POS main relay

[crx08]

So my car wouldn't start on HOT days. or if I have been driving for a while. I found the culprit to the problem. and bought it from honda and got it fixed within 5 mins. all I had to do was disconnect the neg terminal and install the new relay. reconnected the terminal and the car fired right up!

here is a pic of the burnt area of the relay.



sorry for the crappy blurry cell phone pic. its all i had. its the best i can do

[TomQuick]

You probably could have fixed that solder joint on your relay, and saved some cash.

[RyderzUnlimited]

how do you fix it? I went threw 3 starters already. Because my car
wouldn't start. Actually yesterday, my car wouldn't start. So I
let it sit, and sometimes it fires right up. And other times I have
to jump the starter. Where is the main relay located so I can
check for burnt spots ?

[HondaGuy1212]

Ryderz, check this link out:

http://techauto.awardspace.com/

Same thing happened to my Prelude at Sonic. That was an interesting night.

[ds95]

reply

i got a 93 mines under driver side up on top of the fuse box up there. sometimes if the new relay doesnt work to good , i heard if u re soder the wires it helps?

[crx08]

You probably could have fixed that solder joint on your relay, and saved some cash.

the area around the solder was burnt. its such a crappy picture that you can't tell unless you had it in your hands. I didn't feel like re-soldering it. The new relay works perfectly!

I called around the honda dealerships and they wanted $80-$85 plus tax for a new relay. But I called one of the dealerships and a friend of mine works there answered the phone and sold it to me at his price for $65. at least I saved some money

how do you fix it? I went threw 3 starters already. Because my car
wouldn't start. Actually yesterday, my car wouldn't start. So I
let it sit, and sometimes it fires right up. And other times I have
to jump the starter. Where is the main relay located so I can
check for burnt spots ?

main relay is under the dash on the right side of the steering column. it was so easy to change it out.

Ryderz, check this link out:

http://techauto.awardspace.com/

Same thing happened to my Prelude at Sonic. That was an interesting night.

I google'd it and this popped up. that site is so helpful!!

i got a 93 mines under driver side up on top of the fuse box up there. sometimes if the new relay doesnt work to good , i heard if u re soder the wires it helps?

not going to try to make a big argument over this. but how can a new relay not work good???

[RyderzUnlimited]

thanks for the link!

[TomQuick]

New doesn't always mean good. Sometimes brand new stuff fails, manufacturing defects do happen sometimes.

Ryderz, once you get the relay out, pop it apart so you can see the side of the board with the solder on it, and if you look carefully you should be able to see a light brownish ring around the bad solder joint. It's usually a very thin ring, and not terribly dark in color, but sometimes the whole area looks dark. It's pretty much always one of the bigger connections that's bad, they are the ones that carry the main loads, so they heat up more, and fail more often.

Go to Radio Shack and buy a spool of desoldering braid. Pull some out of the spool, heat up a soldering iron, then use the hot iron to press the braid against the solder joint you want to fix. You will see the braid changing color from copper to silver, this is the solder being wicked up the braid. You may have to move the braid a bit once or twice to get to a clean spot before you get all the solder off the joint.

Once the solder is removed, I like to clean the copper trace gently with a scotch brite pad (back of a scrubber sponge will work) just lightly, don't want to pull the copper trace off the circuit board. Then, head the metal post, and copper trace back up with the soldering iron, and melt a new pool of solder (gotta be Rosin Core) onto the joint. Don't over do it, just the same amount that was there to begin with.

Repeat for all of the large connections on the board, then let it cool, and put it back together, then give it a test.

[crx08]

I agree with new doesn't always mean good. but even if its bad they would have to give me a good replacement anyways

[TomQuick]

That is true.

[benjiaccord]

Good write up on how to resolder Tom This happened to me a year ago this past June...I took mine out, desoldered every pin and then resoldered it. Took about an hour all told. Hasn't not started since then

[visualpoet]

Excellent write up, Tom!

I need to pull mine and redo it. It only acts up at the most embarassing times. (For instance, when the geeks in the v6 Mustang parked next to me are looking ) I know it'll start in a few minutes or so, but it did stick my wife at the gas station on the corner for an hour the other night.

[benjiaccord]

Oy, isn't it a little funny, we, as owners, will put up with it for awhile, but when our wife, or girlfriend, has it happen to them, we pretty much fix it immediately...

[visualpoet]

Oy, isn't it a little funny, we, as owners, will put up with it for awhile, but when our wife, or girlfriend, has it happen to them, we pretty much fix it immediately...

It's a conversation starter with other car guys "Hey, you need a hand?" "Nah, it's the main relay acting up, it'll change it's interior temperature and make contact in a few minutes and be fine." lol

[PointBlank]

Try knocking on it.