one out and putting a new one in. I know it's just the main relay... just sayin is all.
  • doitdubdoitdub familEE
    Did you miss this?
    doitdub wrote:
    The problem with junkyard, is that one will end up going out as well.

    Contact Tom at Wicked Innovation, he'll repair it better than new. http://www.wickedinnovation.net/products/Wicked-Innovation-Honda-Main-Relay-Repair-Service.html
    As you see above, even from the factory they sometimes come with cold solders as they are done by robots. When you repair it yourself, or have it repaired by WI, you can make sure there are no cold solders.

    I make it a habit that in every 'EF' I've owned, that one of the first things to do is to remove the main relay, and repair the solders...before they even start going out. Although this reminds me, I haven't done it to my current wag yet. Anyway, it's not too difficult...just get a $20 soldering iron, some solder and do it yourself if $25 is too much.

    HOW TO from Tom at Wicked Innovation:
    downest wrote:

    The main relay is sort of up from/behind/next to the hood release lever (sorry for the bad pic):

    mainrelay_01.jpg

    Unbolt it with a 10mm socket. You don't have to remove the trim but it does make it easier, I usually dont.

    When you get it out it looks like this:

    mainrelay_00.jpg

    Now use a flathead screwdriver and pry the tabs back and pull the middle out. The tabs:

    mainrelay_02.jpg

    and it comes apart like this:

    mainrelay_03.jpg


    You can see the solder points here that often crack. This one isn't that bad, but I'm refreshing it anyway before installing in the car (Blue's Clues):

    mainrelay_05.jpg

    You can either just re-melt the solder with an iron, or do what I like to do, remove all the old solder with a wick and put more on.

    Removing solder:

    mainrelay_07.jpg


    Before fully re-installing, you might want to just plug it in and let it hang to make sure it works (you'll hear it click when you turn the key to "on").

    He uses a wick to make the connections cleaner, but I've never done that and just done fine with cleaning up with solder and getting rid of the sharp points on the board.
  • turbo_tegturbo_teg Council Member
    well it did it to me about 3 times today kinda scary to leave her running while i gotta run inside so i swapped mine for a spare i have to see if it goes away. it may just be me but i took both apart and the one i think is acting up looks a lil nasty and even smells a lil burnt..... ive got to drive it quite a bit tomarrow so it should be a good lil test.
  • bigluelokbigluelok Wagonist
    i was gonna post a how to fix your relay. but the one above is pretty good
  • unlimited02unlimited02 Senior Wagonist
    i'm lazy i rather fork out the money and get a new relay...
  • JakerJaker familEE
    If anyone's looking to get their relay re-soldered, I will do them for $20. I'd like to do a batch of them though, so if you have a bunch of spares lying around, I can do those and then do an exchange thing. Go through your junk guys, I'll buy 5-6 of them for the exchange program.
  • FakeJDMEF8FakeJDMEF8 Senior Wagonist
    yep, clean with electrical cleaner, re-solder and pop back in. it's cake....
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