I have opened 7 of them so far and I have come to the conclusion that these needs to be treated as service items and replaced.

dodgy replays can explain most of the electrical issues inc starter, heater circuits etc etc

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now theres a thought, very interesting RR 2005 4.4 petrol
Any spelling mistakes are the fault of spellchecker
Previous MG J2, CITROEN light 15 x 2 gone unfortunately
Present MERC 180e, RANGE ROVER L322, JAGUAR XJS, MERC 280SE, MG F, JAGUAR S-Type 6v 2003, jaguar s-type 8v 2004, Ford Cougar

It's pretty normal to be honest a common failure point on the P38 iv repaired a lot of P38 fuse boxes for burnt pcb and relay contacts and I always clean or replace the relays as a matter of course.

When swopping out the suspension pump on the LR3 you always get a new relay in the box as well.

My L322 has so far had not suffered any electrical issues but I did give all the main relays a squirt of contact cleaner just to be sure.

Good find tho, well done

Please educate me…

What exactly do you mean by “Service Item”? Do you suggest we replace them after a certain age as a matter of course? Or do you mean check the relays for evidence of pending failure and proactively replace them?

You state they should be replaced, but are those images posted of relays you have cleaned up? Do you mean they should be cleaned up as part of regular maintenance, and replaced if they look like they need to be?

And how do you know they need replacing? I would assume burnt / oxidising of contacts (which can be cleaned up) but what else can you look for?

Sorry if this is obvious… I just haven’t come across much on these forums around relays yet. Currently driving: 2012 L322 SE Overfinch 4.4 tdv8

Past rides:
2014 Audi Q7 3.0d (good riddance)
2010 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged
2011 L320 HSE 3.0 sdv6
2014 Jaguar XF-RS 5.0 supercharged
2007 BMW 535D
2005 Mini Cooper S

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic59478.html

Part of me wonders if this could be the root of some battery discharge issues.

If the return spring on the contacts gets weak or the contacts get stuck together this could cause a drain when the car thinks it’s going to sleep because the trigger circuit is off but the load circuit is still closed.

Worth an investigation perhaps! Christian.


Current Cars
2011 Range Rover Vogue SE
2020 BMW M4 Competition
2019 BMW X4

My RR Blog: www.facebook.com/L322Project
or
https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic61540.html

Click image to enlarge

Ffrr-lover wrote:

Please educate me…

What exactly do you mean by “Service Item”? Do you suggest we replace them after a certain age as a matter of course? Or do you mean check the relays for evidence of pending failure and proactively replace them?

You state they should be replaced, but are those images posted of relays you have cleaned up? Do you mean they should be cleaned up as part of regular maintenance, and replaced if they look like they need to be?

And how do you know they need replacing? I would assume burnt / oxidising of contacts (which can be cleaned up) but what else can you look for?

Sorry if this is obvious… I just haven’t come across much on these forums around relays yet.

These are not servicible items, I only opened some for troubleshooting. There is loss of material due to arcing which renders relay out of spec, so clening and filing is just a short term workaround.


I suggest replacing them much like replacing a sparkplug, and not wait for symptoms like windscreen part demisting or car taking longer to start or not starting when hot etc etc. Mind you new relays whould be kinder on the battery aswell

I dont know why its not discusssed before but then again the relays dont look worn from outside


Probable root cause in my openion:

loose spring/poor contact as relay ages> Arcing > shoot buildup/resistance > bigger arc /hotter relays > loss of metal/more shoot > temparemental failed/relay

Ah found this:
https://kth.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva...TEXT01.pdf SOLD | Tuned MY 2011.5 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 Orkney Grey | e-diff | ACC

New Toy: Unimog U1550L/37
New : G350D

I fully agree with the above as I have seen relays fail several times before.

Do you have part numbers and quantities for someone wishing to just order a load and replace them as preventative maintenance? Christian.


Current Cars
2011 Range Rover Vogue SE
2020 BMW M4 Competition
2019 BMW X4

My RR Blog: www.facebook.com/L322Project
or
https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic61540.html

Whilst I cant argue against any of the above, mostly seems sensible.

However in over 50 years of working on cars I dont remember ever changing a relay. Might be me getting old but I dont think so.

Its going to be interesting to hear others view's.........

David Range Rover 4.2 Supercharged 2006
Ford Focus EcoBoost 1.5 2017
MG TF 2003

Previous Cars of note
Land Rover Discovery 2
Jaguar Mk2 3.8 - Company car
MG Midget 1974 - Concours

ffrr14 wrote:

These are not servicible items, I only opened some for troubleshooting. There is loss of material due to arcing which renders relay out of spec, so clening and filing is just a short term workaround.


I suggest replacing them much like replacing a sparkplug, and not wait for symptoms like windscreen part demisting or car taking longer to start or not starting when hot etc etc. Mind you new relays whould be kinder on the battery aswell

Caesium wrote:

I fully agree with the above as I have seen relays fail several times before.

Do you have part numbers and quantities for someone wishing to just order a load and replace them as preventative maintenance?

bigbo wrote:

Whilst I cant argue against any of the above, mostly seems sensible.

However in over 50 years of working on cars I dont remember ever changing a relay. Might be me getting old but I dont think so.

Its going to be interesting to hear others view's.........

David

Ffrr-lover wrote:

ffrr14 wrote:

These are not servicible items, I only opened some for troubleshooting. There is loss of material due to arcing which renders relay out of spec, so clening and filing is just a short term workaround.


I suggest replacing them much like replacing a sparkplug, and not wait for symptoms like windscreen part demisting or car taking longer to start or not starting when hot etc etc. Mind you new relays whould be kinder on the battery aswell

Ah, I see how they go together now… and what you mean! Those contacts have burned away so there is less contact when engaged!

I assume that you had to take a cover off the relay to get to those contacts so not easy to see.

With that in mind do you suggest blindly replacing potentially worn relays after x years or x miles?

Just spent some time trying to find a list of all the relays on my vech, no luck.
I am practically interested in replacing the starter and air bag relays at this point.
I would have thought there would be a list of all the relays and there location some where and I am sure there is RR 2005 4.4 petrol
Any spelling mistakes are the fault of spellchecker
Previous MG J2, CITROEN light 15 x 2 gone unfortunately
Present MERC 180e, RANGE ROVER L322, JAGUAR XJS, MERC 280SE, MG F, JAGUAR S-Type 6v 2003, jaguar s-type 8v 2004, Ford Cougar

Airbag relay is in the back corner, mine is grey and shoul dbe a 70amp unit, not sure about the rest as my car is different SOLD | Tuned MY 2011.5 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 Orkney Grey | e-diff | ACC

New Toy: Unimog U1550L/37
New : G350D

OK thanks RR 2005 4.4 petrol
Any spelling mistakes are the fault of spellchecker
Previous MG J2, CITROEN light 15 x 2 gone unfortunately
Present MERC 180e, RANGE ROVER L322, JAGUAR XJS, MERC 280SE, MG F, JAGUAR S-Type 6v 2003, jaguar s-type 8v 2004, Ford Cougar