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Does the headlight relay ever fail? 200

posted by  someone claiming to be Bond. James Bond. on  Fri Sep 24 18:45 CST 2004 [RELATED]

I've never had one go out, and no one on the board has mentioned it. Buuut...We're dealing with cars 12 to 30 years old and they'll never get any newer.

There are items like the headlight relay that don't have a replacement schedule but could make a real problem if they quit at an unfavorable moment. After X miles or X years, should I start thinking about replacing them in advance of failure?

Possible list:

Crank sensor (I did this already on my 1992--the insulation was cracking)
Main fuel pump (not noisy at 213k; but on my 1980 the pump quit at 232k with NO
warning)
ECU (I found one of the late production 561s)
ICU (No one has ever mentioned this--are they bulletproof?)
Fuel pump relay (I've got a new spare in the car; maybe I should swap it now?)
Other?

Electrical/electronic engine systems are great except that they tend to a 100% failure mode.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Doug Harvey








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    Does the headlight relay ever fail? 200

    uid 27's pic
    posted by  Art Benstein on  Sat Sep 25 06:23 CST 2004
    Author: [PROFILE] [EVERY POST] [THREADS] [BEST POSTS] RSS Feed     [IGNORE ALL POSTS]
    last visit: Fri Oct 17 20:10 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    Doug,

    Of the items on your list, I've only resoldered the fuel injection relay and done the crank sensor in advance of failure. But I could see the cable sheath was open to the elements.

    ICU- I'd call that bulletproof, if there is such a condition. Still I have a junkyard spare in the box for both the Chrysler and EZ-116K style.

    561 ECU. Interesting comment about late production. I've been trying to define this, first thinking the color of the label (pink vs. white) might be a clue. I hope I didn't start a myth with a post of my guess.

    Something I believe is credible in sorting out the units is the version of hybrid circuit inside. I just don't know how, for sure, you can tell what's inside by what is on the label. You've probably seen this comparison of the corner of the hybrid (where the fuel pump relay driver is) showing the bad version...



    versus the "good" version...



    Do you know of a reference source to determine this from the outside? Is it indeed the color of the label?
    --
    Art Benstein near Baltimore








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    Does the headlight relay ever fail? 200

    uid 15053's pic
    posted by  Dylan Berichon on  Fri Sep 24 20:19 CST 2004
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    last visit: Thu Oct 23 17:22 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    Headlight relays are only found in '86+ 240s.

    And yes, they do fail.

    Well, maybe not the relays, but the connections to them do have problems sometimes.

    Here's a picture Aye Roll posted a good while back in fact on this very subject:



    His caption for the picture:

    "1) Relay in place. Everything LOOKS ok...
    2) Aha! Burnt wire in the connector.
    3) The connector plastic actually melted and flowed into the clip of the terminal! Had to break out the burnt plastic and remove the wire. Broke off the remaining plastic so it could be plugged in without any interference.
    4) The "fixed" terminal. I'll put a new crimp-on connector there if I need to,but this one actually seems to be fine now. I tightened it up.
    5) Let there be light! And there IS light!"

    Hope this helps!
    --
    If you listen to the radio in Portland, OR, you may know me as "Portland's Favorite Soul Brother!"








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      Does the headlight relay ever fail? 200

      posted by  Aye Roll on  Sat Sep 25 04:26 CST 2004
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      last visit: Tue Oct 14 21:08 CST 2014
      [RELATED]

      Hey nice pic! I was gonna do that.
      That relay can and does overheat, and I was lucky that mine wasnt' burnt badly. This is the main headlight system relay on the floor by your left foot. The other one, the high-low relay, is on the relay rail behind the battery on most 240s.
      That one can get rusty inside and not flip from high to low, or go off in one or the other positions. Many people just call that the headlight relay and don't know about the one in the picture.
      My experience is that the wiring to them should be inspected- grab a spare if getting parts in a junkyard- and don't worry about them.
      --
      Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 230K, 88 744GLE- 220K, 82 245T-181K Also responsible for the care and feeding of: 88 745GLE, 231K, 87 244DL, 239K, 94 855GLT 189K







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