Alperovich

Required Tool list
Solder, Soldering devise, screw driver



Inspection

Step 1
take apart the relay.

start by inserting the screw driver into the crack in the housing



then force the screw driver outward to push the plastic up



repeat step on otherside.

sometimes u'll find the upper plastic piece will come off, sometimes the whole hoard will pull out with it. either case, pull the board out.



Step 2
inspection


take a close look at the contacts on the backside. look for any cracks or breaks in the soldering.

Here are some good examples:

Normal good condition...



here u can see the soldering doesn't have any cracks.

Bad condition...



here we can see the soldering is all cracked, on all sides of the contact. this relay isn't going to start a car in this condition

Damaged but still works...



here we can see that 1 is perfect, but the 2nd contact isn't. it still has a good connection, but one side of it has a crack in it. This really will work like normal, for now.



Soldering

Step 1
First you want to make sure your tip is in good working order, here are some examples.



you can see the 2 on the right are piss poor, they wont get hot enough and wont solder too well. the one on the left is new, you can see its shinny and the tip is not damaged or worn, its ideal for use.

Step 2
Make sure to get the tip hot, it'll take a few minutes. You can test to see if its hot enough but touching the solder to the tip and if it start to melt right away, its good, don't do this too long.

Now that the tip is hot, place the tip to the connection on the relay, and the new solder to it as well, like so



you'll see the existing solder start to melt, quickly touch the tip with the new solder and melt it over the connection.

Do this until you get a nice round lookin thing



now that looks like its going to have a good connection!


Reassembly

Step 1
If the plastic part came off the board, snap it back into place.

Step 2
Insert the board into the housing, there is grove for the board to slide into







Push the board and plastic thing back into place, first press it in by the connector, then press the rest of the thing back place.




Job complete
Test the relay by putting it your car and starting it up!

__________________
~Alex

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IkeRay

awesome, thanks for this.

i know the relay is different between the gens, but the process is the same, correct?

Alperovich

yup the process is exactly the same

__________________
~Alex

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OldSchool

"Solder for Dummies" You need to right a book! lol Thank you alex. I can sweat copper so, now I can solder boards.

Thanks Again Alex!

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LegendFanInCanada

i cant believe two little cracks would prevent it from working, and i would never use a soldering iron that crappy.

OneBadNA1NSX

Damn this would have saved me on Mothers Day!! My main relay on my 01 RL shitted itself.. 120 for the fix!

Thanks for the instructional though! I can finally do it myself Didn't know it was that easy!

The_Acid_Beaver

I would highly recomend de-soldering the connections as the old solder won't flow correctly as it has been work hardened and can cause problems in the future. Also, adding that much solder isn't a garauntee of a good joint. That usually means you didn't heat the "work," to achieve the proper joint characteristics.

Otherwise, this is one of the best write-ups I've seen on this subject. Thanks for sharing!

__________________
Not so obvious and ruthlessly odd . . .
Yossarian Lives!

sr5guy

Great writeup! I would also highly recommend desoldering first. Also the picture above of the "balls" of solder are not proper soldering joints. There is too much solder on them, they will eventually fail again.

-Matt

__________________
The dude with a chip on his shoulder.

Stop asking me to compare my chip with Telion's damnit. Mines better.

KJLegend

This is the second time my damn relay has broken, I tried to fix the first one, and it never worked again after soldering, so I bought a used one on ebay. Now this ebay one is broken, I soldered it on all the points that looked bad and it still wont work...hmmm...

But when I crank the car if I hold the key after it starts in the right place it will run, im gonna try and fix it again, if it doesnt work then ima buy another one from acura I guess. Maybe I'll try to DESOLDER FIRST

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Boondock Saint

IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!! i just did this today and my car started right up after sitting for a week fuck yes!

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SOLD THE LEGEND
Got me an 06 Subaru WRX....following in austinforesters footsteps